Jane Asher
Jane Birkin
Claire Bloom
Eleanor Bron
Samantha Eggar
Julia Foster
Irene Handl
Sue Lloyd
Vivien Merchant
Anna Quayle
Barbara Steele
Rita Tushingham
Carol White
Shani Wallis
Jane Asher
Born on April 5, 1946 in London Jane Asher was the second of three children to Richard and Margaret Asher. Her brother was Peter, who would later become singer to the duo Peter and Gordon and then become a music writer-producer; while younger sister Claire would become a radio personality. The family was intelligent and one friend said to Margaret that her children were so beautiful that they should be in movies. She thought it was a good idea. Jane Asher made her film debut when she was just six with the movie Crash of Science in 1952. As the 50's progressed more child roles followed and by 1961 Asher made her first London stage play in "Will You Be My Father." Then in 1963 Asher became a regular on the BBC music opinion show "Juke Box Jury". It was here that Asher received a scoop in which to interview England's hottest band: The Beatles. She did the job but it also caught the attention of the group's guitarist and co-lead singer Paul McCartney in which they started dating; so much so that McCartney gave Asher's brother Peter the song he had written called "A World Without Love" for him and Gordon to record (naturally, it was a big hit). As for Jane, she made the jump to bigger film roles beginning with The Greengage Summer in 1961 with Kenneth More and Susannah York, then the Disney version of The Prince and the Pauper the next year. In 1964 Asher co-starred with Vincent Price in the horror movie The Masque of the Red Death (directed by Roger Corman and based on the Edgar Allen Poe story)
and then two years later had a crucial role as Annie in the comedy Alfie.
Michael Caine, who played the title character in that movie, said in his autobiography that there were many times in which Paul McCartney would visit the set to see Jane.
A scene from Alfie with Jane Asher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIxB4zCRRCs
It was during this time that Asher would become the American pitch person for Breck shampoo and appear in their commericals. The next year Asher would get engaged to McCartney but it wouldn't last long as she announced on a British talk show in July 1968 that she was breaking up with him, because as she explained he was with another girl and she was too young to settle down. Asher continued to do more film roles that included the William Shakespeare adaptation of The Winter's Tale in 1969 and Deep End in 1970.
In 1971 Asher met professional cartoonist Gerald Scarfe and a serious relationship developed. Both of them would have a child-a daughter named Katie in 1974 (sadly, Jane's father Richard would die in 1979 after he overdosed on sleeping pills). It wasn't until 1981 that the two would finally marry and they had two more children: Sons Alexander and Rory. Asher continued to act with TV becoming her home as she starred in numerous TV movies and series for BBC. Then she wrote three novels and in 1990, she began her second love: Baking. As she opened her own bakery in Chelsea. Today Asher continues to act as she is now set to jump into another British TV show: The hospital program "Holby City". She even has her own profile on MySpace! (how many people in their sixties can make that claim?)
Jane Birkin
Born in London on December 14, 1946 Jane Birkin was the daughter to actress and singer Judy Campbell while her father was David Birkin. The Birkins raised Jane in the British countryside and in the small town of Chelsea. But all that would change when Jane became a teenager and in 1964 Birkin began to embrace the "Swinging England" lifestyle that had exploded the previous year. That year she landed an acting part in the stage version of "Carving a Statue" based on Graham Greene's novel. That was followed by the musical "Passion Flower Hotel" in Wales. Then Birkin made her first movie by playing a small role in the Richard Lester comedy The Knack...And How to Get It.
It was here that she met the film's composer John Barry (who became famous for doing the music for James Bond). Before anyone knew it, they married in 1965. But it was a disaster as the two divorced a year-and-a-half later and the birth of daughter Katie made it worse. Birkin continued to do small parts in movies which included Kaleidoscope
and the movie that won her fame: Blow-Up
(author J. Hoberman in his book "The Dream Life" believes that film was the best movie of the 60's). But it also made her notorious as she and co-star Gillian Hills
would have the first ever nude scene in a major movie.
