Aggas, Robert (c. 1620–c. 1682), landscape and scene painter, was the son of Samuel Agas of St Andrew's parish, Holborn. The family was originally from Stoke by Nayland in Suffolk. Samuel Agas was the son of Edward Aggas, a bookseller and printer, and relative of ...
Article
Aggas, Robert (c. 1620–c. 1682), landscape and scene painter
W. C. Monkhouse
revised by Arianne Burnette
Article
See Arne family
Article
Arthur, John (bap. 1708?, d. 1772), actor and designer of stage machinery
Charles Brayne
Arthur, John (bap. 1708
Article
Asherson, Renée [real name Dorothy Renée Ascherson] (1915–2014), actress
Alex Jennings
Asherson, Renée [real name Dorothy Renée Ascherson] (1915–2014), actress, was born on 19 May 1915 at 2 Cornwall Gardens, Kensington, London, the younger daughter of Charles Stephen Ascherson (1877–1945), a shipowner of German Jewish descent, and his second wife, ...
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Asquith, Anthony (1902–1968)
Maker: Howard Coster
In
Anthony Asquith (1902–1968) by Howard Coster, 1935 © National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Asquith, Anthony (1902–1968), film director and aesthete
D. J. Wenden
revised
Asquith, Anthony (1902–1968), film director and aesthete, was born on 9 November 1902 in London, the youngest son of Herbert Henry Asquith, first earl of Oxford and Asquith (1852–1928), the Liberal statesman and future prime minister, and his second wife, Margaret Emma Alice (Margot) Asquith (1864–1945)...
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Bainbridge, Dame Beryl Margaret (1932–2010), actress, writer, and artist
Mark Bostridge
Bainbridge, Dame Beryl Margaret (1932–2010), actress, writer, and artist, was born on 21 November 1932 at 294 Menlove Avenue, Allerton, Liverpool, the younger child of Richard Bainbridge, commercial agent, and his wife, Winifred, née Baines. Her father was a self-made man who left school at ten, established himself successfully in business, but then went bankrupt as a result of the 1929 financial crash. His wife, who considered that her husband had married above himself, was disappointed and embittered by the family's reduced circumstances, and the young ...
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Bainbridge, Dame Beryl Margaret (1932–2010)
Maker: Eamonn McCabe
In
Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (1932–2010) by Eamonn McCabe, 2002 © Eamonn McCabe
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Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy (1904–1980)
Maker: Dorothy Wilding
In
Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (1904–1980) by Dorothy Wilding, 1937 © Tom Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London
Article
Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy (1904–1980), photographer and designer for screen and theatre
Hugo Vickers
Beaton, Sir Cecil Walter Hardy (1904–1980), photographer and designer for screen and theatre, was born at 21 Langland Gardens, Hampstead, London, on 14 January 1904, the eldest of the two sons and two daughters of Ernest Walter Hardy Beaton (1867–1936), timber merchant, and his wife, ...
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Beckett, Wendy Mary (1930–2018)
Maker: Lou Boileau
In
Wendy Mary Beckett (1930–2018), by Lou Boileau, 2006
© Lou Boileau
Article
Beckett, Wendy Mary (1930–2018), nun, art historian, and broadcaster
Peter Stanford
Beckett, Wendy Mary (1930–2018), nun, art historian, and broadcaster, was born on 25 February 1930 in Johannesburg, South Africa, one of three children of Aubrey Cecil Beckett (1897–1961), a banker’s clerk of Irish origin, and his wife, Dorothy, née Sheehan. Through her father she was a distant cousin of the playwright ...
Article
Beningfield, Gordon George (1936–1998), wildlife and countryside artist, naturalist, and broadcaster
Mark Bryant
Beningfield, Gordon George (1936–1998), wildlife and countryside artist, naturalist, and broadcaster, was born at his maternal grandmother’s house, 30 Neckinger, Bermondsey, London, on 31 October 1936, the elder son of George Robert Edward Beningfield (1907–1981), a Thames lighterman (and skilled amateur artist), and his wife ...
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Berger, John Peter (1926-2017)
Maker: Eamonn McCabe
In
John Berger (1926-2017), by Eamonn McCabe, 1999
Getty Images
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Berger, John Peter (1926–2017), art critic, novelist, and film-maker
Colin MacCabe
Berger, John Peter (1926–2017), art critic, novelist, and film-maker, was born at 1 Filey Avenue, Clapton, London, on 5 November 1926, the elder son of Stanley Joseph Docking Berger (1893–1976), secretary of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants, and his wife ...
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Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984)
Maker: Sir Cecil Beaton
Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984) by Sir Cecil Beaton, 1955 © Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby's
Article
Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster courtier
Kingsley Amis
revised by M. Clare Loughlin-Chow
revised
Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster, was born on 28 August 1906 at 52 Parliament Hill Mansions, north London, the only child of Ernest Edward Betjemann (1872–1934), a furniture manufacturer, and his wife, Mabel Bessie Dawson (1879–1952). The family name, of Dutch or German origin, can be traced back to an immigration in the late eighteenth century. The poet adopted his style of it about the age of twenty-one....
Article
Beverly, William Roxby (1810?–1889), scene-painter
W. J. Lawrence
revised by C. D. Watkinson
Beverly, William Roxby (1810
Article
Biggar [married name Montlake], Helen Manson (1909–1953), sculptor, film-maker, theatre designer, and political activist
Douglas J. Allen
Biggar [married name Montlake], Helen Manson (1909–1953), sculptor, film-maker, theatre designer, and political activist, was born on 25 May 1909 at Dudley Drive, Hyndland, Glasgow, the eldest of three daughters of Hugh and Florence Biggar. She grew up in a socialist household, her father being a Christian socialist and founder member of the ...
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Biggar, Helen Manson (1909–1953)
Maker: Benno Schotz
In
Helen Manson Biggar (1909–1953) by Benno Schotz, 1932 Christie's Images Ltd. (2004)
