Adams, (Wilfred) Robert (c. 1900–1965), actor, was born in Georgetown, British Guiana, the son of Robert Adams, boat builder. He was educated at St Stephen's Scots School, later St Joseph's Intermediate. In 1920 he won a government scholarship to be trained as a teacher at ...
Article
Adams, (Wilfred) Robert (c. 1900–1965), actor
Stephen Bourne
Article
Ashcroft, Dame Edith Margaret Emily [Peggy] (1907–1991), actress
Michael Billington
Ashcroft, Dame Edith Margaret Emily [Peggy] (1907–1991), actress, was born on 22 December 1907 in Croydon, Surrey, the second of two children of William Worsley Ashcroft (1878–1918), a land agent, and his wife, Violetta Maud, née Bernheim (1874–1926), a keen amateur actress of Danish and German-Jewish descent. Known from childhood as ...
Article
Askey, Arthur Bowden (1900–1982), actor and entertainer
Richard Murdoch
revised
Askey, Arthur Bowden (1900–1982), actor and entertainer, was born on 6 June 1900 at 29 Moses Street, Liverpool, the elder child and only son of Samuel Askey (d. 1958), secretary of the firm Sugar Products of Liverpool, and his wife, Betsy Bowden (...
Article
Baddeley, Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton (1906–1986), actress
Ned Sherrin
revised
Baddeley, Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton (1906–1986), actress, was born on 13 November 1906 in Broseley, Shropshire, the youngest of four daughters (there were no sons) of William Herman Clinton-Baddeley, composer and journalist, and his wife, Louise Rosalie Bourdin. A descendant both of Sir Henry Clinton (1738?–1795)...
Article
Badel, Alan Fernand (1923–1982), actor and theatre producer
Donald Roy
Badel, Alan Fernand (1923–1982), actor and theatre producer, was born in Rusholme, Manchester, on 11 September 1923, the son of Auguste Firman Joseph Badel (1891–1962), a shipping clerk and office manager of French birth, and his wife of Huguenot descent, Elizabeth Olive Till (...
Article
Baker, Sir (William) Stanley (1928–1976), actor and film producer
John Elsom
Baker, Sir (William) Stanley (1928–1976), actor and film producer, was born at 32 Albany Street in Ferndale, a village in the Rhondda valley in south Wales, on 28 February 1928, the third of the three children of John Henry Baker and his wife, ...
Article
Balcon, Jill Angela Henriette (1925–2009), actress
Melanie Williams
Balcon, Jill Angela Henriette (1925–2009), actress, was born on 3 January 1925 at 50 Ashley Gardens, Westminster, the elder child and only daughter of Sir Michael Elias Balcon (1896–1977), film producer, and his wife, Aileen Freda, formerly Jacobs, née Leatherman (1904–1988), both of Baltic–Jewish descent. Educated at ...
Article
Bartholomew, Frederick Cecil [Freddie] (1924–1992), actor
David Parkinson
Bartholomew, Frederick Cecil [Freddie] (1924–1992), actor, was born on 28 March 1924 in Harlesden, London, the son of Cecil Llewellyn Bartholomew (1893–1968), a civil servant who was a clerk in the ministry of agriculture, and his wife, Lilian May, née Clarke...
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Bates, Sir Alan Arthur (1934–2003), actor
Anthony Hayward
Bates, Sir Alan Arthur (1934–2003), actor, was born at Queen Mary Nursing Home, Derby, on 17 February 1934, the eldest of the three sons of Harold Arthur Bates, an insurance superintendent, and his wife, Florence Mary, née Wheatcroft. At the time of his birth his parents lived at ...
Article
Beaton, Norman Lugard (1934–1994), actor
Stephen Bourne
Beaton, Norman Lugard (1934–1994), actor, was born on 31 October 1934 in Georgetown, British Guiana, the son of William Solomon Beaton (d. 1983), civil servant, and his wife, Ada, née Mackintosh (d. 1962). He was educated at St Stephen's School and ...
