News

Ronald Pickup, who appeared in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and its sequel among more than 150 film, TV and stage credits spanning a half-century, died Wednesday after a long illness. He was 80. His agent confirmed the news to the BBC today.

Pickup played Norman Cousins in John Madden’s 2011 romantic dramedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, sharing a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel and others. He returned for 2015’s The Second Best Exotic Hotel.

The actor also recurred as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the first season of Netflix’s hit drama The Crown. He also played Neville Chamberlain in 2017’s Darkest Hour, a Best Picture Oscar nominee that also earned Gary Oldman a Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Winston Churchill.

Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery

Born on June 7, 1940, in Chester,...

Feature Louisa Mellor 5 Apr 2013 - 09:30

Here’s what happened when we went to the swanky Game of Thrones season 3 UK premiere and chatted to a few of the cast members…

Spoiler-warning: The bit with Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) contains brief, oblique reference to some of her season three scenes. Non-a Song of Ice and Fire readers may wish to skip it.

Even in absence, Dame Diana Rigg has the sovereign presence to make people sit up straight and behave themselves. At the mere mention of her name, Finn Jones, the young actor who plays her on-screen grandson Ser Loras Tyrell in Game of Thrones, segues from swagger to awe, following up his description of the Tyrell family in season three as “hot badass b*tches who are going to f**k s**t up” to an earnest list of “amazing”, “wonderful”, “classic legend”, and “such a privilege”. Good...

Sheila Hancock is one of the UK’s best loved and most prolific actors. Her work spans theatre, radio, television and film and she is also a successful writer. Sheila is currently performing as Mother Superior in Sister Act to rave reviews.

Her other theatre credits include: The Birthday Party at the Lyric Hammersmith, the role of ‘Fraulein Schneider’ in Cabaret in the West End, for which she won an Olivier Award, and the Clarence Derwent award.

She played ‘Mum’ in the Liverpool Playhouse production of The Anniversary (a role played by Bette Davis, while Sheila played the daughter-in-law, in the original film version), which then transferred to the West End and appeared in The Arab Israeli Cookbook at the Gate Theatre, Under The Blue Sky at the Royal Court Theatre, Vassa at the Albery Theatre in the West End and In Extremis at the Royal National Theatre.

Earlier work...

This will mark the premiere of the years most provocatively titled film: Lesbian Vampire Killers. Starring James Corden and Matthew Holden as a pair of lost hikers who encounter a strange lesbian vampire ritual, the film follows in the footsteps of Shaun of the Dead in providing a dark and quirky British look at horror films. More in focus with our interest, the film boasts an energetic and lively score by Debbie Wiseman, who follows up her popular soundtracks to Arséne Lupin and Flood with another bombastic work. This time however she had to find the right balance between horror and comedy as she explains in the following discussion...

How did this project first find you?

 

I first met with the director Phil Claydon about two and a half years ago when the project was still in development. He'd enjoyed listening to some of my music, particularly my score for Arsene Lupin,...

This will mark the premiere of the years most provocatively titled film: Lesbian Vampire Killers. Starring James Corden and Matthew Holden as a pair of lost hikers who encounter a strange lesbian vampire ritual, the film follows in the footsteps of Shaun of the Dead in providing a dark and quirky British look at horror films. More in focus with our interest, the film boasts an energetic and lively score by Debbie Wiseman, who follows up her popular soundtracks to Arséne Lupin and Flood with another bombastic work. This time however she had to find the right balance between horror and comedy as she explains in the following discussion...

How did this project first find you?

 

I first met with the director Phil Claydon about two and a half years ago when the project was still in development. He'd enjoyed listening to some of my music, particularly my score for Arsene Lupin,...