In 1967 Birkin made the difficult decision of moving to France. She appeared in the movie Slogan
and then Wonderwall.
It was in that time that Birkin was beginning to love singer Serge Gainsbourg. In 1969 he and Birkin made a song for his album entitled "I Love You, Me Neither" that became controversial (even to France), in which in-between lyric verses there were female moanings related to lovemaking and the song ended with Birkin made wailing sounds related to an orgasm (a rumor had broken out that she and Gainsbourg were having sex in the recording studio as it was being taped!). Birkin's relationship with Gainsbourg would last until they broke up in 1980; they had a daughter named Charlotte in 1971. Since the 1970's Birkin has made over thirty movies (including the Agatha Christie films Death on the Nile and Evil Under the Sun ) and many music albums in France. In 1982 Birkin became a mother again as she gave birth to another daughter-Louise from director Jacques Doillin.
Clarie Bloom
Born in Finchley, England in 1931 Claire Bloom was the daughter to Edward Blume and Elizabeth Grew-both of Russian and Polish decent. Bloom went to Badmintion School in Bristol, then to Guildhall School, and Central School for Speech and Drama. In 1946 Bloom made her stage debut at the Oxford Theatre. The next year she made her first London play-the Christopher Fry adaptation of "The Lady's Not For Burning" and then received praise for playing Ophelia in "Hamlet". That same year Bloom made her first film in The Blind Goddess. Four years later she starred with Charlie Chaplin in Limelight; which became her breakout role. More movie roles followed and in 1955 she co-stared with Lawrence Olivier in Richard III. Four years later, she co-starred again with Richard Burton (they had previously been in Alexander the Great) in Look Back in Anger. As the 60's began Bloom began to appear in more American features which included The Chapman Report in 1962, The Haunting the next year (she played the first lesbian character in a major movie),
The Outrage the year after that, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold in 1965 (again with Richard Burton-see previous post for more details),
and Charly in 1968 in which she played Cliff Robertson's therapist.
Over her career Bloom was married three times: To Rod Steiger in 1959 (they had a daughter named Anna and divorced in 1969 which strangely enough came in the same year they co-starred in The Illustrated Man),
to stage producer Hillard Elkins that same year (they divorced in 1972), and to author Phillip Roth in 1990 (they divorced five years later). At 76, Bloom is still continuing to act (not to mention looking beautiful even for her age)
and last year she co-starred with Billy Zane in the London play "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" (nearly 60 years after she made her debut!).
Eleanor Bron
Born in Stanmore, England (in the region of Middlesex) on March 14, 1940, Eleanor Bron was raised by parents that were Jewish and Russian (Bron was short for Bronstein). She went to school in north London then to college in Cambridge. In 1959 at the age of 19 Bron began her acting career by appearing in Cambridge Footlights's comedy showcase entitled "The Last Laugh". Bron became the first woman to ever perform in the group. It was here that she met another new actor-comedian named Peter Cook. During the early 1960's (the baby steps for the Swinging England era) Bron appeared and wrote in a series of TV comedies for the BBC and Channel 4 which included "Not So Much a Programme", "More a Way of Life", and "My Father Knew Lloyd George". In 1965 Bron got her big break when she made her first film in The Beatles' movie Help!
(it was her presence that inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney to write the song "Eleanor Rigby")
The next year Bron had a small role playing the doctor who examines Michael Caine's title role in the movie Alfie.
Then in 1967 Bron hit the big time with Two For the Road, in which she plays Cathy-who was Mark's (Albert Finney) former girlfriend now married to Howard Manchester (William Daniels).
The movie was directed by Stanley Doren (in his audio commentary for the movie's DVD Donen praise Bron by saying that he hadn't never seen a hard working actress like her and could change her British accent into another in a heartbeat) and he would use her for his next movie: The comedy Bedazzled which re teamed her with Cook and his comedy partner Dudley Moore. Bron plays Margaret Spencer-a waitress in which Stanley Moon (Moore) wants to date
but he can't and George Spigott a.k.a. The Devil (Cook) tries to give him seven wishes so that he can persue her. Bron's performance in that movie is probably the funniest I have ever seen from any actress in a comedy.
