The Informer - Jean Marsh + Heather Sears In Rare Promotional Shot [1966]
Picture above: Publicity Shot of Heather Sears and Jean Marsh, star in the new Rediffusion Television series 'The Informer', 20th July 1966. Thanks to Simon M. for finding this photograph.
I hope everyone is well. Please take good care of yourselves and one another in these unusual times.
Further reading:
The Informer - Sir Ridley Scott - Radio 2 interview clip on Ian Hendry
And now for something completely different. If you want something to really lift your spirits I can recommend watching Mirko and Valerio - two twelve-year-old Italian twins - playing Coldplay's Viva La Vida! during home-isolation. Enjoy.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry - Rare Collection Of Photographs Discovered In Newpaper Media Archive In Iceland
Picture above: Ian Hendry - Black and white promotional still from Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun [1969]
This article is published on the eve of the anniversary of Ian Hendry's birth - born on January 13th 1931.
The following is a set of rare photographs which once formed part of a newspaper's media archive in Iceland, The closure of the paper is a sign of the times with the increasing competition and trend to all things digital but it does provide us with a great collection of photographs to mark the anniversary of Ian's birth. Enjoy!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Penny Finzel - Rare Photograph From Penny's Personal Collection - The Beauty Jungle [1964]
Picture: Ian Hendry with Penny Finzel [copyright: Penny Finzel]
Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to Penny Finzel who contacted me recently via the website contact form.
Penny was chosen to be an extra in the film, The Beauty Jungle [1964], in which Ian played the lead. She can be seen playing Miss Bognor Regis in the line-up.
This photograph of Penny and Ian together, taken during a break in filming, is a wonderful memory and a charming photograph.
She recalls some of her memories below, including what it was like meeting and working with Ian:
"Also, have a few newspaper cuttings of us, when I was Miss Bognor Regis ... The local papers wanted Ian and myself for photoshoot... 1964 The Beauty Jungle (dreadful film at the time !) was filmed at the Butlins Holiday Camp, in Bognor. Hope this one helps until I find the cuttings. Fell madly in love with Ian, of course, he was very caring and found him easy to talk to. Was so sad to read of his early demise."
Any newspaper cuttings will be added to this article, as and when. They are currently lost on Penny's computer hard drive - somewhere -� something that I think we can all relate too!
_______________________________________________
__________________________________________
Showing Sunday 15 September on #TalkingPicturesTV
Directed by Val Guest
22:00 THE BEAUTY JUNGLE (1964) comedy drama
Starring #JanetteScott #IanHendry #EdmondPurdom #SidJames #RonaldFraser #TommyTrinder #KayWalsh #NormanBird #JaninaFaye #JerryDesmonde #LionelBlair #FrancisMatthews #SterlingMoss
Uncredited appearance by #ValerieVanOst
On holiday in Weston-Super-Mare, Shirley takes part in the seaside resort's rather tawdry beauty contest, hosted by the endlessly effervescent Tommy Trinder, (playing himself), although a sudden downpour spoils the event and Shirley doesn't win. But journalist Don is not going to let a little setback like that bother him and persists in trying to convince Shirley to try again, despite her protests that she isn't interested in further contests. However, she gets quite a reaction when she returns to work in Bristol and makes a defiant decision to leave her life behind and enter competitions as a career�..
A good role for Ian Hendry who was on the verge of becoming a star name at this junction of his career, though sadly he never quite made the �A� list of stars. A good British sixties feature with direction from Val Guest who could turn his hand � and frequently did � to directing everything from comedies to horror.
The actress Valerie Van Ost, who enjoyed playing a small uncredited role in the film sadly passed away on 10 September 2019, but the film serves as a wonderful reminder of the kind of glamorous roles we were used to seeing her in.
Lots of lovely location filming in Weston-Super-Mare, Bristol and London (among others) from the sixties to enjoy.
Comments from the Talking Pictures TV Facebook page:
__________________________________________
On Location - Then And Now - The Beauty Jungle
Reel Streets website has done an excellent job of finding the locations used in the film. To see their then and now portfolio - click here.
Sid James On Set
Picture: Sid James on set during the filming of The Beauty Jungle [1964]
For those who would like to read more about the film, there are a number of articles which can all be found via the link below:
Articles - The Beauty Jungle [1964]
Thanks again to Penny for sharing your memories of Ian.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry's Last Acting Role - As Davey Jones in Brookside [1984]
Picture: Ian Hendry as Davey Jones in Brookside [1984]
Ian Hendry's last role was playing the part of Davey Jones in the TV soap-opera, Brookside. It was filmed in the Spring of 1984 and broadcast between 7th March and 21st March. Five episodes in total, no.s 142-146:
Ep. 142 - 'Etiquette' [broadcast on 7th March 1984]
Ep. 143 - 'King Rat' [broadcast on 13th March 1984]
Ep. 144 - 'Tights' [broadcast on 14th March 1984]
Ep. 145 - 'Transport' [broadcast on 20th March 1984]
Ep. 146 - 'Off' [broadcast on 21st March 1984]
In his biography, Rick Tomlinson captures the moment he first met Ian Hendry on set:
�Hendry had been one of the most handsome actors of his generation. He married an actress, Janet Munro, and they were always being photographed by society magazines and showbiz papers.
This is the man I expected to meet, but the man who arrived on set that day looked awful. Someone said he�d recovered from throat cancer and I know he suffered from problems with alcohol.
He was staying at the Adelphi Hotel and someone picked him up every morning and brought him to set to make sure he arrived on time. He must have ached inside when he saw how far he had fallen. From being a huge star he had become a bit-part actor in a soap opera.
I don�t put myself anywhere near the same class as Ian Hendry. He was a real actor. But if the roles dry up tomorrow, I know I can make a living playing the banjo and putting on little variety shows.
Ian Hendry didn�t have that luxury. Acting is all he knew.�
Ricky Tomlinson [2008]
As Gabriel Hershman points out in his biography on Ian, he didn't have throat cancer but had had surgery on his throat shortly before his appearance in the soap. His distinctive voice, one of the trademarks of his craft, struggled at times to deliver the lines. It is certainly not an easy watch but it is significant in that it marks the end of a career spanning four decades, 600+ TV performances and 30+ films.
Gabriel's biography also includes interviews with actor Michael Tierney and director Chris Clough. Their recollections are heartening as, despite Ian's health issues, he appears to have enjoyed his spell working in Liverpool.
Michael Tierney recalled:
"He was underrated and unsung. He'd done so much stuff before Brookside. He'd been told to lay off the booze. he was on a lager a day. He was very open and very honest, and in an odd way, meeting him was very chastening. He was a little bowed, quite stricken but a life-affirming character. He'd had a colourful life.
Before I was introduced to him I'd heard stories about him - that he'd been difficult. He'd just had a throat operation and his voice sounded like a board vibrating. It was much drier. He was very wounded, in pain and suffering, but very warm. He took me up on something bitter I'd said. I was struck by his gentleness.
I think he'd settled accounts with his life. He looked on it as a real positive. It was a bit like talking to a favourite uncle. My memory of him was of a person of depth and charisma - with the charm of a feeling man who doesn't show his feelings - at least not in an ostentatious way."
Tragically, just 9 months later on 24th December 1984, Ian died at his home in North London.
Compilation Video - Ian Hendry as Davey Jones in Brookside
Thanks to Tim S. for locating the VHS recordings of Ian's last role and for compiling this video from the five episodes of Brookside that he appeared in.
Still From Brookside
Picture: Ian Hendry as Davey Jones in Brookside [1984]
Brookside [1982 - 2003]
Brookside�is a British�soap opera�set in�Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of�Channel 4�on 2 November 1982 and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003. Originally intended to be called�Meadowcroft,�the series was produced by�Lime Pictures�(then�Mersey Television), and it was conceived by�Phil Redmond�who also devised�Grange Hill(1978�2008) and�Hollyoaks�(1995�present).
Brookside became very successful and was often Channel 4's highest-rated programme for a number of years in the mid-1980s, with audiences regularly in excess of nine million viewers.�It is notable for realistic and socially challenging storylines.�From the mid-1990s, it began raising more controversial subjects under the guidance of new producers such as�Mal Young�and�Paul Marquess.�It is especially well known for broadcasting the first pre-watershed�lesbian�kiss on British television in 1994, as well as a powerful�domestic abuse�storyline resulting in�murder.�In 1996, the series experienced an extreme backlash from viewers when it featured a hugely controversial storyline of an�incestuous�sexual relationship between two�sibling�characters.
Although the series had a long and successful run, by 2000 its viewing figures were in terminal decline, and low ratings eventually led to its cancellation in June 2003.�The final episode was broadcast on 4 November 2003 and was watched by around two million viewers
Picture: The first family of Brookside's opening episode in November 1982. Sue Johnston (Sheila Grant) Shelagh O'Hara (Karen Grant), Simon O'Brien (Damon Grant), Ricky Tomlinson (Robert Grant) and Paul Usher (Barry Grant).
Brookside Trivia
To get a realistic look for the series, creator and producer Phil Redmond opted to record the program in real buildings rather than studio sets. Six houses were bought from a development on Lord Sefton's old estate in Liverpool. After meeting the builders and seeing the plans, Redmond decided that one road stood out. It had a brook running alongside it, hence the name 'Brookside'. The builders were supplied with a list of the characters and their profiles so they could each be tailored to them.
Three other houses were bought for office space, three more for technical equipment and one was equipped as a canteen. They were bought for �25,000 each. After the initial outlay for the houses, in the long run, the program would be cheaper to record on the one site instead of building, storing and knocking down studio sets. The buildings were not heated for the first year, as it was thought that the filming lights would heat up the buildings, but as soon as recording commenced newer improved lights that were significantly cooler were introduced so the production team and actors suffered as a result. Three garages were added to the properties for additional equipment stores.
The shopping parade was opened in 1991 to coincide with the 1000th episode. The building was incorporated into the old college building that formed the administration offices of Mersey Television. The fluorescent lights in the shops were designed especially for use in television. The flowers in the florist were silk, not real flowers, so they did not have to be replaced.
In the final few episodes, a drug dealer named "Jack Michaelson" moved into Brookside Close. This is a play on the name Michael Jackson, the Channel 4 controller who had cancelled the soap.
The last resident to leave Brookside Close, Jimmy Corkhill, added the letter 'd' to the word 'Close', symbolically signalling the end of the soap.
Sue Johnston and Ricky Tomlinson played popular couple Sheila and Bobby Grant from the show's inception in 1982 until Tomlinson's departure in 1988. They would in 1998 go on to play another married couple, Barbara and Jim Royle, in the hugely successful BBC comedy The Royle Family.
_____________________________________________
Final Thoughts...
There are no words that make the retelling of the end of Ian's life any easier. It is always a mixture of tragedy and great sadness. A script can always be rewritten, a film or a play reworked but real life is a much less sympathetic and flexible medium.
In sharing Ian's story, however, it is my hope that his life is given context and light. And that we also remember him for his creativity, warmth and the many joyful moments that he gave us too.
On Ian's memorial stone at Golders Green Crematorium is carved the epitaph:
�He cared and we loved him for it"
Now that's a beautiful way for anyone to be remembered.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry - Rare B+W Still From The Film, This Is My Street [1964]
Picture above: Ian Hendry - B+W still from the film, This Is My Street [1964]
Thanks to Tim S. for sending me this picture. It's one that I'd not seen before. There are not too many from the film in circulation.
It's a timely find as the film receives its premiere on Talking Pictures TV on August 3rd 2019 at 8 pm.
Picture: Original artwork poster by Tom Chantrell. Further discussion of his work in this article.
From Wikipedia:
This Is My Street�is a 1964 British�drama film�directed by�Sidney Hayers�and starring�Ian Hendry,�June Ritchie,�Avice Landone,�John Hurt�and�Meredith Edwards. The screenplay is by�Bill MacIlwraith�from a novel by Nan Maynard. It concerns a bored�housewife living in a run-down�inner-city�London house who begins an affair with the lodger, a�salesman.
The pictures below are from the same film,� found a couple of years ago and added to the collection.
Video Trailer - This Is My Street [1964]
The DVD is available from Network. This is from their Youtube Channel.
Stills From The DVD Gallery
Cameo Appearance By Janet Munro
If you look closely, you can see Janet Munro making an uncredited guest appearance in the film - sitting in the rollercoaster car immediately behind Ian Hendry and June Ritchie.
Chris Williams - Personal Reflections On 'This Is My Street'
From the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page:
"Remembered to record This is my Street when it was shown the second time, and I watched it yesterday.
These social dramas were very popular in the sixties with films like Saturday night Sunday morning, A taste of Honey, and Cathy Come Home. They were�a genre sometimes referred to as �Kitchen sink realism�. I think you could also say they were films designed to promote good moral behaviour and show that a promiscuous life is fraught with problems and danger.
What an interesting cast! A very young John Hurt, Mike Pratt and Annette Andre who would go on to work together in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Tom Adams who was a potential James Bond at one point, and Patrick Cargill who became a very successful sit-com actor, but also played No2 in an episode of The Prisoner called Hammer into Anvil (which is arguably one of the best in the series) showing a much darker side to his acting. June Ritchie of course who had made her name two years earlier in A Kind of Loving alongside Alan Bates. It�s a smorgasbord of 60�s talent, not to mention Ian Hendry in the starring role.
I think Ian was at his peak around this time having had the starring role in Live now pay later, The Girl in the Headlines, and with The Beauty Jungle, Repulsion, and The Hill yet to come. He was clearly held in high regard and was in high demand for these sort of roles, and why not. He is as good in this film as anything I�ve ever seen him in. Understated, but effective in a minimalist sort of way with tremendous impact and charisma. A great film. Thanks again for the heads up on this."
Ian Hendry - Live Now, Pay Later [1962]
The still below is also from the Tim S. collection. A classic pose by the side of a shiny new black car, taken at around the same time it is understood that Ian also had an audition for the part of James Bond - for the first film in the franchise, Dr, No. That part, of course, went to Sean Connery and the rest is history, but it's not hard to see a glimpse of 007 in this picture.
Ian did, however, still go on to star as James Bond [as 006] in the spoof version of Casino Royale in 1967. Sadly, most of his scene ended up on the cutting room floor which is a real shame as, by all accounts, it sounds like it could have been one of the funniest bits in what was otherwise a bizarre, chaotic and surreal project.
If you haven't listened to it already, I can highly recommend the in-depth interview with Joseph McGrath, one of several directors to work on the film, where he also discusses Ian's scene with Ursula Andress.
Ian did 'appear' fleetingly in Casino Royale, as a corpse covered with a blanket as it was dispatched unceremoniously down a disposal shute! We don't see his entrance, but we do see his exit. More details included in the article with the McGrath interview.
Thanks again to Tim for his contributions and help with this article.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Assassin [1973] - Ian Hendry Played A Government Assassin In This British Film Directed by Peter Crane [Production By Pemini Organisation/ Soundtrack By Zack Laurence]
Picture above: Ian Hendry in a scene from the film 'Assassin' [1973]
[Article Update] 'Shoot Out' by Zack Laurence - 2nd tune from the original film soundtrack discovered.
This article also includes a new video which features 'Escape' and 'Shoot Out' by Zack Laurence, taken from the film's original soundtrack. I've not been able to find the film's main title music yet - 'Assassin Theme' - but am working on it!
Assassin [1973] - Directed By Peter Crane
I received an interesting message from Gabriel Hershman recently, mentioning an email that he had received from someone who knows Peter Crane, who also worked on Assassin and who had helped Gabriel previously with some anecdotes for his biography on Ian Hendry.
Assassin is a 1973 British thriller film written by Michael Sloan, directed by Peter Crane and starring Ian Hendry, Edward Judd and Frank Windsor. Ian was cast in the lead role, an assassin hired by the British government to kill a Ministry of Defence official suspected of leaking secrets.
It received mixed reviews when it was released and seems to have subsequently disappeared and been 'lost' in the passage of time. The good news is that it isn't lost, the BFI hold a copy of it in their vaults. The bad news is that they don't have plans to release it anytime soon, but I am reliably informed that they will now be reviewing the copy that they do have - to assess it's condition and it's worthiness for release. Safe to say I am not holding my breath - well not just yet.
I tried to locate a copy of the film a couple of years ago and ended up exchanging several emails with Peter Crane himself. Peter wasn't sure if he still had a copy or not and was in the US at the time I contacted him. That line of enquiry eventually came to a close and so Assassin was put on the back-burner. But there may just be a glimmer of hope. Whilst the BFI have no immediate [or distant] plans to release the film, Gabriel's contact mentioned that there were some plans to release it as part of a box-set, possibly in the next couple of years.
Again, I wouldn't hold your breath just yet, but the information is from a reliable source and a few things that I've since found out since about the Production Company - The Pemini Organisation - may yield further clues to this story.
The Pemini Organisation - Production Company
Assassin was produced by a company called The Pemini Organisation Limited. A British Company that appears to have been formed some time in the late 60s and was still trading in the late 70s/ early 80s.
The Pemini Organisation was responsible for producing three films in the 70s, all directed by Peter Crane, so that may give us a clue to finding out who now owns the rights to them and who may possibly be thinking of re-releasing them.
This is just pure conjecture at this stage, but if Assassin were to be re-released in a box-set, might it not be with the two other films produced by Pemini?
The three films are:
1. Hunted (1972)�
41 mins, Colour [Eastmancolor]
Starring June Ritchie and Edward Woodward.
A short thriller remade as�Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Hunted: Part 1 (1988)
2. Assassin (1973)�
83 mins, Colour [Technicolor]
Starring Ian Hendry, Edward Judd, Frank Windsor and Ray Brooks.
3. Moments (1974)
102 mins, Colour [Eastmancolor]
Starring Keith Michell, Peter Samuelson, Angharad Rees Chrissy, Bill Fraser and Jeanette Sterke.
Plot: A depressed middle-aged man contemplates suicide while visiting the hotel resort where he spent happy moments with his parents in his youth. He meets a woman by chance and falls for her. Or does he?
Zack Laurence
Picture: Zack Laurence
Born in 1945, Zack Laurence is a British arranger and composer.
He is best known for his work on Assassin�(1973),�The Crystal Maze (1990), The Flame Trees of Thika (1981), Treasure Hunt (1982-1989) and Interceptor (1989-1990).
A member of Mr. Bloe and Dr. Teleney's Incredible Plugged-In Orchestra, he is also known by his association with the Zack Laurence Orchestra and Zack Lawrence And His Orchestra.
Zack Laurence - Soundtrack From The film, 'Assassin' [1973]
The soundtrack for Assassin has been described as Blaxploitation funk although, by all accounts, the film itself is a classic British thriller.
It seems likely that the choice of music was inspired by the developing Blaxploitation film genre in the US in the early 70s, which was the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music. And that just adds to the mystery surrounding Assassin - a British thriller with a soundtrack which was very much of its time but transatlantic in inspiration. Could it have been a conscious decision to try and appeal to the US market or was it just an artistic decision by director Peter Crane and his team? A re-release of the film and an accompanying commentary would certainly help to answer these questions and many others too.
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The films, while popular, suffered backlash for disproportionate numbers of stereotypical film characters showing bad or questionable motives including criminals, etc.
However, the genre does rank among the first in which black characters and communities are the heroes and subjects of film and television, rather than sidekicks or villains or victims of brutality. The genre's inception coincides with the rethinking of race relations in the 1970s.
The soundtrack to Assassin is extremely difficult to find. A few of the original vinyl 33 1/3�rpm EP copies are held - and traded very occasionally - by collectors.
Track A1 - Assassin Theme
Track A2 - Escape
Track B1 - Shoot Out
Track B2 - Knock On My Door
'Escape' + 'Shoot Out' By Zack Laurence From Assassin [1973]
The video below has been updated and contains two tracks, 'Escape' [A-side, track 2] and Shoot Out [B-side, track 1] by Zack Laurence.
Picture: Assassin Soundtrack 33 1/3 rpm EP front cover featuring Ian Hendry
Picture: Assassin Soundtrack 33 1/3 rpm EP Back Cover.
Picture: Side One - Assassin [1973] Soundtrack 33 1/3 rpm EP.
Picture: Side One - Assassin [1973] Soundtrack 33 1/3 rpm EP.
Zack Laurence and Mr. Bloe
There's also an interesting connection between Zack Laurence, Elton John, Top of The Pops and an unexpected hit!
Extract from Wikipedia:
Mr. Bloe�was the name given to the musicians who performed the�single�"Groovin' With Mr. Bloe", which was a hit in 1970 in the UK for�Dick James Music (DJM). These included Harry Pitch or Ian Duck on�harmonica, and Zack Laurence on�piano.
The tune "Groovin' With Mr. Bloe" was written for the�US�studio group�Wind, by�Bo Gentry, Paul Naumann and�Kenny Laguna. They released it as the�B-side�of their single "Make Believe" which, with�Tony Orlando as lead singer, was a chart success in the US in 1969. According to co-writer Kenny Laguna:
"When "Make Believe", the first Wind single was ready to be released, we needed a B-side. Our�Buddah�releases were known for their ridiculous B-sides, like A-side played backwards in order for the business dudes to copyright something with themselves as writers, even though they couldn't write songs. We dusted off a backing track from a "Yummy Yummy", "Chewy Chewy", "Sugar Sugar", "Money Money" wannabe song that was called something like "Bingo Bingo" and improvised a haphazard harmonica and melodica overdub for the B-side...."
Success in the UK
BBC Radio in the UK then unwittingly played the wrong side of the Wind single. It was played by Jimmy Savile on his Sunday afternoon radio show Savile's Travels. It was heard by Stephen James, of Dick James Music, who wanted to release the tune in the UK but could not obtain the rights. He had the tune�covered�by other musicians including�Elton John on piano, but did not like that version. It was then rearranged by Zack Laurence and re-recorded with Laurence replacing Elton John on piano.
The tune was released in the�UK on 9 May 1970, reaching number 2 in the UK Singles Chart�on 4 July 1970. Zack Laurence then performed the tune on�Top of the Pops�with Ian Duck (harmonica),�Dee Murray�(bass), Roger Pope (drums) and Caleb Quaye (guitar), who went on to form the band�Hookfoot. Some sources credit the harmonica part on the actual recording to Harry Pitch which Pitch later confirmed in his filmed interview with RockHistory.co.uk - Pitch then went on as the harmonica player to perform the theme tune for Last of the Summer Wine. "Groovin' With Mr Bloe" spent 18 weeks on the UK chart. The lack of an obvious performer made the recording mysterious and it became a favourite of Morrissey who was then 11 years old.
The Mr. Bloe single also included two�instrumentals�written by Elton John � "Get Out Of This Town" and "71-75 New Oxford Street",[6]�with John playing piano on both, backed by most of the members of Hookfoot. Other singles, "Mr. Bloe" and "Curried Soul" were then released. The follow up single, "Curried Soul", failed to chart, and an�album, also entitled Groovin' with Mr. Bloe, was released in 1970 but flopped, leaving the act as a�one-hit wonder.
Assassin [1973]
Further details:
Cast
Ian Hendry�as The Assassin
Edward Judd�as MI5 Control
Frank Windsor�as John Stacy
Ray Brooks�as Edward Craig
John Hart Dyke�as Janik
Verna Harvey�as The Girl
Mike Pratt�as Matthew
Frank Duncan�as Luke
Mike Shannon�as Alcoholic
Paul Whitsun-Jones�as Drunk Man
Molly Weir�as Drunk Woman
Andrew Lodge�as Back-up Man
Peter Hawkins�as Passport Officer
Avril Fenton�as Barmaid
Caroline John�as Ann
I'll keep you posted if I hear any more news about Assassin.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Dick Emery Sketch - The Dick Emery Show [1976]. A Military Attache From The Russian Embassy Meets 'Jack' In A London Pub. Jack's A British Naval Officer In Search Of A Spy And A Drink!
Firstly, a big thanks to Tim for sending me this video footage from Ian Hendry's special guest appearance on The Dick Emery Show in 1976 [Season 14, Episode 2].
Picture: Ian Hendry + Dick Emery. The Dick Emery Show - Frames
The Dick Emery Show was a long-running British comedy series, based on some rather interesting and unique characters! It ran from 1963 to 1981, with 1978 being the only year that it wasn't produced.
This video of Ian's appearance on the show comes via an old VHS TV recording made in the 1990s, when the show had a rerun on UK Gold - a TV channel that first began broadcasting in 1992 showing repeats of classic programming, much of it from the BBC archives.
So a vintage TV show from the 1970s, recorded some years later on what is now vintage VHS home recorder technology gets a new lease of life in the digital era!
Ian plays the part of a military attache from the Russian Embassy. Dick Emery plays 'Jack', a naval officer eager to encounter a Russian spy in a London pub - and eager for a drink too!
Another notable actor who appears in this sketch is Patrick Newell. Educated at Taunton School, Newell completed his National Service with a fellow recruit called Michael Caine.�He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), alongside Albert Finney�and�Peter O'Toole.
More on his life and career below.
A trip back down memory lane and a reminder of one of the British comedy greats.
The Dick Emery Show [1976]
Video - Featuring Dick Emery, Ian Hendry + Patrick Newell
Stills From The Show
Picture: Patrick Newell + Dick Emery. The Dick Emery Show - Frames
Picture: Dick Emery and Ian Hendry meet in a London pub.
Picture: Dick Emery and Ian Hendry after a few vodkas.
Picture: Ian Hendry + Dick Emery. The Dick Emery Show - Frames
Dick Emery - A Short Biography
Dick Emery was a household name. The Dick Emery Show ran throughout the 60s, 70s and early 80s and I have many fond memories of watching his show. His memorable catchphrases spilt over into our daily lives when certain events seemed to mirror the words in his sketches - "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!" is one that immediately springs to mind.
Emery's humour is still admired by comic actors such as�Harry Enfield�and�Paul Whitehouse. His influence can be seen in "The Lovely Wobbly Randy Old Ladies" played by�Kathy Burke and Harry Enfield, with their catchphrase "Ooh, young man!", and in the performances of�David Walliams�and�Matt Lucas�in�Little Britain. The "Elegant tramp" (College) bears a strong resemblance to "Sir Digby Chicken Caesar" of�Mitchell and Webb.
Richard Gilbert Emery�(19 February 1915�� 2 January 1983) was an English�comedian�and�actor.[1]�Beginning on radio in the 1950s, a self-titled television series ran from 1963 to 1981
Richard Gilbert Emery was born in�University College Hospital, Bloomsbury, London.[4] His parents were the comedy double act Callan and Emery. They took him on tour when he was only 3 weeks old and gave him the occasional turn on the stage throughout his childhood, which was always on the move and disrupted, creating problems for the future, but at least set the scene for eventually going into show business himself. His parents split up when he was 8 and he chose to stay with his mother, who gave up show business.[5]�He tried a variety of jobs before the stage: mechanic, office boy, farm hand and driving instructor.
During the�Second World War�he was called up to the�RAF�and rose to the rank of corporal. However, because of family problems, he returned to London joining the chorus line of�The Merry Widow�at the Majestic Theatre, London. He was recruited by�Ralph Reader�into the�RAF Gang Show�to entertain air and ground crew at bases in�Great Britain.
At this time he created Vera Thin (the Forces' Sweetheart), loosely based on�Vera Lynn, later saying, "I was better in drag than combat gear".[6]�After D-Day, his unit toured forward airbases.
On leaving the RAF, he returned to the theatre as a comedian. He worked at the�Windmill Theatre, though his name does not appear on the plaque commemorating the acts that played there. He toured his fledgeling act around the United Kingdom.
He also auditioned for various parts and in 1952 he starred in a role in a 15-minute�Radio Luxembourg�series on Saturdays at 7.00pm called�Chance of a Lifetime. This was a quiz sponsored by Marshall Ward in which merchandise to the value of �30 was awarded to contestants. Other radio work around this time included several appearances on�Workers' Playtime�on the BBC, a morale-boosting show that had started during the war to entertain factory workers in their canteens. Emery also made a guest appearance on the popular BBC radio programme�The Goon Show, replacing regular cast member�Harry Secombewhen he was absent for one episode in 1957.
During 1953 he briefly formed a double act with�Charlie Drake.[7]�His television debut came in 1950 on�The Centre Show�on the�BBC. Throughout the 1950s he appeared on programmes including�Round the Bend�(BBC, 1955�56) and�Educating Archie�(ITV, 1958�59) and appeared with his friend�Tony Hancock�in several episodes of�The Tony Hancock Show�(ITV, 1956) and�Hancock's Half Hour�(BBC, 1957).
He enhanced his reputation on two series with former�Goon�Michael Bentine:�After Hours�(ITV, 1958�59) and�It's a Square World�(BBC, 1960�64). His role as Private Chubby Catchpole in the final series of�The Army Game�(ITV 1960) led to an exclusive BBC contract, and the long-running�The Dick Emery Show(BBC, 1963�81) began.
The show involved Emery dressing up as various characters, "a flamboyant cast of comic grotesques". These included the buck-toothed Church of England vicar, sex-starved, menopausal, man-eating spinster Hetty, and Clarence, an outrageously�camp�man who coined the�catchphrase "Hello Honky Tonks".
Other roles were gormless denim-clad bovver boy Gaylord (in a double act with his long-suffering father, played by several actors[8]�including�Roy Kinnear) where, each week, he would mess up and utter the catchphrase "Dad, I fink I got it wrong again", the crusty pensioner James Maynard Kitchener Lampwick, College (a genteel tramp whose real name was Lancelot Orpington Penrose) and Mandy, a busty peroxide blonde whose catchphrase, "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!" (given in response to a seemingly innocent remark made by her�interviewer, played by�Gordon Clyde, but perceived by her as ribald�double entendre), preceded a hefty shove on the shoulder of the interviewer, and a prompt about-turn walk-off with a leg trip. "It was clever, pure vaudeville, in a television form." (Michael Grade).
Compilation Video - Dick Emery as Mandy "Ooh, you are awful ... but I like you!"
In a sporadic film career, he made his debut in the Goons'�The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn�(directed by Joseph Sterling, 1954). He also played bungling bank robber Booky Binns in�The Big Job�(directed by�Gerald Thomas, 1965) and was known for vocal talents as an array of characters including "The Nowhere Man"�Jeremy Hillary Boob, the Mayor of Pepperland and Max, one of the�Blue Meanies�in the�Beatles'�Yellow Submarine�(directed by�George Dunning, 1968)
Emery appeared in films including as Shingler in�The Fast Lady�(1962), as�Peter Sellers's neighbour in�The Wrong Arm Of The Law, as Harry in�Baby Love(1968), as Mr Bateman in�Loot�(1970) and�Ooh� You Are Awful�(1972), in which he played many of the characters he had portrayed in his TV series. The plot of this comedy centred on Emery hunting down a bank account number. The digits of the number are tattooed on the bottoms of four young women. Emery has to see the girls naked, which requires disguises. One of the women is played by�Liza Goddard.
Emery also recorded several novelty records during his career, most notably "If You Love Her" which reached number 32 in 1969, and "You Are Awful" which just missed the top 40 in 1973.[9]�Other singles included "A Cockney Christmas" (1962), "You're The Only One" (1974) and "Rocking Horse Cowboy" (1979). In 1979, Emery moved to�ITV�for three one-hour specials before returning to the BBC in 1980 and resuming�The Dick Emery Show.
By 1982, Emery was tiring of the format for his BBC series and wanted to do something different. Using a new format and character, Jewish private detective Bernie Weinstock, Emery had a new outlet - two series of comedy thrillers under the banner�Emery Presents�(BBC, 1982�83),�Legacy of Murder[10]�and�Jack of Diamonds.[11]
Personal life
Emery had a very difficult childhood initially, but following the departure of his father Laurie Howe, things settled down. He was devoted to his mother for most of his life and helped support her once he was able to work. This devotion could and did cause problems in his marriages.
He was very keen on "long legs and blondes" and was often in the newspapers with beautiful women. He was in six long-term relationships, marrying five times, and also had numerous affairs throughout his life.
At the beginning of the�Second World War�he married Joan (sometimes known as Zelda) Sainsbury and had one son, Gilbert Richard. After the failure of that marriage, he wed Irene (Pip) Ansell but the marriage barely lasted six months. While working in summer season in 1950, at the Winter Gardens in�Ventnor�on the�Isle of Wight, he met Iris Margaret Tully who was also in the show. At the end of the season, they returned to London and set up home together in Iris's flat in�Shaftesbury Avenue. Iris changed her name to Emery by�deed poll�until 1955, a year after she had given birth to his second son, Nicholas William. She and Emery married in 1955.
The marriage was a rocky one because Emery had several affairs while away on tour. He met the woman who became his fourth wife, Victoria Chambers, in the mid-1950s. He was torn between the two women, but in late 1958 he left Iris and moved to�Thames Ditton�in�Surrey�to set up home.
In 1960, however, he returned to Iris and his son and moved them to Thames Ditton, but he could never settle, and in 1962 he left Iris for Victoria. Iris divorced him in 1964. By this time, he had set up home in�Esher. Vickie bore him a son Michael and a daughter Eliza. His last wife was Josephine Blake[12]�to whom he was still married at the time of his death, although he had left her to live with Fay Hillier, a�showgirl, 30 years his junior.
Outside show business, he enjoyed flying and held a pilot's licence from 1961 onwards. He also liked fast cars (it was a family joke that he changed cars when the ashtrays were full) and motorcycles. He was a keen maker of scale models and was president of the Airfix�Modellers' Club. He also wrote a review feature for�Meccano Magazine�during 1971.
While the public took him to heart, voting him BBC TV Personality of the Year in 1972, Emery suffered from severe�stage fright�and�low self-esteem. He underwent analysis and�hypnosis�and took sedatives to try to cure the problems.[13]
He had four children: Gilbert, Nicholas, Michael and Eliza,[13]�and was the half-brother of actress�Ann Emery.
Patrick Newell
Patrick David Newell�(27 March 1932 � 22 July 1988)[1]�was a British actor, known for his large size.
He was educated at�Taunton School�and completed his�National Service, where a fellow recruit was�Michael Caine, before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), alongside�Albert Finney�and�Peter O'Toole.[2]
Newell began to be seen frequently on TV, usually cast as a fat villain or in comic roles. Given his rotund appearance and the ability for playing slightly stuffy types, he was a natural stooge in several comedy shows, first for Arthur Askey, in�Arthur's Treasured Volumes�(ATV, 1960), then for�Jimmy Edwards�in�Faces of Jim�(BBC, 1962), with�Ronnie Barker�also supporting.[3]
He was originally cast as one of the inept recruits in the first of the�Carry On�films, 1958's�Carry On Sergeant�but, according to producer Peter Rogers, Newell turned up on the first day of filming, only to recognise the real-life sergeant hired to drill the cast as the one who'd made his life hell in the Army. He then, so Rogers claims, got into his Rolls-Royce, drove off and was never seen again.[2]
In an interview with TV Times, in 1968, he claimed to have gained weight as a deliberate attempt to boost his career, marking him out for some niche roles.[4]�In�Who's Who on Television�in the late 1970s, Newell described himself as "Actor with a weight problem�the more he diets, the less work he seems to get."
His most notable role was as "Mother", the spymaster in�The Avengers.[2]�He had previously appeared in two earlier�Avengers�episodes: "The Town of No Return" (Diana Rigg's debut) and, as a Minister of the Crown, in series five's "Something Nasty in the Nursery".
Other cult television appearances included roles in�Maigret,�The Persuaders!,�Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), the�Doctor Who�story "The Android Invasion",�The Young Ones�and�Kinvig.
Newell played�Inspector Lestrade�in the 1980 TV series,�Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, made in�Poland.[5]�He also turned up as a Playboy Bunny in one of the�Benny Hill�comedy specials. Film appearances include the Gluttony segment of�The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins�(1971).
In 1984, he landed a more significant role, as Sutton/Blessington in ITV's well-received�The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes�production of "The Adventure of the Resident Patient", alongside�Jeremy Brett.
Ian Hendry + Tommy Cooper - Cooper [1976]
Ian Hendry appeared as a special guest on other comedy shows in the 1970s.� The sketch below has Ian playing a policeman and Tommy Cooper playing drunk!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Rare Ian Hendry Autograph From The John Verzi Collection
Above: Ian Hendry signed 4" x 6" index card from the John Verzi collection. Date of in-person acquisition noted in pencil on the back of May 25, 1976.
