WAY
BEFORE Colin Firth or Matthew Macfadyen got gals and ladies hearts a
fluttering with their portrayal of Mr Darcy in Jane Austin's 'Pride and
Prejudice' on film, #PeterCushing
was gracing homes and living rooms of UK families, on their newly
purchased cathode-ray tubed TV set, with every intention of going over
the heads of hubby and grandad's ... making his wanted targets faint and
call for the smelling salts with two #BBC drama productions!
IN
1952 CUSHING was well on his way to making BBC drama on tv and radio
his domain. The chillers of his BBC Orwell's '#1984' and Nigel Kneale's
'The Creature' would have to wait a few weeks... right now he wasn't
interested in STAKING hearts, his was really making them throb and pound
with affection, passion and much interest! Cushing was television's
FIRST Mr Darcy and he followed it just two years later with his
portrayal of Beau Brummell... what a heat throb!
OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS we have marked and celebrated.. oh and forgotten to post, TWO great actors BIRTHDAYS! First, actor BRIAN COX, who as most of us know here, starred with Peter Cushing in the Hammer House of Horror TV series
episode, SILENT SCREAM in 1980. We said, 'An extremely reputable actor
with an outstanding CV and who has never stopped working since he
started in the mid 1960's. Some amazing characters in movies and
recently the role of Churchill in a very entertaining drama.....
Manhunter is a firm favorite with many, with Cox playing Dr. Hannibal
Lecktor in 1986 . . . maybe a firm fav with you?' Many of you did! This was a very popular post and several of you mentioned a recent interview were Cox shared his thoughts of working with Peter in 'Silent Scream' and had only very god things to say! So, it was Happy Birthday Brian
Cox..
THEN ON JUNE SECOND, I did the unthinkable... thankfully just this once. I with my aged memory, forgot to share a banner i had made just a few days before, for marking actor Robert Powell's birthday! 😖 So with apologies here it is below and was posted with the following text along with a shared memory of my own.. I was surprised I could remember this, even if i couldn't remember what i had prepared just a few days ago! 😐
“I never cease to say and I repeat it to the world since 1977. I am not Jesus Christ, I am just an actor and British comedian” - Robert Powell.
.. A BELATED #HAPPYBIRTHDAY! to actor #RobertPowell
who was born on the 1st June 1944! I missed it! Powell is best known
for the title roles in 'Mahler' (1974) and 'Jesus of Nazareth' (1977),
and for his portrayal of secret agent in Richard Hannay in 'The Thirty
Nine Steps' and its subsequent spin-off television series. For us, we
recall his performance in one of the
very ace AMICUS films of the 70's 'Asylum' his 'innocent' Dr. Martin! He
had some superb scenes with both actors Geoffrey Bayldon and #HerbertLom.
'A few years ago at
a press Q and A for a film Powell was appearing in and the press meet
he was also attending, I over heard a stuffy reporter behind me say to
his friend, 'I don't know why he always says that about telling people
he was only PLAYING Jesus, it's like he
thinks he as the only one who has! You never heard Graham Chapman say
that!' Where I had to turn around and tell him..'That's because Powell
played Jesus Christ... Chapman played Brian!!' ...... - Marcus
'ASYLUM' is one of the many portmanteau films that Amicus did so well. #PeterCushing played the 'suspect' Mr Smith in the 'The Weird Tailor' story along with Barry Morse, written by #RobertBloch
and directed by Roy Ward Baker. Without giving any spoilers, Powell had
the perfect face and demeanour for the role, where you just couldn't
help but want to shout, 'BEHIND YOU!' Listen out for many voice overs
from Powell on UK tv advertisements and documentaries, he has a gift for
it! Please join us wishing a 'belated' Happy Birthday to #RobertPowell, our birthday wishes / card is not in the post, but right here 😊
BACK IN 1980, plans had announced for Peter Cushing to appear as
Sherlock Holmes in a project that would see Holmes being encouraged out
of retirement by Watson, for one last case. This project would
eventually emerge in 1984 as Tyburn films 'The Masks of Death', a film
for UK's TV Channel Four directed by Roy ward Baker. Roy
described the film as 'a film made by Holmes enthusiast, for Holmes
enthusiasts!' Cushing played an elderly but still spry Sherlock with
John Mills as Dr Watson and Anne Baxter
as Irene Alder. The production started rolling on July 21st 1984, a full
four years after Cushing had signed on the line and after Cushing had
been diagnosed and fought off prostate cancer
CUSHING PLAYED SHERLOCK with quite some
punch and moxie! He would be around for another ten years.. and some of
his best private and public days were yet to come 😊
There was plans for another Cushing Holmes film 'The Abbot's Cry' and
another film based on the career of an actor much like Cushing... but PC
decided it was time to hang up the deerstalker and all the other hats
and give his last bow. In this post at the How do you think he would have worked out
in that second and last Sherlock 'The Abbot's Cry' based on his
performance in 'Masks of Death'? He was to have appeared in an episode
of Jeremy Brett's Granada Holmes series 'The Case-Book of Sherlock
Holmes: The Last Vampyre' too! Even though he didn't think he could do
Abbots Cry, would you have liked to have see him try?
SOME YOU MAY have seen previously, but they have now been
fashioned to carry tittles and casts, just like a cinema or press
poster! I think 'Created Woman' and 'Destroyed' are my favs. Do you have
a fav? Oh many thanks to good friend, Johnny Thunders Martin for
suggesting this post and providing the details 😉😀 - Marcus