My favorite scene from Bedazzled featuring Bron with Dudley Moore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUdc2pXNnO0
She then appeared in A Touch of Love in 1969. After the sixties ended Bron began to work in more diverse projects starting with her supporting role in the controversial Ken Russell film Women in Love in 1970,
then co-staring with Lynn Redgrave in the comedy The National Health in 1973 (the movie was re-titled in America as Nurse Norton's Affair). In 1975 Bron starred in the London musical "The Card". She even played herself and multiple roles (not to mention she also wrote the screenplay) in the movie The Secret Policeman's Ball in 1979. In 1984 Bron made an appearance on Britain's cult TV show "Doctor Who" in which she played Kara in the episode titled "Revelation of the Daleks". The next year Bron returned to the London stage in the drama "The Dutchess of Malfi". More work followed as the 80's progressed then in 1994 Bron appeared in the British sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" where she played Patsy's (Joanna Lumley) mother in the episode "Birth." Bron continued to appear in movies in the 90's that included the family films Black Beauty in 1994 and A Little Princess the next year. In 2000 she played Mrs. Peniston in the period film The House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson. Her most recent movie was Wimbledon in 2004.
Along the way Bron wrote books that included "Life and Other Punctures" about her experiences of riding a bike in France and Holland, "The Pillow Book of Eleanor Bron" about her life experiences, and the novel "Double Take." Bron was married to designer Cedric Price until his death in 2003. Like Jane Asher Bron also had a brother (named Gerry) that has a successful career in music.
Samantha Eggar
Born Victoria Samantha Eggar in London on March 5, 1939 she raised by her father Ralph-who was in the British Army and her mother was Murial-an immigrant from Holland. She began to take up acting as a teen and went to many schools that taught Shakespeare. During a performance (she did the Shakespeare plays "A Midsummers Night's Dream", "Twelfth Night," "The Taming of the Shrew", and "Hamlet" during the decade) she was discovered by an agent and he put her in Eggar's first movie: As a college student Josie in The Wild and the Willing in 1961. With this she used her middle name and was now Samantha Eggar. For the next two years Eggar appeared in a series of small roles for movies and TV (that included the British TV series "The Saint"). Then in 1965 she was given her first leading lady role in a movie and it was a doozy: The Collector. In this melodrama directed by William Wyler, she played Miranda Grey-a young girl who gets abused and kidnapped by a troubled young man (Terrence Stamp) who collects butterflies.
With this role Eggar won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival that year,
then won the Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Oscar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wspKQ2Zpfx0
After co-starring in the movie Risen From the Ashes that same year Eggar played Christine Easton in the comedy Walk, Don't Run in 1966. Her co-star was Cary Grant; in what would be his last movie before retiring (he picked the right time to do that).
The next year she played Emma Fairfax in the musical Doctor Doolittle with Rex Harrison. Since the 1970's Eggar has been in many movies and TV shows (beginning with The Molly McGuires and The Walking Stick in 1970).
She was married to Tom Stern in 1964 and had two children before divorcing in 1971.
Julia Foster
Born on August 2, 1943 in Lewes, England (in the region of Sussex) Julia Foster became an instant British star on stage and then on screen. Her breakthrough role came in her third movie-The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner which was directed by Tony Richardson in 1962.
For the next two years Foster would appear in five movies that included The Small World of Sammy Lee, Two Left Feet, The Bargee, The System, and One Way Pendulum. She then made her first London play: "Traveling Light" in 1965. Then in 1966 Foster gave a breakthrough performance in the comedy Alfie (I think you see where this is going).
She plays Gilda-who breaks up with Michael Caine's title character even though she is pregnant with his child (he decides to give the child, a son named Malcolm, to her next lover). The movie was released by Paramount and Foster would appear in the studio's next film-the musical Half a Sixpence in 1967.