This autograph is up for auction on eBay, with the lot ending on 14th June 2019. Details can be found here.
The Magic Of An Autograph
There is a certain fascination with collecting autographs. As a child, I had several autograph books which were filled with famous footballers and celebrities. As a keen Ipswich Town supporter, I used to go to watch the first team train at Portman Road, where I met [Sir] Bobby Robson, Kevin Beattie, Allan Hunter, Paul Mariner, John Wark and many more of the greats who signed my book. Those were the golden years at the club before the decline set in. Still, I was blessed to have witnessed it all.
During the day we spent preparing for the filming of Ian's This Is Your Life in 1978, I went around with my miniature 'Red Book' collecting the autographs of all the guests.
Picture: My This Is Your Life autograph book from March 1978.
My sister collected autographs too, writing to the TV stars of the 70s and receiving wonderful signed and dedicated photographs in the post from household names such as Bruce Forsyth, Dick Emery and The Two Ronnies - Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
There is no doubt something very magical about an autograph. A piece of memorabilia that captures a moment in time, something very personal and, perhaps, just a little bit of the aura, talent and 'magic' that made the person a public figure.
The John Verzi Autograph Collection
This Ian Hendry autograph is part of one of the largest in-person autograph collections to surface in the last 25 years.
Picture: John Verzi, pictured here with Glenda Jackson, was a long-time in-person collector who resided in Los Angeles.
John Verzi was clearly an interesting character. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing for more than four decades, he tracked down thousands of notables in all fields of achievement, occasionally accompanied by friends, and requested their autographs.
Some of these autographs were on photographs, some on pages of old �Stars of the Photoplay� books, but primarily on approximately 24,000 index cards and album pages. He frequently noted the date the autograph was obtained on the back of the photo or index card. He was able to obtain signatures of numerous stars of the 1980s and 1990s at the outset of their careers when they were flattered to be asked for their autograph and responded with legible signatures.
Here are just a few samples from his enormous collection:
Picture: Bruce Lee autograph from the John Verzi collection
Picture: Ian Flemming autograph from the John Verzi collection
Ian Hendry Autograph Gallery
The gallery below showcases a number of good examples of Ian Hendry's autographs - including a few on promotional stills from films such as Repulsion [1965] and Live Now Pay Later [1962] - both of which are now in my personal collection.
In one early autograph - dedicated to 'Fay' from the late 1950s - you will notice that Ian's signature includes his middle initial 'M' - for Mackendrick. Mackendrick was a family surname, clearly from the Scottish side of the family! I think it may have been his grandmother's maiden surname on his father's side of the family.
He clearly dropped the use of the initial a short-time later and by the early 1960s, he had settled for the signature which he would use throughout the rest of his life.
Ian's signature is distinctive and spontaneous with the bold, almost chiselled 'I' in Ian and the swirls around the 'H' in Hendry. If the autograph was dedicated to someone, in particular, it was invariably signed with 'very best wishes' or 'best wishes'.
They are beginning to become quite collectable, due in part to the rediscovery of The Avengers 'Tunnel of Fear' episode in 2016, which raised awareness of his key role amongst the very passionate fan-base of the cult series.
Click on the thumbnails/ images to see the autographs in a larger lightbox.
The autographs above also include one other rarity, a signature by Ian Hendry dedicated to another Ian Hendry.
Picture: Ian Hendry meets Ian Hendry at the premiere of Live Now, Pay Later [1962]
You can read more about that other Ian Hendry's meeting with our Ian Hendry which occurred during his visit to his hometown of Ipswich in 1962, for the premiere of his film Live Now, Pay Later.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
No.2: The Ian Hendry Files. Rare Scrapbook Extracts From The 1950s - 1980s
In the second part of the series, we look at the next three pages in the rare Ian Hendry scrapbook - collated over three decades by Ian Scoones.
Scoones was both a friend and a fan of Ian's work and was also well known in his own right for his career in special effects, including work on the BBC series Dr. Who.
Part one of the series can be found via the link below:
1974 features prominently in the following extracts from the scrapbook. But before diving into the musty, Cellotape covered pages, here's a few potted highlights of what else was happening in the UK that year.
1974 - UK
It may be of little consolation that whilst things are not exactly a 'bed of roses' politically in the UK at the moment - 1974 really wasn't that great either:
1974 was marked by the�Three-Day Week, two�general elections, a�state of emergency�in�Northern Ireland, extensive�Provisional Irish Republican Army�bombing of the British mainland, several large company collapses and major local government reorganisation.
Inflation rate was at 17.2%.
IRA begins bombing campaign
- IRA begins bombing campaign on mainland Britain and bombs The Tower of London on�July 17th�and the Houses of parliament and pubs in Birmingham.
and in the US:
1974 - US
Richard Nixon becomes the first US president forced to resign
- Following impeachment hearings started on�May 9th�Richard Nixon becomes the first US president forced to resign after the�Watergate Scandal�on August 9th
Edward Heath at London Zoo
Edward Heath [Conservative] was the Prime Minister until 4th March 1974. when Harold Wilson [Labour] became Prime Minister.
Before Edward Heath departed, he would carry out one very significant public engagement. He visited London Zoo to officially 'unveil' the gift of two Giant Pandas from the Chinese Government. I know, because I was there that day!
I can also report, from my first-hand account, that Guy The Gorilla spat an orange out at Heath as he walked past. This may, or may not, have been reported at the time, so you may be reading a world exclusive 'scoop' even if it is some 45+ years after the event. I digress.
Then in 1974 the Prime Minister Edward Heath brought two new pandas from China Ching-Ching (Female) and Chia-Chia (Male) ...
Ian Hendry Scrapbook Extracts
Scrapbook Page 3 - Includes several extracts for TV series, 'The Lotus Eaters', from The Radio Times TV listings.
Also, listings for the film, The Southern Star [on Anglia TV] which featured Orson Welles, George Segal, Ursula Andress and Harry Andrews. And Children of The Damned [1963], a repeat showing on Southern TV in 1974.
There is also a newspaper extract for an advert to watch 'The Girl With The Thunderbolt Kick' and 'Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter' at The Gillingham Plaza. Surely, an unmissable experience!
There is also an article that mentions Ian Hendry's role as Peregrine Devlin in 'Theatre of Blood' [1973]. The journalist who met Ian on set is not mentioned by name, but the piece is complementary nonetheless.
Scrapbook Page 4 - Includes further references to The Lotus Eaters, again with several extracts from the Radio Times TV listings. There is also a short feature on Ian in which mention is made of his efforts to raise funds, some �250,000, for a feature film version of 'The Lotus Eaters'.
It also features quite a rare press picture from c. 1963, with Ian Hendry and Janet Munro. Ian is wearing a pair of Coco The Clown's enormous boots, taken during a visit to Olympia where Bertram Mills' circus was in residence during the winter/ Christmas season. Ian Hendry was, of course, great friends with both Coco and his wife, Valentina.
He worked for Coco as his stooge whilst studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama from 1953-55. At that time, the drama school was based in rooms at The Royal Albert Hall and the circus always set up it's London base in the park nearby. Exactly how Ian first met Coco is not known, but one can easily imagine him wandering through the 'circus town' on a cold London winter's day - intent on meeting the UK's most famous clown.
Nicolai Poliakoff (2 October 1900 � 25 September 1974) was the creator of�Coco the Clown, arguably the most famous clown in the UK during the middle decades of the 20th century. Technically, Coco is an�Auguste, the foolish character who is always on the receiving end of buckets of water and custard pies. The auguste often works with the more clever white-faced clown, who always gets the better of him.
You can read more about Ian Hendry and Coco The Clown, via the link below:
There is also reference to 'Dial M For Murder' [1974] - in which Ian Hendry starred alongside Robert Lang - as his gay partner - in the episode 'Contract'.
The complete episode can be watched below:
Scrapbook Page 5 - Ian Hendry features in a promotional advert for Imperial Cigars, published in the Radio Times on 27th June 1974. Above the picture is a brief resume of his life and career. The handwritten note immediately above the advert mentions 'The Sphinx Pharaohs Island, Shepperton/ Sunbury, Middlesex'. It is possible that this waterside photograph was taken at 'Sphinx', Ian and Janet Munro's former home, or at a nearby location.
Gallery - Ian Hendry Scrapbook. Cover and Pages 3 to 5
-
Ian Hendry Scrapbook Cover - 1950s -1970s -
The Lotus Eaters features prominently on page 3 of the Ian Hendry scrapbook [1974] -
Ian Hendry and Robert Lang 'Dial M For Murder' [1974] -
Ian Hendry Scrapbook - Page 3
Ian Hendry Scrapbook - Page 4
Ian Hendry Scrapbook - Page 5
Ian Hendry - Roles as Peregrine Devlin/ Theatre of Blood Review [1973]
Ok, hope you enjoyed the latest trip down memory lane. Watch out for the next instalment in the series.
No.1: The Ian Hendry Files. Rare Scrapbook Extracts From The 1950s - 1980s
Note: This forms the first part of a series of articles which will share the complete contents of this rare scrapbook. Enjoy!
A year or so ago I was able to acquire a unique piece of memorabilia - a scrapbook covering the life and career of Ian Hendry from the 1950s right through to the 1980s.
And the backstory to the scrapbook is also fascinating, as it was collated over three decades by someone who was both a fan as well as a long-time friend of Ian's - another Ian - Ian Scoones.
Ian Scoones worked in special effects, including Dr. Who, and was clearly a huge admirer of Ian�s work.
The scrapbook then sat on top of a bookcase at home as other projects began to take priority. Gabriel Hershman, Ian's biographer, has been asking me when I am going to publish the material. So apologies for it taking so long but, finally, it is here. Or rather the first instalment, the complete scrapbook will be shared with you over the coming weeks.
The scrapbook contains some thirty or so pages, some which are still attached to the binding and some which are held loosely in place with yellow, dry Cellotape - brittle from the passage of time which those of a certain age will be able to picture.
It's also held together by memories, both personal and collective, as it highlights the passage of time when a golden era of television and film formed such a key part in family and social life. This was long before there were multiple satellite channels, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube and the endless options and alternatives to the two or three TV channels that dominated for so long, creating shared experiences and the topics of endless conversations.
The scrapbook is an eclectic mix of news cuttings, TV programme listings, stills/ photographs, theatre programmes and magazine articles. It's also not in chronological order, so the best way to present it to you is as you would read it - from cover to cover.
So below is the first part and the rest will follow in order. Enjoy turning the pages and turning back the clock.
Ian Hendry Scrapbook - Cover + Pages 1 to 2
-
Ian Hendry Scrapbook Cover - 1950s -1970s -
Ian Hendry + Harold Innocent - 'The High Game' Anglia TV 3rd August 1970 -
Ian Hendry, Janet Munro, Sally + Corrie [1970]. Theatre of Bood [1973]
If you have any memories that relate to the contents of the scrapbook, the programmes, films, other actors, what life was like for you back then, then please feel free share them as comments on the Facebook page. And with your agreement, I'll then add them to the articles.
Watch out for further instalments in this series.
Ian Hendry + Patrick Macnee - Rare Original ABC Television Still Discovered, Promoting The Return Of The Avengers 'For A 13 Week Season' [1961]
Picture above: Ian Hendry + Patrick Macnee, The Avengers [1961]. Photograph by ABC. Television.
Every so now and then a rare piece of memorabilia is found and shared here on the website. This one is a black and white photograph from The Avengers [1961] and features Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee.
What's interesting is that the text on the back of the photograph mentions that The Avengers was returning 'for a 13-week season'.
In total, there were 26 episodes made for Series 1, of which three survive in their entirety - Girl on the Trapeze , The Frighteners, Tunnel of Fear - as well as the first act [c.15 minutes] of a forth - Hot Snow.
The text on the reverse side of the still reads:
ABC Series 'THE AVENGERS' is back on the ITV Network on Saturday, 9th December for a 13-week season. Dr. Keel (IAN HENDRY) is once more being co-opted by undercover man John Steed [PATRICK MACNEE] to help in the fight against crime. Here they are discussing a case.
ABC. TELEVISION PICTURE COPYRIGHT FREE IF ABC CREDITED
Alan Hayes has helped to explain this wording :
The 13 week season never happened of course because the four episodes that were held over were the only ones screened due to an actors' Equity Strike, which closed down production.
Alan is the co-author - along with Richard McGinlay and Alys Hayes - of the authoritative book on The Avengers Series 1 - Two Against The Underworld The Collected Unauthorised Guide To The Avengers Series 1.
It's a fascinating read - packed with anecdotes - and a thoroughly recommended for all fans of the series.
Picture: Reverse side of the photograph with ABC Television stamp.
Ian Hendry - The Avengers Original Promotional Still [1961]
This discovery reminds me of another very rare original ABC Television still found several years ago. The photograph posted above has been available in the public domain for years, but the still below is the only copy known to still exist.
It is a portrait of Ian Hendry taken in December 1960 - by an ABC Television photographer - for the forthcoming promotion of their new series 'The Avengers'. It is quite possible that studio portraits of the other main stars of the series were taken at the same time - including Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner.
Picture: Ian Hendry and Joan Watson in make-up, The Avengers [1961]
And lastly, one of my favourite photograph from The Avengers - Joan Watson 'in make-up' applying the finishing touches to Ian Hendry before the filming of an episode began. And if you look very closely, you'll see one of the original opening credits boards for The Avengers mounted on a wooden stand/ easel. Now that really would be a great piece of memorabilia of memorabilia to find!
Repulsion [1965] - Original Italian Film Poster 'Fotobusta' Featuring Ian Hendry, Catherine Deneuve + Yvonne Furneaux
Rare Italian film poster discovered...in Italy!
This classic 60's film was directed by Roman Polanski and produced by Michael Klinger
We celebrated the 50th anniversary of Repulsion with a three part tribute, featuring photographs, posters, anecdotes and clips from the film. The links to these articles are below:
Repulsion - Original Stills Discovered In Paris
Some classic black and white original stills were found last year in Paris - these can all be viewed in the article below:
Tony Klinger
Lastly, film director Tony Klinger, son of Repulsion's producer Michael Klinger, made contact recently and exchanged some of his memories and anecdotes about Ian Hendry. Michael and Ian also worked together again on the classic cult film Get Carter [1971] and apparently got on famously!
Tony also shared his personal story about how that famous line '..eyes look like...piss-holes in the snow' became incorporated into the script. The article also takes a deep dive into the history of that line and origins that may well date back to WW1.
DVD Release: For Maddie With Love [1980] Starring Ian Hendry + Nyree Dawn Porter
Network Release Complete Series On DVD
Some great news for fans of Ian Hendry, Nyree Dawn Porter and classic television drama. Network have just announced the planned release of the series, For Maddie With Love [1980]. The DVD can be ordered from Network's website and will be shipped on 15th April 2019.
Network have also released the first two episodes from the series on their Youtube channel - further details in the article below.
How To Order
Click here for further details on how to order from the Network website or click on the DVD cover image below:
Hard-hitting and unsentimental, For Maddie With Love is the story of a woman who knows she is dying and, in doing so, rediscovers the love she has for her husband and family.
Showcasing memorable performances from Nyree Dawn Porter and Ian Hendry and an affecting, stylishly minimalist design ethic, this daytime afternoon drama � which ran twice-weekly through much of 1980 � became compulsive viewing due to its powerful take on terminal illness, self-determined euthanasia and the aftermath of a death in the family. This set contains all 48 episodes from both series of this classic drama.
SPECIAL FEATURE Limited edition booklet by archive television historian Billy Smart
Watch Episodes 1 - For Maddie With Love [1980]
Watch the first episode on Network's Youtube channel - see below:
Watch Episode 2
Watch the second episode on Network's Youtube channel - see below:
For Maddie With Love [1980]
For Maddie with Love is a 1980 British television drama serial dealing with Maddie�s discovery that she has a brain tumour and only a few months to live.
This 48-part (30 minute) daytime serial, written by Douglas Watkinson was made by ATV and shown on British television beginning in May 1980. Maddie was played by Nyree Dawn Porter [1] and her husband Malcolm by Ian Hendry.[2] The series ran over two years from 1980 to 1981 and was published as a novel in 1980 by NEL books. (ATV lost their licence to broadcast in 1981.) It has never been repeated or remade.
Unusually the setting for the drama looked more like that of a theatre piece. Partial sets were used with only the furniture and background items strictly needed for each scene. (Typical was the conservatory which consisted of a few cane chairs, plants, some dividers and Malcolm�s painting of Maddie.) It was given a daytime afternoon slot, one for which it was expected to get a mainly female based following. However as it was never shown during peak viewing times it did not become as well known as it might.
Synopsis
Maddie starts to realise that her body is not functioning normally. Although she tries to hide it, eventually her son sees her fall and insists she sees a doctor. She is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. This is the start of the family�s journey with Maddie until she eventually dies. The story centres on the interplay between Maddie and her husband Malcolm, examining the illusive and sometimes surreal nature of their relationship. At the same time family problems keep putting demands on Maddie�s time and energy. Her daughter Gilly (Sheridan Fitzgerald) is pregnant after having had a miscarriage. Her two sons have the normal but pressing mix of young men�s problems. Gordon is the cool solicitor and Neil her youngest at university. We see the family first descend into chaos and then learn to pull together for Maddie�s sake. Malcolm cannot accept Maddie�s death until one day his children are once again gathered around the dining table and she is not there.
Cast
- Nyree Dawn Porter - Maddie Laurie
- Ian Hendry - Malcolm Laurie
- Sheridan Fitzgerald - Gilly Laurie
- Colin Baker
- Tony Boncza
- John Breslin
- Robert Duncan - Neil Laurie
- Robert Lang
- Bruce Montague
- Paul Whitworth
How To Order:
The DVD can be ordered from Network. Shipped on 15th April 2019.
Click here to access the Network order page:
Lastly, thanks to Stephen for letting me know about this release.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry In The Secret Place [1957] - Video Of His First Speaking Role In A Film
Ian Hendry was cast as Charles Maitland, a 'getaway' car driver, who actually manages to make a pretty quick getaway at the end of his brief appearance in this film; but only after he's declined to take the job of trying to help the diamond robbers escape with their heist!
This was Ian's first speaking role in a film, albeit uncredited.
His other early roles in film, with dialogue, are Room at the Top and Bobbikins - both from 1959. Videos of these cameo appearances are also included at the end of this article.
The Secret Place is a British crime film, shot in November 1956 at Pinewood Studios as well as on location in East London and released on 27th May 1957. It stars Belinda Lee, Ronald Lewis, and a young David McCallum in a supporting role.
It was also the directorial debut of Clive Donner. He was a defining part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing But the Best, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and What's New Pussycat?.
Video Below - Ian Hendry as Charlie Maitland in The Secret Place [1957]
Click the small 'rectangular box' in the bottom right corner of the video to view in full-screen mode:
Dialogue
Ian Hendry as 'Charlie': "I'm sorry Harry, I do a lot for you but not this..."
George A. Cooper as 'Harry': What am I going to tell Gerry?
Ian Hendry as 'Charlie': "Tell him to stick to selling cars..."
Plot
Crime heist melodrama set in the bombed out East End of London. A diamond robbery is masterminded by small-time crooks, and an adolescent boy finds himself unwittingly caught up in events, after discovering they've hidden the loot in his home.
In East London, young Freddie Hatwood has a crush on kiosk attendant Molly Wilson, who is engaged to Gerry Garter. Gerry is part of a criminal gang who had a hide out at car dealership; Molly's brother Mike works there.
Gerry, Mike and their friend Steve are planning a diamond robbery. They need a policeman's uniform. Molly asks Freddie to borrow the uniform of his policeman father.
The robber goes ahead. Gerry hides the diamonds inside Molly's record player. Not knowing this, Molly gives the player to Freddie as a thank you gift. Freddie discovers the diamonds and the gang go after him.
The Secret Place [1957] - Complete Film
Stills - The Secret Place [1957]
A classic London street scene from the 1950s; including the old public telephone box, bus, some classic cars, traditional shopfronts, fashion and a tub or two of Brylcreem too!
The stills includes Ian Hendry, George A. Cooper and a young David McCullum.
Original Film Poster - The Secret Place [1957]
Main Cast
- Belinda Lee as Molly Wilson
- Ronald Lewis as Gerry Carter
- Michael Brooke as Freddie Haywood
- Michael Gwynn as Steve Warring
- Geoffrey Keen as Mr. Haywood
- David McCallum as Mike Wilson
- Maureen Pryor as Mrs. Haywood
- George Selway as Paddy
- George A. Cooper as Harry
Ian Hendry - Other Early Cameo Roles In Film
Room at the Top [1959]
Until Ian's role in The Secret Place was discovered recently, I'd always believed that his first speaking role in a film was as 'Cyril' in Room at the Top [1959]. Below are three videos which contain all his work in this film.
Bobbikins [1959]
Bobbikins is a much more recent find and addition to Ian's recorded work. An eagle-eyed fan spotted his cameo appearance as a BBC radio news presenter in this 1959 film. Ian's third appearance with a speaking role in a film.
Article on Bobbikins [1959]
Lastly, a big thanks to Simon M. for finding The Secret Place online and for locating Ian's small - but important - first cameo speaking role.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman?
Ian Hendry + Director Robert Parrish Discussing A Shot For The Film, Journey To The Far Side of The Sun aka Doppleg�nger [1969]
Original black and white still of director�Robert Parrish and Ian Hendry discussing a shot Doppleg�nger, released as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun in the US [1969].
Excellent 'behind the scenes' black and white still discovered recently.
I hope everyone has had a good start to 2019. Apologies for the lack of updates over the last few months. I have plenty more material to add to the website, which I will aim to scan and prepare in due course.
For those interested in reading more about this film, there are a number of articles and rare stills which have been published previously:J
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry in Bobbikins [1959] - Previously Unknown Film Role As A BBC Radio Announcer Discovered By Film Enthusiast
Ian Hendry's BBC Radio Announcer In 'Bobbikins' [1959], Confirmed As His 2nd Speaking Role In A Film.
The story of Ian's life and career has been greatly enhanced by the in-depth biography written by Gabriel Hershman - Send In The Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry; �and the various discoveries that have been made and shared on this website.
But an email received this morning from Phil Ellis, via the �website contact form, has alerted me to his new discovery of a previously unknown [and uncredited] appearance by Ian in a film. So a big thanks to Phil for spotting Ian's fleeting appearance!
It's just a small part as a BBC radio announcer in the film Bobbikins�- which features a youthful looking Max Bygraves and Shirley Jones - released in July 1959. The film is quite possibly the original 'adult talking baby' film, which then inspired a genre of it's own - including the likes of 'Look Who's Talking' [1989].
Video: Ian Hendry in Bobbikins [1959]
Ian can be spotted at the c. 51 minutes mark and is now confirmed as his second speaking role in a film. His first talking part in a movie came a few months earlier, when he played the part of Cyril in 'Room At The Top', released in January 1959.
Video above: See Ian Hendry as the BBC Radio announcer, in this excerpt from the film, Bobbikins [1959]
Bobbikins also features Billie Whitelaw, whom Ian would work with again, many years later, in the episode of Supernatural�titled 'Countess Ilona' [1977].
Whitelaw was married twice, first to the actor Peter Vaughan and then to the writer and critic, Robert Muller.
Muller wrote 'Afternoon of a Nymph' �- the second of his�seven plays for ABC TV's�Armchair Theatre series - which Ian starred in and where he met his co-star and future wife-to-be, Janet Munro.
Bobbikins [1959]
Bobbikins is a 1959 British film in CinemaScope released by 20th Century Fox and directed by Robert Day. It stars Shirley Jones and Max Bygraves.
Plot
This adventure follows the story of a young navy man, his wife (Shirley Jones) and their baby son, Bobby aka Bobbikins. To his surprise, Dad discovers his son talks, not baby-talk or gibberish but adult conversations with his father only. Bobbikins learns stock market tips and passes them to his Dad.
After making a killing on the stock market, problems really begin. The dad is presumed mad, the government is after him, and the break down of relations between the young couple ensues. But there is hope.
A comedy with a happy ending.
Cast
Shirley Jones as Betty Barnaby
Max Bygraves as Ben Barnaby
Steven Stocker as Bobbikins Barnaby
Billie Whitelaw as Lydia Simmons
Barbara Shelley as Valerie
Colin Gordon as Dr. Phillips
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell as Luke Parker
Lionel Jeffries as Gregory Mason
Charles Carson as Sir Jason Crandall
Rupert Davies as Jock Fleming
Noel Hood as Nurse
David Lodge as Hargreave
John Welsh as Admiral
Watch Full Movie - See Video Below
I've discovered the complete film on the following website - which also has a large number of other old, difficult to find films. You can watch the film by clicking on link below or, alternatively, use by using the video embed below:
Bobbikins [1959] - Complete film
Video above: Complete film - Bobbikins [1959]
Thanks again to Phil for sharing this discovery. And if anyone else finds any rare memorabilia, footage or anecdotes about Ian they would like to share, I can always be reached via the website contact form.
_____________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry In The James Bond Spy Film, Casino Royale '67? Director Joseph McGrath Discusses Ian's Scene With Ursula Andress Which Ended On Up On The Cutting Room Floor Plus Other Bond Connections
Ian Hendry In The James Bond Spy Film, Casino Royale '67?
Well it looks like it very nearly happened.
Ian Hendry was cast as 'a hitman' in the James Bond film, Casino Royale [1967].
It appears, though, that Ian fell victim to the chaos that surrounded te film and his scene with Ursula Andress ended up on the cutting room floor!
Although there is also now some evidence that he does, in fact, still appear in the film - in what would be his least glamorous role - a corpse!
In this extract from Casino Royale [1967] - Wikipedia,�Ian's role is described as being that of the secret agent, 006:
"So many sequences from the film were removed, that several well-known actors never appeared in the final cut, including Ian Hendry (as 006, the agent whose body is briefly seen being disposed of by Vesper), Mona Washbourne and Arthur Mullard."
Casino Royale [1967] �- Director Joseph McGrath with Pete Doherty/ James Bond Radio
In the last few days, some more information has come to light that helps to fill in some more of the story.�I'd not come across the James Bond Radio website, until Alan Hayes drew my attention to their most recent podcast.
The latest James Bond Radio episode� has an interview with Joseph McGrath, one of the six directors that worked on�Casino Royale [1967].�Near the end, he mentions that Ian was hired to be in the film as 'a hitman' and shot - quite literally - a humorous scene with Ursula Andress in which he attempts to assassinate her before suffering a slow, drawn-out, rather comic death as she shoots him six times with six different weapons!
Unfortunately the scene was deleted as the producer - Charles K. Feldman - �did not get the joke! (c. 49 minutes�into the podcast).
Feldman was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency.�According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Hollywood. No one knew what he was up to - from producing a film to packaging one for someone else." His most notable work includes production of �'The Glass Menagerie' [1950],��A Streetcar Named Desire' [1951] and 'The Seven Year Itch' [1955].
Given how Joseph McGrath describes the scene, it would clearly have worked. Ian had great ability with regards to light comedy, as noted by Dame Judi Dench in her contribution to Ian's biography:
�I think he was the first student I had ever seen�whom I believed had been born an actor. He was wonderful at light comedy,�and we all�looked up to him and admired him enormously�.
And Ian had had a similar cameo role in the light-hearted film, The Sandwich Man starring Michael Bentine, which was released the year before [1966]. So it's a great shame that we can't enjoy seeing Ian in Casino Royale. But what we do have is the words of Joseph McGrath which can help fire our imaginations
Video: Director Joseph McGrath discusses the making of Casino Royale [1967]
Transcript - Joseph McGrath Discusses Working With The Producer - Charlie Feldman - Woody Allen And The Scene He Shot With Ian Hendry + Ursula Andress
The following is a transcription of part of the podcast, which features Joseph McGrath talking about the production and certain scenes, �with some excerpts inserted from the film itself:
Excerpt of Scene from Casino Royale:
�Listen you can't shoot me, I, I, I have a very low threshold of death. My doctor says I can't have bullets enter my body at any time. I, I, I, ugh��
- Woody Allen
I got to know Woody because he arrived before shooting started. We used to meet and talk about the film and the ideas in the film and he had already worked with Charlie Feldman in �What�s New Pussycat�.
So he said, �Charlie, he is not a producer in the real sense. He had no idea of comedy and he used to go into the cutting room when I wasn't there and he'd go through all the routines that I had shot over the last week or two and he would go through them all and take the payoffs off the routines, so that I would be left with the beginning of routines, the middle of routines and going nowhere.�And then he would cut to another sequence.
And he said it�s one of those things, he said, I had to fight and argue to get, you know, some of the payoffs back on and he said that's what you have to keep an eye open on when you shoot Casino Royale.�
So which is what I was doing and which, indeed, Charlie did right at the very beginning.
There's a car wash sequence with Duncan Macrae as a French detective, with a Scottish accent. And he's got a Scottish accent because Peter didn't want him to have a French accent, because he said people might think he's trying to be Clouseau.
So Duncan had it. And then Peter makes a remark in the film, which I wasn't there [for], saying why have you got a Scottish accent?
Excerpt of Scene from Casino Royale:
�There is something that is worrying me. You're a French police officer and yet you have a Scots accent? [Peter Sellers].
"Aye, it worries me too.� [Duncan Macae].
And Duncan doesn�t know how to answer it, you know, and it�s in the film. Duncan should have said, �because you asked me to.��
Excerpt of Scene from Casino Royale:
�We don't want our little talk to be overheard. Get in the car. � [Duncan Macrae]..
�No, there's nothing to talk about.� [Peter Sellers]
And as if driving through the carwash and dialogue, there's girls in rubber suits all around the car, cleaning the car, soaping the car - very sexually in those days, sixties, these girls, the Bond girls. And they're wiping soap on the windscreen, wiping it off.� Now then they decided that, underneath the car, they�d fix a bomb.�
So the bomb is actually ticking. �And they go back up into the cars to Peter and Duncan Macrae who are carrying on the dialogue.
It was a very funny bit in the dialogue, which Peter had lifted straight from the Goon Show, �and which we put in.
He says, "I must warn you Mr Bond that I'm keeping an eye on you here and that anything you do, you know, �really you can only do with my permission, you know. �I'm the Chief of Police.
And Peter says, �say that again�. And he switches the radio on and Duncan says it again and then Peter says, �yes, it does sound better with music�.
You see, which is a terribly good Spike Milligan joke, you know. At the end was supposed to be the car explodes and when the smoke clears Peter is still immaculate - James Bond - and Duncan Macrae is a smoking wreck. And he says, �you know, you really should try to give up smoking.� And that was the end of it.
And Charlie said, �that's a bit Tom and Jerry.� And I said, �yeah, it's meant to be Tom and Jerry, it's the whole point you know.��
I said you quite like the opening titles, you know, �I said this is the same sort of humour and all that. And he said, 'oh no I don't know, I don�t like that," you know.
So when I left, you know, that scene you see, that scene he gets into the car wash for no reason, there's all these girls washing - then you go to another scene.
Excerpt of Scene from Casino Royale:
�Mr Bond� [Duncan Macrae]
�Yes?�[Peter Sellers]
�I'm Lieutenant Mathis of the Special Police."�[Duncan Macrae]
The art �director, Michael Stringer, built this French urinal on a flat and we had little girls with nuns going along behind it for that scene. Now that scenes supposed to be later in the film, when he's arrived in Paris.
Well Charlie says I had seen the funniest thing in the film, he says. �That's the best thing in the film. So he opens the film with that and I said to Charlie years later, when I had seen the film, I said it's a big mistake because:
a. continuity wise, �it makes no sense and,
b. I said, "looking back on it, Charlie, it's a very� it's a �Carry On� joke."�
Now Dylis Powell,�who was a film critic of the time, said that Casino Royale never quite recovered from the laughter at the beginning of the film. It's very interesting she said that.� She said that it made no sense at all - but it was very funny.
Before Sellers gets to the flat, you see Ursula Andress pulling with a trolley and she wheels it to a shoot and she has a telephone and she says, can you clear away this rubbish by tomorrow morning. She hangs up and there�s this long narrow parcel, which goes down the shoot and disappears. Now the scene before that was Ian Hendry, who was one of the original Avengers, along with Honor Blackman, before Diana Rigg and Pat Macnee. Ian Hendry was the start of The Avengers. [editors note: Just to clarify for the record, Patrick Macnee was one of the original Avengers, Honor Blackman replaced Ian after series 1, when he left to pursue opportunities in film.].
Now I used Ian Hendry in Casino Royale as a hitman. So Ursula Andress is in a private firing area and she has a target - you know that you wind up and down - and so she winds the target back down and she has a whole series of guns laid out in front of her. And she�s reaching for the gun when this hit-man appears behind the target. It�s Ian Hendry.
And he is just about to shoot her and he says this is a Beretta, you know, and he tells it's caliber, it�s an Italian make and some hit-men use it. And she says, �oh really� and she quickly picks up gun and say this is a Walter PPK.� Bang! And she shoots him, you know, and then she goes along each gun and she she explains this gun and shoots him in a different part - so that it takes about six bullets and in, you know, at the end he says, 'you know I'll never forgive you for this," you know and he dies.� She then puts him in a parcel and sends him off.
Picture: Ursula Andress dispatches the body of �Ian Hendry down the rubbish shoot in Casino Royale [1967]. The last remaining remnant of the scene to survive the cut. Perhaps the first role in which Ian made an exit without uttering a word, being seen or even making an entrance!
Now the Ian Hendry�s scene is cut out of the film.�
So you start the scene with her with a parcel, saying get rid of this rubbish, you know, tomorrow morning. Now you don't know what's in that parcel. That's Ian Hendry, who you've seen [editor's note: or rather should have seen!] �being shot by her six times.
The reason we shot,� Terry Southern and I wrote that scene - which Charlie didn't understand when he saw it, he said it isn't funny. I said it�s funny in a different way, Charlie. It�s showing that in movies people get hit six times and still can do dialogue and still live, you know, I said it takes about eight bullets to kill them. It's a joke, I said you know you get hit by a bullet - you don't get up.� You know. And Charlie said, "nobody�ll get it, nobody�ll get it."��
Anyway the point I'm making is, Ian Hendry got five thousand pounds, for a non-appearance in Casino Royale, as a parcel!
_________________________________________________________
Anyway the point I'm making is, Ian Hendry got five thousand pounds, for a non-appearance in Casino Royale, as a parcel!
Joseph McGrath, Director - Casino Royale [1967]
_________________________________________________________
This helps to provide a little more substance and context to the story behind Ian Hendry's involvement in this film. In Gabriel Hersham's biography on Ian, he recounts that he had a cameo role in Casino Royale, but no details were known of the scene or why it was cut. The scene is probably long gone, but at least we now know a little more thanks to Joseph McGrath's fascinating account.
Picture: Ursula Andress gazes into the distance, with Peter Seller and Orson Welles. This artwork is based on the one day of shooting when Sellers and Welles were able to stand the sight of each other. Ian Hendry's scene with Ursula Andress, however, ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor."
Gabriel Hershman, commenting on the Joseph McGrath interview on the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook page, mentioned that:
"I remember many years ago watching Casino Royale and hoping to see Ian and being so disappointed. This was back in the days when David Quinlan's Illustrated Directory of Film Stars was THE BIBLE. And I just couldn't spot him even though Quinlan listed him as being in it. To be honest, I think the paucity of Ian's major film roles between 1965-8 wasa disgrace. He was totally underused."
But perhaps the explanation given by Joseph McGrath, that the corpse being disposed of by Ursula Address was in fact Ian Hendry, is just sufficient to justify the mention by David Quinlan?!
Chris Williams �also commented that it's a great shame that this scene was cut from the film. And a view that I think we would all share:
"Amazing. That would have been a very funny scene and totally in character with the film. How disappointing it was deleted, but well paid.�5000 in 1967 would have bought you a couple of houses. I agree with Gabriel too that Ian was underused and we were all denied what I'm sure would have been some wonderful performances."
Ian Hendry - Did He Turn Down The Part Of James Bond In 1962?
