Bass, Alfred [Alfie] [formerly Abraham Basalinsky] (1916–1987), actor, was born on 10 April 1916 at 7 Gibraltar Walk, Bethnal Green, London, the youngest among the ten children of Jacob Basalinsky, a cabinet-maker, and his wife, Ada Miller. After an elementary school education he followed his father's trade, but was also engaged in local boys' club dramatics. He was early on active in supporting the labour movement, often attended union meetings, and took part in the battle of ...
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Feldman, Martin Alan [Marty] (1934–1982), comedian and scriptwriter, was born on 8 July 1934 at University College Hospital, London, the elder of the two children of Myer Feldman, a gown manufacturer of Islington, and his wife, Cecilia (Cissie), née Crook. He had a sister, ...
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![Cover Feldman, Martin Alan [Marty] (1934–1982)](/cover/searchableMedia/odnb-9780198614128-e-1008028-graphic-1-thumbnail.jpg)
Martin Alan Feldman (1934–1982) by Terry O'Neill, 1974 [on the set of the film Young Frankenstein] © Terry O'Neill; collection National Portrait Gallery, London
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Harvey, Laurence [real name Hirsch Moses Skikne] (1928–1973), actor and film director, was born on 1 October 1928 in Joniskis, Lithuania, the youngest of the three sons of Orthodox Jewish parents, Ber Skikne (1895/6–1974) and his wife, Ella Zotnickaita (1897/8–1974). In 1929, endeavouring to improve his prospects as a building contractor, his father emigrated to ...
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Maker: unknown photographer
Sidney James (1913–1976) by unknown photographer © National Portrait Gallery, London
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James, Sidney [Sid] [real name Sidney Joel Cohen] (1913–1976), actor, was born on 8 May 1913 in Hancock Street, Johannesburg, South Africa, the second of the two sons of Laurie Cohen (b. 1878) and his wife, Reine Solomon. His parents were both Jewish music-hall entertainers who had moved to ...
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Karlin, Miriam [real name Miriam Samuels] (1925–2011), actress, was born on 23 June 1925 at 1 Lawn Mansions, Hampstead, London, the younger child of Harry Samuels (1893–1976), barrister, and his wife, Céline, née Aronowitz (d. 1983). Her elder brother, Michael Samuels (1920–2010)...
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David Kossoff (1919–2005) by unknown photographer, 1987 Rex Features
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Dennis Barker
Kossoff, David (1919–2005), actor and broadcaster, was born on 24 November 1919, at the Mothers' Hospital, Clapton, London, the son of Lewis (Louis) Kossoff, tailor, and his wife, Annie, née Shaklovich. At the time of his birth registration his parents, Russian Jewish immigrants, lived at ...
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Antonia J. Bunch
Milton, Ernest Gianello (1888–1974), actor and author, was born Milton Lichtenstadter, in San Francisco, California, USA, on 10 January 1888 (though in some sources he gave the year as 1890), the only child of Martin Lichtenstadter (1860–1905) and his wife, ...
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Ingrid Pitt (1937–2010) by Bill Zygmant, 1975 © Bill Zygmant / Rex Features
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Peter Hutchings
Pitt, Ingrid (1937–2010), actress and writer, was born on 21 November 1937 in Poland, the daughter of a German father and a Polish Jewish mother. Many biographical accounts give her birth name as Ingoushka Petrov, although the origin of this is unclear. She herself gave her father's name as ...
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Taylor, Dame Elizabeth Rosemond (1932–2011), actress, was born on 27 February 1932 at Heathwood, 8 Wildwood Road, Hampstead, London, the younger child and only daughter of Francis Lenn Taylor (1897–1968), art dealer, and his wife, Sara Viola, née Warmbrodt (1895–1994), a former actress (under the stage name ...
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Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (1932–2011) by Cecil Beaton, 1954 © Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby's
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Barry Davis
Tzelniker, Meier (1894x1898–1980), actor, was born in the Praga district of Warsaw, the son of Ber Tzelniker, a yeast manufacturer, and his wife, Ratzelle. The date of his birth is unclear: his death certificate gave 1 January 1894, but his daughter gave 28 May 1898. His father died before he had a chance to know him, and two of his siblings died in childhood, leaving a sister, ...