She played Ann-in which Arthur Kipps (Tommy Steele) pursues her and marries Ann. Foster returned to the London for the rest of the 60's and in 1971 she returned to the big screen with Percy, followed by All Coppers Are the next year, and The Great McGonagall in 1974. During the 70's and 80's Foster also appeared in a fistful of comedy series for the BBC that included "Good Girl", "The Cabbage Patch", and "News at Twelve". Foster has been married twice: The first to Lionel Martin-the lead singer for The British Invasion group The Four Pennies, in the mid-sixties and currently to doctor Bruce Fogle (they had a son named Benjamin who has also become famous). In recent years and like her Alfie co-star Jane Asher Foster has taken up a second job-by selling furniture.
Irene Handl
Irene Handl was a British actress long before the British Invasion occurred in the 1960's (she was born in 1901 by the way). She had been in many British movies in the 1940's and 50's including Spellbound, Brief Encounter, and I'm All Right, Jack with Peter Sellers in 1959. But it was in the 60's that Handl would make her mark on the decade. First she would co-star with Sellers again in Heavens Above! in 1963,
then in Morgan! with David Warner and Vanessa Redgrave and directed by Karel Reisz in 1966, the comedy The Wrong Box with Michael Caine, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Ralph Richardson, and John Mills also from that year,
Smashing Time in 1967 with Rita Tushingham and Vanessa's sister Lynn Redgrave and directed by Desmond Davis in this satire on Swinging London, Wonderwall with Jane Birkin in 1968, and lastly The Italian Job, again with Caine in 1969.
Handl died in 1987 at 85 and she never married.
Sue Lloyd
Born on August 7, 1939 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk Sue Lloyd started out as a dancer up until she was 11 and when she was a teenager she went to become a model before she turned to acting. Her breakthrough role came in 1965 when she played Jean Courtney in the spy film The Ipcress File.
It was a role that she would play again thirty years later in the TV movie Bullet to Beijing. But TV became her favorite form of acting as she appeared in the British TV shows "The Saint" with Roger Moore, "Sentimental Agent", "The Avengers", "The Baron", "Apartment S", and later on with "Jason King", and "The Persuaders" (with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore again) in the 70's.
In 1998, she published her autobiography entitled "It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time."
Vivien Merchant
Born in 1929 in Manchester, England Vivien Merchant was noted for marrying writer Harry Pinter in 1956 and she would make he acting debut on British TV in 1960. But it wasn't until 1966 that she would have her big breakthrough by playing Lily in the movie (you guessed it) Alfie.
She would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress (she is the first on the left in the photo above). It would be followed by Accident with Dirk Bogarde the next year
(written by her husband and it was the first movie for Michael York) and Alfred the Great with David Hemmings in 1969.
In 1972 Merchant played Mrs. Oxford in director Alfred Hitchock's suspense film Frenzy. That followed The Homecoming the next year and The Maidsin 1974 (her co-stars were Glenda Jackson and Susannah York). In 1980 Pinter filed for divorce because her drinking habits had turned out-of-control. Merchant died from heart failure just two years later.
Anna Quayle
Born in London on October 6, 1936 Anna Quayle (her height was 5'10) came from a family in which her father was British and her mother was Irish. She landed her first acting role in Scotland in a play titled "Better Late" in 1956 and made her London debut in the play "Look Who's Here!" in 1960. Her big break came in 1962 when she went to America and to New York where she starred in the Broadway musical "Stop the World I Want to Get Off". She would win a Tony the next year. After that Quayle went back to England where she made her first film-The Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night where she had a small role as Millie. It would be followed by The Sandwich Man and Drop Dead Darling in 1966 then she had small roles in Casino Royale (as Frau Hoffner)
and Smashing Time in 1967. In 1968 she played Baroness Bomburst in the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
She even appeared in one episode of "The Avengers" in 1967.
Barbara Steele
Born on December 19, 1938 in Birkinhead, England (in the Cheshire area) Barbara Steele became the queen of the horror movie during the 1960's. Steele wanted to paint to begin with but then she joined an acting class in England when she was 18 in 1957. She made her first movie the next year in the British comedy Bachelor of Hearts. Then the next year Steele surprised everyone by going to Italy (much like what Jane Birkin would later do) after when she got the leading role as a witch in the horror film Black Sunday.