In his biography, Gabriel Hersman mentions the impact that Ian Hendry's lead role as Dr. David Keel in the first series of The Avengers [1961] had in raising his profile. Was Ian Hendry offered the part of James Bond in 1962?
An extract from Send In The Clowns - The Yo Yo Life of Ian Hendry, �by Gabriel Hershman, sheds a bit more light on this topic:
"The Avengers had another repercussion. One of Ian's frequent stories, usually after a few drinks, was that he was later offered the part of James Bond but turned it down. The truth is that Ian was probably one of many actors CONSIDERED for the part. But many other actors were also in the running, including Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Christopher Lee, Edward Judd and Patrick McGoohan. There is another story - cited by Olive Bird, Michael J. Bird's widow, which may be apocryphal,that Ian arrived drunk for a scene test for Bond and so was rejected."
Picture: Ian Hendry - signed promotional photograph for the film, Live Now, Pay Later [1962].
But whilst Ian Hendry may have missed out on the part of �James Bond - 007 - in 1962, he may have gained some solace from the fact that it appears that he was cast as a hitman in 1967!
And although he had his scene cut from Casino Royale in 1967, Ian did still work with some of the notable actors who starred in some of the Bond films.
This list includes:
- Ursula Andress - cast as Honey Rider in Dr. No [1962] and as Vesper Land in Casino Royale[1967]. Ian worked with Ursula in the film, The Southern Star [1969], as well as Casino Royale [1967].
- Honor Blackman - cast as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger [1964]. Ian worked with Honor in the play, The Motive [1976].
- Orson Welles - cast as Le Chiffre in Casion Royale [1967[. Ian worked with Orson in the film, The Southern Star [1969].
- Diana Rigg - cast as Countess Tracy di Vicenzo in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' [1969]. Ian worked with Diana on the film, Theatre of Blood [1973].
- Britt Ekland - cast as Mary Goodnight in 'The Man With The Golden Gun' [1974]. Ian worked with her in the Armchair Theatre television play, A Cold Peace[1965] Britt's first appearance on British television and Get Carter [1971].
And last, but certainly not least, Ian's partner in crime from the early days of 'The Avengers' [1961]:
- Patrick Macnee [cast�as Sir Godfrey Tibbett in 'A View To A Kill', 1985]
Casino Royale [1967]
The film is, perhaps, more famous now for the complete chaos that seems to have surrounded the production. �And to further emphasise that point, six different directors were involved in the making of this film:
Ken Hughes
John Huston
Joseph McGrath
Robert Parrish
Val Guest
Richard Talmadge
The following information is taken from the Casino Royale [1967] Wikipedia page:
Picture: Original film poster for Casino Royale [1967]. The film was also clearly too much for a lot of other people as well!
Casino Royale is a 1967 British-American spy comedy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures featuring an ensemble cast. It is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel. The film stars David Niven as the "original" Bond, Sir James Bond 007. Forced out of retirement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of international spies, he soon battles the mysterious Dr. Noah and SMERSH. The film's tagline: "Casino Royale is too much... for one James Bond!" refers to Bond's ruse to mislead SMERSH in which six other agents are pretending to be "James Bond", namely, baccarat master Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers); millionaire spy Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress); Bond's secretary Miss Moneypenny (Barbara Bouchet); Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet), Bond's daughter by Mata Hari; and British agents "Coop" (Terence Cooper) and "The Detainer" (Daliah Lavi).
Charles K. Feldman, the producer, had acquired the film rights in 1960 and had attempted to get Casino Royale made as an Eon Productions Bond film; however, Feldman and the producers of the Eon series, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, failed to come to terms. Believing that he could not compete with the Eon series, Feldman resolved to produce the film as a satire. The budget escalated as various directors and writers got involved in the production, and actors expressed dissatisfaction with the project.
Casino Royale was released on 13 April 1967, two months prior to Eon's fifth Bond movie, You Only Live Twice. The film was a financial success, grossing over $41.7 million worldwide, and Burt Bacharach's musical score was praised, earning him an Academy Award nomination for the song "The Look of Love". Critical reception to Casino Royale, however, was generally negative; some critics regarded it as a baffling, disorganised affair. Since 1999, the film's rights have been held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, distributors of the official Bond movies by Eon Productions.
Picture: Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd and Woody Allen as Dr. Noah - Casino Royale [1967].
Budget
The studio approved the film's production budget of $6 million, already quite large in 1966. However, during filming the project ran into several problems and the shoot ran months over schedule, with the costs also running well over. When the film was finally completed it had doubled its original budget. The final production budget of $12 million made it one of the most expensive films that had been made to that point. The previous Eon Bond film, Thunderball (1965), had a budget of $11 million while the nearly contemporary You Only Live Twice (1967), had a budget of $9.5 million. The extremely high budget of Casino Royale led to comparisons with a troubled production from 1963, and it was referred to as "a runaway mini-Cleopatra". Columbia at first announced the film was due to be released in time for Christmas 1966. The problems postponed the launch until April 1967.
Release + Reception
Casino Royale had its world premiere in London's Odeon Leicester Square on 13 April 1967, breaking many opening records in the theatre's history. Its American premiere was held in New York on 28 April, at the Capitol and Cinema I theatres. It opened two months prior to the fifth Bond film by Eon Productions, You Only Live Twice.
Box Office + Marketing
Despite the lukewarm nature of the contemporary reviews, the pull of the James Bond name was sufficient to make it the 13th highest-grossing film in North America in 1967 with a gross of $22.7 million and a worldwide total of $41.7 million ($306 million in 2017 dollars). Orson Welles attributed the success of the film to a marketing strategy that featured a naked tattooed woman on the film's posters and print adsas well as a billboard in New York's Times Square. The campaign also included a series of commercials featuring British model Twiggy. As late as 2011, the film was still making money for the estate of Peter Sellers, who negotiated an extraordinary 3% of the gross profits (an estimated �120 million), with the proceeds currently going to Cassie Unger, the daughter and sole heir of Sellers' beneficiary, fourth wife Lynne Frederick. When box-office receipts are adjusted for inflation, Casino Royale is second-lowest grossing of all the Bond films, with only Licence To Kill (1989) showing a lower return.
Critical Reception
No advance press screenings of Casino Royale were held, leading reviews to only appear after the premiere.The chaotic nature of the production features heavily in contemporary and later reviews. Roger Ebert said "This is possibly the most indulgent film ever made", Time described Casino Royale as "an incoherent and vulgar vaudeville", and Variety declared the film to be "a conglomeration of frenzied situations, �in� gags and special effects, lacking discipline and cohesion." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times had some positive statements about the film, considering Casino Royale had "more of the talent agent than the secret agent" and praising the "fast start" and the scenes up to the baccarat game between Bond and Le Chiffre. Afterward, Crowther felt, the script became tiresome, repetitive and filled with clich�s due to "wild and haphazard injections of 'in' jokes and outlandish gags", leading to an excessive length that made the film a "reckless, disconnected nonsense that could be telescoped or stopped at any point".
Writing in 1986, Danny Peary noted, "It's hard to believe that in 1967 we actually waited in anticipation for this so-called James Bond spoof. It was a disappointment then; it's a curio today, but just as hard to get through." Peary described the film as being "disjointed and stylistically erratic" and "a testament to wastefulness in the bigger-is-better cinema," before adding, "It would have been a good idea to cut the picture drastically, perhaps down to the scenes featuring Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. In fact, I recommend you see it on television when it's in a two-hour (including commercials) slot. Then you won't expect it to make any sense."
A few recent reviewers have been more impressed by the film. Andrea LeVasseur, in the AllMovie review, called it "the original ultimate spy spoof", and opined that the "nearly impossible to follow" plot made it "a satire to the highest degree". Further describing it as a "hideous, zany disaster" LeVasseur concluded that it was "a psychedelic, absurd masterpiece". Cinema historian Robert von Dassanowsky has written about the artistic merits of the film and says "like Casablanca, Casino Royale is a film of momentary vision, collaboration, adaption, pastiche, and accident. It is the anti-auteur work of all time, a film shaped by the very zeitgeist it took on." Romano Tozzi complimented the acting and humour, although he also mentioned that the film has several dull stretches.
In his review of the film, Leonard Maltin remarked, "Money, money everywhere, but [the] film is terribly uneven � sometimes funny, often not." Simon Winder called Casino Royale "a pitiful spoof", while Robert Druce described it as "an abstraction of real life".
Rogert Ebert gave Casino Royale two star and some ascerbic comments:
"At one time or another, "Casino Royale" undoubtedly had a shooting schedule, a script and a plot. If any one of the three ever turns up, it might be the making of a good movie.
In the meantime, the present version is a definitive example of what can happen when everybody working on a film goes simultaneously berserk.
Lines and scenes are improvised before our very eyes. Skillful cutting builds up the suspense between two parallel plots -- but, alas, the parallel plots never converge. No matter; they are forgotten, Visitors from Peter O'Toole to Jean-Paul Belmondo are pressed into service. Peter Sellers, free at last from every vestige of' discipline goes absolutely gaga.
This is possibly the most indulgent film ever made. Anything goes. Consistency and planning must have seemed the merest whimsy. One imagines the directors (there were five, all working independently) waking in the morning and wondering what they'd shoot today. How could they lose? They had bundles of money, because this film was blessed with the magic name of James Bond."
The film holds a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 37 reviews with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus states: "A goofy, dated parody of spy movie cliches, Casino Royale squanders its all-star cast on a meandering, mostly laugh-free script."
Video: An excellent review/ documentary of Casino Royale '67, giving further insights into the chaos that surrounded the film's production
The video above contains some great footage of the director Val Guest being interviewed about his work on the film.
Extract from Casino Royale [1967] in Wikipedia:
"Val Guest was given the responsibility of splicing the various "chapters" together, and was offered the unique title of "Co-ordinating Director" but declined, claiming the chaotic plot would not reflect well on him if he were so credited. His extra credit was labelled "Additional Sequences" instead."
Roy Baird formed a strong working relationship with the director Guest. The son of a storekeeper at the film studios at nearby Elstree, he studied draughtsmanship at Southall Technical College before completing National Service in the RAF. He joined the Elstree studios as a runner and worked his way up to first assistant director, regarded as the best in the country on account of his energy and ability.
Together Guest and Baird released The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), 80,000 Suspects (1963) and The Beauty Jungle (1964). An interesting connection is that Ian Hendry was the lead in The Beauty Jungle and his future wife, Janet Munro, starred in The Day The Earth Caught Fire.
Roy Baird's son Mark shared this comment concerning his father's work on Casino Royale, on the above Youtube review video:
"My father was assistant director on this film and has a photograph with David Niven both looking up at a tree. Niven wrote on the photo "Somewhere up there Roy is the script!!" It was legendary chaotic. Incidentally the Tartan used in the castle scenes is the Baird tartan after our surname which Roy arranged. Most of the crew had a blast working on it from what I was told."
Ian Hendry + Ursula Andress - The Southern Star [1969]
Two years later, Ian worked with Ursula Andress again in another comedy adventure film, ' The Southern Star' [1969]. The film also featured Orson Welles, another cast member from Casino Royale [1967].
Ian Hendry played the part of�Captain Karl Ludwig and Ursula Andress the part of his fiancee, Erica Kramer. And although Ian's accent is markedly different here, this may be the closest we ever get to knowing what their onscreen 'chemistry' may have been like.
Video: Ian Hendry and Ursula Andress - The Southern Star [1969]
Plot:
The Southern Star (French title: L'�toile du sud) is a Technicolor 1969 British-French comedy crime film directed by Sidney Hayers and starring George Segal, Ursula Andress and Orson Welles. In French West Africa in 1912, an extremely valuable diamond is stolen. It was based on the novel The Vanished Diamond (French title L'�toile du sud) by Jules Verne. The film's opening scenes were anonymously directed by Orson Welles - the last time he would direct scenes in another director's film.
Cast:
- George Segal as Rockland
- Ursula Andress as Erica Kramer
- Orson Welles as Plankett
- Harry Andrews as Kramer
- Ian Hendry as Capt. Karl Ludwig
- Johnny Sekka as Matakit
- Michel Constantin as Jose
- Georges G�ret as Andre
Further Reading/ Podcasts - �James Bond Radio:
To explore the world of James Bond Radio further, we can recommend the following:
Website: http://jamesbondradio.com
iTunes:�http://jamesbondradio.com/itunes
Facebook:�http://www.facebook.com/jamesbondradio
Twitter:�http://twitter.com/jamesbondradio
If I do find out any more information about Ian Hendry's role in 'Casino Royale' [1967], or any other Bond connection for that matter, I'll be sure to let you know.
And lastly, many thanks to Joseph McGrath for sharing his fascinating insights into the making of Casino Royale and to Pete Doherty/ James Bond Radio for such a wonderful podcast and video.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Ian Hendry + Hildegard Neil - The Adventures of Don Quick. Rare Still Found From London Weekend Television Production [November 1970]
Picture above: Ian Hendry and Hildegard Neil in The Adventures of Don Quick episode 'The Higher The Fewer' [1970].
Recently discovered rare London Weekend Television promotional still for the episode 'The Higher The Fewer' which was first transmitted on Friday November 13th 1970.
Picture: Rear of Photograph. Ian Hendry and Hildegard Neil in The Adventures of Don Quick, episode 'The Higher The Fewer' [LWT 1970]
The Adventures of Don Quick [1970]
Video: The Benefits of Earth [1970]. The only episode known to have survived from the 70s.
Picture: Ian Hendry in The Adventures of Don Quick. TV Times Cover from 31st October 1970
Source: Wikipedia
The Adventures of Don Quick is a science fiction comedy television series that ran from October�December 1970, on ITV. Starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Lacey, six 50 minute episodes were made, shown in a 60-minute time slot. As of 2008, only the first episode exists, the other five are now missing. A technologically impressive 30 foot model spaceship was built in the studio for the series.
Plot summary
The show was a science fiction satire based on the characters of Don Quixote, with astronaut Captain Don Quick (Ian Hendry) and Sergeant Sam Czopanser (Ronald Lacey), members of the "Intergalactic Maintenance Squad". On each planet they visit, Quick attempts to set right imaginary wrongs, often upsetting the inhabitants of whatever society he is in. The plot bears some resemblance to the five Penton and Blake stories by John W Campbell, about two astronauts who travel the Solar System meeting strange races.
The Higher The Fewer. The pair land on Melkion 5 where the population live in 2,000 storey high skyscrapers. The upper floors are for the upper classes and the lower floors for the lower classes. Quick decides to change all of that with disastrous results. James Hayter as Hendenno, Hildegard Neil as Mrs Arborel, Derek Francis as Arborel. Written by Peter Wildeblood.
Hildegarde Neil
Hildegarde Neil (born 29 July 1939), also credited as Hildegard Neil, is an English actress.
Born in London, and raised in South Africa, she first appeared on television in a BBC schools' television production of Julius Caesar in 1963 and after that appeared mostly as a guest artiste in a variety of TV series over the last 40 years. She has also appeared in several films and on stage, both in the West End and touring.
Personal life
She is married to actor Brian Blessed - since December 28, 1978 - and has a daughter with him, Rosalind, who is also an actress and represented by the same agent as her mother. Ian Hendry also worked with Brian Blessed in the very first episode of the TV series The Sweeney, titled 'Ringer' [first aired on 2nd January 1975].
Stage Appearances
-
- Neil spent a season at the Royal Shakespeare Company playing a variety of roles including "Gertrude" in Hamlet.
- She played Lady Macbeth in Ewan Hooper's production of Macbeth at the Greenwich Theatre, which opened on 18 February 1971.
- She directed Roan School for Girls' production of As You Like It in 1971.
Film and Television
Neil has featured in a number of films and is, perhaps, best known for the following roles:
- Eve Pelham, wife of Roger Moore's Harold Pelham in "The Man Who Haunted Himself", directed by Basil Dearden.
- Cleopatra, opposite Charlton Heston's Antony, in the 1972 production of 'Antony and Cleopatra'.
Heston asked Orson Welles to direct, but Welles turned it down, so he decided to do it himself.�The film was shot in Spain. Heston re-used leftover footage of the sea battle from his 1959 film Ben-Hur.
Neil's television career has spanned six decades with notable roles including No Hiding Place, Jason King, Van Der Vaalk, The Protectors and The Professionals.
Source Wikipedia: Hildegarde Neil
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Ian Hendry In 'A Suitable Case For Treatment' - Radio Times October 20th 1962 [BBC TV Production]
Picture above: Ian Hendry as Morgan Delt and Moira Redmond as Leonie Delt
Ian Hendry - A Suitable Case For Treatment, October 1962 [BBC TV Production]
By all accounts, Ian Hendry's portrayal of Morgan Delt - in the BBC's 1962 production of 'A Suitable Case for Treatment' - was considered to be exceptional.
Even David Warner, who gained considerable critical acclaim when he played the part in the film version made in 1966, agrees. David mentioned Ian's performance when he was interviewed in 2009 and stated, humbly, that:
"Ian Hendry was Morgan"
The audio of that interview is included in the article below.
It is almost certain that the BBC wiped the tape of the 1962 version and no 16mm tele recorded copy is known to exist. Another case of a significant archival loss, where we have to search for other surviving material to try and build a picture of this production.
The Radio Times edition from 20th October 1962 is such an example. We now have a clear picture [ well a still at least] of Ian's portrayal of Morgan, replete with a beard and thick black-rimmed glasses! There appears to be some kind of gadget, perhaps some kind of lens, attached to the left hand side of the spectacles. As yet I have no information as to what it is exactly, but quite possibly part of the eccentric portrayal of Morgan used in the production.
Trivia
"Ian Hendry wears glasses and a thick beard in the title role, which make him closely resemble David Mercer, the play's author; and the character is, like Mercer, a Marxist writer who drinks too much and has abrasive relationships with women."
"Moira Redmond appeared alongside Ian Hendry in the The Avengers, Series 1, in�very first episode of titled 'Hot Snow' [1961].
John Dankworth, who wrote the theme tune for Series 1 of The Avengers, also wrote the music for the BBC's production of 'A Suitable Case For Treatment' [1962].
Cast
Ian Hendry ... Morgan Delt
Moira Redmond ... Leonie Delt
Jack May ... Charles Napier
Anna Wing ... Mrs. Delt
Norman Pitt ... Mr. Henderson
Helen Goss ... Mrs. Henderson
Jane Merrow ... Jean Skelton
Harry Brunning ... Mr. Delt
David Grahame ... Ticket Collector
John Bennett ... Policeman
Hugh Evans ... Analyst
Writing Credits
David Mercer
Producer
Don Taylor
Picture: Ian Hendry as Morgan Delt and Moira Redmond as Leonie Delt
Picture: Text from the Radio Times entry for 'A Suitable Case For Treatment' for the week commencing 20th October 1962.
Picture: Cover of the 20th October 1962 edition of Radio Times, featuring Michael Bentine who was starring in It's A Square World
David Warner - On Ian Hendry and a Suitable Case For Treatment
In this BBC interview from 2009, David Warner talks about his life and work including his well known role as Morgan in the film version of 'A Suitable Case For Treatment' (1966). He discusses the challenges of playing the part - a role which Ian Hendry also took on�in the BBC production of 1962.
During this interview [from 8mins 5sec], David refers to this earlier performance and in a few brief but telling words, states that 'Ian Hendry was Morgan'.
We appreciate David's humility, but regardless of comparisons it gives us a glimpse of just how powerful Ian's performance must have been. Sadly, that BBC productions is missing, presumed wiped - but we live in hope that one day it will be discovered.
David Warner - BBC Radio Interview (2009)
Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment [1966]
Morgan � A Suitable Case for Treatment (also called Morgan!) is a 1966 comedy film�made by British Lion. It was directed by Karel Reisz and produced by Leon Clore from a screenplay by David Mercer, based on his BBC television play A Suitable Case for Treatment (1962), the leading role at that time being played by Ian Hendry.
The film stars David Warner, Vanessa Redgrave, and Robert Stephens, with Irene Handland Bernard Bresslaw.
Plot Summary
Morgan Delt (David Warner) is a failed artist, who was raised as a communist by his parents. His upper-class wife, Leonie (Vanessa Redgrave), has given up on him and is in the process of getting a divorce in order to marry Charles Napier (Robert Stephens), an art gallery owner of her own social standing. Given the innately rich and personal world of fantasy Morgan has locked himself into, he goes off the deep end. He performs a series of bizarre stunts in a campaign to win back Leonie, including putting a skeleton in her bed and blowing up the bed as her mother sits on it. When these stunts fail, Morgan secures the help of his mother's wrestler friend Wally "The Gorilla" (Arthur Mullard) to kidnap Leonie, who still nurtures residual feelings of love tinged with pity for Morgan. The plan fails, and Morgan is arrested and imprisoned.
After escaping, he crashes the wedding reception of Leonie and Charles dressed as a gorilla, for which scene Reisz borrows clips from King Kong to illustrate Morgan's fantasy world. Morgan flees the wedding on a motorcycle with his gorilla suit on fire. He is subsequently committed to an insane asylum. Here, Leonie visits him looking visibly pregnant. With a wink, Leonie tells him he is the child's father. Morgan returns to tending a flowerbed as the camera pulls out to a longshot of the entire circular flowerbed with the enclosed flowers arranged into a hammer and sickle.
Moira Redmond - A Career Overview
As a young actress, she joined the Windmill Girls (recently evoked in the film Mrs Henderson Presents) who performed non-stop revues and nude tableux at the Windmill Theatre in the West End. Several years later, she married her first husband and emigrated to Australia, but the marriage did not endure so she returned to Britain determined to make her name as an actress. While in Australia, Moira became a successful radio actress. She played in the major radio features, Caltex Theatre and General Motors' Hour as well as plays for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Her best remembered radio drama was Linday Hardy's Stranger in Paradise along Guy Doleman, a New Zealand actor who later had a movie career both in the US and Britain.[citation needed]
She made her stage debut as an understudy to Vivien Leigh in Peter Brook's revival of Titus Andronicus with Laurence Olivier. In July of that year, she made her London debut at the Stoll in the same production.
In 1958, she made her film debut in a thriller, entitled Violent Moment (1958), which was followed by several more roles in the films Doctor in Love (1960), A Shot in the Dark (1964) and several B-film thrillers.
Meanwhile her theatrical career had taken off with roles in Verdict (Strand), in which she played Helen Rollander; Detour After Dark (Fortune Theatre), Horizontal Hold (Comedy Theatre); Patrick Peace Hotel (Queen's); The Winter's Tale (Cambridge Theatre) and 'Flint (Comedy Theatre).
She was also a founder member of the Actors' Company with Ian McKellen. She played at the Edinburgh Festival as Helen of Troy in The Trojan Women with Flora Robson, and as Hermione in The Winter's Tale with Laurence Harvey.
Throughout the 1960s she appeared in London and the provinces in the plays of Alan Ayckbourn; she was also Lady Sheerwell in Jonathan Miller's revival of Sheridan's The School for Scandal; Maria in Twelfth Night; Mrs Wickstead in Habeas Corpus; Brand's mother in Brand; and Jocasta in Stephen Spender's trilogy Oedipus. She later toured South America for the British Council in revivals of Habeas Corpus and Shaw's Heartbreak House (as Hesione). Television appearances in the 1960s included a role in Hot Snow (the debut episode of the first series of The Avengers) and in Danger Man and The Baron among others.
By the 1970s she was increasingly in demand for television series, her theatrical training earning her roles in some of the best known television dramas of the period, including Edward the Seventh (playing Edward's mistress Alice Keppel); I, Claudius (in which she played Domitia, Claudius's mother-in-law); and Boswell's London Journey. She also appeared in The Alleyn Mysteries; Edgar Wallace Mysteries, Dixon of Dock Green, and The Sweeney.
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry - The Adventures of Don Quick [1970] - Rare London Weekend Television Promotional Still
Picture above: Ian Hendry in The Adventures of Don Quick [1970].
Recently discovered rare London Weekend Television promotional still for the episode 'The Benefits of Earth' which was first transmitted on Friday October 30th 1970.
The Adventures of Don Quick [1970]
Video: The Benefits of Earth [1970]. The only episode known to have survived from the 70s.
Source: Wikipedia
The Adventures of Don Quick is a science fiction comedy television series that ran from October�December 1970, on ITV. Starring Ian Hendry and Ronald Lacey, six 50 minute episodes were made, shown in a 60-minute time slot. As of 2008, only the first episode exists, the other five are now missing. A technologically impressive 30 foot model spaceship was built in the studio for the series.
Plot summary
The show was a science fiction satire based on the characters of Don Quixote, with astronaut Captain Don Quick (Ian Hendry) and Sergeant Sam Czopanser (Ronald Lacey), members of the "Intergalactic Maintenance Squad". On each planet they visit, Quick attempts to set right imaginary wrongs, often upsetting the inhabitants of whatever society he is in. The plot bears some resemblance to the five Penton and Blake stories by John W Campbell, about two astronauts who travel the Solar System meeting strange races.
The episodes
The Benefits of Earth. The pair land on a planet with two extremely different races. One is technologically advanced and is warlike, addicted to human sacrifices. The others are beings of peace and sensitively, living in a dream world. Quick decides to reform them. Kevin Stoney as Betuchuk, Anouska Hempel as Marvana, Thorley Walters as Chief Dreamer. Written by Peter Wildeblood.
People Isn�t Everything. The pair land on the planet Ophiuchus and leave their rocket in the care of a robot who unfortunately likes to drink. Tony Bateman as Skip, Kate O'Mara as Peleen, Colin Baker as Rebel. Written by Kenneth Hill.
The Higher The Fewer. The pair land on Melkion 5 where the population live in 2,000 storey high skyscrapers. The upper floors are for the upper classes and the lower floors for the lower classes. Quick decides to change all of that with disastrous results. James Hayter as Hendenno, Hildegard Neil as Mrs Arborel, Derek Francis as Arborel. Written by Peter Wildeblood.
The Love Reflector. A planet populated only by beautiful women but the planet holds hidden dangers as an astronaut who landed there a generation ago proves, as he is now only six inches tall. Liz Bamber as Angeline, Madeline Smith as Leonie, Faith Brook as Queen Bee. Written by Keith Miles.
The Quick and The Dead. The pair accidentally land their rocket in a live volcano crater and Sam is convinced he is dead and this is the afterlife. They meet an assortment of gods who unknown to them have made them immune to the heat so they can survive, so Quick thinks the volcano is not real. Patricia Haines as Aphrodite, Pauline Jameson as Hera, Graham Crowden as Zeus. Written by Keith Miles.
Paradise Destruct. The planet has many beautiful people and lush vegetation. Night and winter have been abolished in this paradise but Quick decides to change a thing or two with bad results. Kara Wilson as Jonquil, Lorna Heilbron as Willow, Roy Marsden as Sycamore. Written by Charlotte and Dennis Plimmer.
Unproduced episodes include 'It Was Such a Nice Little Planet' by Angela Carter. A copy of her script is held in the British Library Manuscript Collection.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Quality Concerns Over The Avengers, 'Tunnel Of Fear' DVD Released By Studio Canal On April 9th 2018 [Review]
�Article Update: 31st July 2018
[New Version 2 Released] The Avengers - Tunnel of Fear DVD
It appears that Studio Canal have reissued the Tunnel of Fear DVD, to address some of the issues raised previously.
The original DVD was released on 9th April 2018, but a second version is now showing on Amazon UK with a release date of 14th May 2018 and a new ASIN number. The price is listed as �12.00, whereas the version 1 was �9.99.
- Cover updated: Ian Hendry now receives the top billing as per his original contract.
It's not clear to me whether the other issues raised have been addressed or not as I have not seen a copy of this new version. These included:
- Issues with poor sound quality
- Incorrect credits for other actors
- Missing Extra - PDFs
If you have already purchased Version 1, I suggest that you may wish to contact/ email Studio Canal customer services and complain. The 2nd version was released one month after the first so that speaks volumes in itself. The listing on Amazon provides little information, perhaps because they want to shift the old stock first and are hoping people purchase the cheaper one. They were made aware of the issues in April and told me that a 2nd version would be released at some point to rectify them. So I think you are well within your rights to request that they exchange your copy for a new Version 2.
I only saw this this morning so have not had a chance to review a copy to check whether the other issues, especially audio, have been fixed. That maybe something you wish to raise as well if you decide to contact them.
Check out the 'Tunnel of Fear' DVD listings on Amazon - Click here
More details on the original issues in the article below.
________-______________________________________________
This week should have been one with a purely celebratory mood with the release by Studio Canal of the previously missing series 1 episode of The Avengers, 'Tunnel of Fear'.�It's great that it's now available and I know many people have enjoyed seeing it for the first time.
And I contributed a significant amount of time and content to try and help the team at Studio Canal make this as high quality a release as possible.
But there are a number of issues which could have been avoided with greater care and attention to detail by Studio Canal. And that has cast a bit of a cloud over proceedings this week, as I have tried to focus some minds on the various issues at hand.
This article focuses more on the known issues. For an in-depth review of the episode itself, I can thoroughly recommend Richard McGinlay's article.
Firstly, however, I want to provide some context on exactly why the discovery of Tunnel of Fear episode�is so important and a brief 'potted history' on The Avengers and the ABC TV archive.
Some Background On Series 1 - And Why Tunnel Of Fear Is Such An Important Find
Series 1 of The Avengers has, for a long time, been the Cinderella of all the six series made of The Avengers. One of the key reasons for this is that for many many years, only one episode was known to have survived from the 26 episodes originally made back in 1961. That episode, The Frighteners, was used to provide the clip used in Ian Hendry's This Is Your Life, broadcast in March 1978. In the early 200os, more episodes were rediscovered on 16mm film, this time at the UCLA archive in Los Angeles, including Girl on The Trapeze, another copy of The Frighteners and the first act of Hot Snow [c.15 minutes]. �That still only made it 2 and a bit episodes out of 26. So no wonder the focus always remained on series 2-6 for the simple reason that they were available and viewable.
Fast forward to autumn 2016, a surprise announcement is made that another episode has been rediscovered, Tunnel of Fear. It was in the US until about 20 years ago when it was returned to the UK and into the collection of a private collector. And it remained there, forgotten about in a box, until the collector was informed that it might be quite rare and a much sort after missing episode. Kaleidoscope negotiated for it's acquisition and the rights holder, Studio Canal were then able to add their own copy to their archive.
The Avengers - A Production/ Archive History In Brief
The Avengers was produced by ABC TV from 1961-1969. When they lost their ITV broadcasting franchise in 1968, �ABC TV's parent company Associated British Picture Corporation [ABPC], was asked to form a new television company along with Associated-Rediffusion/ Redifusion London's parent company BEP - for the London weekday slot. Both ABC TV and�Associated-Rediffusion/ Redifusion London would then cease to exist as production/ broadcasting entities in their own right.
The newly formed company was, of course, named Thames TV. But ABPC still retained the ABC TV archive, which included The Avengers, along with all the rights.
Warner Bros. owned �a 40% stake in ABPC, purchased back in 1940�following the death of John Maxwell. Maxwell, a�Scottish solicitor, founded the company in 1927 after he had purchased British National Studios and its Elstree Studios complex and merged it with his ABC Cinemas circuit, renaming the company British International Pictures [BIP].
[Note: The Wardour Film Company, with Maxwell as chairman, was the distributor of BIP films.�The company was renamed Associated British Picture Corporation in 1933 and was now in a position to vertically integrate production, distribution and exhibition of films.�Under Maxwell's paternalistic management the company prospered and during 1937 it acquired British Path�, which as Associated British Path� now functioned as the distribution division.]
In 1967,�Seven Arts, the new owners of Warner, decided to dispose of its holdings in ABPC - with the 40% stake being purchased in 1968 by EMI.�
In 1969, ABPC was bought out completely by EMI and The Avengers, along with the rest of the ABC TV/ ABPC archive became 100% EMI owned. How much of The Avengers archive was still intact at that time and where it was being archived is not fully known and open to much conjecture, particularly with regards to series 1, but suffice to say it is a complex story with various theories and facts - often interwoven with one another.
In April 1970, EMI struck up a co-production agreement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Hollywood studio announced they would sell their Borehamwood facility and move their equipment to EMI's Elstree studio. MGM and EMI would then distribute and produce films in co-operation through a joint venture to be called MGM-EMI�and MGM began to finance some of EMI's productions.�EMI's studio complex was renamed EMI-MGM Elstree Studios�while a film distribution company MGM-EMI Distributors Ltd. was formed as part of the co-production agreement. This company, headed by Mike Havas would handle domestic distribution of MGM and EMI-produced films in the United Kingdom.
MGM pulled out of the amalgamation in 1973, and became a member of CIC, which took over international distribution of MGM produced films. At this point the distribution company became EMI Film Distributors Ltd., and EMI-MGM Elstree Studios reverted to EMI-Elstree Studios.
In October 1979, EMI merged with�Thorn Electrical Industries�to form Thorn EMI. Aside from the merger and name change, nothing much appears to have changed structurally.The archives and their locations remained as they were.
It is known, however, that Thames TV despite being a separate company, still held significant amounts of ABC TV material in it's archives in the 70s. Should they have had this material? No, but it was time when television companies had material stored in many locations across London and cataloguing and archiving systems were much less sophisticated. Things are clearly very different today and Fremantle - who now own the Thames TV archive - have thoroughly checked their holdings to ensure that no ABC TV material is still in their possession.
For a more detailed account on this period and series 1 as a whole, I can recommend Two Against The Underworld, by Richard McGinlay, Alan Hayes and Alys Hayes.
Thorn EMI later sold its film production and distribution arm [Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment], home video [Thorn EMI Video], and cinema [ABC Cinemas]�operations to businessman Alan Bond in April 1986. Bond, in turn, sold it to The Cannon Group a week later.�A year after the purchase, a cash-strapped Cannon Group sold the film library to Weintraub Entertainment Group. The Cannon Group, however, retained ownership of Elstree Studios, Shemley Road, Borehamwood and in 1988 sold it to the�property company Brent Walker.�Most of the backlot and several facilities were demolished to build a Tesco superstore. A "Save Our Studios" campaign led to the site being purchased by Hertsmere Borough Council in February 1996 and management company, Elstree Film & Television Studios Ltd was appointed to run the studios in 2000.
So the ABPC/ ABC TV archive had to find a new home. And in 1988, it was relocated to Pinewood Studios where it still remains to this day.
The Weintraub Entertainment Group went bankrupt in 1990, with ownership of the archive then passing into the hands of�Lumiere Pictures and Television.
Lumiere Pictures and Television was then bought by European cinema operator UGC� in 1996, who were in turn bought by Studio Canal's parent company,�Canal+ Group.�
So after a long and fairly complex history, what remained of the The Avengers and ABPC/ ABC TV film archive finally ended up with it's current custodians,�Studio Canal, formed by the Canal+ Group in 1998.
The Big Issue
With that background in place, here is the nub of the issue for me:
"Given the long and complex history of the archive and it's various owners and given the rarity of The Avengers Series 1 episodes, �I think we all hoped that Studio Canal would then treat Tunnel of Fear�with 'kid-gloves' and give it the 5 star treatment the episode - and the fans - deserve. Studio Canal spent a lot of time and effort on the booklet, sourcing extras etc. So why not spend a bit more effort on the quality of the episode's digital transfer?"
"And that is one of the main reasons for my frustration. Having waited for over 55 years for this episode to reappear and then a further 18 months for Studio Canal to release it - the final product could and should have been better with more attention to detail, especially with regards to the audio quality of the 16mm film to digital transfer.."
Quality Control Issues
I have been made aware of several quality control issues with regards to Studio Canal's DVD release of the rediscovered episode, 'Tunnel of Fear'.
- Poor audio quality
- Missing scripts [one of the Extra items]
- Incorrect credits for actors/ billing order
- Incorrect order of Reconstructions [Extra item]
There are a couple of other issues as well, but I think that the above are the key ones that I want you all to be aware of at this time.
The defects list clearly raises several concerns about Studio Canal, �the way in which they handle their archive and their attitude towards their customers when delivering products to their target audience. Especially, with regards to their diligence, technical expertise and the quality control required to ensure that their products are complete and of a satisfactory standard. For a company like Studio Canal, one would hope that they aspire for their products to be more than just 'satisfactory'. But in this instance the ommission of material and poor audio quality suggest that they haven't even achieved that with certain aspects of this release.