Article
Bennett, (Nora Noel) Jill (1926–1990), actress
Dulcie Gray
revised
Bennett, (Nora Noel) Jill (1926–1990), actress, was born in Penang, Malaya, on 24 December 1926, the only child of (James) Randle Bennett (1887–1969), an owner of rubber plantations, and his wife, Nora Adeline, née Beckett (1887–1978). Her death certificate claims that she was born in 1931, but she was reticent about her date of birth. In ...
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Bogarde, Sir Dirk [real name Derek Niven van den Bogaerde] (1921–1999), actor and author
David Parkinson
Bogarde, Sir Dirk [real name Derek Niven van den Bogaerde] (1921–1999), actor and author, was born on 28 March 1921 in a taxi in Hampstead, the son of Ulric van den Bogaerde (d. 1973), the Dutch-born arts editor of The Times...
Article
Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), actor
David Parkinson
Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), actor, was born on 22 March 1912 at 6 Edenvale Road, Rathgar, co. Dublin, one of at least two sons of Henry Lytton Brambell, a cashier at the Guinness brewery, and his wife, Edith Marks (b. c.1879)...
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Briers, Richard David (1934–2013), actor
Jonathan Croall
Briers, Richard David (1934–2013), actor, was born on 14 January 1934 at the Nelson Hospital in Merton, south London, the elder child (his sister, Jane, was born in 1939) of Joseph Benjamin Briers (1901–1980), a 'commission agent' or bookmaker, and Morna Phyllis Richardson (1909–1992)...
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Brown, Pamela Mary (1917–1975), actress
Clive Barker
Brown, Pamela Mary (1917–1975), actress, was born at 45 Howitt Road, Hampstead, London, on 8 July 1917, the daughter of George Edward Brown, a journalist, and his wife, Helen Blanche Ellerton. She was educated at St Mary's Convent, Ascot, and subsequently studied at the ...
Article
Burton, Richard [formerly Richard Walter Jenkins] (1925–1984), actor
Keith Baxter
Burton, Richard [formerly Richard Walter Jenkins] (1925–1984), actor, was born on 10 November 1925 at Pont-rhyd-y-fen, a village in the Afan valley, 4 miles from Port Talbot, the sixth son and twelfth of the thirteen children of Richard Jenkins, a miner, and his wife, ...
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Calvert, Phyllis [real name Phyllis Hannah Bickle] (1915–2002), actress
Verena Wright
Calvert, Phyllis [real name Phyllis Hannah Bickle] (1915–2002), actress, was born on 18 February 1915 at 3 Wellington Street, Chelsea, London, the second of the two children (both daughters) of Frederick Bickle, blacksmith, and his wife, Annie, née Williams. By her own account a '...
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Connor, Edric Esclus (1913–1968), actor and singer
Stephen Bourne
Connor, Edric Esclus (1913–1968), actor and singer, was born on 2 August 1913 in the village of Mayaro, Trinidad, the son of Edwin Connor, shoemaker and small farmer. At sixteen he won a scholarship from the Trinidad government railway to study engineering at the ...
Article
Corbett, Harry [known as Harry H. Corbett] (1925–1982), actor
Colin Sell
revised
Corbett, Harry [known as Harry H. Corbett] (1925–1982), actor, was born in Rangoon, Burma, on 28 February 1925, the youngest of seven children of George Corbett (1885/6–1943), a staff sergeant in the South Staffordshire regiment stationed in Burma, and his wife, Caroline Emily, ...
Article
Cusack, Cyril James (1910–1993), actor
David Parkinson
Cusack, Cyril James (1910–1993), actor, was born on 26 November 1910 in Durban, South Africa, the son of James Cusack, an Irish officer with the Natal mounted police, and his wife, Alice, née Cole, a Cockney music-hall dancer. After the break-up of his parents' marriage in 1916 ...