The movie was noted for being the first directed movie for Mario Bava and when it was released in 1960, the film caused a sensation-especially for Steele's performance and film historians today believe Black Sunday is at the top of the best horror movies of the 60's. The next year Steele went to America to make her first American movie-the horror film The Pit and The Pendulum with Vincent Price.
Then Steele returned to Europe where she did The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock in 1962 and then Steele got a message from famed Italian director Federico Fellini asking if she was interested in taking a small part in his movie 8 1/2. She agreed and when it was released in 1963 it was a hit. But Steele wanted to do horror and did as the 60's dragged on: The Spectre and The Ghost that same year,
Castle of Blood and The Long Hair of Death in 1964, Nightmare Castle in 1965, and Young Torless in 1967 (she even did the Italian comedy The Manaics in '64).
It was during this time that Steele became a regular on the NBC spy show "I Spy".
When she did the Italian horror movie The Crimson Cult in 1968 the filmmakers even dubbed her voice!
As the 60's ended changes were happening to Steele: She had just married American writer James Poe and didn't do another movie for five years. When asked why she said that she didn't "want to climb out of another freaking coffin!" Since 1974 Steele has done many roles for movies and TV; as well as working behind the camera. In 1991 she appeared in the new version of "Dark Shadows".
Rita Tushingham
Born in Liverpool, England on March 14, 1942 Rita Tushingham was hands down the "Mod Diva" of the British film industry in the 60's. As a child Tushingham wanted to become an actress and enrolled at the Liverpool Playhouse at 16. When she was eighteen a film producer gave Tushingham a screen test after seeing her in one of the plays. She passed it and was given the lead role in the movie A Taste of Honey; was was the first movie for Tony Richardson as director. She played Jo-a young girl who has a one-night stand with a black sailor and becomes pregnant (very taboo at the time).
When the movie was released in 1961 it caused a sensation in both England and America. Tushingham then returned to the stage that year for the plays "The Kitchen" and the Ann Jellicoe play "The Knack" (she also co-directed) where Tushingham played Nancy Jones. The next year she reteamed with Tony Richardson for the Royal Court Theatre's version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It was this play that marked the first acting role for Lynn Redgrave (who would become Tushingham's best friend and Richardson would marry Lynn's sister Vanessa that year). It was this play that Tushingham met Terry Bicknell-who was a photographer and working for the BBC. They would marry that December (they would have two daughters named Dodonna and Aisha before divorcing). That would be followed by movies like The Leather Boys also in 1962 and A Place to Go in 1963.
In 1964 Tushingham co-stared again with Lynn Redgrave in the movie The Girl With Green Eyes with Peter Finch and directed by Desmond Davis.
Then in 1965 Tushingham's stardom became huge. First she repeated her role of Nancy Jones in the film version of Ann Jellicoe's "The Knack" as it was now retitled The Knack...And How to Get It.
The film was directed by American director Richard Lester who had already done The Beatles movies A Hard Day's Night and Help! The movie was a huge hit and it won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival that year. In the same year Tushingham played the crucial role of Tonya in David Lean's epic film Doctor Zhivago.
The next year in 1966 she starred in the adventure-drama The Trap.
She played Eve-who is deaf (Tushingham never says a word of dialogue!) and the film was a breakthrough for her co-star: Oliver Reed. Then in 1967 Tushingham reteamed again with Lynn Redgrave and director Desmomd Davis for the movie Smashing Time.
The movie was a comedy about Brenda and Yvonne-two Brits who come to London during its swinging heyday and become famous. The film also featured Michael York in his third movie.
I saw this movie and it was great (more about it later). In 1968 Tushingham co-stared with Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni in the heist comedy Diamonds For Breakfast and then in the same year teamed with Michael York again for the comedy The Guru.
It was one of the early films for James Ivory and Ismael Merchant.