I have been in contact with Studio Canal and have flagged these issues up to them and made my position clear - in no uncertain terms.
Picture Quality
This is not to say that the product is without merit or the episode unwatchable. It is neither of these. The picture quality is good, but some have suggested that it is a bit 'flat' which may be a result of insufficient post-processing and adjustment in certain qualities such as contrast. It seems that no post-transfer processing work was carried out to improve the image quality. Or if any work was carried out it was cursory.
Audio Quality Issues
The audio is certainly audible but suffers from significant background noise. I listened to a 40 second sample which was sent to me and the defects were obvious. Using headphones, the defects became even more apparent. The sound quality was, in my opinion, extremely poor.
And my view is not an isolated one. Another comment received:
�There's a noise on the soundtrack running variously through the entire episode. I watched listening on headphones which are BOSE and fairly sensitive. The sound reminded me of the type of effect caused in projection by imperfect loop near the sound head (vibration) or sometimes in film transfers the soundtrack is over scanned.
I doubt it is a fault in the 16mm film recording, though if it was it might have been a rejected print. I took a sample for you. About 38 mins in as the third act starts. I think the 'motorboat' effect is more obvious here, perhaps on a splice. Have to confess it ruined the experience for me. The actual transfer is not as well-defined as I hoped and doesn't look as if any dirt removal has been attempted. Highlights possibly blown out.�
Again, it seems that no post-transfer audio processing work was carried out by Studio Canal to improve the audio quality. Or if any work was carried out it was very limited and executed poorly. So the end product reflects that lack of attention to detail.
Question: Can you hear the dialogue? Answer: Yes.
Question: Is it muffled at times and with plenty of background noise/ interference?�Answer: Yes.
Question: Could it have been much better?�Answer: Yes.
Question: Do you think the post-16mm transfer audio received any enhancement by a sound engineer?�Answer:�No
Question: Should it have? Answer: Yes, most definitely.
In a test, I was surprised that I was able to significantly improve the audio quality of the sample using Audacity audio software - available for free online. And I know next to nothing about sound engineering. So if I can improve the audio significantly on a sample using software I know very little about, in about 15 minutes, then can you imagine what a good sound engineer might be capable of doing with the whole episode?
Studio Canal - Original DVD Audio Sample From 'Tunnel Of Fear'
Versus
Neil's 'Enhanced' Version - Based On The Original DVD Audio Sample By Studio Canal From 'Tunnel Of Fear'
I say it's 'enhanced' - which I think it is - but it's obviously still pretty 'rough and ready' as I really don't know what I am doing with this Audacity audio software. I just used some simple presets.
So if I can improve the audio in a few minutes and I really don't know what I am doing, one has to then ask the following question:
"Why was more care not taken by Studio Canal to improve the quality of the audio before this DVD was released?
Booklet
I was asked to contribute the Foreword to the 64 page booklet and Alan Hayes provided an excellent in-depth essay. In addition, I located a significant number of images from my own collection to help visually enhance the booklet. Although I say so myself, it is a very nice addition to the release and is well produced.
Extras
As mentioned above, one of the Extra items is missing altogether. This is the pdf collection of scripts from the first series which is promised on the back cover. Purchasers of the product would have only expected to find one mystery on the inside of the DVD case, that of the Tunnel of Fear. There is now a second mystery to solve, that of how to find the missing Extra/ scripts. Without wishing to spoil your fun, I understand that Studio Canal can help you with that if you contact them.
The other extras have been well-received and include:
- Big Finish Audio Play Series 1 Reconstruction - Tunnel of Fear
- New Interview with John Dorney � writer of the Big Finish episode
- Ulster TV interview: Ian Hendry (1962)
- Ulster TV interview: Patrick Macnee (1964)
- Reconstructions - Series 1 � Slideshows
- 64 page booklet mentioned above
Summary
In summary, this release falls in the 'could do much better category' and in the interests of transparency, it is only right that I bring these issues and concerns to your attention. It's great that the episode has been discovered and is now available. The extras have been well received and the booklet has a lot of very good original content.
But given that we have had to wait 57 years to see it again, it would have been nice if �Studio Canal could have taken more care in the product's overall delivery - especially with the audio quality of the actual episode itself - and that the release was complete with all the Extras which were promised.
"Remember the saying that 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'? Well this particular pudding is lacking in certain ingredients and is slightly undercooked."
Studio Canal have responded to me pointing out that despite the various issues, many people have been very happy to see the episode this week. And I have no doubt about that and I am glad that they have had a chance to see it.
"But they would probably have been glad to see 'Tunnel of Fear' if it had been presented to them on an old VHS tape cassette, handed over in a brown paper bag".
So that is not the point I am trying to make here or the point I have been trying to make to Studio Canal.
Studio Canal may own the rights to The Avengers but that does not then give them the right to try and pass off sub-standard or incomplete goods to fans that love the series.
"Studio Canal are custodians of television history and, to use a museum curation analogy, you wouldn't expect the British Museum to treat their acquisitions poorly and their visitors with contempt."
With 'Tunnel of Fear' I think they could have presented it much better. Some proper restoration before presentation, as a precious rare artefact would be displayed by a reputable museum.
"But that comes down to having a vision and some aspiration. If the aspiration of Studio Canal is only to 'get it out there so people can see it' type mentality, then we can all forget about quality.
But that would also says something pretty fundamental about how they value their acquisitions and how they also value you, the fan and customer. And that for me is the real concern here. I think we all deserve a lot better than having to accept the minimum standards or the minimum viable product [MVP] as they call it these days."
Studio Canal performed a basic digital transfer and then made no real effort to improve the sound quality before release, which would have been relatively easy to do. Another symptom of malaise from a company that doesn't appear to care too much about quality. Their approach seems to be:
....get it out there, people can watch it, what's the problem?
And it's really not a problem if you have a slack approach of quality and don't care that much about the customers. Which is currently my perception of Studio Canal as an organisation.
Studio Canal are now fully aware of all these issues. But it appears that they plan to keep on selling the original version 1 - warts and all - for now at least. I think that alone speaks volumes.
A recent comment by P.J. on the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page sums it all up very well for me:
"This is why I never buy a 1.0 DVD release from Studio Canal"
Perhaps that quote should be printed out and framed?
And L.P. also commented to me on the Facebook page that:
"The sound on the DVD is appalling. It's really not on. Thanks for pursuing with this. Really annoyed at the moment"
And others have felt the same way. P.O. on Twitter said:
"Well said, sloppy audio transfer from them..."
and:
"Shame it was not Network... I'm sure would have made a better job"
Studio Canal are now talking about a version 2 of this release which will rectify these errors.
"But Studio Canal haven't yet confirmed that they will address the audio issues"
Given that version 1 has only been out for 4 days, at the time of writing, it's a clear admission to me that they've got many things wrong. Exactly how long we will have to wait for version 2 to be released is not yet known.
Hopefully, it is significantly less than another 57 years.
I'll keep you posted on any breaking news.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Happy 5th Birthday! The Official Tribute To Ian Hendry - Website Celebrates It's 5th Year Online
Picture above: Ian Hendry
It all started as an idea back in 2011. I decided to do a bit of research into Ian's life and Google was my first port of call.
The internet was, of course, well established by then and you could find out information and discover material that had previously been scattered to the four corners of the earth.
I found memorabilia in the States, Canada, South America, Australia, all across Europe and, of course, in the UK. I ordered old original film posters, lobby cards, press booklets, magazines and stills and soon became inundated with cardboard tubes and envelopes, full of musty smelling card, printed paper and black and white photographs.
Picture: Ian Hendry. Probably taken on his houseboat in Chiswick c.1962.
Then came the idea of a website, which could become an online hub for his life. Somewhere to bring the various disparate elements together and to try and help understand more about Ian and his somewhat turbulent life and career. Out of curiosity, I searched to see if a domain name might be available. There seemed little point in me collecting all these things, if I couldn't then share them with others. And to my surprise, ianhendry.com was there on the registrar, waiting for me to take ownership. The first steps had been taken.
Video: A short tribute to Ian Hendry
Ian's Wikipedia page was a bit like an unkempt garden, with a few random snippets of information, some factually incorrect, no real details and no photograph. It's still a work in progress, but the framework is there and I try and update the appearance credits when I discover new TV programmes or plays that he appeared in. The following is a case in point.
Only a few days ago, I was contacted by a collector of theatre memorabilia who had a copy of the 'Dinner With The Family' programme, dated October 1957, Theatre Royal, Brighton.
It was originally believed that the production had transferred directly from the Oxford Playhouse to the New Theatre in London's West End in December 1957. We now know from other recent finds, that it was also performed for short week-long �runs at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, Theatre Royal, Brighton, then back to Scotland to the King's Theatre, Glasgow, before finally transferring to London. This production is significant for a number of reasons, as it led to events that would dramatically change the course of Ian's life.
In the audience, on at least one occasion in London, was Julian Bond. Bond was the co-creator and producer of the first few episodes of Police Surgeon, the series that ultimately led to the creation of The Avengers. He had come up with the idea for the series after meeting a GP in the Notting Hill area of London whilst working on another television series.
Picture: Ian Hendry as Dr. Geoffrey Brent and John Warwick as Inspector Langdon
When it came to casting the leading role of Dr. Geoffrey Brent, it was Ian's performance as Jaques in 'Dinner With The Family', that helped Bond to persuade others at ABC TV that, although relatively unknown at the time, Ian was the right man for the job. When Police Surgeon ended, The Avengers was created by ABC TV as a new vehicle for his talent and it was the part of Dr. David Keel that would significantly raise Ian's public profile and popularity.
A protracted equity strike in 1961 put the production of the second season of The Avengers on hold for several months. During this time, Ian was receiving offers to play the�lead in several films; the timing of the strike combined with the opportunity to work on 'big screen' productions, were the�two key reasons for his decision to leave the series.
Returning to more recent times, I received a message from Gabriel Hershman in late 2011.
A long time fan of Ian's work, he was curious as to why Ian's story had never been told, aside from in the tabloids, where a headline and some gossip seemed to be the order of the day.
Over the course of several months, spanning much of 2012, we exchanged hundreds of messages and shared any research and anecdotes we could both find. So much time had already passed since Ian's death, but Gabriel was still able to contact and interview many of the key people in Ian's life.
Picture: 'Send In The Clowns, The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
With the biography nearing completion, the creation of the website became the next priority. It was clear that the launch of the book should coincide with the launch of the website. And on 23rd March 2013, the very first article was posted:
Welcome To The Official Website Of Ian Hendry
Since then, I have been fortunate to have been contacted by many people who knew Ian at various stages of his life.
The daughter whose 'Mum' once shared digs with Ian in London in the 50s, actors who worked with him throughout his career, camera and sound crew who shared sets together, sons of producers who worked on some of his biggest films - as well as school and National Service army friends who knew Ian when he was much much younger. So a big thanks to all of them too. By sharing something about their own lives, we have also been able to find out more about Ian's life, career and the times in which he lived. And it's that discovery of the social history, that also fascinates and inspires me to research and share much more going forwards.
There have also been some great finds over the last five years, with the most significant clearly being The Avengers�series 1 episode, 'Tunnel of Fear', which had been missing for over 55 years; spending much of it's life in the States before being returned to the UK some 20 years ago.�Studio Canal will be releasing the episode shortly on DVD on 9th April 2018:
The Avengers 'Tunnel of Fear' - Released on DVD 9th April 2018
And finally, I'd like to say thanks to you for following this website and the Facebook page, for your feedback and your encouragement. You help to make this whole 'project' so worthwhile.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Repulsion [1965] Original Stills Discovered In Paris
Picture above: Ian Hendry and Yvonne Furneaux, Repulsion [1965]
On The Set, Repulsion [1965]
A few rare stills, recently discovered in Paris.
Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological horror film directed by Roman Polanski, and starring Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser and Yvonne Furneaux. The screenplay was based on a scenario by G�rard Brach and Polanski. The plot focuses on a young woman who is left alone by her vacationing sister at their apartment, and begins reliving traumas of her past in horrific ways. Shot in London, it was Polanski's first English-language film and second feature-length production, following Knife in the Water (1962).
The film debuted at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival before receiving theatrical releases internationally. Upon its release, Repulsion received considerable critical acclaim and currently is considered one of Polanski's greatest works. The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Gilbert Taylor's cinematography.
Picture: Ian Hendry and Yvonne Furneaux, Repulsion [1965]
Picture: Ian Hendry and Yvonne Furneaux, Repulsion [1965]
Picture: James Villiers, John Fraser and Hugh Futcher, Repulsion [1965]
Picture: �John Fraser and director Roman Polanski, Repulsion [1965]
Picture: �Catherine Denueve, director Roman Polanski and John Fraser, Repulsion [1965]
Picture: �Director Roman Polanski, Repulsion [1965]
High Futcher
Hugh Futcher (born 29 October 1937 in Portsmouth, Hampshire) is an English actor in theatre, television and film. He was a member of the stock company of the Carry On films, with notable parts in Carry On Spying, Carry On at Your Convenience, and Carry On Behind. Other films include Roman Polanski's Repulsion (as Colin's pubmate Reggie) and the Herman's Hermits musical Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter.
In television, Futcher had a recurring role in the adventure series Orlando as "Hedgehog." He has also appeared on The Saint, Z-Cars, The Sweeney, Minder, and Casualty. In 1972 he appeared in the Doctor Who serial "The Sea Devils". Fifteen years later he was considered for the role of the Seventh Doctor, but accepted other work that precluded taking the part.�He appeared with Brian Murphy and Maureen Lipman in the 1985 television drama On Your Way, Riley.
James Villiers
James Villiers and Ian became good friends. Villiers was a guest at Ian's wedding to Sandy in 1975 and also, if my sources are correct, backstage/ in the Green Room for Ian's This Is Your Life in 1978.
James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 � 18 January 1998)� was an English character actor and a familiar face on British television. Villiers was particularly memorable for his plummy voice and ripe articulation. He has been credited with originating the use of the word "luvvie" to describe members of the acting profession.
Villiers was born in London, the son of Eric Hyde Villiers and Joan Ankaret Talbot; he was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.�'Gentleman Jim' Villiers (pronounced Villers) was from an upper-class background, the grandson of Sir Francis Hyde Villiers and great grandson of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon; his mother was descended from Earl Talbot. His aristocratic ancestry was often reflected in the types of role he played, such as King Charles II in the BBC series The First Churchills (1969), the Earl of Warwick in Saint Joan (1974), and Lord Thurlow in The Madness of George III.
Through his father, Villiers was a relative of Thomas Hyde Villiers, Charles Pelham Villiers, Henry Montagu Villiers and the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers. Through his mother, he was distantly related to Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 22nd Earl of Shrewsbury.
Villiers made his film d�but in 1958 and appeared in many British films over the years, including Joseph Losey's The Damned (also known as These Are the Damned), shot in 1961 but not released until 1963; Seth Holt's The Nanny (1965), Joseph Andrews (1977), For Your Eyes Only (1981), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Mountains of the Moon (1990) and The Tichborne Claimant (1998), along with numerous other projects. He often specialised in playing cold, somewhat effete villains.
He played the role of Colonel Hensman in the television adaptation of Brendon Chase and was heard on BBC Radio 4 as the voice of Roderick Spode in The Code of the Woosters and several other adaptations of the Jeeves stories of P. G. Wodehouse, which starred Michael Hordern and Richard Briers.
Villiers was married twice: in 1966 to Patricia Donovan (marriage dissolved 1984), and in 1994 to Lucy Jex; his second marriage lasted until his death. He and his first wife adopted a son, Alan Michael Hyde Villiers (born Alan Donovan).
James Villiers died on 18 January 1998 at Arundel, Sussex, of cancer.
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Ian Hendry - This Is Your Life 40th Anniversary - First Broadcast On 15th March 1978 [Thames Television]
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Ian Hendry's This Is Your Life,�hosted by Eamonn Andrews, produced by Thames Television and first�broadcast��on 15th March 1978. It was recorded just one week before, on 8th March 1978.
And on Radio 4 today, they announced that they're bringing TIYL back after a break of 15 years! The last show was in 2003 and Jonathan Ross�will be hosting it.�Funny that it should be announced today of all days...
The following is a guest article that I wrote for the excellent Big Red Book website, an authoritative guide on This Is Your Life. It has detailed entriess on the many famous names that were surprised over the years and is packed full of anecdotes - well worth a visit.
"I was 10 years old when my parents took my two sisters and I to one side and said that what we were about to be told, must be kept a complete secret! In one week�s time, we were all to travel by train to London, for the surprise filming of my uncle Ian Hendry�s �This Is Your Life�.
Of course at that age such a responsibility seemed huge, but I was also told that if word did get out, then the whole thing would be called off and I would have to go to school instead. That was certainly all the persuasion I needed.
We travelled up to London the day before the show with my Grandparents and were met by a Thames TV driver who then took us to our hotel. We checked in under the cover name of McNaughton - all part of the careful plan to ensure that no-one could guess who that week�s guest star would be. The hotel was probably used frequently by Thames TV, whose Euston Road studios were located nearby.
On the day of the recording, we had to be at the studios in the morning for the rehearsal. We passed security and met with the �This Is Your Life� team who gave us a warm welcome and showed us to the Green Room for refreshments. Patrick Macnee was there along with a few other guests that I recognised - including the show�s inimitable host, Eamonn Andrews. My cousins were also there and all the children present were given a small �This Is Your Life� autograph book, replete with the red cover and gold lettering. It was a lovely touch and exemplified the attention to detail and professionalism of the show and all those involved.
The �dry-run� was scheduled for around midday, when we all assembled at Studio No. 5 which had already been set up with a large black and white picture of Ian - revealed as the sliding doors opened. Eamonn Andrews was there too, to help guide things along as we practiced our entrances and those who were to speak practiced their lines. Timings were all checked as the crew practiced camera angles and audio.
Ian was quite ill on the day of recording and there was even concern as to whether he would be well enough to make it or not. A �Red Flu� epidemic was sweeping across the country in 1978 and Ian was suffering from the full force of it�s effects. He had no clue, of course, about the show and was scheduled to head across London with a friend, for what he thought would be an interview with a Sunday newspaper. That was of course all part of the plan to get him in place for the �interception� by Eamonn Andrews and his �partner in crime� Patrick Macnee - both dressed as that famous character from The Avengers, John Steed!
Picture: A young Neil Hendry greets his uncle Ian.�My one [and only] screen credit!
As the evening approached, the nerves began to increase. We all went off to change into our clothes and I remember that I�d been bought a pair of flared black trousers, wide-collared shirt and a tie for the occasion; I was the epitome of 70s fashion as I emerged again from the changing room. I think we then all gathered again in the Green Room, before heading off to the studio - lining up in the order with which we were to go up on stage. The lights were low, except for one large red lamp which remained on until the cue came for the next group of people to go on. As we stood there waiting in a dimly lit corridor, I noticed a very large man seated to my left. I glanced at him, caught his eye and we said hello. I then took a double-take, looked back again and we both smiled at each other. It was Tommy Cooper.
The show itself is all a bit of a blur, but I remember vividly the trademark �This Is Your Life� music - which still gives me goosebumps to this day - the bright studio lights, hearing the audience�s applause, hugging my uncle, finding my seat and then quickly sitting down. I remember some of the guests speaking and the retelling of anecdotes, some of the jokes and one-liners - before the red book was finally handed to Ian and the closing music and credits began.
It was a day that neither I - nor my family - will ever forget and a fitting tribute to my uncle, his life and his many achievements."
This Is Your Life - Extract Of Original Camera Script
 
Ian Hendry - This Is Your Life - Photographs
Programme Details:
Edition No: 484
Subject No: 482
Broadcast: Wed 15 Mar 1978
Broadcast time: 7-7.30pm
Recorded: Wed 8 Mar 1978
Venue: Euston Road Studios
Series: 18
Edition: 17
Code name: Lotus
Appearances:
Patrick Macnee
Sandy - wife
Sally - daughter
Corrie - daughter
James � father
Enid � mother
Don � brother
Valerie � sister-in-law
Karen � niece
Susan � niece
Neil - nephew
Patrick Powell
Murray Robb
Valentina Poliakoff
Ronald Fraser
June Ritchie
Ian Bannen
Neil McCarthy
Ian Ferguson
Anouska Hempel
Wanda Ventham
Maurice Denham
Tommy Cooper
Emma � daughter
Filmed tribute:
Heather Sears
Production Team:
Researchers: John Viner, Maurice Leonard
Writers: Tom Brennand, Roy Bottomley
Directors: Royston Mayoh, Terry Yarwood
Producer: Jack Crawshaw
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - Rowing On The Thames Near Their Home Called, 'Sphinx', Located On Pharaohs Island, London [c.1963-1965]
Another great find from the 1960s, Ian hendry and Janet Munro rowing on the River Thames. If you look closely, you can also see their pet poodle on the riverside!
Picture: Ian Hendry + Janet Munro, rowing on the Thames near their home on Pharaohs Island [c.1963-1966]
Pictures above:�'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, River Thames, Shepperton, London
Jimi Hendrix - Partying In The Pool at Sphinx in the 60s?
Jimi Hendrix may have been a guest at a party held by Ian and Janet at Sphinx in the 60s and even swum in the pool - according to an anecdote from a neighbour:
"The impressive property was home to Avengers actor Ian Hendry and his actress wife Janet Munro in the 1960s before they split, and was also the setting for director John Boorman�s two semi-autobiographical films � Hope and Glory in 1987 and Queen and Country in 2014.
According to the current owner, Andrew Muir, who has lived in the property for six years, there were plenty of wild parties during the 1960s, with one neighbour claiming to have swum in the pool with Jimi Hendrix."
Source: Surrey Live
Further Reading:
You can read more about Ian Hendry and Janet Munro and their time living in 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island in the articles below:
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - Engagement + Wedding Photographs [1963]
Ian Hendry - Rowing Home Across The Thames [1966]
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - Engagement Party, Wedding Pictures + News Reel Film Footage [1963]
Picture above: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro on their wedding day. Arriving by boat to their new home, named 'Sphinx', on Pharaohs Island, River Thames, London.
Every so now and then some interesting memorabilia surfaces, giving us some further insight into the life of Ian Hendry. I've recently come into possession of a small batch of photographs and press articles from the 1960s and 70s, which I will share on the website. The photographs below, show Ian Hendry and Janet Munro at their engagement party held at Claridges Hotel, Mayfair, London, on February 13th 1963. And then, further down, two photographs taken by the press at their reception and as they arrived at their new home named 'Sphinx, located on Pharaohs Island on the Thames. I suspect that that particular picture may have been 'staged'!
An article featuring Janet Munro in which she discusses the wedding, can be seen in the article below.�It tells the story of how the two met, the romance and events that followed as well as the wedding held at the Presbyterian Church at Bayswater, London on 16th February 1963.
Janet Munro - 'I'm getting married in the morning' �[Magazine�article - February 1963]
Picture: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro at their engagement party held at Claridges Hotel, Mayfair, London, 15th February 1963.
Wedding of Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - 16th February 1963
Video: Newsreel film footage of Ian Hendry + Janet Munro's wedding - 16th February 1963
Picture: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro at the reception on their wedding day.
Picture: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro. Arriving by boat on the River Thames to their new home on Pharaohs Island, called 'Sphinx'.
Picture: View to 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, River Thames, London
Picture: View to 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, River Thames, London
For more articles and original photographs of Ian Hendry and Janet Munro at home on Pharaohs Island, please click on the link below:
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, London [1964]
Then and now pictures - Ian and Janet at home in the 60s; 'Sphinx' today and some history of Pharaohs Island:
Ian Hendry - Rowing home across the Thames to 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island [1966]
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
The Avengers 'Tunnel of Fear' [1961] Lost Episode - Studio Canal DVD Pre-Order/ Release Date Set For 9th April 2018
The Avengers 'Tunnel Of Fear' - Series 1 Episode 20�
Published 6th February 2018: Today's announcement by Studio Canal also coincides with what would have been Patrick Macnee's 96th birthday; born on this day 1922. So today we also remember and pay tribute to Pat.
After a lot of hard work behind the scenes, it's good to finally be able to announce the forthcoming release date as 9th April 2018.
The artwork for the DVD is now complete, as is the accompanying 64 page booklet. The booklet includes a foreword by myself and a new essay by Alan Hayes, co-author of two �authoritative books on the first series of The Avengers and Police Surgeon, the short-lived but influential series which ultimately led to the creation of The Avengers. The booklet also includes many excellent black and white stills from the Tunnel of Fear as well as promotional and studio photographs.
The extras include the Tunnel of Fear audio play reconstruction, produced by Big Finish, who have recreated all 26 episodes of the original series superbly in this format. The fact that this version of Tunnel of Fear was made before the original television episode was rediscovered, makes it an ideal companion for fans to experience an alternative but complimentary interpretation. The writer for this Big Finish reconstruction, John Dorney provides an exclusive interview in one of the DVD extras.
The other extras include two rare interviews which were discovered recently in Northern Ireland. Ulster Television interviewed �Ian Hendry in 1962 and Patrick Macnee in 1964, during which they both talked about The Avengers. By then, Ian had already left the series to pursue opportunities in film and in this interview he discusses his reasons for that decision. Given that there is so little footage in which Ian appears 'as himself' - with many of those being on Pathe newsreels with accompanying voiceovers - this interview provides a rare candid glimpse of Ian.
The final extra is the inclusion of the 14 slideshow reconstructions of missing series 1 episodes, produced by Alan Hayes, �using all of the surviving source material. �These slideshows give another excellent interpretation of the missing episodes, that we hope can be recovered one day.
Picture: Ian Hendry [as Dr. David Keel] and Patrick Macnee [as John Steed]. Patrick Macnee, born on this day, 1922.
You can �pre-order on Amazon UK - click on the link below:
The Avengers �Tunnel of Fear [Released on 9th April 2018]
The Avengers 'Tunnel of Fear' [1961] Series 1 'Lost Episode'
Ian Hendry as Dr. Keel and Patrick Macnee as John Steed - Reunited Once Again
Lost episode rediscovered after 55 years and avaliable on DVD for the first time
TUNNEL OF FEAR is the twentieth episode of the first series of the 1960s cult British spy-fi television series The Avengers, starring Ian Hendry, Patrick Macnee and Ingrid Hafner and was broadcast by ABC Television on 5 August 1961. It's one of only three known complete season 1 episodes to have survived since the original broadcast. Lost for 55 years, the episode came to light in a private film collection in 2016 and was recovered by the British television preservation group Kaleidoscope.
Now for the first time ever Avengers fans will be able to own the episode its entirety on DVD with a host of extra content.
Harry Black, an escaped convict, bursts into Dr David Keel's surgery wounded. He claims to have been framed for a crime that he did not commit - and begs the doctor not to hand him over to the police. Steed arrives and ascertains that Black has links to Southend-on-Sea which might well tie in with an investigation currently being undertaken by his department. They are aware that top government secrets are being leaked from a fun fair in Southend, and Black's story, if true, could possibly lead them to the source of the operation.
Can Steed and Keel bring down the operation, prove Harry's innocence and get out of Southend with their lives?
Bonus Content:
- Big Finish Audio Play Series 1 Reconstruction - Tunnel of Fear
- New Interview with John Dorney - writer of the Big Finish episode
- Ulster TV interview: Ian Hendry (1962)
- Ulster TV interview: Patrick Macnee (1964)
- Reconstructions - Series 1 - Slideshows
- Series 1 Surviving Scripts
- 64 Page Booklet
Cast
- Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel
- Patrick Macnee as John Steed
- Ingrid Hafner as Carol Wilson
- John Salew as Jack Wickram
- Anthony Bate as Harry Black
- Miranda Connell as Claire
- Douglas Muir as One-Ten
- Morris Perry as Sergeant
- Stanley Platts as Maxie Lardner
- Nancy Roberts as Madame Zenobia
- Doris Rogers as Mary Black
- Douglas Rye as Billy
- Julie Samuel as Rosie
Format: PAL
Language: English
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Number of discs: 1
Classification: To be announced
Studio: Studiocanal
DVD Release Date: 9 April 2018
You can �pre-order on Amazon UK - click on the link below:
Pre-order DVD: The Avengers �Tunnel of Fear [Released on 9th April 2018]
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Get Carter [1971] 'Shotguns, Coal And Sex' - Original GQ Magazine Article from The 90s
Picture above: Get Carter [1971] Original film poster�designed by the Italian artist,�Arnaldo Putzu.
The article below is reproduced from GQ Magazine and dates from the 1990s; �possibly the November 1997 edition which contained a special feature on the making of the film, but this is, as yet, unconfirmed.
It's a fascinating article, with several recollections by director, Mike Hodges. Perhaps the one that �stood out most for me was the one connected with Dryderdale Hall, County Durham, which was rented for several scenes in the film. When the crew arrived and were setting up for their first shoot, they found an old �school exercise book with a�child's handwriting inside, with the seemingly prophetic message:
"Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel
Right Now"
A strange case of fact and fiction blurred. Almost as haunting as the film's soundtrack theme by Roy Budd.
There are some good stills from the film on the official Dryderdale Hall website and on this excellent Get Carter website�dedicated entirely to the film, detailed accounts of the locations and related news.�
Picture: Dryderdale Hall, County Durham. Used for filming of several scenes in Get Carter, minus the snow!
Get Carter 'Shotguns, Coal And Sex'
- Original GQ Magazine Article from The 90s
Here is the original GQ article in full, complete with an advert for the Star Wars version of the Monopoly Game and a battery charger by Tandy *batteries not included!
Main Theme 'Carter Takes a Train' by Roy Budd
If you are now in a Get Carter frame of mind, you can listen to the film's main theme, 'Carter Takes a Train' by Roy Budd, below:
______________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Nicol Williamson 'Black Sheep' The Authorised Biography By Gabriel Hershman
Picture above: 'Black Sheep' book cover and �Ian Hendry and Nicol Williamson - The Jerusalem File [1972]
Gabriel Hershman's third biography is now set for release on 1st February 2018, published by The History Press.
'Black Sheep - The Authorised Biography Of Nicol Williamson' is a detailed�study of the life and work of another gifted character actor, whose career spanned several decades, included many masterful performances, reached great heights but as Gabriel describes him, Nicol was also�'a mysteriously elusive figure'. With his trademark forensic research and numerous interviews, Gabriel has now produced the first official biography of this enigmatic actor.
His previous two books covered the life and work of �Ian Hendry and Albert Finney.
So I was curious. I asked Gabriel to explain why he had chosen Nicol Williamson as his next subject and what were the key similarities and differences between the three actors he has now written about.
The following is Gabriel's response:
Gabriel Hershman - On Nicol Williamson......Ian Hendry and Albert Finney
"Why did I choose Nicol as the third subject of my biography? I had long since decided that I would only write about great actors. (I admit that's all a matter of opinion, of course.) And Ian, Albert Finney and Nicol were all great actors."
I was also attracted to writing about Nicol for a number of reasons. Firstly, no one had ever written his biography before. Secondly, he was a mysteriously elusive figure, a superstar of the late Sixties �especially on the back of his superb stage roles in Hamlet and Inadmissible Evidence � who seemed to vanish from view.
In fact, Nicol never appeared on the London stage between 1978 and 1994 � a 16-year gap that was a tragic omission for British theatregoers. It was clear he was woefully under-used. He should have been a regular on the West End stage or at the National but directors were wary of working with him because he had a 'difficult' reputation. And reputations are very difficult to shift. Of course, Nicol did some fine work on Broadway in the 1980s but his absence from the London stage was keenly felt. So it is that I regret not seeing him on stage. (Whereas, for example, I was fortunate enough to see Finney on stage five times.)
Picture: Nicol Williamson
When I saw a few You Tube clips of Nicol's performance as Bill Maitland in the original 1965 Broadway production of Inadmissible Evidence, I knew I had found my third subject. The pounding passion, the ferocity of the character's self-loathing, the emphasis on raw emotion rather than enunciation � this was not acting as such but, rather, BEING. And I think this is what made Nicol so great. Even with some other reputedly 'great' actors you sense sometimes that they're going through it by rote, almost phoning it in. You see the wheels turning. With Nicol, on the other hand, each performance took you to the brink. He was, in the words of another performer who worked with him, 'paddling for his life'. No wonder Nicol sometimes suffered from exhaustion after bearing the burden of such titanic roles.
I felt that Nicol was sorely underrated and that no one really knew very much about him. Rather as with Ian, what struck me was that so many of his obituaries were totally inadequate, even inaccurate. Everything from his date of birth through to his place of residence was reported wrongly. I simply felt that Nicol deserved better and so I hope my biography has done something to rectify the dearth of coverage, and the misinformation.
I will, however, qualify my tribute to Nicol by saying that I still believe that Ian Hendry was the greatest television actor Britain ever produced. He had a style of acting that was especially suited to the small screen � conveying deep emotion and thoughts with a sometimes quizzical look or a grunt of pained resignation. 'Think it through and it will show' was Ian's tip to other actors and he was simply the best practitioner of his own advice. There was also a special charismatic quality to Ian. Sabine Muir, a great friend of Ian's, once told me that Ian could always lift a room when he entered it. I know exactly what she meant. That's God-given and certainly not something to be learned at drama school!
Going back to Nicol, his style of acting was more bravura than Ian's. Not from a desire to overwhelm as such, but simply to offer more than audiences usually saw. In the words of Nicol's son, Luke, 'he didn't want to dazzle - he wanted to immolate.' Not better or worse � just different. But I would say that both Ian and Nicol were truly great actors. Finney was also a great actor, of course. He also perhaps more of an all-rounder than either Ian or Nicol in that he straddled all mediums equally successfully: films, TV and stage. He was also more durable and less self-destructive and had a more equable temperament. That really helped Finney throughout his career and proof of the old dictum that talent is just one part of the story . . .
But, to conclude, three great actors and, hopefully, three interesting biographies. If these books make you stop and think and appreciate their work a little more, then I will feel I have achieved something.
By Gabriel Hershman
Official Website of�Gabriel Hershman :�Gabriel Hershman
'Black Sheep - The Authorised Biography Of Nicol Williamson' By Gabriel Hershman is�released on 1st February 2018.
Available to order on Amazon or to buy in store at Waterstones, Blackwells and all other good high street bookshops!
Amazon UK [View/ Order] -�Black Sheep - The Authorised Biography Of Nicol Williamson
�_______________________________
The Jerusalem File [1972]
Fortunately, with the help of Gabriel, we managed to locate a copy of the complete film (albeit�with Finnish subtitles!). We've included a couple of the key scenes from the film in this post - which feature Ian Hendry -�but�If you want to download the full film, you can do so from the link below:
Download (Secure Dropbox File)�>�The Jerusalem File (1972)
Set in the months following the 6-day-war this is the story of an attempt by young Israelis and Arabs to meet for a free political discussion. Interwoven are a love story, intrigue, strife and killings.
Video: The Jerusalem File (1972) Scene #1 | Donald Pleasence, Ian Hendry, Nicol Wiliamson + Bruce Davison
Much more background on this film, including many stills, in another one of our articles below:
The Jerusalem File ['72] �Ian Hendry, Nicol Williamson, Bruce Davison and Donald Pleasance
�_______________________________
'Black Sheep - The Authorised Biography Of Nicol Williamson' By Gabriel Hershman is�released on 1st February 2018.
Available to order on Amazon or to buy in store at Waterstones, Blackwells and all other good high street bookshops!
Amazon UK [View/ Order] -�Black Sheep - The Authorised Biography Of Nicol Williamson
Thanks to Gabriel for his contribution to this post; �I'm really looking forward to reading this biography and adding it to the Hershman collection!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Peter Wyngarde - In Memory Of The Man Who Would Be King [ 1926/1927 - 2018]
Picture above: Peter Wyngarde, Jeanette Sterke and Ian Hendry - The Crossfire [1967]
Peter Wyngarde
A couple of years ago, I received an email from Tina Hopkins, Peter Wyngarde's devoted friend and personal assistant.
Peter and Ian worked together back in the 60s, in a television play called The Crossfire which also featured Eric Portman, Jeannette Sterke and Roger Delgado.�Set during the Algerian War, it was first broadcast as part of �ITV's Play Of The Week, on��7th February 1967.
And it was that play that first inspired Tina to get in contact with me, some five decades later, to see if I had a copy.
By lucky coincidence, I had been sent a message a year or so earlier, by someone who had found a copy of the play, which included Anglia TV's famous 'knight in armour on horseback' opening.
I was also fortunate to be able to exchange a few emails with Peter. He remembered working with Ian, but could not recall any specific details from the production itself, but was hoping that the recording would help to jog his memory! I made a copy of The Crossfire and posted it off to them both.
Picture: Peter Wyngarde as the iconic Jason King
For someone who was so young at the time, in the early 70s, I didn't realise that I was corresponding with THE Jason King, until a short while after when I read more about his life and career. And what a wonderful, colourful and varied life he has had, including being kept captive in the�Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre�- a �Japanese internment camp in Shanghai, during the second world war.
A fellow detainee at that time, was J.G. Ballard, who famously retold the events in the biographically influenced, Empire of the Sun; subsequently made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
In an interview with Tina Hopkins from 2017, Peter reflected on that time in the Japanese interment camp, when still just a young boy. Tina wrote:
"However, when the Japanese forbade prisoners in one block from communicating with those in another, Peter was used as their runner to spread the radio news through the camp. But then one day he was caught by a guard, who broke both his feet with rifle butts to stop him ever running again. He was then thrown into solitary confinement for a month. When he came out, he could barely walk and had to rely on crutches. His feet still show the signs of that beating to this day."
I understand that Peter was still active until relatively recently, appearing at special events and reunions, related to the various shows that he appeared in.
Robert C. contacted me via this website in the Spring of 2017 and mentioned that:
"Hope to meet Peter Wyngarde at Portmerion for The Prisoner's 50th.
If I get the chance that is I will ask him about working on Crossfire with Ian Hendry".
You can watch Peter in the�The Crossfire� below:
Video: The Crossfire [Anglia TV - 1967] - Peter Wyngarde, Eric Portman Ian Hendry, Jeanette Sterke.
Peter Wyngarde - In Memory
Video: Peter Wyngarde and Dennis Price in an episode of Jason King
Picture: Peter Wyngarde in a scene from the film Burn, Witch, Burn, 1962
Picture: Carol Cleveland and Peter Wyngarde in The Avengers, 1966
The Guardian's original obituary was �mean spirited and quite frankly, nasty. In my haste to publish an appreciation following a 24 hour domestic power cut, I used a source that I had always relied on previously. On this occasion, I should have been more careful as what I consider to be reputable paper was clearly �lacking in editorial control. I have since removed that text from this article and apologise for any offence cause by it's easier inclusion.
The Guardian subsequently published an appreciation by Toby Hadoke, it seems to to try and rectify their earlier mistake and also to add detail on a number of key omissions:
Appreciation: Peter Wyngarde obituary
Toby Hadoke,�
The obituary of Peter Wyngarde overlooked a number of the talents and successes of this suave and charismatic performer who never lost his ability to inspire fascination.
Before Jason King he had an early television success as Will Shakespeare (1953) � a taxing part that earned him the admiration of the production�s pioneering producer/director Rudolph Cartier. By 1965, when lured to play the arrogant and dangerous Baron Gr�ner in an episode of Sherlock Holmes, he had enough clout for the producers to accede to his agent�s stipulation that on foreign sales prints he � uniquely � be inserted into the opening titles and credited alongside the leads Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock, both of whom he was also paid considerably more than).
His quirky tastes embraced cult shows which showcased his versatility and zeal � he is glorious in both of his episodes of The Avengers (1966-67) and a cunning and aloof Number Two in The Prisoner (1967). As the religious zealot Timanov in the 1984 Doctor Who story Planet of Fire he imbues a flawed character with a tremendous tragic dignity.
His non-speaking role in the film The Innocents (1961) is no glorified bit part. He is a memorably spooky, spectral presence and gets second billing, a year after his effective turn as a ruthless gang leader in The Siege of Sidney Street.
His extensive theatre work attracted many good notices from the outset and included Shylock and King John, via Jack Pinchwife (The Country Wife) and more than 200 performances as the lead in The King and I (Adelphi theatre and tour, 1973-74). He also directed productions at the Bristol Old Vic and the Yvonne Arnaud theatre, Guildford.
Picture: Peter Wyngarde and Sally Anne Howes, The King and I. �British theatre tour [1973]
In later years he was gracious with fans and a writer of detailed and helpful letters crafted in attractive � if minute � handwriting, generously extolling the virtues of colleagues he admired such as Cartier, Wilfred Lawson and Patrick McGoohan: unpredictable talents all, who should give some clue as to where his sensibilities lay.
A perfectionist, he was doubtless sometimes difficult, but the scandal that dented his career should not overshadow the many fine qualities of a charming, seductive, watchable leading actor with an offbeat streak.
In closing...
My heartfelt condolences go to Tina Hopkins who spent much of her life devoted to Peter. I�know she was very close to him and will be feeling a great sense of loss. And to Peter's agent, Thomas Bowington.
Thomas Bowington describes Peter with great affection:
�He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen. As a man, there were few things in life he didn�t know.�I sometimes nicknamed him �the King� because he simply knew everything.�He was a mentor on everything you can think of, from sports cars to how to make a good cup of tea and how to do a tie and shirt.�
He died at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital [in London], and even then he was saying that you shouldn�t button the upper button on a shirt.�As a person he was the most exceptional person I met in my life and a great mentor and teacher.�
Our thoughts and condolences also go to Peter's many friends and fans around the world.
For those wishing to find out more about the life of Peter Wyngarde, �I can really recommend this excellent and authoritative interview from 2017, by Tina Hopkins:
The Ultimate Peter Wyngarde Interview by Tina Hopkins
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Get Carter [1971] 'Eyes Look Like...Piss-Holes In The Snow' - Tony Klinger Reveals The Story Behind THAT Famous Line
Picture above: Michael Caine [as Jack Carter] and Ian Hendry [as Eric Paice] at the races.
Another post containing some more fascinating anecdotes, this time from Tony Klinger who first met Ian Hendry during the filming of Repulsion [1965] and then again, on the set of Get Carter in 1971! Tony is a Film and TV Director and son of the late Michael Klinger, the producer and driving force behind bringing the novel 'Jack's Return Home' by �Ted Lewis to the big screen:
"An uncompromising novel of a brutal half-world of pool halls, massage parlours and teenage pornography, it was memorably adapted into the cult film Get Carter.��The novel starkly portrays a subsection of society living on the borderline between crime and respectability; and was a major influence on the noir school of English crime fiction."
Much more on Tony and Michael below, but first a little background story and some context.
Films And Famous Lines
I remember one time when I was introduced to the Directors at my new company. They were a few years older than me, Two Scotsmen and a Welshman. Dave Allen could probably have told you a joke about that encounter.
When they found out my full name they said:'Oh, Hendry...like the actor, Ian...'
To their surprise, I mentioned that he was, or had been, my uncle. And the first thing they said to me in reply was:
"Ah yes, we should have guessed....your eyes....they're like piss holes in the snow!"
The history of film is often recalled through the famous lines and passages of dialogue that reminds us of a memorable moment or defines the essence of the story. �They have often entered into the public's subconscious, affectionately recalled at times when events in our own lives, seem to resonate with those that we have seen on the big screen. And perhaps that is one of the reasons that film has become so loved as a medium and remained so popular throughout it's history. At times it can feel like a mirror is being held up to our own lives .
Sometimes, however, it is just a simple case of everyday language being taken and used in a film, to reflect the era and the society in which it is set.
And Get Carter is such a case in point.
______________________________________
Note: This ended up being quite a �long post, as I wanted to include some new information that I've recently discovered about Get Carter, as well as providing some biographical background and anecdotes about Michael Klinger and from Tony Klinger.
But some of you may want to get to the key answers straight away, so here are some quick page jump links that you can use to get to the relevant sections:
Click link to go to: Tony Klinger reveals how THAT line became part of Get Carter
Click link to go to: An explanation of where THAT line originated
______________________________________
Get Carter [1971] �
A year or so ago, I carried out a study of the racecourse scene in Get Carter [1971]. I was intrigued by the cinematography and the way that the tension gradually builds as the scene unfolds.
You can read that article here:
Get Carter - The Racecourse Scene [1971]
But the other factor that drew me to this scene was undoubtedly the dialogue and THAT famous line.
"Do you know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes look like, they're still the same, piss-holes in the snow."
- �Jack Carter [Michael Caine] to Eric Paice [Ian Hendry]
To really appreciate it, though, I suggest you watch the whole scene to see and hear the build-up and context in which it was delivered:
Video above: The Racecourse Scene - Get Carter [1971]
Dialogue - Script Extract
Jack Carter: So you're doing alright then Eric...you're making good.
Eric Paice: Making a living.
Jack Carter: Good prospects for advancement is there...a pension?
Picture: Eric Paice (Ian Hendry) - sunglasses removed!
Then the classic line! Jack Carter slowly removes Eric's sunglasses, hands them back to him and then stares straight into his eyes:
Jack Carter:�Do you know, I'd almost forgotten what your eyes look like, they're still the same, piss-holes in the snow.
Eric Paice: Still got a sense of humour.
Jack Carter: Yes, I retain that Eric.
Tony Klinger - On His Father, Michael Klinger, Repulsion, Catherine Deneuve, Get Carter And THAT Famous Line
A few weeks back, Tony Klinger, 'dropped by' on the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page and shared a unique insight into the film and THAT �famous line.
TV and film seems to be synonymous with the Klinger family.
His father, Michael Klinger, was the producer and the driving force behind what many regard as the greatest British Gangster film of all time, Get Carter.
Picture [l-r] Mike Hodges [Director], Michael Caine and Michael Klinger [Producer].
Ian Hendry had first met both Michael and Tony a few years earlier, during the filming of Repulsion [1965], directed by Roman Polanski. Tony was�just 15 years old at the time.
The Michael Klinger Papers are held by the University of West England. On their website they mention that:
Born in 1920, the son of Polish Jewish immigrants who had settled in London�s Soho, Klinger�s entry into the film industry came via his ownership of two Soho strip clubs, the Nell Gwynne and the Gargoyle - that were used for promotional events such as the Miss Cinema competition and by film impresarios such as James Carreras - and through an alliance with a fellow Jewish entrepreneur Tony Tenser, who worked for a film distribution company, Miracle Films.
Klinger and Tenser were both highly ambitious, but culturally divergent. Characteristically, when Roman Polanski arrived in London and approached the pair to obtain finance having failed elsewhere, it was Klinger who had seen Knife in the Water (1962) and therefore gave him the opportunity, and the creative freedom, to make Repulsion (1965) and the even more outr� Cul-de-sac (1966). Although Repulsion in particular had been financially successful, and both films won awards at the Berlin Film Festival that conferred welcome prestige on Tekli, Tenser, always happier to stay with proven box-office material, sex films and period horror, saw Polanski as at best a distraction and at worse a liability. These differences led to the break-up of the partnership in October 1966.
Klinger set up a new company, Avton Films and continued to promote young, talented but unproven directors who were capable of making fresh and challenging features: Peter Collinson�s absurdist/surrealist thriller The Penthouse (1967); Alastair Reid�s Baby Love (1968), another film that focused on a sexually precocious young female, but with an ambitious narrative style that included flashbacks and nightmare sequences; and Mike Hodges�s ambitious and brutal thriller Get Carter (1971). Although Get Carter is now routinely discussed as Hodges� directorial triumph, it was Klinger who had bought the rights to Ted Lewis�s novel Jack�s Return Home because he sensed its potential to imbue the British crime thriller with the realism and violence of its American counterparts and who had succeeded in raising the finance through MGM-British all before Hodges became involved.
In his excellent interview with Cinema Jam, Tony explained:
"He [his father, Michael Klinger] learned to be a producer on the�job and it was this and the many productions of a huge variety of films that culminated in Repulsion�and Cul-de-Sac with director Roman Polanski that, as a result gave him the launch pad to become a�fantastic international producer, probably the most successful in the country for about fifteen years.�My dad and I came into film making from opposite ends and for years there was a general lack of�respect for each other. I�d come from the floor of film sets and knew all the technical grades whereas�he�d learned the industry totally from the other end. It was only when someone suggested we work�together and as a result gained a lot of respect."
Picture: Tony Klinger
Tony Klinger�began his career as an Assistant Director on The Avengers�TV series. In his interview with Cinema Jam, Tony retells some wonderful tales about his life in show -business and gives some tremendous insights into his father, The following extract is from the interview in Cinema Jam:
"I know I was working on the best and biggest budget show in the world. We were an American show�and often ABC executives would come over.�The directors on the show were either the greatest coming up like rockets or the veterans on a gentle�slope down. People like Peter Yates, Charles Crichton, John Hough, Don�Chaffey and�Leslie Norman.
My partner, Mike Lytton and I used to borrow equipment from series we were working on at the�weekends, well borrow without asking but returning it all in one piece before anyone noticed. I was�on The Avengers�and he was on Department S�or Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased). Without�thinking about it we created the best film school in the world. On The Avengers�we sometimes had�five units shooting to keep up with the broadcast scheduling requirements out of New York. So when�someone on staff fell ill, you�d be told to take their place and you either learned what to do really fast�or someone would take your slot and you went back down the ranks. It was an incredible experience.
Suddenly from being a third assistant director I could do the odd day as a camera assistant or help out�with the sound department which proved invaluable for me later as a film maker. And at nights and�weekends, whenever no one was around we would be taking cameras out of the studio and shooting�our own tiny films and editing them overnight in the studio cutting rooms. I don�t think anyone ever�found out or maybe people just turned a blind eye to our nocturnal activities!"
The following two questions and answers come from the Cinema Jam interview:
How much has the industry changed in terms of securing the kind of deal that got a film like Get Carter�made?
"Get Carter�still could happen today. It was a medium budget film for its� day and decisions like that�could still be made by a brave executive like Bobby Litman who was then the newly appointed head of�MGM Europe and we were lucky to know from his time as an agent. The timeline is impressive. From�the day we first had the book, Jack�s Return Home by Ted Lewis in galleys to when the film was first�released in cinemas was a total of 37 weeks. It was a classic case of the stars aligning and the perfect�storm.
The flat you see in the opening shot in Get Carter was found through a girl I was dating who knew a�British gangster who owned the place and was OK with our using it to film in.�Euan Lloyd was not the same type of man as my father. That�s not meant to be a critique of Euan but if�you read Andrew Spicer�s fine book about dad, The Man Who Got Carter, you�d soon discover their�many differences. Michael Klinger was the best Script Editor and Producer and had a tremendous�ability to sell. Producers today have become more supplicant in their approach and there were only a�handful in my father�s day that had that gift, even less today. It�s no accident that my father made so�many fine films when he was left to his own devices. He also could pick talent and nurture it.�People financing films today tend to think in terms of the tax deals and soft money being the key to�making a film."
Get Carter�is the yardstick by which all subsequent British Gangster films are compared. Why do you think it has endured today?
"Attitude. My old man came from Soho, which was a tough area at the time he was growing up in the�1920s. It was effectively a Jewish village, next to an Italian village next to an Irish village, much like�New York. Some people said that it would be fine in one area, but if you tried crossing the street to the�next area and you would have to fight. My father encountered a lot of gangsters between engineering�and Film and at one point, when he ran a nightclub, some gangsters came along demanding�protection, but he chased them away.�Real gangsters don�t threaten, they just do. When I worked as a projectionist at fifteen, I was being�threatened, but this one gangster came up to the guy doing it, whispered something in his ear and the�guy�s face turned pale and the trouble stopped.�Scorsese has that attitude in Goodfellas�and it�s that attitude that has come across in Get Carter. It�had never been covered in British Cinema up to that point, although there were examples like�Brighton Rock�that covered similar ground. Get Carter�also touched on Child Pornography and�other pornography.
It was shot in Newcastle and I was up there for two weeks. Part of the appeal was�Newcastle and how it was, that was exciting and kind of untamed and very different from London. I�had the best time while filming our own locations for our documentary, Extremes. But being close to�the filming of Get Carter�confirmed me as a huge admirer of Michael Caine and a firm fan and friend�of director Mike Hodges.�When it was first screened on BBC they cut it telling us they were doing the filmmakers a favour. The�attitude was the big mistake with the Stallone remake, because that film was about redemption, which�is the complete opposite to what the original film was.�An interesting footnote to the film is that in the climactic scene, there is a ship in the background.�Somebody actually tracked that ship afterwards, it�s entire history right up to four decades later when�it was demolished for scrap. That�s what the word fan really means!"
Klinger
And THAT Famous Line From Get Carter? Tony Klinger Explains How It Came To Be Included In The Script...
As mentioned above, Tony visited the Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook�Page and, unprompted, posted this:
"The famous line from my dad's production, "Get Carter" about Ian, "eyes like piss holes in the snow" was the way my grandmother used to describe me, which was then lent to the wonderful script written by my friend Mike Hodges."
So there you have it from the 'horse's mouth'! It was Tony's grandmother who provided the inspiration for what has become the memorable line from the film.
I asked Tony if he remembered Ian and if he had any recollections from being on the set of Repulsion. His answer was candid and made me smile; it seems that he did remember meeting Ian, but at the time his main focus was elsewhere!
"Ian wasn't a good actor, he was, sadly for him, a great actor. That plus his love for a little something to drink and his penchant for speaking his mind, meant he was a triple threat. I'm pretty sure there were "stars" who didn't want to work with him because he'd act them off the screen. But yes I knew and liked him from the set, but in Repulsion I have to admit that even as a kid I only had eyes for Catherine Deneuve!"
I replied:
"Thanks for sharing that, Tony - appreciate your insight. And I can understand how you might have been distracted a bit by Catherine Deneuve! Were you on location for the duration of the filming of Repulsion and Get Carter? And have you written about those experiences and, if so, could you share where? It's quite something to have been on set for two films that both became classics I've come across some good pictures of your Dad on set, this is one of my favourites..."
Picture [l-r]: George Sewell, Michael Klinger, Ian Hendry and Michael Caine.
Tony expanded a little more:
"I am trying to limit my inputs about all the film set experiences I've had on both my own and my dad's productions because, amongst other things, I have to keep some stuff for my own memoirs which I have recently started to write. Suffice it to say I was on the set for a week or so while I was filming my own documentary called Extremes in the same wonderful city of Newcastle. We were very busy having a great time. I was about 19 at the time and was easily distracted. Besides which our financier and distributor and executive producer thought we were in Glasgow. On Repulsion I was about 14 or 15 and was purely a visitor."
I shared a few more picture with Tony; of Ian with his father, Michael. They seemed to get on very well:
Picture [l-r]: Michael Caine, Ian Hendry and Michael Klinger.
Picture [l-r]: George Sewell, Michael Klinger, Ian Hendry and Michale Caine.
Picture: The chairs - Get Carter [1971]
And Tony's closing thoughts to me were:
"Great photos by the way. My dad really liked and appreciated your uncle."
Origins
And The Origins Of THAT Line..?
Piss-holes In The Sand [and Rissoles In The Sand!]
I dug a little deeper to try and find out more and it's not quite as straight forward an answer as you might expect. But let's start with Dylan Thomas.
Dylan Thomas [27 October 1914�� 9 November 1953] spent much of his last few years reading his poetry, writing film-scripts and consuming vast quantities of alcohol on lecture tours across the United States. Just before he set off on his last trip across the Atlantic � he died in New York aged 39 � he wrote a comic, caustic account of the U.S. lecture circuit entitled �A Visit to America.� It is from a little-known collection of Thomas� broadcasts for the BBC called �Quite Early One Morning� and is a gem of a piece.
It was eventually broadcast by the BBC on 30th March 1954, some five months after his death.
Extract:
"And, in their diaries, more and more do such entries appear as, �No way of escape� or �Buffalo!� or �I am beaten,� until at last they cannot write a word. And, twittering all over, old before their time, with eyes like rissoles in the sand, they are helped up the gangway of the home-bound liner by kind bosom friends (and all kinds and bosoms) who boister them on the back, pick them up again, thrust bottles, sonnets, cigars, addresses, into their pockets, have a farewell party in their cabin, pick them up again, and snickering and yelping, are gone: to wait at the dockside for another boat from Europe and another batch of fresh, green lecturers."
Rissoles in the sand? I was confused.
From Wikipedia:
A rissole (from Latin russeolus, meaning reddish, via �in which "rissoler" means "to [make] redden") is a small croquette, enclosed in pastry or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried.
So perhaps Dylan Thomas was referring to the eyes as being reddened and dry, as opposed to having any resemblance to pastry?!
Whilst it works in the literary sense, it is clear that it is a euphemism for what Thomas probably wanted to say, �to soften the words, which, after-all, were to be broadcast on the BBC.
Thomas had written a letter several �years earlier [c.1932] which mentioned that:
"I have the villain of a headache, my eyes two piss holes in the sand, my tongue like fish and chip paper...."
So here is a clear reference to a similar phrase, which describes feeling and looking unwell. And piss-holes was used, not rissoles!
What is not clear is whether Thomas had created this phrase himself or whether he was merely repeating one that was in common use at that time. This theme and a theory is is returned to again below.
What is clear, though, is that the quote he used related to sand and not snow.
Piss-holes In The Snow
The first literary reference I could find for a similar phrase, that mentioned snow, was in�'Prince Bart - A Novel Of Our Times' written by Jay Richard Kennedy and published in 1953.
Kennedy writes:
"Like the welcome?" Mills asked.�"Isn't worth a pisshole in the snow."
This alludes to value, something being of little worth.
Some have suggested that the phrase may have a military origin.�That was certainly the view of one comment I saw on a forum online:
"Piss-hole in the snow" is a negative assessment of value (around World War II) much like "rat's ass" [which referred to 'not giving a damn'].�And "rat assed" also evolved to mean drunk, as did 'piss-holes in the snow'.�
And that idea is further supported by a comment from Judy on the Facebook page:
"Goes back at least to WW2, maybe even WW1, as a description of battle fatigue."
Others have suggested that it was a British street-culture adaptation of a WWII expression that got picked up by writers and introduced into mainstream media. More likely, though, is that it entered into everyday use in it's original unaltered form.
We also know that Tony Klinger's grandmother was fond of using this expression with Tony, when he was a child growing up in London in the 50s. So whilst it was popular in the military during WWII, it is also quite possible that it's origins predate that.
Piss-holes In The Sand + Piss-holes In The Snow
- Both Of Military Origin?
Thomas mentioned this phrase in a letter, so it seems unlikely that he created it and that it then entered into everyday use; his letters were only published many years later. It seems more likely that he took a phrase which was in everyday use at the time to describe his own condition. If it was in common use, then,�I wonder whether it could have had a military origins too?�Perhaps with the reference to sand, being used to describe a soldier's battle fatigue from desert warfare?
Given that Dylan Thomas was using it c. 1932, if it's roots were in the military, one theory is that it might have originated or been used extensively during the desert campaigns in the Middle East and North Africa in WW1. Some more 'digging' would be required, though, before we could be sure that that was the case.
So just to recap,�piss holes in the snow has been used to describe something of low value, but also has the meaning of looking unwell/ suffering from battle fatigue.
It appears that it was a key phrase in the military and very similar to the expression used by �Thomas c.1932; and quite possibly amended to refer to �battle fatigue in colder climates.
At some point, then, it's likely that the two expressions were both in common use:
- 'Piss holes in the sand', as used by Dylan Thomas in his letter c.1932 [when clearly referring to feeling unwell, quite possibly from drink!] was probably already in common use at that time; gradually becoming the less well-known and used version.
- 'Piss holes in the snow'�also�referred to�feeling tired/ battle fatigued and looking unwell [as well as something of low value]; but over time, it slowly won in the 'popularity contest' and became the phrase of choice.
And then later on, possibly sometime after the second world war was over, it's usage changed again or rather evolved. It was still used to describe someone feeling unwell/ looking tired, but rather than the cause being battle fatigue, it was the result of a hangover!
One thing that we can be sure of, though, is that in the film "Get Carter" (1971), the expression finally entered into the mainstream.
And has remained there ever since.
______________________________________
Michael Klinger + Tony Klinger - Golan Heights In '73
Picture:�"This was dad and me on an old burnt out tank trying to make the biblical love story of Rachel and Jacob just after the '73 war on the Golan Heights. Not the best choice of venue for that particular production and one day worth at least one chapter in my memoirs."
A big thanks to Tony for 'dropping by' and sharing some of his memories.�His memoirs will undoubtedly be fascinating and compelling reading. I'll let you all know when I hear any news on their publication.
___________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Remembering Ian Hendry - Born On This Day, 13th January 1931
Picture above: Ian Hendry Sketch Card by Andy Fry - now quite rare and collectable. From a series of Trading Cards celebrating The Avengers, released by Unstoppable Cards.
Remembering Ian Hendry, born on this day, 13th January 1931.
Picture: Ian Hendry with his mother, Enid Hendry. In the garden at their home on Tuddenham Road, Ipswich [January 1931]
Just a short article today, in memory of Ian.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Review Of 2017 - Twelve Top Stories Selected From The Last Year
As 2017 draws to a close, here's a quick look back at some of the highlights, discoveries, announcements and sad losses covered by the Ian Hendry website over the last year.
The twelve stories which stood out are:
1. Alan Gibson Discusses His School Boy Friendship With Ian Hendry - Ipswich School In The 1940s
Octagenarian Alan Gibson and his partner, Penny, contacted me in September 2017. What followed was a rare glimpse into Ian Hendry's school-life in the 1940s.
Thanks to Alan and Penny for all their help with this article and their research.
This is Alan's story:
https://ianhendry.com/ian-hendrys-ipswich-school-days-alan-gibson-reflects-on-being-school-friends-with-ian-hendry-in-the-early-40s-audio/
2. David Perkes And Ian Hendry Form A Motorcyle Display Team - National Service 1949-1951
Another octagenarian, David Perkes, also shared his memories of Ian Hendry, this time during their National Service Days in Scotland. David Perkes' love of motorcycles and tricks inspired Ian and they both then formed a motorcycle display team.
This is David's story:
https://ianhendry.com/david-perkes-ian-hendry-and-the-formation-of-the-32nd-medium-royal-artillery-motorcycle-display-team-gordon-barracks-scotland-1949-1951/
3. Theatre Of Blood [1973] Rare Autographed Colour Lobby Card Discovered
Rare memorabilia continues to surface. This colour lobby card from Theatre Of Blood [1973] was autographed by all the actors in it. A bit of a gem:
https://ianhendry.com/theatre-of-blood-1973-autographed-by-milo-oshea-harry-andrews-ian-hendry-arthur-lowe-robert-coote-and-jack-hawkins
4. Ian Hendry - Rowing Home Across The Thames To 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island
An atmospheric candid shot of Ian Hendry rowing home across the Thames, was also discovered. The article also includes some 'then and now' pictures of Janet Munro and his home, 'Sphinx', located on Pharaohs Island - as well as a connection with Lord Nelson:
https://ianhendry.com/ian-hendry-rowing-home-across-the-thames-to-sphinx-pharaohs-island-shepperton-1966/
5. Stefan Gryff - Perhaps Best Known As Captain Michael Krasakis In The Lotus Eaters, Dies Age 79
This event went unnoticed with the mainstream press, but was reported by the Michael J. Bird tribute website. Chris Williams, a long-time devoted fan of The Lotus Eaters, Michael J. Bird and� enthusiastic supporter of the Ian Hendry website was determined that we should pay a tribute to this actor.
In his research he uncovered a remarkable personal family story behind the man and spoke with his widow.
Here is Chris' tribute to Stefan:
https://ianhendry.com/stefan-gryff-in-memory-of-the-actor-who-played-captain-michael-krasakis-alongside-ian-hendry-in-the-lotus-eaters-1938-2017/
6. Police Surgeon Book Published - Retelling The Story Behind The Series That Led To The Avengers
Alan Hayes, Richard McGinaly and Alys Hayes completed their 'trilogy', with the publication of the story behind Police Surgeon - the series that ultimately led to the creation of The Avengers.
Police Surgeon gave Ian his first big break in television and would lead to even bigger things, when he was cast a year later as Dr. Keel in The Avengers:
https://ianhendry.com/police-surgeon-dr-brents-casebook-the-avengers-hayes-mcginlay/
7. Rare Still Of Ian Hendry And Roy Thinnes In Spaceship Found - Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun [1969]
Another rare still discovered. This one is a classic black and white of Ian Hendry and Roy Thinnes in a spaceship, for promting the film, Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun [ 1969]. Space travel was everywhere at the end of the 60s. David Bowies was singing about it and the historic first human manned moon landing occured.
Here Ian Hendry and Roy Thinnes also play at being spacemen:
https://ianhendry.com/journey-to-the-far-side-of-the-sun-aka-doppleganger-rare-original-promotional-stills-cambridge-science-instruments-co-1969/
8. Ian Hendry And Britt Ekland At The Westbury Hotel, London [1965]
Several pictures have emerged of the ABC headline stars taken for the autumn 1965 season promotion.
Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Bruce Forsyth, Dickie Davies and Dusty Springfield were others included in this photoshoot.
This picture is of Britt Ekland, with her arms linked with Bruce Forsyth's to our left [also sadly lost this year] and Ian Hendry to our right.
https://ianhendry.com/ian-hendry-britt-ekland-abc-tvs-reception-held-at-the-westbury-hotel-london1965/
9. Ian Hendry [1962] and Patrick Macnee [1964] - Rare UTV Interviews Discovered In Northern Ireland
Kaleidosciope announced the discovery of some rare footage in Norther Ireland, produced originally by UTV. This included a very rare 1962 interview with Ian Hendry, in which he discusses some of the reasons why he left The Avengers; and a Patrick Macnee interview from 1964, in which he also discusses the first series.
https://ianhendry.com/two-rare-tv-interviews-discovered-ian-hendry-62-and-patrick-macnee-64-both-interviews-discuss-the-avengers/
10. Sir John Hurt Dies, Age 77
Sir John hurt died after a long battle with cancer. He appeared with Ian Hendry and June Ritchie in the film This Is My Street way back in 1964].
Here we pay tribute to the very talented and versatile actor:
https://ianhendry.com/sir-john-hurt-a-tribute/
11. Rare Ian Hendry Scrapbook Discovered And Acquired
The discovery and acqusition of this very rare scrapbook will provide a lot of very useful material for the website in 2018.
It was collated over three decades by Ian Scoones, a long-time friend of Ian's. Ian Scoones worked in special effects, including Dr. Who, and was clearly also a big fan of Ian's work.
When the scrapbook became available, I jumped at the chance to add it to the collection. I haven't had enough time to add any articles yet, but here is a sneak preview of what to expect in 2018:
And Finally...
12. The Avengers 'Tunnel Of Fear' - Studio Canal Announce Forthcoming Release On DVD
Studio Canal announced the forthcoming planned release of� The Avengers, 'Tunnel Of Fear' episode, discovered after having been 'lost' for over 55 years!
Originally scheduled for released in mid-January 2018, Studio Canal have advised me that this was a 'placeholder' date. It is likely to slip a little, but you should still expect it to be released in the first quater of 2018.
I've been working behind the scenes and helping the Studio Canal team over the last couple of months; providing some input material, background research and have also written the foreword for the booklet which will accompany this DVD release. Alan Hayes has written an essay which will also be included.
Expect more announcements soon:
https://ianhendry.com/the-avengers-tunnel-of-fear-studio-canal-lost-episode-dvd-release-date-set-for-15th-january-2018/
___________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and see you all again in 2018!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Picture above: Alan Gibson and Ian Hendry both wearing Staff Seargeant Williams' hat from the film,� The Hill [1965].
Alan Gibson + Friends - Alan chats about his friendship with Ian Hendry and their Ipswich School days in the 1940s, with myself, my sister and his partner Penny.
Click the play button below to hear the recording:
Note:�Further information and an update on the 'hayloft', mentioned in this recording, is included in the article below.
________________________________________________
It's been quite a year for people contacting me and mentioning that they knew Ian Hendry at different stages of his life.
Recently, I was contacted by Julie, the daughter of David Perkes. David retold his story to me about how he had inspired a young 18 year old Ian Hendry, into forming a motorcyle display team, during their time together on National Service in Aberdeen Scotland.
You can read more about that here:
David Perkes + Ian Hendry - National Service Motorcycle Display Team [1949-1951]
At around the same time, I also received an email from Alan Gibson and his partner Penny, which also came 'out of the blue'.
Alan mentioned that he met Ian and became friends during their time together at Ipswich School in the early 40s, when they were both just 13 years old!
This is Alan's story...
Alan Gibson + Ian Hendry - Ipswich School Years [1938-1944]
When Alan Gibson first contacted me back in September 2017, it caught me by complete surprise. Here was someone who became friends with Ian Hendry when they were both just 13 years old. Here was a connection to Ian's childhood,� over 70+ years ago. Quite remarkable.
Aside from a few anecdotes from within the family,� I knew of nobody that could recall any memories of Ian from his time at Ipswich School. Even when Gabriel Hershman carried out his detailed reseach into his life for the biography, 'Send In The Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' he had to rely on material from Ipswich School archive. And given the lack of any first-hand accounts, it is not surprising that after so many years had passed, that some of the facts had become somewhat 'lost in translation'.
In Alan's first email to me, he was keen to put the record straight. Aside from being a friend of Ian's during their early teenage years, Alan has also been a volunteer archivist at Ipswich School. Together with his partner, Penny, they have kindly helped to source material included in this article, which helps to paint a picture of how life was at that time� in Ipswich and at Ipswich School, for both him and Ian in the early 1940's. My hope is that this article will help to redress the balance and to fill in some more of the missing details of Ian's life.
Ian was at Ipswich School from 1938 until 1944. In January 1945 he went to Culford School where he remained as a boarder until the time he left in December 1947. This period in Ian's life is covered in the article below:
Ian Hendry - Culford School Years + Sports Day [1945-1947]
Ian's time at Ipswich School, coincided with the years of second world war. As a result of rationing and cutbacks, there seems to be no school student or class photographs taken during this time. The picture below, from three� years earlier in 1935, is the closest thing I have to a school age picture of Ian, aged 4.
Picture: [l-r, back row] Edith Rushton [Grandmother], Enid Hendry [Mother], Donald Hendry [Brother], James 'Jim' Hendry [Father], George Rushton [Grandfather], Dedham [1935]. Ian Hendry on his bicycle outside his Grandparents home.
He began at Ipswich School's Preparatory Department in 1938 [Prep' Schoo], which would have meant he was 7 at the time. This raises the question of where he went to school from ages 5-7 and I will see what I can find out.
Picture: The Preparatory Department, Ipswich School, facing Ivry Street; where Ian Hendry first started at the School, in 1938.
Picture: Block of classrooms facing Ivry Street, Ipswich School. Completed in the 1930s, most of Ian's lessons whilst in the Upper School, were taken here.
A Call Is Arranged
Following on from our initial email exchanges, I called Alan, so that we could chat more about�his memories.
It was more than a little surreal for both of us. For Alan, it was a connection to his past after more than 70 years. For myself, it was connection in the present to a past that I knew little about. It was as though we had both entered into our own virtual time-machines and revisted a very different time.
Alan Gibson + Friends - In His Own Words [Audio/ Podcast]
Following on from our chat we arranged to meet up at Alan and Penny's home in Suffolk and they both agreed we could record our conversation, so that it could be then shared here with our readers. In the end our 'chat' extended to some 4+ hours! The podcast recording below is the edited highlights. It includes Alan, Penny, my sister Sue and yours truly.
The initial aim was to edit the recording so that you could just hear Alan. But then I realised that it would be impossible to dientangle the various voices, remarks and my ramblings and anecdotes! Technology is clearly not that advanced, yet.
So instead, I give you an afternoon chat with the four of us, complete with cups of tea, cake and all!
The edited recording is still quite long, about 2 hours in total. It includes Alan's recollections of� his early life in Ipswich, being friends with Ian, the war years, as well as my sister and I discussing some of our memories of Ian and the family; how the biography 'Send In The Clowns' evolved, the creation of this website and how I became involved in all of this, way back in 2011.