Then Tushingham finished the decade by returning to the stage and playing dual roles in another Ann Jellicoe play titled "The Giveaway". For the next several years Tushingham would do some not-good movies. Then in 1981 she married again-this time to Middle Eastern cinematogapher Ousama Rawi. They divorced in 1996. Tushingham's last movie was in Being Julia in 2004 where she played Annette Bening's aunt. In 2005 she received stunning news that her daughter Aisha had breast cancer (at only 33) thus leading Tushingham to become an advisor for the fight for breast cancer. She now spends time in England and Germany.
Carol White
Born in London on April 1, 1941 Carol White became an actress before she was a teenager and made small roles in movies starting with Moby Dick and Around the World in 80 Days in 1956, then Carry on Teacher in 1959, Beat Girl in 1960, and even a walk-on role in The Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night. Then in 1965 she made a breakthrough role playing Cathy Ward in the British TV series "The Wednesday Play". She appeared in three shows that included "Cathy Come Home"
and "Up the Junction" (a movie version with White would follow two years later).
That lead to movie roles in Poor Cow with Terrence Stamp
and I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name with Oliver Reed (spoiler time: Her character gets into a car crash and is burned to death)-both in 1967. In 1968 she appeared in The Fixer and Daddy's Gone-a-Hunting.
And while Rita Tushingham was one of the most successful British actresses in the 60's White became the most tragic. Because during this time in the late-1960's White became addicted to alcohol and prescripted drugs. Even worse she was a mananizer and by the mid-1970's White left England for Hollywood and was hanging out with everyone from Warren Beatty to Frank Sinatra.
She then returned to London after a while; hoping to revive her career and she got a break when playwright Neil Dunn gave her the lead role in his comedy play "Streamming" at the West End Comedy Theatre. But unfortunely White was late at times when the play was supposed to begin and couldn't remember her lines. The result: She was fired by the director. In 1981 White published her autobiography "Carol Come Home" in which she wrote that she gained 75 pounds between 1967 to 1977 and she didn't want to become an actress. As the 80's wore on White began to drink and take more pills heavily while trying to maintain her acting career and moving back to Los Angeles (one of her acting roles in the 70's was the TV movie "Helter Skelter" in which she played Sharon Tate and the comparisons between the two actresses are so undenible that it is scary). On September 16, 1991 Carol White was found dead in her apartment at the age of 50. Some have said it was either overdose of sleeping pills or liver failure. And like her character Georgina in I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name she flamed out.
Shani Wallis
Shani Wallis was born in London on April 14, 1938. She starting acting at four and even before she was a teenager Wallis became a full-time actress at the Royal Academy of Dramantic Art in 1952. At 14 she was the youngest performer (male or female) to ever enroll. She made her first play-"Call Me Madam" in London that March.
For the next several years Wallis appeared in a bunch of musical and comedy plays before she headed to America. Wallis became a singer (much like what Julie Andrews and Petula Clark would do in the next several years) where she headlined with Jerry Lewis at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, at Disneyland, touring with Liberace, and back in her home city in London at the Palladium. In 1957 she appeared in her first movie-a supporting role in the Charlie Chaplin film A King in New York. Then she did the musicals "South Pacific", "The King and I", and "Bells Are Ringing". Wallis made her first Broadway play in May 1966-"A Time For Singing". It was this role that caught attention of executives at Columbia Pictures. In 1967 she was approached by the studio's executives and British director Carol Reed. They asked Wallis if she could take the role of Nancy
-the girlfriend to Bill Skyles (Oliver Reed-like Alfie, I think you see where this is going) in the movie version of Oliver!
She agreed and the film was a huge hit when it was released in 1968 and Wallis was officially a star.
A scene from the movie with Wallis in 1968:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d87ZgFO5D3s
She continued to appear in plays such as "42nd Street" in 1985 and then returned to London in 1997 for the musical "Always".
Since 1965 Wallis has been married to Bernie Rich. They had a daughter named Rebecca; who has become a costume designer and Wallis in the process became a U.S. citizen.
That is all for now. More to come.
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