I think Alan's stories and anecdotes about Ian are fascinating and give a rare glimpse into another time and place. They also seem to mirror some of the same characteristics that David Perkes mentioned, when I discussed him knowing Ian a few years later, when both were doing National Service in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Alan's anecdotes include:
- Climbing trees with Ian
- Scout camps
- Playing football in Christchurch Park, Ipswich
- School days and school masters
- A retirement gift for a teacher
- And bumping into Ian several years in Ipswich, after Ian had started work but before he went to drama school.
Click the play button below to hear the recording:
Recording update - further information on the 'hayloft':�Since recording this conversation, Penny and Alan have provided me with some further details. In Ian Hendry's 'This Is Your Life' [March 1978], my father retells the story of how Ian, who was just�11 year old at the time, had used an old hayloft on the Norwich Road in Ipswich to stage a play; which Ian both wrote and naturally starred in!
The "hayloft"was at the back of no. 245 Norwich Road and had a frontage onto Brooks Hall Lane and not Richmond Road as suggested.� Numbers 243 and 245 Norwich Road are a semi-detached pair of late Victorian villas and in the 1940's no. 245�had a shop front to Norwich Road and was known as the 'Norwich Road Post Office and Newsagent'.� It was kept by a Mr Bell whose son Keith was at Ipswich School in the same form as Ian and was a keen Boy Scout. �Sadly, the hayloft is no more, with the land now being occupied by a small car park and a number of houses, probably built in the 1960's. From the photographs below, however, it seems the post box may still remain.
Picture above: 245 Norwich Road. In the 1940s it was the location of�'Norwich Road Post Office and Newsagent'. The Post Office is no more, but a post box still remains.
Picture above: Aerial view of the Norwich Road/ Brooks Hall Road junction in Ipswich. A small car park now occupies the land in the vicinity of where the 'old hayloft' once stood.
Alan Gibson Wearing The Army Hat Worn By Ian Hendry In 'The Hill' [1965]
Picture: Alan Gibson wearing the army hat, worn by Ian Hendry for the part of Staff Sergeant Williams in The Hill [1965. Dir. Sidney Lumet].
Picture: Ian Hendry, wearing the same hat in The Hill [1965]. With Harry Andrews and Sean Connery.
Alan shouldn't be concerned, though, as this hat didn't fit me either! Read more:
Ian Hendry - Staff Sergeant Williams' Hat - The Hill [1965]
Ipswich School - A Glimpse Back In Time
The pictures below give a feel for how school-life would have been for both Ian and Alan at Ipswich School in the 1940s; they are also an important record of the social history of that time.
Alan and Penny also sent me copies from Ipswich School, Ipswichian Magazine from the time that he, Ian and my father were there. Although Ian was sporty [see Hendry (i)], it seems that it was my father who was, in fact, more prolific [see Hendry (ii)]!
For those interested in history, here is a brief overview:
Ipswich School - A Brief History
The oldest record that may refer to the school in Ipswich goes back to 1399, in a legal dispute over unpaid fees. The first recorded mention of a grammar school in Ipswich is 1416. The school was likely set up by the Merchant Guild of Ipswich, which became the Guild of Corpus Christi. The sons of the ruling burgesses were educated for a fee, and the sons of nobility and gentry could attend at higher fees.
From 1483 the school moved to a house bequeathed by ex-pupil Richard Felaw, a merchant and politician. His will also provided rental income for the school and stated that, for Ipswich children, only those parents with income over a certain amount should pay fees.
In 1528, building work began on an ambitious project for a 'college' school in Ipswich to rival the likes of Eton College. Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England, funded his 'College of St Mary' by ''suppressing' local religious houses such as Rumburgh Priory. Ipswich school was incorporated into the college. Wolsey, who was from Ipswich and may have attended Ipswich school, intended the new institution to be a feeder to his recently built 'Cardinal's College' of Oxford University, which is now known as Christ Church. However, Wolsey fell out of favour with King Henry VIII and the college in Ipswich was demolished in 1530 while still half-built. The school pupils returned to Felaw's house.
The Cardinal�s School was in St Peter�s Street where Wolsey�s Gateway still exists. It was to have been surmounted by a tower similar to the Tom Tower at Christchurch Oxford, Wolsey�s other foundation with which he intended Ipswich to be linked. The Tower at the existing Ipswich School building in Henley Road is a copy of this. Another interesting anecdotes is that during the second world war parents who would otherwise have sent their boys to the School as boarders were deterred from doing so believing that the Tower would make a good target for German bombers.
The play Henry VIII by William Shakespeare mentions the two colleges during a recounting of the life of Cardinal Wolsey; it was the college of Oxford University that outlasted him and became widely known:
'Those twins of learning that he rais'd in you,
Ipswich and Oxford! One of which fell with him,
Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;
The other, though unfinish'd, yet so famous'
After Wolsey's downfall in 1530, his former ally Thomas Cromwell ensured the survival of the School by securing for it a new endowment from King Henry VIII and the status of a royal foundation. This was confirmed by Queen Elizabeth I in the charter that she granted to the School in 1566. For part of the School's history it was known as Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ipswich. The School's coat of arms and motto, Semper Eadem (Always the Same), are those of Elizabeth I. The Monarch of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the School's Visitor.
In 1614 the school moved across the road to the Blackfriar's refectory. During the reign of James I part of the Blackfriars Monastery was appropriated for use as a classroom, and the Blackfriars remained the School's home until 1842 when the building was deemed to be unsafe. For a few years teaching was carried on in temporary premises in Lower Brook Street. In 1851 Prince Albert laid the foundation stone for the School's first purpose-built premises in Henley Road, and by 1852 the new buildings were in use. The School has remained on the Henley Road site ever since.
Picture: Ipswich School facing the Arboretum [1851]. The is how it would also have looked to Ian in the 1930s.
An intereting anecdote is that The Prince Consort laid the foundation stone to the Henley Road building in 1851, a day of great celebration in the town and the Ceremony was watched by about 12,000 people, which was approximately half the population of Ipswich at that time!
Picture: Truman Tanqueray - Ipswich School Headmaster [1933-1955]. The Headmaster during the time that Alan, Ian and my father were at Ipswich School.
Picture: 'Big School' by Martin Squirrell - Ipswich School [1949]
Picture: Ipswich School Chapel [c.1940-1950]
Picture: 'The Chemical Laboratory'. Seeing Chemistry classes, with Ian using these Bunsen burners, would have been interesting!
Picture: The Woodwork Workshop, Ipswich School [1940-1950]
Picture: The Gymnasium, Ipswich School [c.1940s -1950]
Picture: The Victorian Swimming Pool, Ipswich School [c.1040-1950]
Picture: Cricket Pavilion, Ipswich School playing fields, Henley Road, Ipswich [1938]
Picture: Cricket Square, Ipswich School playing fields, Henley Road, Ipswich [c.1938]
Ipswich School - Illustrated London News, November 12th 1960.
The following article is from The Illustarted London News which was published on 12th November 1960. Whilst it is from a few years later, it will still give a glimpse of the daily life at the school that Alan and ian would have experienced.
Final Words - Alan Gibson - Ipswich School Archive
Picture: Alan Gibson working as a volunteer in Ipswich School Archive [2003]
It's been a fascinating year with some wonderful highlights. Being able to chat with David Perkes, andhis daughter Julie, as well as meeting up with Alan Gibson and Penny have been at the top of that long list. Thanks again, for sharing your stories with me and allowing me to share them on this website.
Thanks also to you all for following and supporting the website and Facebook page this year. I wish you a very Happy New Year and may 2018 bring you the best of health and much happiness.
__________________________________________________________
Feel free to connect with us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society - Facebook Page
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - On Twitter
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read: 'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
December 30, 2017
David Perkes, Ian Hendry And The Formation Of The 32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team, Gordon Barracks, Scotland [1949-1951]
Recently, I received a lovely message which brought back a number of good memories for me. First, I'll share a little more about those memories.
In March 1978, I travelled with my family to London for Ian Hendry's This Is Your Life, filmed at the Thames Television Studios on the Euston Road. Although I was only 10 years old at the time, I have some very vivid memories of the whole experience.
Two of the guests on the show were former army officers, who knew Ian from the two years that they had spent together during National Service;� with the 32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery at the Gordon Barracks in Scotland.
Picture: Junior Ranks Club, Gordon Barracks, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen Scotland. Located to the east of the main parade ground - built 1932-1935.
Murray Robb and Patrick Powell recalled how Ian had been part of a motorcycle display team. The video below is an extract from that episode of�This Is Your Life, where they retell this story and one particularly funny incident involving Ian.
Video: Patrick Powell and Murray Robb, with Ian Hendry and Eamonn Andrews, This Is Your Life [March 1978]
Which brings me onto the recent message that I received. It was from the daughter of David Perkes, the man that first inspired Ian into thinking about forming the motorcycle display team!
The message from David's daughter, Julie, is as follows:
"Hello, my father David Perkes was in the 32nd Medium Royal Artillery stationed at Aberdeen, Scotland. He had his motor cycle sent up to Bridge of Don Barracks, during this time he was up to antics, tricks on his bike.� Ian noticed this and approached him to see if he would like to start/join a team. Practice took place on the sand dunes some 45-50 degree slope. Jumps, lean backs etc.,� Later practice took place on the parade ground, in principle along the lines of the Royal Signals Corps.� When confident they did stunt riding shows mostly in Aberdeen. My father has many more stories should you be interested."
I wrote back and she then sent me some notes that her father had written down about his recollections of Ian and their time spent together during National Service. He had also been able to find a couple of photographs, a portrait of himself as a soldier and another one in the full motorcycle display team uniform/ regalia! These are included below.
And today I was able to speak with David and Julie for the first time. A very special moment for a number of reasons, not least because today is David's 87th birthday. The conversation also helped me to learn a little more about Ian's life and his character.
This is David's story....
David Perkes - The Story Of The Man And The Motorbike That Inspired Ian Hendry To Form A Motorcycle Display Team
David Perkes had already been with the 32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery at the Gordon Barracks in Aberdeen for a while, when a young fresh-faced officer arrived to begin his two year stint of National Service. That junior-commissioned officer was, of course, Second Lieutenant Ian Hendry.
I asked David what his first impressions of Ian were:
"I was already stationed at Aberdeen when Ian came. Young, ready to go. All of my pals, remarked Ian was OK, so did I."
Now it's important to remember that at that time, Ian was an officer and David always had to address him as 'sir'. But whilst other officers used their rank to have a go at the regular soldiers, David told me that Ian was not like them. He described Ian as, 'a good man'.
"Ian was always busy thinking or doing something. When he was off-duty and working with us, he was� friendly and relaxed. We had a nice relationship. He certainly had something about him, you wouldn't have missed him in a crowd of a million."
And that:
"He was always willing to have a go himself and was very positive."
David was a Lance Bombardier and a gun fitter by trade during his time in the Army. He also told me that he had trained as a Field Engineer and after Gordon Barracks, had been posted to Manston in Kent before being posted back to�Penniquek, Otterburn in Northumberland.
Penniquek was the location of the firing ranges that were bombarded by the 32nd Regiment during their summer camps there.�At that time the regiment had 74 and 98 Medium Battery 5.5" inch guns which could cause a fair amount of damage. And on occasions, David clearly remembers being called over by the safety officer and ordered to go and pick up the sheep which had become collateral damage,� caught unawares on the hillside.
But it's his time at Gordon Barracks in Scotland which he remembers most fondly. Which brings us back to Ian and that motorcycle.
David explains more:
"Now my interest was motorcycles, the one I had at the camp was a Royal Enfield. To occupy my evenings I was playing around on my motor bike."
But when I asked David to expand a bit more on what this 'playing around' actually entailed, his answer made me smile; because he was able to stand upright on the seat of his motorbike, with chords attached to the handlebars to allow him to steer and then ride around the parade ground!
Gordon Barracks is located on the east-coast, in a quiet part of Scotland and entertainment was probably in very short supply. At times the weather there was bleak, with the north-easterly winds no doubt bringing Arctic-like conditions.
As David recalled, their accommodation seemed to reflect the weather, with formal names that spark the imagination� :
"Our billets were named after spiders. All timber and cold."
Ian had noticed David's prowess on his bike� and after a few days decided to approach him and ask whether he would help him form a racing team - or some kind of entertainment team. He was also keen, no doubt, to try and find some excitement and adventure to make life there more enjoyable for himself and for others.
And the answer to Ian's request was, of course, 'yes'.
Picture: Lance Bombardier, David Perkes, 32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery, Gordon Barracks, Scotland c.1950
Picture: Second Lieutenant, Ian Hendry,�32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery, Gordon Barracks, Scotland c.1950
The Formation Of The 32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team
David told me that their inspiration came from the�Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team (RSMDT).�The RSMDT origins lie in precision motorcycling and horse-riding demonstrations given by instructors and students from the British Army Signal Training Centre in�Yorkshire, beginning in 1927.�Riders were normally employed as�despatch riders. They have had many names in the past including 'The Red Devils', before the Parachute Regiment team of the same name existed, Mad Signals (on account of the poor brakes on the motorcycles) and only adopted the name 'White Helmets' in 1963.�Team members wear a tailored blue uniform and open-face white motorcycle helmets and traditionally use�Triumph�motorcycles. Sadly, though, the RSMDT is to be disbanded at the end of 2017.
Now the�32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team had much more humble origins and financial resources upon which to draw. David had his own bike and Ian helped get permission from more senior officers for a couple of others in the team to have their motorbikes sent up to the barracks.
In total, there were six team members, David, Ian, Ed Wright, Peter and two others whose names have, for the moment, escaped recall. And in time they had the use of six 500cc despatch bikes,� Nortons and� BSAs. But the Nortons had a tendency for the front part of the frame to crack, under the strain of some of their more extreme manoeuvres and, in time, the team members began to outnumber their machines!
The Uniforms
Now it's already been mentioned that the RSMDT team was immaculately turned out in their�tailored blue uniform and open-face white motorcycle helmets. But the 32nd Regiment had no such budget. Not deterred, though, David recalled that Ian found a novel solution:
"As there was no budget, we had to improvise. so Ian headed over to the NAAFI."
The�Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes�(NAAFI�) is an organisation created by the�British�government in 1921 to run recreational establishments needed by the�British Armed Forces, including the kitchens and the cafes/ restaurants.
David mentioned that:
"A short while later, Ian returned having borrowed some bright white chefs jackets from the NAAFI, the helmet and gloves came from somewhere else."
With some slight modifications, the uniform of the 32nd��Medium Regiment Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team had been created!
Picture: David Perkes with another team member, wearing the improvised uniform of the�32nd Medium Regiment Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team!
The Practice
David told me that Ian was good on the motorbikes too, but he had also taken on the role of leader.
He recalled:
"Ian said we now have to work out a programme of moves. He was good at this. Timing was to be correct."
and:
"To get more practice in, we went to the sand dunes, these were very steep, but we became ready to do a team show."
The sand dunes had been Ian's idea. David recalls how Ian had said to him:
"Do you think we could do more frightening moves?"
Picture: Sand dunes at Balmedie Beach, located north of Bridge of Don - similar to those used by the motorcycle team in their practice.
One evening, the team went to the large sand dunes nearby and set up all their bikes at the very top. Then, with engines roaring, they all descended down the steep sandy slopes, sliding in all directions as they attempted to reach the beach below. And I think some may have actually made it!
The Shows
In comparison, the shows were more modest affairs, some held at events in Aberdeen, on sports fields in front of a small crowd, some on the parade ground of Gordon Barracks as entertainment for the soldiers and staff.
But the actual 'stunts' performed seem far from modest. David described some of them to me in more detail:
"We used to have two, three, four or five people on one bike at a time. One person would be standing on the saddle of the bike, holding two chords tied to the handlebars with which to steer by, whilst the others would be standing on the pedals, leaning outwards."
On another occasion, David described how:
"One person would be upside down over the handle-bars, whilst the other was standing on the seat of the motorbike."
Also, whilst perhaps not in the same league as Evil Knieval, the team did used to use a 2 foot high wooden ramp to get the bikes airborne and up to 4 feet above the ground. No wonder that some of the frames cracked.
And on another occasion, David recalled how they also experimented with fire - but that it was not pursued further for reasons of safety!
Unfortunately, there are no photographs of the team in action, but the photograph below of the Royal Signals, shows the type of stunts they performed.
Picture: The Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team perform The Flowerpot' manoeuvre. The 32nd�Royal Medium Regiment Artillery Motorcycle Display Team performed similar stunts.
Some Closing Thoughts
In one of Julie's emails to me, she mentioned that her father:
"Always remembers the parade ground roar of the bikes."
And when I asked David how he best remembers Ian, he thought for a moment and his reply seemed to paraphrase the title of a well-known film:
"As a gentleman.......and an officer."
I'd like to thank David and his daughter, Julie, for contacting me and sharing this lovely story; and also for allowing me to reproduce it, along with the pictures, here.�Sharing these memories with David today, on his 87th birthday, has been a real pleasure.
We Wish You A Very Happy 87th Birthday, David!
___________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Theatre of Blood [1973] - Autographed By Milo O'Shea, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Robert Coote and Jack Hawkins
Picture above (from l-r): Theatre of Blood [1973] - A rare autographed lobby card - signed by Milo O' Shea, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Robert Coote and Jack Hawkins.
Theatre Of Blood [1973]
Another recent find, a rare original lobby card, signed by Milo O' Shea, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Arthur Lowe, Robert Coote and Jack Hawkins.
Picturee: Original Film Poster - Theatre of Blood [1973]
Video: Original trailer - Theatre of Blood [1973]
Theatre of Blood Review
by Philip French
Vincent Price was, by Hollywood standards at least, a Renaissance man � actor on stage and screen, author, art collector, lecturer, cook, spellbinding public declaimer of prose and poetry. Nowadays he's less celebrated for the heavies he played in 1940s A-movies than for the doomed aesthetes he played in horror flicks, mostly low-budget and tongue in cheek, between the mid-1950s and the 70s.
Arguably Price's finest single performance, certainly the one that called on all his varied talents as a comedian, aesthete, mellifluous speaker of verse, old-fashioned barnstormer and exponent of horror, is Douglas Hickox's classic black comedy Theatre of Blood, best of a string of horror pictures he made in Britain. He plays the full-blooded exponent of Shakespeare Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionheart, an actor-manager of the old school (much like Donald Wolfit), who conspires with his daughter, Edwina (authentic RSC Shakespearean star Diana Rigg), to avenge himself on the London Critics' Circle for a lifetime of insults. The film is the critic's nightmare and the actor's dream: a series of ingenious murders perpetrated on theatre reviewers in imitation of Shakespearean death scenes by the victim of their cruel notices.
The preening critics are played by nine famous character actors: Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins, Harry Andrews, Arthur Lowe, Robert Coote, Michael Hordern, Dennis Price, Ian Hendry, and the imperious Coral Browne, who married Vincent Price shortly after completing the film. It was shot entirely at carefully chosen London locations, and elegantly photographed by the Austrian-born Wolfgang Suschitzky, still with us aged 101. Second world war SAS hero Anthony Greville-Bell wrote the originally screenplay, which manages to be extremely funny while exploring Shakespeare's dark side and doing full justice to the Grand Guignol aspect. The movie's beguiling credits cut between Nicholas Hilliard's famous Elizabethan miniature Young Man Among Roses and clips from silent Shakespearean films, and there's a clever score by Michael J Lewis.
The horror fans that make up the League of Gentlemen team provide an enthusiastic, slightly rowdy commentary to this Blu-ray disc, and the other extras include Victoria Price talking movingly about her father.
Source: The Guardian:
___________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Police Surgeon - The Launch Of A New TV Series: TV Times Northern Edition No. 253 September 4th - 10th 1960
Picture above: Ian Hendry as Dr. Geoffrey Brent and John Warwick as Inspector Landon
Police Surgeon - The Launch Of A New TV Series [September 1960]
- The Series That Led To The Creation Of The Avengers
Occasionally, I discover something that helps me to explain a little bit more about Ian Hendry's life.
Today, I came across an article on Police Surgeon - which is reproduced below in full. It was in the TV Times Northern Edition No. 253 and covered the schedules for the 4th - 10th September 1960. The article is by Bill Evans, who was a journalist with the TV Times, and gives an overview of the series creation, the characters and some of the plot outlines. It also provides some interesting details about the series creator Julian Bond and some of the other key actors involved in the series, including John Warwick, Ingrid Hafner, Harry H. Corbett and a very young Michael Crawford, who was just 18 years old at the time! It was clearly also a promotional piece for the launch of this new series which was first broadcast on Saturday 10th September 1960.
Fans of The Avengers will know, that this little-known TV series played a vital role in the subsequent creation of the cult series. Police Surgeon gave Ian his first really significant role in television with the part of Dr. Geoffrey Brent.� And whilst the series was not a big commercial success, ABC TV recognised the talent of their lead actor and were determined to find another suitable 'vehicle' for him. And the new series that was created was of course The Avengers, in which Ian Hendry played another doctor, but this time he went by the name of Dr. David Keel.
The fascinating story of Police Surgeon series and the part it played in the subsequent development of The Avengers, is superbly told in the book�Dr. Brent's Casebook by Richard McGinlay and Alan Hayes. For more details on this publication, please click on the link below:
Find Out More: Dr. Brent's Casebook by Richard McGinlay and Alan Hayes
So without further ado, here is the full article from the TV Times Northern Edition No. 253 September 4th - 10th 1960:
________________________________________________________________________________
Picture: Cover for the TV Times Northern Edition No. 253 September 4th - 10th 1960
Modern police work needs allies. One of the policeman�s key allies is the doctor. His work ranges from examining alleged drunks to attending injured policemen or prisoners. Sometimes he must not only certify death but give an opinion on its cause. The doctor�s work for the police is dramatic, but the public know little about it.
Police Surgeon, a new half-hour TV series starting Saturday, starring Ian Hendry as Dr Geoffrey Brent, will lift the curtain.
Julian Bond, who wrote several of the Probation Officer scripts, is writing most of the episodes for the new series, in collaboration with J. J. Bernard, the pseudonym of a London police surgeon who suggested that the work would be an ideal theme for a TV series.
The young, idealistic Dr Brent cannot resist taking a personal interest in the cases to which he is called, for at heart he is a philosopher.
First of the 13 stories, many based on fact, is titled �Easy Money.� In it Dr Brent deals with a young thief, played by 18-year-old Michael Crawford. The second episode, �Under the Influence,� deals with a motorist, played by Bernard Archard, accused of drunken driving.
Other early episodes star Harry H. Corbett as a man who beats up a club hostess in �Lag on the Run� and Jean Anderson in �Sunday Morning Story,� which deals with a refugee girl�s suicide.
Appearing in several episodes with Ian Hendry is John Warwick, playing Inspector Landon, of the Bayswater area police station, to which Dr Brent is attached. Another artist who will be seen in several episodes is Ingrid Hafner, the surgeon�s receptionist.
The theme music has the appropriate title �The Big Knife.� The first four episodes of Police Surgeon are being produced by Julian Bond and the rest by Leonard White. Bond, 29 years old, has been writing for TV since 1957. Before that he was writing and directing documentary films. He is married and has three children.
Ian Hendry is the same age as Bond. He made his TV debut some years ago stooging for the famous clown Coco. The clown tried to persuade Ian to use his talent for knockabout comedy in the circus, but his gift for acting led him to the stage.
Bond chose Ian to star in his new series after watching his progress for three years following an impressive performance in Anouilh�s Dinner with the Family, which brought him to London with the Oxford Playhouse company.
At school at Culford, Suffolk, Ian�s main interest was sport. During National Service with the 32nd Medium Regiment, RA, he paced Chris Chataway and organised his own motor-cycle stunt team.
Ian went from the Central School of Speech and Drama into repertory. About the same time he was cast in Emergency � Ward 10, and established a following as Chris Stone, a polio patient. Film parts followed in Room at the Top, Sink the Bismarck and In the Nick.
Last spring he was back in TV as the young pilot whose error caused the death of a friend in Inside Story, and since then he has had further TV successes in Probation Officer, Eugene O�Neill�s Beyond the Horizon and Flight from Treason.
To celebrate this series Ian and his wife Jo, who teaches film and television make-up, have moved to a new home aboard a converted naval pinnace on the Thames at Chiswick.
by Bill Evans for the TV Times
_____________________________________________________________
What I found particularly interesting was that it was only when Ian Hendry landed the role in Police Surgeon, that he moved with first wife, Jo, to live on the boat at Chiswick. Up until that point, they had both been renting an apartment in North London.
Picture: Extract from the TV Times article for the week, 9th - 15th September 1960 showing Ian Hendry and the newly purchased houseboat
It would seem that the advance paid for his work on Police Surgeon gave Ian and Jo enough money to buy their own place in London, a former naval boat! The image above is taken from the TV Times article for the week�commencing 9th September 1960, which is reproduced in full on this website at the following link:
Ian + Jo - Police Surgeon + Chiswick - TV Times 9th - 15th September 1960
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Gabrielle Drake - 'The Tycoon' by Kenneth Jupp - ITV Playhouse [1968]
Picture above: Ian Hendry + Gabrielle Drake - 'The Tycoon' by Kenneth Jupp - ITV Playhouse [1968]
The Tycoon [ITV Playhouse 1968]
In 1968, Ian Hendry appeared in the ITV Playhouse production of The Tycoon. Written by Kenneth Jupp, it formed one part of what is known as The Chelsea Trilogy, along with the plays The Photographer and The Explorer which were also produced for ITV Playhouse in the same year.
Gabrielle Drake (born 30 March 1944) is a British actress. She became well known in the 1970s for her appearance in television series, most notably The Brothers and UFO. In the early 1970s she appeared in several erotic roles on screen. She later took parts in soap operas Crossroads and Coronation Street. She has also had a long career on stage.
Her brother was the musician Nick Drake. She has consistently helped to promote his work since his death in 1974.
Synopses - The Chelsea Trilogy:
In The Guardian they mention that it, "in particular captured the spirit of a time of swift change."
There is very little information available online about these titles, the following is all that I could find to date:
The Photographer "is concerned with the impact of a beautiful model's suicide upon the emotional life of those close to her, in particular the photographer who made her famous and her younger sister." [Source: The Playwrights Database]
The Explorer is [editor's note: still trying to find the synopsis for this title!]
The Tycoon is "a drama about a businessman who becomes involved in the lives of a sculptor and his beautiful wife". [Source: Ian's Biography by Gabriel Hershman]
ITV Playhouse
ITV Playhouse�is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983 with a total of 245 episodes and featured contributions from playwrights such as�Dennis Potter,�Rhys Adrian�and�Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the�ITV�network,�a format that would inspire�Dramarama.�The series would mostly include original material from writers, but adaptations of existing works were also produced.
Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson,�Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne,�Pat Heywood,�Michael Elphick,�Ian Hendry,�Edward Woodward,�Margaret Lockwood,�Jessie Matthews�and Lloyd Peters. It formed part of a long tradition of TV plays and dramas that formed part of an era that many people refer to as the Golden Age of Television.
Other similar anthology series include:
Armchair Theatre - which ran from 1956 to 1974 [ produced by Associated British Corporation (ABC TV) from 1956 -1968 and� Thames TV from 1968 -1974]
Play for Today - which ran from 1970 to 1984 [ produced by the BBC]
Theatre 625�- which ran from 1964 to 1968 [ produced by the BBC]
The Wednesday Play�- which ran from 1964 to 1970 [ produced by the BBC]
Ian Hendry appeared in four of the productions which formed part of ITV Playhouse Antholdogy:
-�The Tycoon�(1968)�
-�Thursday's Child�(1970)�
-�The High Game�(1970)�
The Tycoon - Cast
Major - Rudolph Walker
Guy Taylor - Ian Hendry
Jean - Gabrielle Drake
Jeremy - Michael Elwyn
Sandra - Jocelyne Sbath
Violet - Elizabeth Gordon
Gerald - Christopher Benjamin
Helen Taylor - Elspet Gray
Rachel Bell - Isobel Black
Peter Bell - Michael Pennington
Drunken Businessman - Anthony Roye
Credits
Director - John Jacobs
Production Company - Anglia Television
Script - Kenneth Jupp
Editor - Kenneth F. Rowles
Designer - Eileen Diss
Kenneth Jupp - Playwright, Novelist and Screenwriter
Kennth Jupp found success early in his career when, in 1959, his first play, The Buskers, was produced at the Arts Theatre, London, and won the International�Theatre�award and that year's premier Arts Council award. Both The Buskers and his second play, The Socialites, were well received critically in New York, the latter being published there in 1961 as one of Three New Plays From England, alongside works by Bernard Kops and Ronald Duncan.
After this brilliant debut came a series of plays for television, on which he worked with the producer Sidney Newman, front-rank directors including John Jacobs, Philip Saville and John Gorrie, and actors of the calibre of Irene Worth, Wilfred Lawson, Robert Stephens, Michael Bryant, Patrick McGee, Michael Pennington, Susannah York and Derek Jacobi. I recall Lawson remarking in a penetrating murmur, "So, we're working for the Aereated Bread Company," as we assembled in the ABC television rehearsal room for the first read-through of Kenneth's play Strangers in the Room (1961), directed by John Moxey. Tensions arose at once between Wilfred, great actor and accomplished tease, trailing a carefully cultivated reputation for unpredictability, and Mary Ellis, immaculate diva, on the lookout for the smallest sign of bad behaviour.
Picture: Kenneth Jupp - writer and author of The Tycoon [1968] - which along with The Photographer and The Explorer, forms part of what is known as The Chelsea Trilogy.
Most of the people in the room betrayed signs of concern: only the author, standing slightly apart, well-dressed but mildly raffish with his silk neckerchief (ties were the order of the day at a first reading) surveyed the potentially hazardous scene wearing an expression of unalloyed enjoyment. Later, when I became a friend of Kenneth's, I realised it was not in his nature to feel censorious, nor did I ever know him to feel impelled to interfere with the events unfolding around him - no matter how embarrassing or calamitous.
He was a dedicated, accurate observer, and this was the quality that informed his early plays. By the end of the decade he was written about as "the most interesting emergent playwright". The Chelsea Trilogy, televised in 1968 - The Photographer, The Explorer and The Tycoon - in particular captured the spirit of a time of swift change.
Picture: The Chelsea Trilogy, first edition book cover from November 1969 [Calder + Boyars Publishers Ltd]
Kenneth's early years were spent in south-west London: he was born in West Hill, Putney, had a middle-class upbringing in Twickenham and was educated at Hounslow College. After a brief spell studying engineering at London University he worked in the coffee business in Brazil and spent time in New York and South America. After returning to London, he worked in the import-export business and began writing short stories. When he began to write a play, he realised that he had discovered his true vocation.
A Sunday Times critic remarked that "his people ... have their origins in the irrefutable illogic of real life". It is part of that illogic that talent, even brilliance and industry, do not always lead to lasting success, and there came a point when, for no apparent reason, Kenneth's luck gave out. However, he did not for a moment give up the discipline of his chosen profession, and though, occasionally, one might see bewilderment in his face or the expression of an element of black humour, he never succumbed to envy or bitterness.
Screen rights to several of his plays were sold to Hollywood, but all the film projects foundered. In America he worked for a long time alongside Robert Bolt on his screenplay of George Sand, but again, this fell at the last fence. A brilliant dramatisation of the life of Mata Hari, commissioned by the BBC, fell victim to the budget cuts of the time, as did his screenplay on the early life of the French writer Colette.
For the rest of his life he wrote daily, building an increasing volume of plays and screenplays. His novel Echo (1980) was well-received in Britain and the US, and was later published in France and Italy. Dreams Are the Worst (1985), a comedy-drama about the travel and access problems of people with physical disabilities, was shown on Channel 4, and his 1988 adaptation of Clifford Odets's 1949 play The Big Knife, about the avarice beneath the glitter of Hollywood, was televised in the US.
In the 60s he had married one of the leading models of the decade, Debbie Condon, the daughter of the novelist Richard Condon. When the marriage failed he spent many years living abroad in Europe and America before returning to London. He never remarried, and he and Debbie remained close friends.
In 2006 the Orange Tree theatre, in Richmond, south-west London, presented Tosca's Kiss, his reworking of the English writer Rebecca West's attendance at the Nuremberg trials. His friend and frequent tennis partner Harold Pinter had taken part in a reading of the play at the Haymarket theatre the previous year, and the considerable interest created by the full production led to plans to present the play in New York.
During Kenneth's short final illness, he was sustained by Debbie and their daughter, the Emmy award-winning documentary film-maker Jemma.
��Kenneth Jupp, playwright, novelist and screenwriter, born 5 December 1928; died 18 May 2009
Source: The Guardian
_____________________________________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry - Rowing Home Across The Thames To 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, Shepperton [1966]
Picture above: Ian Hendry rowing home across The Thames to 'Sphinx', Pharaohs Island, Shepperton in December 1966.
In The Footsteps [And Paddle Strokes?] Of Nelson
- Ian Hendry and Janet Munro, Living On Pharaohs Island, Shepperton In The 60s
Whilst carrying out some research for this article, I came across some recent property details and photographs of Ian Hendry and Janet Munro's former home, named Sphinx,� located on Pharaohs Island, Shepperton. The island was given to Admiral Nelson after his victory in the Battle of the Nile (1798) and was subsequently used as his fishing retreat. The island's name is clearly a testament to this achievement, as are most of the house names which nearly all have an Egyptian theme. This connection with an aspect of Nelson's life is interesting, as Ian was born in Ipswich, a mile or so from Nelson's former country residence, Roundwood House, which he owned from 1795 - 1801. Nelson, The Battle of the Nile and his Ipswich connection are discussed in more detail below.
Living on the island can be make some people feel quite isolated at times, as Janet Munro experienced after she first moved there with Ian in the early 60s. This period in their lives is described in great detail in Gabriel Hershman's biography on Ian, �Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry.
The sense of isolation is compounded by the fact that there is no connecting bridge to the 'mainland', so rowing boats and launches are needed to reach the 'outside world'. This isolation was further brought home to me when I received an email from someone last year who helped to sell Sphinx in the 70s;� he told me that the new owner had to wait until The Thames was sufficiently frozen over before they could slide a large Aga cooker across the ice to his newly acquired home. Rather them than me!
Picture: Aerial view of Pharaohs Island, Shepperton
Picture: View across The Thames in Winter to Sphinx, Pharaohs Island, Shepperton.
Pharaohs Island - Key Facts
The island has a length of 280 m and a maximum width of 60 m. Shepperton Lock is 270 m downstream and two other channels leading to weirs diverge off after the island to its southeast. These channels then surround Lock Island and Hamhaugh Island. The island is only accessible by boat, with the facilities of Lock Island downstream and moorings there or by the pub The Thames Court almost opposite it's eastern tip on the nearer, north bank.
For those interested in history, an outline of The Battle Of The Nile and Nelson's former country residence in Ipswich is given below. For those more interested in the property and seeing some rare pictures of Ian and Janet at Sphinx from the 60s, juxtaposed with more recent colour pictures of their former home, then you are welcome to skip this part and scroll to see them below!
The Battle Of The Nile [1798]
The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the Nile Delta of Egypt from 1 to 3 August 1798. The battle was the climax of a naval campaign that had ranged across the Mediterranean during the previous three months, as a large French convoy sailed from Toulon to Alexandria carrying an expeditionary force under General Napoleon Bonaparte. The British fleet was led in the battle by Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson; they decisively defeated the French under Vice-Admiral Fran�ois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.
Painting: "The Destruction of L'Orient at the Battle of the Nile" George Arnald, 1827, National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, London, England
Bonaparte sought to invade Egypt as the first step in a campaign against British India, part of a greater effort to drive Britain out of the French Revolutionary Wars. As Bonaparte's fleet crossed the Mediterranean, it was pursued by a British force under Nelson who had been sent from the British fleet in the Tagus to learn the purpose of the French expedition and to defeat it. He chased the French for more than two months, on several occasions only missing them by a matter of hours. Bonaparte was aware of Nelson's pursuit and enforced absolute secrecy about his destination. He was able to capture Malta and then land in Egypt without interception by the British naval forces.
With the French army ashore, the French fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Alexandria. Commander Vice-Admiral Fran�ois-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers believed that he had established a formidable defensive position. The British fleet arrived off Egypt on 1 August and discovered Brueys's dispositions, and Nelson ordered an immediate attack. His ships advanced on the French line and split into two divisions as they approached. One cut across the head of the line and passed between the anchored French and the shore, while the other engaged the seaward side of the French fleet. Trapped in a crossfire, the leading French warships were battered into surrender during a fierce three-hour battle, while the centre succeeded in repelling the initial British attack. As British reinforcements arrived, the centre came under renewed assault and, at 22:00, the French flagship Orient exploded. The rear division of the French fleet attempted to break out of the bay, with Brueys dead and his vanguard and centre defeated, but only two ships of the line and two frigates escaped from a total of 17 ships engaged.
The battle reversed the strategic situation between the two nations' forces in the Mediterranean and entrenched the Royal Navy in the dominant position that it retained for the rest of the war. It also encouraged other European countries to turn against France, and was a factor in the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition. Bonaparte's army was trapped in Egypt, and Royal Navy dominance off the Syrian coast contributed significantly to its defeat at the Siege of Acre in 1799 which preceded Bonaparte's return to Europe. Nelson had been wounded in the battle, but he was proclaimed a hero across Europe and was subsequently made Baron Nelson�although he was privately dissatisfied with his rewards. His captains were also highly praised and went on to form the nucleus of the legendary Nelson's Band of Brothers. The legend of the battle has remained prominent in the popular consciousness, with perhaps the best-known representation being Felicia Hemans' 1826 poem Casabianca.
On returning to England, after his victory in the Battle of the Nile, Nelson was given an island at Shepperton on the Thames, in part recognition for his great service to the country. That island, as mentioned above, was named Pharaohs Island.
Lord Nelson's Country Residence, 'Roundwood House', Ipswich [1795-1801]
That isn't the only connection that Ian had with an aspect of Nelson's life. Ian Hendry was born in Ipswich on 13th January 1931, a mile or so away from where Nelson once owned his country residence.
This extract from an article in the local Ipswich Star tells the story:
"Nelson's country home Roundwood House, was situated in what is today east Ipswich. Demolished in the late 1960s, little is left today of the house but in St John's Primary School, in Victory Road, there hangs a plaque which reads �The brickwork to which this panel is secured was taken from Roundwood House which occupied this site from 1700 AD until its demolition in 1967. It was owned by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson from 1795 to 1801.�
Picture: Roundwood House, Ipswich. Owned by Lord and Lady Nelson from 1895 to 1801, it formed one part of the Round Wood Farm estate. Once located in an area of open farmland with woods and a country road running through to Woodbridge, the farmland gradually became developed with housing, schools and playing fields. Two local schools, Sidegate Lane Primary School and Northgate High School are named after former entrances onto this estate, whilst local roads such as Nelson Road and Victory Road give a permanent reminder of the history of this area.
Bought for �2,000, the house was never lived in by Nelson but his wife Lady Frances Nelson did take up residence.
David Jones, keeper of human history at Ipswich Museum said: �In some ways Nelson's links to Ipswich are part of a sad story. Lord Nelson used Roundwood to put up his wife and his ageing father. He never stayed there with his wife, preferring the company of Emma, Lady Hamilton.
He said: �Lady Nelson was expected to take part in big social events in Ipswich every time her husband secured a great victory. But her husband was never there and everyone knew she had been dumped by him in favour of his mistress. She was in an awkward position.�
After the success of the Battle of the Nile in 1798, Nelson then a Rear Admiral, was made an honorary freeman of the town in his absence, and in 1800 Nelson was made High Sheriff of Ipswich.
After his victory, Nelson arrived back in England at Great Yarmouth. Letters between Nelson and his wife show he was expecting to stay at Roundwood while she was busy preparing accommodation for him in London.
But as he made his way from Yarmouth with Sir William and Lady Hamilton in tow he did pass through the town and visited Roundwood.
In 1801 Lord and Lady Nelson finally went their separate ways and the house was sold for �3,300.
Today Roundwood Road marks the western edge of the Roundwood estate.
At Ipswich Record Office in Gatacre Road there are documents relating to Lord Nelson and Roundwood House. Collections manager Bridget Hanley said: �On November 4, 1797, the Ipswich Journal - forerunner of The Evening Star and one of the first newspapers in the country - reported that 'The gallant Admiral Nelson purchased Roundwood House.'�
Though still owned by the church, the Poor Rate Book of 1796 to 1805 of St Margaret's parish is held by the record office.
Mrs Hanley said: �The poor rate was a tax levied on people to help pay for the provision for poor people in the parish. It was a kind of precursor to the welfare state. Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson is mentioned in the accounts of 1799 when he paid poor rate of �1 2s and 8p.�
Vice Admiral�Horatio Nelson
Vice Admiral�Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bront�KB�(29 September 1758�� 21 October 1805) was a British�flag officer�in the�Royal Navy. He was noted for his inspirational leadership, superb grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics, which together resulted in a number of decisive naval victories, particularly during the�Napoleonic Wars. He was wounded several times in combat, losing the sight in one eye in�Corsica�and most of one arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer�Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He was shot and killed during his final victory at the�Battle of Trafalgar�near the Port City of Cadiz in 1805.
Sphinx, Pharaohs Island, Shepperton
Picture: Ian Hendry with Janet Munro and their new arrival Sally [and a very excited Poodle!]
Picture: The stairs to the garden have been realigned, but not much else has changed.
Picture: The verandah/ terrace overlooking the garden
Picture: The garden leading to the boat landing area
Picture: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro arriving via the launch, with a very young Sally!
Picture: The boat landing area today...
Picture: The living area leading to the verandah/ terrace with steps down to the garden
Picture: In the reception room/ lounge - Ian Hendry, Janet Munro and pets!
Picture: The reception room/ lounge in more recent times
Picture: Ian Hendry and Janet Munro on the main staircase
Picture: Recent view to the main staircase
Picture: The kitchen then....Ian Hendry, Janet Munro and their Poodle!
Picture: And now....
Jimi Hendrix - Partying In The Pool at Sphinx in the 60s?
Jimi Hendrix may have been a guest at a party held by Ian and Janet at Sphinx in the 60s and even swum in the pool - according to an anecdote from a neighbour:
"The impressive property was home to Avengers actor Ian Hendry and his actress wife Janet Munro in the 1960s before they split, and was also the setting for director John Boorman�s two semi-autobiographical films � Hope and Glory in 1987 and Queen and Country in 2014.
According to the current owner, Andrew Muir, who has lived in the property for six years, there were plenty of wild parties during the 1960s, with one neighbour claiming to have swum in the pool with Jimi Hendrix."
Source: Surrey Live
Sphinx - Daily Telegraph Property Article From 2006
I came across an article in the Daily Telegraph from 2006, which featured Ian and Janet's former home when it came up for sale. Back then, the asking price was �1.1 million.
Extract below:
"It is just over two centuries since Lord Nelson was given an island in the River Thames as a place where he could do a spot of fishing. Pharaoh's Island was one of many honours he received after winning the Battle of the Nile in 1798.
No wonder the 23 houses on this parcel of land moored among the weeping willows at Shepperton all have Egyptian names in deference to the unusual site on which they sit.
More extraordinary still is the fact that they can be reached only by water. To arrive at The Sphinx you must first leave your car by a private mooring on the towpath, then jump in your boat and nose it towards the island. You disembark at the slipway, and if it is dark the lights turn on automatically to guide you up the path to the front door.
This house is incredibly rare. It is the biggest on the island, positioned at one end with water on three sides......The reason someone will buy it is because it is incredibly isolated - but that is the same reason why some won't consider viewing it.
Living on this island combines all the pleasures of a Swallows and Amazons lifestyle, with the challenge of coping when storms make river crossing difficult and the waters start to rise.
At The Sphinx, the emphasis is on pleasure. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, half an acre of garden skirting the water's edge, a large verandah with steps down to a heated pool that has underwater lighting and an all-weather canopy. Swans glide past the bottom of the lawn.
Exactly 208 years ago Horatio Nelson, barely recovered from losing his arm the year before, foiled Napoleon's planned invasion of Egypt. After searching the Mediterranean for the French fleet he eventually found it at Abu Qir Bay. The battle on the night of August 1 incurred huge French losses and riotous English rejoicing.
Speaking of it later at a dinner, Nelson said the battle was absolutely unique for three reasons. "First, for it having been fought at night; secondly, for its having been fought at anchor; and thirdly, for its having been gained by an admiral with one arm."
His dinner companion, unused to his lack of modesty, thought he had taken a little too much champagne."
To see some more photographs of Ian Hendry and Janet Munro at home on Pharaohs Island, please click on the link below:
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - At Home on Pharaohs Island c.1964
_____________________________________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
The Avengers - The Musical! A good or bad idea?
The Avengers - The Musical!�A good or bad idea?
Early reports are now circulating that The Avengers is currently being considered for the fully-fledged West End musical treatment; by the team that also brought us Billy Ellliot and Wicked.�Universal Stage Productions, the theatrical arm of Universal Pictures have asked writer and director Sean Foley and composer David Arnold to work on the project. Arnold also created the music for the Bond films, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.
With the debonair John Steed together with his bowler hat, red carnation and his sidekick, Emma Peel,�it's larger than life characters, plots and colourful sets - The Avengers, camp, cool adventures helped define Sixties television. It would, therefore, seem to be ideal material for a musical.
But as The Guardian pointed out in their article from way back in 2006, 'Revealed: what the Avengers were really avenging', the Camp Sixties classic started life as a dark drama:
'The chief protagonist of the first series of The Avengers was Dr David Keel, played by Ian Hendry, who in the rediscovered first reel is seen becoming mixed up with drug runners.
Picture: Patrick Macnee, Ingrid Hafner and Ian Hendry taken during the Soho, London photoshoot in December 1960
He is preparing to buy a ring for his fiancee, played by Catherine Woodville (who was later to marry Macnee in real life), when she is gunned down in a drive-by shooting. It is her murder which turns Keel into an 'Avenger'. Steed, an enigmatic government agent yet to find his urbane persona, does not appear until the second reel of Hot Snow, which is still missing.
He continued to play second fiddle to Keel during the first series, but when Hendry quit for a movie career, Macnee took over and was joined by Honor Blackman as the ultimate modern woman, Dr Cathy Gale'.
Dick Fiddy of the BFI said in the same article that:
'Any find from early television is interesting as a social document. The Avengers has a cult status but it started as a thick-eared drama with none of the flash or style we associate with it.
'The Steed character is very different: shadowy and manipulative. In this episode you find out why they are called The Avengers - the raison d'etre of the entire series. It is the Hitchcockian idea of taking an innocent man, Keel, and putting him in a dangerous situation.'
But any musical version is unlikely to focus on such dark themes, aside from perhaps including a reference to the how all of this 'Avenging' began.
The report below by Baz Bamigboye first featured in the Daily Mail�on 3 November 2017. It provides very the latest intelligence on what could be The Avengers next case:
Mrs Peel, we're needed for a West End show: 1960s TV series The Avengers is being developed into a stage musical, reveals Baz Bamigboye
'Cue chorus girls in black leather catsuits, and dapper besuited boys in bowler hats bopping with brollies. Yes, The Avengers television thriller is being developed into a stage musical.
A small team has been assembled to explore whether The Avengers could work under a West End proscenium.
One of the signature shows of the Sixties, the series made a star out of the then relatively unknown Patrick Macnee � although when it first hit British tv screens, in 1961, Ian Hendry was actually the lead, playing a doctor whose girlfriend had been murdered.
Picture: Cue chorus girls in black leather catsuits, and dapper besuited boys in bowler hats bopping with brollies. Yes, The Avengers television thriller is being developed into a stage musical. Above, Patrick Macnee as John Steed with his trusty companion Emma Peel (Diana Rigg)
Subsequently, the GP linked up with intelligence officer John Steed (Macnee�s character) to solve cases of intrigue.
And when Hendry left after the first series, the programme�s producers promoted Macnee. They also took the decision to have a woman share top billing.
First up was Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale; followed by Steed�s most famous operative, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg); and lastly Linda Thorson, as Tara King.
Steed used his special umbrella (which sheathed a sword) and steel-brimmed bowler hat to good effect when dealing with baddies. But his style was urbane and he was tailored to the hilt, like an Edwardian dandy.
So, it was mostly left to the women to take charge and dish out the punishment. A karate kick often did the trick.
Picture: First up to work alongside Steed in the classic 60s' series was Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale.�A small team has been assembled to explore whether The Avengers could work under a West End proscenium
Steed would summon help with a simple phrase � �Mrs Peel, we�re needed!� � and she would then proceed to kick ass.
The show�s writers came up with some great one-liners. Once, when facing a lethal foe, Steed was asked whether he had any last requests. �Would you cancel my milk?� he responded.
Macnee � who died two years ago � seemed to have the best spark on screen with Rigg � and it�s their partnership that�s remembered most fondly.
Universal Stage Productions, the theatrical arm of Universal Pictures (which was involved with the staging of both Billy Elliot and Wicked), have asked writer and director Sean Foley and composer David Arnold, who created the score for the musical Made In Dagenham (much missed by me!) to work on the project.
Picture: It�s still early days for The Avengers musical � the official green light won�t be given until complex legal rights issues have been untangled. Above, Steed's last pairing was with Linda Thorson, as Tara King
Arnold also did the music for Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace, so his involvement seems particularly appropriate � given that Sydney Newman, head of drama at the old ITV station, ABC, came up with the original idea for The Avengers as a way for the small screen to compete with the excitement Ian Fleming�s 007 stories were generating.
However, it�s still early days for The Avengers musical � the official green light won�t be given until complex legal rights issues have been untangled.
Universal Stage Productions did not return my calls requesting a comment'.
_______________________________________________________________________
You can keep up-to-date with all our latest articles and updates on any developments with The Avengers - The Musical, by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry, Alan Badel and Alfred Burke - Children Of The Damned [1963] - Film Review
Picture above: Everything stops for tea (from l-r) - Ian Hendry, Alan Badel and Alfred Burke
This article includes a review of the film, Children Of The Damned [1963] followed by brief biographies on the actors, Alan Badel and Alfred Burke.
Children of the Damned is a 1963 British black-and-white science fiction film, a thematic sequel to 1960's Village of the Damned, which concerns a group of children with similar psi-powers to those in the earlier film. It was released in 29th January 1964 in the US. The film enables a interpretation of the children as being a good and more pure form of human being than evil and alien. Children of the Damned was an MGM Production, directed by Anton M. Leader and featured actors Ian Hendry, Alan Badel, Barbara Ferris, Alfred Burke and Patrick Wymark.
Video: Original Trailer - Children of the Damned [1963]
This very thoughtful review below is from the the Patrick Wymark Boardroom Website, which celebrates the life and work of the actor.� Wymark also appeared with Ian Hendry in two other films, Repulsion directed by Roman Polanski [1965] and Doppleganger directed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson [1969]� - also know as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun.
Children of The Damned - Film Review
By The Patrick Wymark Boardroom Website
Spoiler alert: If you plan on watching the film, this review contains some key plot details.
"During a United Nations study of child intelligence, London University psychologist Tom Llewellyn (Ian Hendry) is astounded by child genius Paul (Clive Powell). Senior lecturer in genetics Dr David Neville (Alan Badel) wants to find out more about Paul�s background but when his mother (Sheila Allen) tells him �I should have crushed you at birth�, the child compels her to attempt suicide.
As the United Nations identify five other children from around the world with intelligence equal to Paul, Colin Webster (Alfred Burke) of British Intelligence moves in to �protect our asset�. The children escape to an abandoned church in East London and violently resist all attempts to control them. As the army moves in to destroy the children, Tom Llewellyn makes a desperate attempt to protect them.
Picture: Ian Hendry and Alan Badel - Children of the Damned [1963]
This 1964 sequel to �Village of the Damned� (1960) is an original screenplay by John Briley, a former staff writer at MGM who went on win an Oscar for his screenplay for �Ghandi�.
The credits refer to the film as a sequel to �The Midwich Cuckoos�, perhaps mindful that John Wyndham had attempted an abortive sequel - �Midwich Main� � at MGM�s behest. However, Briley�s script makes no reference to �Village of the Damned� and can be viewed without any knowledge of the previous movie. While it�s possible to speculate that the UN study was purposely seeking further outbreaks of �cuckoos�, speculation within the movie suggests the origins of the children could be unrelated. Director Anton Leader (who as Tony Leader directed The Twilight Zone and Hawaii 5-0) drives the move forward forcefully but still leaves room for speculation as to where the story is heading. Early on, Ian Hendry asks the children why they�re here and they answer, �we don�t know.�
Towards the end of the movie � surrounded by soldiers armed with rifles and rocket launchers � a UN representative repeats �What is your purpose � why are you here?� This time, lining up in front of the soldiers, the children have an answer: �For the same reason you are. To be destroyed. You may choose your way. We have chosen ours �
Earlier on, Badel had warned Hendry, �Either we control them or they control us. It�s the law of nature, Tom. Ask any ape.� The implication is that the children � whatever they are � find freedom more precious than life. Earlier on, Badel�s character had questioned the Government�s ambition to exploit the children�s advanced scientific knowledge, �Suppose all they want to be is poets, or lovers, or even tramps.� But having seen them resist attacks with mind-control and a mysterious sonic weapon, Badel is swayed to the government�s side. �They could be controlling a bomber up there, ready to press the button!�
Picture: [from l-r] Alfred Burke, Alan Badel and Ian Hendry - Children of the Damned [1963]
In a similar vein Hendry asks Burke�s intelligence agent, �What the hell would you do if all the great powers suddenly smiled at each other; had a great love affair?� Burke deadpans, �I wouldn�t worry too much. You know how love affairs go.�
Patrick Wymark only appears in the last fifteen minutes of the movie as the General in charge of the army unit surrounding the children. The role marks a crossover � filmed before he assumed the role of John Wilder in �The Plane Makers but released in April 1964 after the series had made Wymark a star. He carries out the role with quiet authority, rather than the stereotypical psychopathic behaviour which military officers display in more recent science fiction movies. Wymark�s entrance comes at a crucial point after the children have wiped out most of the politicians who seek to control them. Leader devotes extensive footage to the procedures of the engineers as they rig explosives and test circuits. �I want plenty of distraction, � Wymark tells his men, Keep those vehicles moving til we�re ready.�.
Even in its final moments, there is some ambiguity about �Children of the Damned�. A technician accidentally closes a circuit, triggering a final assault. On first viewing it seems as if the ending is just a terrible mistake. But is it actually a final piece of mind control by the children? Curiously, the film has as much in common with Briley�s 1978 adaptation of Peter Van Greenaway�s novel, �The Medusa Touch�. Both feature scenes in which a child uses telepathic powers to threaten his mother after she has criticised him. Both display a curious ambiguity � Richard Burton in �The Medusa Touch� questions why he has been given his powers which always seem to result in disaster, while the spokesperson for the �Children of the Damned� admits that they have no plan.
Picture: Angst ridden -� Ian hendry and Barbara Ferris - Children of the Damned [1963]
�Children of the Damned� might also seem like a precursor of �The Omen� � certainly the baleful glare of Harvey Stephens as Damien in �The Omen� echoes the furrowed brow of young Clive Powell � Paul in Children of the Damned. The helpless terror of the scene where Paul�s mother (played by Sheila Allen) seems to dream her suicidal walk into a road tunnel is very similar to the self-destructions in �The Omen�. Although Allen survives, she is hospitalised - bandaged and encased in plaster in a way that visually anticipates Lee Remick towards the end of the 1976 movie. Allen�s cries of, �He isn�t mine! I gave birth to him but I hadn�t been touched! He hasn�t got a father!� are also reminiscent of the speculation about Damien Thorne�s parentage.� Damien�s canine familiars also echo the faithful, snarling sheepdog which accompanies the children to their abandoned church.
If there are similarities between �The Omen� and �Children of the Damned� though, the main difference seems to be that Damien follows a scheduled rise to power, aided by a coven of supernatural groupies, while the Children of the Damned, are lost and bewildered, unsure of their purpose until the very end."
Alan Badel - Biography
Alan Fernand Badel (11 September 1923 � 19 March 1982) was an English stage actor who also appeared frequently in the cinema, radio and television and was noted for his richly textured voice which was once described as "the sound of tears". Badel was born in Rusholme, Manchester, and educated at Burnage High School. He fought in France and Germany during the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper on D-Day.
In his early career, he played leading parts, including Romeo and Hamlet, with the Old Vic and Stratford companies.
Picture: Alan Badel
Badel's earliest film role was as John the Baptist in the Rita Hayworth version of Salome (1953), a version in which the story was altered to make Salome a Christian convert who dances for Herod in order to save John rather than have him condemned to death. He portrayed Richard Wagner in Magic Fire (1955), a biopic about the composer. He also played the role of Karl Denny, the impresario, in the film Bitter Harvest (1963). Around the same time, he played opposite Vivien Merchant in a television version of Harold Pinter's play The Lover (also 1963) and as Edmond Dant�s in a BBC television adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo (1964).
Badel also played the villainous sunglasses-wearing Najim Beshraavi in Arabesque (1966) with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren. He played the French Interior Minister in The Day of the Jackal (1973), a political thriller about the attempted assassination of President Charles de Gaulle; in the political television drama Bill Brand (1976) he played David Last, the government's Employment Minister, a left-wing former backbench MP who had recently joined the front bench after 30 years in the House of Commons. One of his last roles was that of Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg in the Paramount film Nijinsky (1980). A television adaptation for the BBC of The Woman in White (1982) by Wilkie Collins, in which Badel played the role of Count Fosco, was shown posthumously.
Badel married the actress Yvonne Owen in 1942 and they remained married until his death from a heart attack in Chichester, aged 58. Their daughter Sarah Badel is an actress.
Alfred Burke - Biography
Alfred Burke (28 February 1918 � 16 February 2011)[1] was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series Public Eye, which ran on television for ten years.
Picture: Alfred Burke
Born in London's south-east district of Peckham, young Alfred was the son of Sarah Ann O'Leary and William Burke. He was educated at Leo Street Boys' School and Waltham Central School. He started work aged 14, working in a railway repair firm in the City of London after leaving school. He became a club steward and also worked in a silk warehouse, joining a local amateur dramatics group before moving to Morley College and winning a scholarship to RADA in 1937. His acting career started two years later at the Barn Theatre in Shere, Surrey. His budding career was interrupted by the Second World War, when he registered as a conscientious objector, and was directed to work on the land.
In the late 1940s, he worked with the Young and Old Vic and other companies. His London debut was in 1950 at the Watergate Theatre, appearing in Pablo Picasso's play Desire Caught by the Tail. He then spent three years with Birmingham Repertory Theatre (1950�53) and appeared in the 1954 West End hit Sailor Beware!.
Burke built a solid reputation across a wide range of character roles in films and on television. His acting career included: The Angry Silence, Touch and Go, Interpol, Yangtse Incident and Buccaneers, as well as such televised plays as The Tip and Treasure Island.
His most famous role was the enquiry agent Frank Marker in the ABC/Thames television series Public Eye, which ran from 1965 to 1975. His low-key, understated but always compelling portrayal of the down-at-heel private eye made the series one of the most popular and highly rated detective dramas on British television.
After Public Eye ended Burke appeared in a host of guises, from Long John Silver to Pope John Paul II's father. In the television series Minder he appeared in the episode Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away as Kevin, partner to Arthur Daley in his latest scheme, a minicab service. He was also the formidable headmaster "Thrasher" Harris in Home To Roost. More recently he was seen as Armando Dippet in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
On stage Burke appeared in several productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, Roberto Zucco, The Tempest, Peer Gynt, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Two Shakespearean Actors, All's Well That Ends Well and Antony and Cleopatra. In 2008 he appeared at the National Theatre as the Shepherd in a new version of Sophocles' Oedipus by Frank McGuinness.
Burke died from a chest infection on 16 February 2011, twelve days before his 93rd birthday, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. He was survived by his wife, Barbara (n�e Bonelle) and their four children: Jacob and Harriet (twins), and Kelly and Louisa (twins).
You can keep up-to-date with all the latest articles by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
The Avengers - Ian Hendry 'In His Own Words' Reflects On The Avengers, Patrick Macnee And The Birth Of A Cult TV Series [From 1976]
With the exciting news that the previously missing episode of The Avengers, 'Tunnel of Fear', will soon be released on DVD by Studio Canal, we feature an article below that was written by Ian Hendry in the 70s - in which he discusses being involved at the very beginning of the series.
First published in 1976, The TV Times Souvenir Extra reflected on the history of The Avengers as part of it's introduction for the then forthcoming series - The New Avengers. There was also a very significant contribution from Patrick Macnee, where he retells his life story and how he came to work on The Avengers, as well as a large selection of iconic photographs of all the major actors who worked on the original series. These include, of course, Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson, as well as the new cast of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt.
As an aside, it's also interesting to note that The New Avengers used the original 'formula' of the first series - two men and a female counterpart - with the latter role being played by Ingrid Hafner.
Picture: Ingrid Hafner [as Carol Wilson] and Ian Hendry [as Dr. David Keel] in Soho, London. Was Ingrid the original Avengers Girl?
It was Chris Williams who first brought this important point about Ingrid Hafner to my attention:
"I still like to think of Ingrid Hafner as the first Avengers girl, particularly if you watch the episode 'Girl on the Trapeze' and see how she works with Dr Keel to expose the baddies in a hands on action sort of way. Surely she was the inspiration that gave rise to the Steed/Avengers girl combo, and should be credited as such."
I think if more episodes of the first series can be discovered, then the context of how it shaped the development of the subsequent series will also become clearer and more widely acknowledged. And that includes the role that Ingrid Hafner played in developing the importance of the female contribution to The Avengers. Whilst the role and character of Ingrid Hafner may have been somewhat different from that played by subsequent female actors in the series, we think she should be considered as the original 'Avengers girl'.
Picture: Cover of the TV Times Souvenir Extra from 1976 - price 40p!
Transdiffusion have reproduced a marvellous online web version of this publication, which can be viewed here:
Transdiffusion - The Avengers and New Avengers TV Times Souvenir Extra [1976]�
The Avengers - 'How It All Began' by Ian Hendry
"It all seems improbable now. The New Avengers was born out of The Avengers, whose �Daddy� was a live cops-and-robbers-with-a-difference TV series called Police Surgeon (not to be confused with a later American series of that name).
The idea was that I, as a police surgeon, became an Avenger against everything evil after my girlfriend was shot down in the street by the baddies. It is one of the ironies of life that the shotdown girl was an actress called Catherine Woodville. Later, she was to become Patrick Macnee�s second wife�
Pat came into the series as my sidekick. For a long while, no one was sure if he was a goodie or a baddie. And, to be quite honest, neither did we.
Picture: Ian Hendry [Dr. David Keel] - on the set of The Avengers in 1961
But, in those first fumbling beginnings, it was Pat and myself as the actors who helped knock some shape into the whole thing. A lot of other people played their parts in it - as you will learn in this souvenir.
Here, of course, I�m talking as an actor. And from that point of view the series was both funny and furious.
Imagine it. In those early days, television was live. The viewer could watch a terrible fist fight - and 20 seconds later one of the fighters (who�d been covered in mud and blood) was supposed to walk in nonchalantly, impeccably dressed. That second scene, of course, was supposed to be happening hours, days, or even a few weeks later.
I remember one of those sequences where I was fighting a baddie in a studio mock-up of sewers. The fight ended wide me doing an 8 ft. back-fall into water. They had built an 8 ft. square water tank made, of all things, from whitewood.
Picture: The Avengers series was first produced by Iris Productions, a subsidiary of ABC Television
If you have ever fallen backwards from a height of 8 ft. into a water tank only 8ft. square, you�ll know that it is slightly dangerous. I reckon that when I hit the water, the clearance between my head and the tank wall was about a quarter of an inch.
Then came the next problem. A green slime had developed on the bottom of the tank. The baddie had to jump into the water on top of me, and we were supposed to continue the fight until I delivered my killer punch. I certainly won that particular battle. As I lashed out at him, I slipped on the slime and knocked him cold - for real.
There was no time to do anything about it. I had to jump from the tank, run round the set to where the wardrobe and make-up departments were ready with a towel to dry my hair, and slap on a dry top coat so I could make a casual entrance to a room with Steed by my side. This scene was allegedly happening some many hours later.
Underneath I was sopping wet, but as far as me viewers were concerned, I was as warm as toast in my lovely overcoat. I was having it good. Back in the water tank, an inoffensive, unfortunate stuntman, trying to earn an honorable living as a TV baddie, was graciously drowning.
Happily, the studio crew got him out in time.
Picture: Ian Hendry [as Dr. David Keel and Patrick Macnee [as John Steed]. From promotional set of photographs taken in Soho, London in December 1960
Those early days were all hysterical and mad and silly. We loved it, really. Most of all we loved the companionship and atmosphere. I�ve had a theory throughout my acting career that the first consideration of an actor is to be part of a happy company.
We rehearsed in an old building opposite a pub in Hammersmith. After the cast had been given their copies of the script, I would take them over to the pub, act as mine host, tell them not to worry because they were still on the payroll - and we�d get to work. Then Pat and myself, and sometimes a few others, would go to a nearby steak house. After that, it was usually Pat and I who would grab a bottle of scotch or brandy and go to a flat off Kensington High Street to beat out our latest approach to The Avengers characters.
There were some wonderful times. Once, we were supposed to be locked in a wardrobe from which we had to shout, in unison: �Let us out, let us out�.
The wardrobe, made of the most fragile plywood, couldn�t have withstood an assault by a placid four-year-old girl, much less the combined physical might of two magnificent Avengers.
Eventually, I think it was an old lady who let us out. In reality, if either of us had breathed out too hard the whole wardrobe would have burst apart.
And there were doors that wouldn�t open, and handles that fell off when they did. The scenery collapsed once.
Don�t forget, all this was going out live, just as your see it from your seat in a theatre.
But I do think we managed, in those early days, to develop a new style. I was supposed to be phlegmatic, and when I got too boring Steed was there to send me up and tell me not to be so serious. And when Steed got too outrageous I was there to say: �Oh come on, don�t overdo it�.
The New Avengers cost �4,000,000 to produce. In the beginning, Pat and I felt as though The Avengers cost fourpence. But it did have something special, it did develop into a world beating television series, and it did help a lot of people to stardom. Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson, and now, I reckon, Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt. Not to mention Pat Macnee himself.
Although I was the first Avenger, Pat will always be Avenger-in-Chief. Now he will take you down The Avengers memory lane in the following pages. I�m glad I was one of the first to go down it".
by Ian Hendry [1976]
_______________________________________________________
Recently, two interviews - both produced by Ulster TV - have been discovered in Northern Ireland by the Kaleidoscope team. The interview from 1962 features Ian Hendry, in which he discusses why reasons behind his decision to leave The Avengers. The interview from 1964 features Patrick Macnee and includes reflections on working with Ian in the very first series. It is understood that both of these interviews will eventually be made accessible to the public by the Kaleidoscope team and we await further details.
Two Rare TV Interviews Discovered � Ian Hendry �62 and Patrick Macnee �64
The video below shows Ian Hendry reuniting with Patrick Macnee and them both sharing their recollections of working together on the very first series of The Avengers. This video is an extract taken from Ian Hendry's 'This Is Your Life' in March 1978:
Video: Ian Hendry reunites with Patrick Macnee - March 1978
Picture: Patrick Macnee tells his life story in the TV Times Souvenir Extra [1976]
To read more about the life story of Patrick Macnee and to see the online version of the original TV Times Souvenir Extra publication, please visit:
Transdiffusion - The Avengers and New Avengers TV Times Souvenir Extra [1976]�
You can keep up-to-date with all the latest articles by following us on Facebook and / or Twitter:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
The Avengers - Lost Episode 'Tunnel of Fear' [1961] - Studio Canal DVD Release Date Set For 15th January 2018?
The Avengers 'Tunnel Of Fear' - Series 1 Episode 20�
After a lot of hard work behind the scenes, it's good to be able to announce the forthcoming release date by Studio Canal, as 9th April 2018.
To Pre-Order On Amazon UK - Click The Link Below
Pre-order DVD on Amazon UK: The Avengers �Tunnel of Fear [Released on 9th April 2018]
To Pre-Order On Amazon UK - Click The Link Below
Pre-order DVD on Amazon UK: The Avengers �Tunnel of Fear [Released on 9th April 2018]
The Avengers - Lost�Episode 'Tunnel of Fear'[1961]
Studio Canal DVD Release Date Set For 15th January 2018?
> Latest Updates from Studio Canal - See Below:
Tuesday 6th February 2018 - Release date set for 9th April 2018
Tuesday 23rd January 2018 - Details added below
I've been in touch with Studio Canal. The DVD cover and booklet are now at a fairly advanced stage and I would anticipate an announcement from Studio Canal before too long. No information yet on release date, but it will be in the first quarter 2018 - barring any extremely unforeseen events!
Sunday 31st December 2017 - Details added below
Originally scheduled for released in mid-January 2018, Studio Canal have advised me that this was a 'placeholder' date. It is likely to slip a little, but you should still expect it to be released in the first quater of 2018.
I've been working behind the scenes and helping the Studio Canal team over the last couple of months; providing some input material, background research and have also written the foreword for the booklet which will accompany this DVD release. Alan Hayes has written an essay which will also be included.
Expect more announcements soon.
Thursday 19th October 2017 - Details added below
I've recently received an interesting message from a keen Ian Hendry/ The Avengers fan, who has been in touch with Studio Canal UK. He asked them when they anticipate a DVD release for 'recently' discovered lost Series 1 episode - 'Tunnel of Fear'. Tunnel of Fear was discovered back in October 2016.�You can read more about that discovery here:
The Avengers Series 1 'Tunnel of Fear' - Rediscovered after 55 Years!
Picture: Original 16mm film of The Avengers, Tunnel of Fear [1961]
Studio Canal's reply to him was:
"It's now been put back to 2018..."
Further update from Studio Canal since this article was first published:
"The artwork for the DVD release of The Avengers Tunnel Of Fear is coming soon - as well as further info on the release"
This strongly suggests that a DVD has been in the works for some time and was possibly originally scheduled for a pre-Christmas 2017 release.
I've since found the following entry on Studio Canal's Press website, which states:
"Home Ent. Release Date: 15 Jan 2018"
This webpage entry is located here:
Studio Canal Press- The Avengers Lost Ep. Tunnel Of Fear
Studio Canal Update - Thursday 19th October 2017: I've been in touch with Studio Canal today and now have contact with the team working on the release. They've advised me that the 15th January 2018 is currently a placeholder date and it may be delayed slightly - but the good news is that it is definitely going to be happen!
Their current thinking is that it will almost certainly be a standalone release and won't include any of the other series 1 episodes. This would seem to make sense for the simple reason that Studio Canal will have calculated that they will generate more sales/ revenue that way. The alternative would be to try and make everyone repurchase the Series 1/ Series 2 box set again - which, let's face it, is a much harder sell.In terms of extras, they are currently reviewing possible material, including the Leonard White Telesnaps [which were included previously in the Series 1/ 2 boxset] and the Soho photoshoot with Ingrid Hafner together with Ian Hendry and Patrick Macnee in those iconic Macs! All copyright issues will obviously need looking into by them as well.
They have also asked me to send them any other suggestions of material for their consideration. I'll gather some ideas/ material together to send them. Please feel free to share any ideas with me that you may have as well. I can then forward them onto the team. Here's to making this the very best release possible!
You can contact me via:
Contact - Ian Hendry Tribute Website
This is all the information that I have to date and any release may, of course, be delayed further. To date, only a select few have been able to see this episode, at the Kaleidoscope Missing Believed Wiped event in Birmingham in October 2016 and at the BFI London event in November 2016.
But the above news and Studio Canal entry is certainly encouraging and it looks as though the wait for the legions of fans of The Avengers may well soon be over.
For those wishing to see a sneak preview of the episode, BBC Newsnight were given permission to screen some exclusive footage as part of their feature on missing episodes:
If I hear any additional news, I'll provide updates here on the website and on the:
Ian Hendry Appreciation Society Facebook Page�
and:
Ian Hendry Tribute - Twitter Page
Here's hoping that 2018 brings us even more discoveries!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
The Birth Of 'The Talkies' - 90th Anniversary Of The World Premiere Of The Jazz Singer [1927]
Picture:�May McAvoy and Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, 1927. This photograph was used for the film poster artwork (see below).
When Ian Hendry first appeared in films in the 50s - with minor roles in productions such as Simon and Laura [1955], Up in the World [1956], The Secret Place [1957] and Room at The Top [1959] - the fact that the voices of the actors could be heard in sync with the moving pictures was nothing untoward, it was expected. But less than 30 years earlier, it was seen as a revolutionary idea that many thought would not work and dismissed the proposed release of The Jazz Singer as a desperate attempt by Warner Bros to rescue itself from a dire financial situation. The film's enormous success, however, was the catalyst for a dramatic turnaround in the companies fortunes and led to a period of growth and expansion overseas.
In around 1940, Warner Bros. purchased a 40% stake in the�Associated British Picture Corporation�(ABPC), originally�British International Pictures�(BIP), which was a�British�film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into�EMI. Warner Bros. also owned a stake in ABPC's distribution arm,�Warner-Path�, from 1958.
ABPC expanded into television and formed ABC TV in 1955 and their first broadcast was on 18th February 1956. ABC TV was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies, in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences. ABC TV gave Ian Hendry his big break when he was cast in the lead as Dr. David Keel in the The Avengers in 1961 and, of course, Warner Bros. also had a share in the ABC TV company too. After Ian Hendry left The Avengers to concentrate on a career in film, it was Warner-Pathe that acted as the distribution company for one his first major releases - This Is My Street [1964].
Picture: Warner-Pathe complimentary ticket for two - This Is My Street [1964], Studio One, Cinema House, Oxford Street, London.
Picture: Cinema House, Oxford Street - venue for the screening of This Is My Street in 1964. On 22nd July 1952, the intricate multi-coloured neon sign on the facade was switched on for the first time. Covering the entire facade, it became a famous landmark in Oxford Street for many years.
____________________________________
This weekend we go back to that landmark moment and celebrate the 90th anniversary of the very first 'talking picture' - The Jazz Singer. The film's premiere at Warner Bros. landmark theatre in New York City on 6th October 1927, marked one of the key moments in the history of film-making.
In this article, we look back on the key discoveries and developments from photography to silent films to 'the talkies' and reflect on the moment that The Jazz Singer turned the whole film industry 'on it's head'.
The Birth of Photography
Photography and film had been invented in the previous century�- with the�daguerreotype�process being the first publicly announced and commercially viable photographic process. The daguerreotype required only minutes of exposure in the camera, and produced clear, finely detailed results. The details were introduced as a gift to the world in 1839, a date generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography.
Picture: "Boulevard du Temple", a�daguerreotype�made by�Louis Daguerre�in 1839, is generally accepted as the earliest photograph to include people
William Henry Fox Talbot, however, created the earliest surviving photographic negative in 1835, taken of a small window at his home, Lacock Abbey - then the home of the Victorian polymath. Frustrated by his inability to paint and draw, he wanted to find a way to 'fix images'. He wrote:
How charming it would be if it were possible to cause these natural images to imprint themselves durably and remain fixed upon the paper! And why should it not be possible? I asked myself.
After some experiments Talbot took an image of a window at his home Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire in 1835. This image, not much bigger than a stamp, is now celebrated as the world�s earliest surviving photographic negative.Talbot invented a process for creating reasonably light-fast and permanent�photographs�that was the first made available to the public; however, his was neither�the first such process invented�nor the first one publicly announced.
Picture: William Henry Fox Talbot, first negative taken in 1835 of a window at his home at Lacock Abbey.
Shortly after�Louis Daguerre's invention of the�daguerreotype�was announced in early January 1839, without details, Fox Talbot asserted priority of invention based on experiments he had begun in early 1834.� Fox Talbot had invented a process which involved a negative - which could then be used to produce multiple reprints and used in publishing. The daguerrotype process, however, only produced a positive image and so had a more limited commercial use.
Whilst the daguerrotype initially produced the better final image, the next stage in the development of photography belonged to the negative based process. The calotype�or�talbotype process�introduced in 1841 by�William Henry Fox Talbot,�used�paper�coated with�silver iodide. Talbot's former home is now looked after by The National Trust which now contains the Photography Museum.
In 1884�George Eastman, of�Rochester, New York, developed dry gel on paper, or�film, to replace the photographic plate so that a photographer no longer needed to carry boxes of plates and toxic chemicals around. In July 1888 Eastman's�Kodak�camera went on the market with the slogan "You press the button, we do the rest". Now anyone could take a photograph and leave the complex parts of the process to others, and photography became available for the mass-market in 1901 with the introduction of the�Kodak Brownie.
From Photography to Silent Films
The earliest precursors of film began with image projection through the use of a device known as the�magic lantern. This utilized a glass�lens, a shutter and a persistent light source, such as a powerful lantern, to project images from glass slides onto a wall. These slides were originally hand-painted, but still�photographs�were used later on after the technological advent of photography in the nineteenth century. The invention of a practical photography apparatus preceded cinema by only fifty years.
The next significant step towards film creation was the development of an understanding of image movement. Simulations of movement date as far back as to 1828 and only four years after�Paul Roget�discovered the phenomenon he called "Persistence of Vision". Roget showed that when a series of still images are shown at a considerable speed in front of a viewer's eye, the images merge into one registered image that appears to show movement, an�optical illusion, since the image is not actually moving. This experience was further demonstrated through Roget's introduction of the�thaumatrope, a device that spun a disk with an image on its surface at a fairly high rate of speed.
The three features necessary for motion pictures to work were "a�camera�with sufficiently high shutter speed, a filmstrip capable of taking multiple exposures swiftly, and means of projecting the developed images on a screen".��The first projected primary proto-movie was made by�Eadweard Muybridge�between 1877 and 1880. Muybridge set up a row of cameras along a racetrack and timed image exposures to capture the many stages of a horse's gallop. The oldest surviving film (of the genera called "pictorial realism") was created by�Louis Le Prince�in 1888. It was a two-second film of people walking in "Oakwood streets" garden, titled�Roundhay Garden Scene.�The development of American inventor�Thomas Edison's�Kinetograph, a photographic device that captured sequential images, and his Kinetoscope, a viewing device for these photos, allowed for the creation and exhibition of short films. Edison also made a business of selling Kinetograph and Kinetoscope equipment, which laid the foundation for widespread film production.
Due to Edison's lack of securing an international�patent�on his film inventions, similar devices were "invented" around the world. The�Lumi�re brothers�(Louis and Auguste Lumi�re), for example, created the Cin�matographe in France. The Cin�matographe proved to be a more portable and practical device than both of Edison's as it combined a camera, film processor and projector in one unit.��In contrast to�Edison's�"peepshow"-style�kinetoscope, which only one person could watch through a viewer, the�cinematograph�allowed simultaneous viewing by multiple people. Their first film,�Sortie de l'usine Lumi�re de Lyon, shot in 1894, is considered the first true motion picture.�The invention of�celluloid film, which was strong and flexible, greatly facilitated the making of motion pictures (although the celluloid was highly flammable and decayed quickly).�This film was 35�mm wide and pulled using four sprocket holes, which became the industry standard. This doomed the cinematograph, which could only use film with just one sprocket hole.
The silent film era lasted from 1895 to 1936. In silent films for entertainment, the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures,�mime�and�title cards�with a written indication of the plot or key dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with�recorded sound�is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was made practical only in the late 1920s with the perfection of the�Audion amplifier tube�and the introduction of the�Vitaphone�system. During silent films, a�pianist,�theater organist, or, in large cities, even a small�orchestra�would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would either play from�sheet music�or�improvise; an orchestra would play from sheet music.
From the very beginnings of film production, the art of motion pictures grew into full maturity in the "silent era" . In artistic innovation alone, the height of the silent era from the early 1910s to the late 1920s was a fruitful period in the history of film � the film movements of�Classical Hollywood,�French Impressionism,�German Expressionism, and�Soviet Montage�began in this period. Silent filmmakers pioneered the art form to the extent that virtually every style and genre of film-making of the 20th century had its artistic roots in the silent era. The silent era was also a pioneering era from a technical point of view. Lighting techniques such as three point lighting, visual techniques such as the�close-up,�long shot,�panning, and continuity editing became prevalent long before silent films were replaced by "talking pictures" in the late 1920s.
Picture: This article is inspired by my love of photography and the desire to better understand the similarities in the techniques used in taking stills, with those used in creating 'moving pictures'.�Credit:�'Fast Landscape' by Neil Hendry.
The Silent Film To 'The Talkies' - The Jazz Singer [1927]
The Jazz Singer�is a 1927 American�musical film. As the first�feature-lengthmotion picture with not only a�synchronized�recorded music score, but also lip-synchronous singing and speech in several isolated sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of�sound films�and the decline of the�silent film�era. Directed by�Alan Crosland�and produced by�Warner Bros.�with its�Vitaphone�sound-on-disc�system, the film, featuring six songs performed by�Al Jolson, is based on a�play of the same name�by�Samson Raphaelson, adapted from one of his short stories, "The Day of Atonement"
The premiere was set for October 6, 1927, at Warner Bros.' flagship theater in New York City; it was chosen to coincide with�Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday around which much of the movie's plot revolves.�The buildup to the premiere was tense. Besides Warner Bros.' precarious financial position, the physical presentation of the film itself was remarkably complex:
Each of Jolson's musical numbers was mounted on a separate reel with a separate accompanying sound disc. Even though the film was only eighty-nine minutes long...there were fifteen reels and fifteen discs to manage, and the projectionist had to be able to thread the film and cue up the Vitaphone records very quickly. The least stumble, hesitation, or human error would result in public and financial humiliation for the company.
The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a�beer garden�he is punished by his father, a�hazzan�(cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented�jazz�singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.
Video: The Jazz Singer Trailer [1927] - with footage of the premiere in New York City.
The following piece by Michael Freedland reflects the rise of the talking picture - an event which would go onto to revolutionise the whole film industry.
You Ain�t Heard Nothin� Yet: The Moment Al Jolson Sounded The Birth Of The Talkies
Ninety years ago, in October 1927, Warner Bros was facing ruin. It staked its future on a film called The Jazz Singer � and turned an entire industry upside down
It was just a short scene in a movie, in which a diminutive actor utters a few unscripted words to the orchestra leader, reciting a line that went down in history: �Wait a minute � you ain�t heard nothin� yet.� But it was a scene that changed the entertainment world and heralded the dramatic arrival of sound to the movies.
Never again would audiences have to read �titles� to explain the action or translate the sweet nothings of lovers. In the space of just over an hour, the silent film was dead.
The moment occurred 90 years ago this weekend. The owners of rival studios had thought their competitors at the near-broke Warner Bros were going out of their minds. The idea of Warners featuring Al Jolson, the biggest star on the American musical stage, actually singing in an upcoming film was madness.
The producers laughed into their martinis as they smoked their cigars and contemplated picking up the spoils after Warner Bros filed for bankruptcy, as it surely would. Jolson plainly couldn�t survive either. Or could he? No. It was all a recipe for failure. For starters, The Jazz Singer, the story of the son of a synagogue cantor who breaks his father�s heart by going into showbiz, had to be a crazy choice.
Those rivals predicted trouble and drank and laughed some more. They could have had no idea how much trouble was coming. The arrival of sound brought disaster, bankruptcies and unemployment to a whole range of people � from silent movie stars to theatre cleaners.
The other studio heads had asked themselves what would happen if the machine controlling the records synchronising sound with action broke down? And those voices? Few stars sounded as good as they looked.
It had to be a flop. Didn�t it? Just a year before, Warners had made Don Juan, starring Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Astor, which didn�t exactly set the Hudson river on fire, despite sound effects like the clash of swords or chairs being thrown � all to the accompaniment of the New York Philharmonic.
The reason Sam Warner, the technical genius of the brothers, thought that adding a human voice would make all the difference was a series of shorts brought in as a late addition to the Don Juan programme. Giovanni Martinelli, principal tenor at the Metropolitan Opera, sang Pagliacci. The leader of the Philharmonic played his violin and Al Jolson sang When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin� Along).
They were a secret success. The New York press hardly noticed, but audiences did � and loved them. What would be known as �the talkies� were coming out of the fairground.
It was Sam Warner�s idea to team up with the Western Electric company to buy its Vitaphone synchronising system. He had the faith that few others possessed, but sadly died of a mastoid infection of the brain the day before the hugely successful premiere of The Jazz Singer.
The youngest brother, Jack, had brought in Jolson � who said yes because The Jazz Singer was virtually his own life story. There was another reason � he was also promised a slice of the profits.
The brothers proved the naysayers wrong. Crowds outside the Warners� theatre on Broadway that October evening were filmed waving hats as broad as the smiles on their faces. Acting with �blackface� � the then widely used makeup subsequently abandoned as racist � Jolson was a hit. The audience loved his plucky character. He might have been playing a stable boy on stage, but he told the man playing his boss to dust his own boots. On film, he was only expected to sing, not talk. But that wasn�t the way he was. The orchestra tuned up � and Jolson announced: �Wait a minute, wait a minute, I tell yer, you ain�t heard nothin� yet.�
Video: The controversial "blackface scene - a common practice at the time, which is now widely viewed as racist.
Jack and Sam realised that was not just unexpected, it was momentous. So they added a short scene in which Jolson plays the piano and tells his mother how great he is. That was the moment that killed the silent film. And then the problems began � for everyone in the industry except the Warners.
The other big studios were forced to convert their silent movies to sound � while their chiefs went about eating their words and ringing their bank managers. Smaller outfits, notably most of those in New York, went out of business. Cinemas all over the world closed their doors because their owners couldn�t afford the new equipment. Everywhere, piano players were fired. (No cinema had been without a musician in front of the screen, playing fast for a race across the western plains, and soft and smoochy for the inevitable love scenes.)
No one now wanted the people who wrote the �titles�. The theatre closures meant no work for the men who had turned the handles or controlled the reels for the old-fashioned projectors � to say nothing of those cleaners.
Most obvious casualties were the actors � people such as the silent heartthrob John Gilbert whose voice was pronounced too squeaky, although the story was that Louis B Mayer claimed he sacked him for being drunk.
There was something else that no one seemed to consider at the time: where would the world market for Hollywood�s output go? Now, films in English couldn�t be sold in other countries. There were two answers: films would be shot again and again, in French, German or Spanish, sometimes using the original actors such as Maurice Chevalier, who delighted his fellow countrymen by not having to speak English with an exaggerated French accent. Even Laurel and Hardy thought they had mastered phonetics and spoke in cod French or German.
Eventually studios realised that voices could simply be dubbed, which was not always a good idea.
The talkies, however, were hailed a good idea by the cinemagoers. As Jolson told them 90 years ago: �You ain�t heard nothin� yet.�
Michael Freedland is the author of Jolson (Vallentine Mitchell) and a biography of the Warner Brothers
Source: The Guardian
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Diana Rigg - Theatre Of Blood [1973] Original Still - Two Former Avengers Reunited In A British Film Classic
Picture above: Ian Hendry + Diana Rigg - Theatre of Blood [1973]
A great picture of the two former stars of The Avengers, reunited for the classic British film, Theatre of Blood. Diana Rigg played the part� Edwina Lionheart, the adoring daughter of Edward Lionheart (played by Vincent Price) and Ian Hendry played the role of the critic, Peregrine Devlin.
Theatre of Blood (also known in the United States as Theater of Blood) is a 1973 horror film starring Vincent Price as vengeful actor Edward Lionheart and Diana Rigg as his daughter Edwina. The cast includes distinguished actors Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Ian Hendry, Michael Hordern, Arthur Lowe, Joan Hickson, Robert Morley, Milo O'Shea, Diana Dors and Dennis Price. It was directed by Douglas Hickox.
Picture: Original poster for Theatre of Blood [1973]
Picture: Vincent Price - autographed still of Edward Lionheart in his fencing attire
Picture: Superb ensemble cast - taken at Kensal Green Cemetery, London
Cast:
Vincent Price ... Edward Lionheart
Diana Rigg ... Edwina Lionheart
Ian Hendry ... Peregrine Devlin
Harry Andrews ... Trevor Dickman
Robert Coote ... Oliver Larding
Michael Hordern ... George Maxwell
Robert Morley ... Meredith Merridew
Coral Browne ... Chloe Moon
Jack Hawkins ... Solomon Psaltery
Arthur Lowe ... Horace Sprout
Dennis Price ... Hector Snipe
Milo O'Shea ... Inspector Boot
Eric Sykes ... Sgt. Dogge
Diana Dors ... Maisie Psaltery
Joan Hickson ... Mrs. Sprout
Ren�e Asherson ... Mrs. Maxwell
Madeline Smith ... Rosemary
Brigid Erin Bates ... Agnes
Charles Sinnickson ... Vicar
Tutte Lemkow ... Meths Drinker
Declan Mulholland ... Meths Drinker
Stanley Bates ... Meths Drinker
John Gilpin ... Meths Drinker
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Two Rare TV Interviews Discovered - Ian Hendry '62 and Patrick Macnee '64 - Both Interviews Discuss The Avengers
Discovered: Ian Hendry Interview From 1962 and Patrick Macnee Interview From 1964
My sources advise me that:
The interview with Ian Hendry - in which he discussed The Avengers - first aired on UTV's Newsview on 26th November 1962.
Ian also talks about Afternoon Of A Nymph, the ABC TV's Armchair Theatre play, which also starred Janet Munro - his future wife to be. He also talks about working with Coco The Clown. The interview features no clips from The Avengers.
The other guests on the show were Janet Munro, Ronald Fraser and Vera Day and apparently those interviews have also been located.
They have also discovered a lost interview with Patrick Macnee, which dates from October 1964, as production began on the Emma Peel series. It includes some footage which doesn't appear to have been transmitted at the time. He talks about the Ian Hendry series, his attitude towards strong women and gives some insight into his father.
Screening and event details below:
Missing Believed Wiped, Belfast - 4th November 2017
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
J.P. Donleavy - Acclaimed Auther Dies At 91 - Ian Hendry Starred As Dangerfield In The BBC TV Film Version Of 'The Ginger Man' In 1962
Picture above: The novelist and playwright J. P. Donleavy at Levington Park, the County Westmeath, Ireland, estate where he had lived since the 1970s. Credit Kenneth O Halloran
J.P. Donleavy's acclaimed debut novel, The Ginger Man, was first produced as a stage version in London's West End in 1959. The first - and only - film version of it was made in 1962, with Ian Hendry in his first role after leaving The Avengers, playing the part of Sebastian Dangerfield.
In this article, we look back on the life and career of J.P. Donleavy and the BBC TV film version of The Ginger Man.
J.P. Donleavy, Acclaimed Author of �The Ginger Man,� Dies at 91
Source: New York Times article, dated 13th September 2017.
J. P. Donleavy, the expatriate American author whose 1955 novel �The Ginger Man� shook up the literary world with its combination of sexual frankness and outrageous humor, died on Monday at a hospital near his home in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. He was 91. His sister, Mary Rita Donleavy, said the cause was a stroke.
Mr. Donleavy had considerable trouble finding a publisher for �The Ginger Man,� his bawdily adventurous story of 1940s university life in Dublin, which he described to The New York Times in 2000 as �celebratory, boisterous and resolutely careless mayhem.�
The playwright Brendan Behan, a friend, suggested that Mr. Donleavy send the manuscript to Olympia Press in Paris. This worked out well, in that Olympia accepted the book, and not well, in that it was published as part of the Traveler�s Companion series, which was known for erotica.
�That was basically the end of my career,� Mr. Donleavy told The Times. �I was �a dirty book writer� out of Paris.� In fact, he went on to write many other successful novels.
�The Ginger Man� � whose bohemian American-in-Ireland antihero, Sebastian Dangerfield, has been described as impulsive, destructive, wayward, cruel, a monster, a clown and a psychopath � was both banned and burned in Ireland. When it was published in the United States in 1958, Chapter 10 was omitted, along with numerous sentences here and there.
The novel eventually won critical acclaim and public acceptance, so much so that it is now considered a contemporary classic, selling more than 45 million copies worldwide. Mr. Donleavy was compared to James Joyce and hailed as a forerunner of both the black humor movement and the London playwrights known as the Angry Young Men.
�What really makes �The Ginger Man� a vital work,� Norman Podhoretz, the longtime editor of Commentary, wrote, �is the fact that it both reflects and comments dramatically on the absurdities of an age clinging to values in which it simply cannot believe and unable to summon up the courage to find out what its moral convictions really are.�
In a strange twist, after Mr. Donleavy had been pursuing legal action against Olympia for years to regain the book�s copyright, he ended up owning the Paris company, having sent his wife to slip into an auction and buy it for a relatively small sum in 1970 after it went bankrupt.
Picture: J.P Donleavy and Richard Harris - who played the role of Dangerfield in the 1959 London West End stage version of The Ginger Man
A stage version of �The Ginger Man� opened in London in 1959, with Richard Harris as Dangerfield, and a British television movie starring Ian Hendry was broadcast in 1962. Patrick O�Neal starred in an Off Broadway production in 1963 (and opened a restaurant named for the play across from Lincoln Center that same year), but there has yet to be a feature film version.
�Everyone who has ever been in Hollywood has had a go at making a picture from the book,� Mr. Donleavy told the London newspaper The Independent in 2010.
______________________________________________
Ian Hendry as Dangerfield - BBC TV Film Version Of The Ginger Man [March 1962]
Picture: Ian Hendry (as Sebastian Dangerfield) and Ann Bell )as Marion Dangerfied) The Ginger Man - Radio Times article from March 15th 1962.
The article states that:
Ian Hendry plays the long and difficult role of Sebastian, who in his less gingery moments complains: Sometimes I feel fifty-three. Seldom, but at times I feel twenty. Recently, I've been seventy.
Ronald Fraser, a long-time friend of Ian Hendry's, reprised his London stage role to play the part of O'Keefe, Richard Harris played the part of Dangerfield in this West End stage version of 1959. Ronnie Fraser and Ian Hendry first met whilst working in repertory theatre in Hornchurch, London in 1955 - with both featuring in the play 'Reluctant Heroes'
The Ginger Man is a 1955 novel by J. P. Donleavy.
First published in Paris, the novel is set in Dublin, Ireland, in post-war 1947. Upon its publication, it was banned in Ireland and the United States of America for obscenity.
Plot introduction
It follows the often racy misadventures of Sebastian Dangerfield, a young American living in Dublin with his English wife and infant daughter and studying law at Trinity College.
This book may be considered part of the fictionalised roar of the end of the Second World War hiatus, also represented by the colossi of American literature: John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck. Dangerfield is an American Protestant of Irish descent, commonly believed to be a thinly fictionalised version of the author, but is more broadly based not only on Donleavy but also some of his contemporaries at Trinity. The hero, Dangerfield, is a portrayal of lifelong bohemian and friend of Donleavy, Gainor Stephen Crist, as told by the author in The History of The Ginger Man.
The book gives us the map of the terra incognita of late 1940s sexual encounters in Dublin. Donleavy�s later books spell out the aftermath (particularly A Fairy Tale of New York, which later inspired Shane MacGowan�s song �Fairytale of New York�, recorded by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl).
The BBC produced a 90-minute made-for-television version of the play, directed by Peter Dews, and aired on 23 March 1962 in the United Kingdom. Ann Bell played �Marion Dangerfield�, Ronald Fraser as �Kenneth O�Keefe�, Ian Hendry as �Sebastian Balfe Dangerfield�, and Margaret Tyzack was �Miss Frost�.
Cast
Ian Hendry - Sebastian Balfe Dangerfield
Ann Bell - Marion Dangerfield
Ronald Fraser - Kenneth O�Keefe
Margaret Tyzack - Miss Frost
Director:�
Peter Dews
Produced by
Peter Dews �. Producer
Production Design by
Margaret Peacock
Production Companies
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Source: The Ginger Man (1962) on iMDB
______________________________________________
Mike Nichols, John Huston and Robert Redford all pursued the idea. At one point in the 1990s, Mr. Donleavy�s son Philip was set to produce a film version. Johnny Depp was the most recent movie figure to announce plans to develop it.
Mr. Donleavy wrote more than a dozen novels, as well as plays and nonfiction books. If anyone doubted his taste for stylistic extravagance, the titles of some of his books � like �The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B.� (1968), the story of a man whose only happy affair was with his nanny, and �The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman� (1977) � made that point on their own.
The protagonist of �The Onion Eaters� (1971) lives in a crumbling Irish castle and is prone to sex and violence. Even Mr. Donleavy�s so-called etiquette guide, �The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival & Manners� (1975), was irreverent, including sections on �plate and knife licking� and �how to prevent people from detesting you.�
His fiction also included �A Singular Man� (1963), about a business executive who has affairs with two secretaries and his housekeeper, and �A Fairy Tale of New York� (1973), about an American who goes to work at a funeral home to pay for his wife�s burial. Both were adapted for the stage, as was �The Beastly Beatitudes.�
Mr. Donleavy was an accomplished painter and had exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic, including a show at the National Arts Club in Manhattan in 2007, when he was 81. Of old age, he wrote, �It�s not nice, but take comfort that you won�t stay that way forever.�
Mr. Donleavy found himself in the news in 2011 when his second wife, Mary Wilson Price, an actress, revealed that the two grown children she had given birth to during their 19-year marriage, which ended in divorce in 1989, were not Mr. Donleavy�s. DNA tests performed after the couple had separated established that Rebecca Donleavy was the daughter of Kieran Guinness, of the brewing dynasty, and Rory Donleavy was the son of Finn Guinness, Kieran�s brother, whom Ms. Price later married.
Ms. Price announced that she would publish a memoir, but not in Mr. Donleavy�s lifetime.
Picture: J.P. Donleavy's writing desk with notes.
James Patrick Donleavy Jr. was born in Brooklyn on April 23, 1926, the son of James and Margaret Donleavy, Irish immigrants. He grew up in the northwest Bronx, near Van Cortlandt Park. His father worked as a florist and orchid grower and later became a firefighter.
The younger Mr. Donleavy began boxing at the New York Athletic Club in his teens and was told he had the makings of a middleweight champion. �The trick is to keep the arm and fist loose like a piece of spaghetti and the fist limp until the moment of impact,� he said in a 2000 interview with the magazine Irish America, having kept up his skills over the years. �If you do that, they won�t even see it coming.�
After serving in the Navy in World War II, he studied microbiology at Trinity College in Dublin on the G.I. Bill. The title character of �The Ginger Man,� Mr. Donleavy said, was inspired by a classmate there, Gainor Stephen Cris.
Mr. Donleavy lived in London and on the Isle of Man for most of the 1950s and �60s, then moved to Ireland in 1969 after it had abolished the income tax for creative artists, including writers. He had lived since 1972 at Levington Park, a mid-18th-century stone manor house on a 180-acre estate and working farm in County Westmeath.
Asked to identify himself by nationality, Mr. Donleavy would say he was an American, but a writer for T: The New York Times Style Magazine described him in 2014 as �an odd fish swimming the mid-Atlantic apart from all the usual schools of thought.�
Mr. Donleavy�s first marriage, to Valerie Heron, ended in divorce in 1969. In addition to his sister, who is a professor of education at Lehman College in the Bronx, and the two children from his marriage to Ms. Price, his survivors include his son Philip and a daughter, Karen Donleavy, from his marriage to Ms. Heron, and several grandchildren. His brother, Thomas, died in 2016.
His last published novels were �The Lady Who Liked Clean Rest Rooms� (1997) and �Wrong Information Is Being Given Out at Princeton� (1998). Mr. Donleavy had also been working on a manuscript, �The Dog That Fell From the 17th Floor,� for several years. All three were set in and around New York.
Mr. Donleavy sometimes expressed a decidedly practical opinion about his chosen career. �One day, while innocently looking in the window of an old established cheese shop in London, the definition of what writing is all about hit me,� he told Time magazine in 1968. �Writing is turning one�s worst moments into money.�
Our thoughts and condolences go to the family, friends and fans of J.P. Donleavy.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Stefan Gryff - In Memory Of The Actor Who Played Captain Michael Krasakis, Alongside Ian Hendry In The Lotus Eaters [1938 - 2017]
Picture above: Stefan Gryff and Ian Hendry in The Lotus Eaters.
A key aim of this website is to also shine a light on the fellow professionals who worked alongside Ian Hendry - on both sides of the camera and stage. Recently, it was brought to my attention by the excellent Michael J. Bird Tribute website, that the actor Stefan Gryff has died. Stefan is perhaps best known for his roles as Captain Krasakis in the TV series The Lotus Eaters [1972/73], The Major in Who Pays the Ferryman [1977] and as Charolambous in The Aphrodite Inheritance [1979]�-�all three series created by the writer Michael J. Bird.
Given that Stefan's passing has been relatively unnoticed by the mainstream media, we wanted to pay our own tribute to his life and career. Since it's creation, Chris Williams has been a very enthusiastic supporter of the Ian Hendry Tribute website and associated Facebook page. He is also a huge fan of The Lotus Eaters series and the work of Michael J. Bird. He kindly offered to write this following piece in memory of the fine actor, Stefan Gryff and in particular, elaborate on his important contribution to The Lotus Eaters.
Picture: Stefan Gryff with Peter Cushing - Legend of The Werewolf [1975]
In Memory - Actor Stefan Gryff
By Chris Williams:
Stefan-Erwin Gryff�was born 5th May 1938 in Warsaw, Poland the son of Felix (Feliks) and Halina Gryff. When Poland was invaded by the Germans and Russians during WWII, Felix Gryff was falsely charged with spying and sentenced to death. Later his sentence was commuted to 15 years hard labour in Russian Gulag camps. Stefan and his mother somehow remained in Poland and survived the war. Stefan contracted tuberculosis aged 12 and spent months in a sanatorium.�Eventually Felix was released in 1955 and returned to Poland where he was reunited with Stefan and his mother who had believed he was dead.�Many members of the Gryff family died in extermination camps including both Stefan's grandparents and two of his Aunts. It is a small miracle that they survived.
Poland was a very different place now and in 1956 Felix decided to move the family to Australia together with other members of the Gryff family who had survived the War. He waited on route in Rome for acceptance. Whilst there he wrote a book about his experiences�in the Russian labour camps called 'Red Hell'. In Australia Felix built a successful textile business and Stefan studied law at the University of Sydney and also began to get involved in acting. He practiced law in Australia, before moving to London in 1967 where he appeared in plays and theatre before moving into television and films.
In 1972, he appeared in The Lotus Eaters alongside Ian Hendry � considered to be his most famous part. He played the local police official, Captain Michael Krasakis. With his natural charisma and presence, he soon made the character his own and his performance was a significant contribution to the success of the series. Stern and official, caring, supportive, and unerringly loyal, he valued nothing more highly than his friendship with Erik Shepherd. The part required someone who could go up against Ian Hendry and match him in terms of acting and character portrayal. Stefan met the challenge head on in every scene, and it brought the best out in both of them. In the episode �and Hera had a sister� Erik crassly suggests that policemen are immune to vulnerability which earns the famous rebuke from Krasakis. �Conscience my friend, is every man�s cross, as shame is his crown of thorns. To claim a monopoly in either is presumptuous.� The line is delivered with perfect timing and emphasis by Gryff. These philosophical quips became his trademark.
Captain Krasakis became one of the bed rock characters of the series. He was so successful in the role that the series writer Michael J. Bird proposed a whole new series based on the character called �KRASAKIS�, but the BBC never went ahead with it. Despite this, Bird wrote him into his next series Who Pays The Ferryman? as �The Major� � but it was still the same character. Three of the Ferryman episodes were in fact from the proposed �KRASAKIS� but were now blended into the new series. He also appeared in Bird�s series �The Aphrodite Inheritance� as Pan the Greek God of music and mischief � but in the guise of the humble barman Charalambous.
In later life Stefan became an acting coach and lived in London. I managed to contact his widow Amanda Gryff on the telephone and I was able to pass on condolences on behalf of the Ian Hendry website, the MJB community, and everyone who enjoyed his work. She greatly appreciated that and I�m sure she took comfort from it. She also said that he would have appreciated it too. He died 3rd June 2017, aged 79.
________________________________________
For those wishing to find out more about Felix Gryff's family and his life as a political prisoner, his autobiographical account titled, 'Red Hell', has been located in the National Library Of Australia.
Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go to the family, friends and fans of Stefan Gryff.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Janet Munro - Wearing A Pair Of Coco The Clown's Boots At Bertram Mills' Circus, Olympia, London [November 1962]
Picture: Janet Munro and Ian Hendry - with a pair of oversized boots belonging to Coco the Clown. Photograph taken during a visit to the Bertram Mills' Circus [Christmas season - November 1962].
In a couple of earlier articles, I have written about Ian's love for the circus and how he first came to meet Coco - whilst he was still studying at the Central School of Speech + Drama in London. Ian went on to work for Coco as his stooge and became lifelong friends with him and his wife, Valentina.
The links to these articles are below:
Ian Hendry And �The Circus That Came To Town� � Part 1
Ian Hendry And �The Circus That Came To Town� � Part 2
Coco The Clown + Ian Hendry - This Is Your Life
Coco the Clown was featured on This Is Your Life in January 1962 and Ian Hendry was one of the guests. Some 16 years later, Ian would be the subject of his own This Is Your Life - broadcast in March 1978. Unfortunately, Coco had died in 1974, but his wife Valentina appeared in what was an emotional reunion.
These two episodes are featured on the excellent Big Red Book website:
Coco The Clown - This Is Your Life [1962] - Big Red Book Website
Ian Hendry - This Is Your Life [1978] - Big Red Book Website
Picture: Coco The Clown's This Is Your Life [1962] - Ian Hendry was featured as one of the special guests [pictured back row, 4th from right]
Picture: Ian Hendry's This Is Your Life [1978] - Coco's wife, Valentina, appeared as a special guest.
Coco The Clown - Nicolai Poliakoff
Nicolai Poliakoff OBE (2 October 1900 � 25 September 1974) (Latvian: Nikolajs Polakovs) (Russian: Nikolai Petrovich Polyakov) was the creator of Coco the Clown, arguably the most famous clown in the UK during the middle decades of the 20th century. Technically, Coco is an Auguste, the foolish character who is always on the receiving end of buckets of water and custard pies. The Auguste often works with the more clever white-faced clown, who always gets the better of him.
Picture: Stone carving of Coco the Clown on his gravestone at Woodnewton, Northamptonshire.
Coco is buried at Woodnewton in Northamptonshire. The village is home to 'Clownfest', a fundraising operation inspired by Coco the Clown. There is a woodcarved statue of 'Coco the clown' in the Woodnewton village park. Coco the clown is buried in the graveyard of St Mary's parish church, which is situated to the eastern end of the village.
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman
Ian Hendry + Britt Ekland - ABC TV's Reception Held At The Westbury Hotel, London[1965]
Picture above: Britt Ekland + Ian Hendry at a reception at the Westbury Hotel, London [1965]
Another picture of Ian Hendry and Britt Ekland has been discovered, taken at ABC's reception at the Westbury Hotel, London - when ABC TV unveiled some of the main stars appearing in their forthcoming autumn 1965 season.
The two starred together in the ABC TV play 'A Cold Peace' - for what was to be Britt's very first British TV performance.
The official photograph featuring all the celebrities appearing is below:
Picture: Lined up for the ABC Television's autumn programmes are the stars pictured at the Westbury Hotel, London, where they were attending a reception. (l-r) Richard 'Dickie' Davies (World of Sport), cookery expert Philip Harben, pop singer Dusty Springfield, actor Patrick Macnee (from The Avengers, his co star Diana Rigg, Bruce Forsyth, Britt Ekland, Ian Hendry and David Buck.
Other related articles below:
ABC�s Television Line-up - Autumn 1965
Another �original black and white press release portrait:
Ian Hendry + Britt Ekland � Rare Promotional Picture
Further background on A Cold Peace [1965} and other original black and white stills taken on set:
Ian, Jo, Janet, Britt And A Neurotic Peter Sellers!
Until next time,
Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Tribute To Ian Hendry
Further Reading
A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:
Read:�'Send in the Clowns - The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry' by Gabriel Hershman