HENRY OSCAR REMEMBERED : BRIDES AND SHERLOCK

HERE IS AN ACTOR with a name, that probably most of us would have forgotten, but certainly we know his face 😉 Today marks the birthday of HENRY OSCAR or Henry Wale as some would have known him, back in the day. Oscar changed his name and began acting in 1911, having studied under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

ON FILM OSCAR played professional characters, dentist for Hitchcock, school teachers, doctors, bank mangers, all usually stiff, authoritative and at times pompous, this was probably why Terence Fisher cast him as Herr Lang, head of the charming 'School for Young Ladies' in Hammer films 'The Brides of Dracula' in 1960. Again, pompous, his ego is deflated when Peter Cushing flashes his 'Dr Van Helsing' 'calling card'! It's a lovely scene. Oscar was to work with Cushing again on November 4th 1968, in episode 9 'Thor Bridge' of Cushing's BBC 'Sherlock Holmes' television series, as Bates. Sadly this episode was wiped in the great BBC 'spring clean', so we have no idea or images just how that looked. But my guess is, just like in 'Brides' both Cushing and Oscar, would have squeezed and presented quite a show!

OSCAR ALSO APPEARED in a wide range of films, Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The Four Feathers (1939), Hatter's Castle (1942), Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948), Beau Brummell (1954), The Little Hut (1957), Oscar Wilde (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Long Ships (1963) and Murder Ahoy! (1964). Today, he isn't forgotten 😊Please join us in remembering and celebrating a Very Happy Birthday to Henry Oscar today! 😉

MARKING THE BIRTHDAYS OF A SIR AND A LORD WITH PC CONNECTIONS!

TODAY 22ND OF MAY, has brought us the opportunity to celebrate the BIRTHDAY of one of PETER CUSHING's favourite writers and one of his close friends. of his early days in theatre and film . . .

TODAY WE REMEMBER Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who was born on this day a writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. 

OUR PCASUK feature on the BBC TWO PART episode of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' with gallery is BARKING AND RIGHT HERE! 

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. Peter Cushing played Sherlock Holmes in Hammer's THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, then in the BBC TV SERIES and finally in Tyburn's THE MASKS OF DEATH As a cherry on the cake, Cushing also got to play Conan Doyle in a TNT 1976 film, 'The Great Houdini' . . thank you to Mark Iveson for Facebook PCASUK Fan Page that reminder 😉
 

FEATURE AND GALLERY on Peter Cushing in the BBC episode, THE SIGN OF FOUR RIGHT HERE!

A RARE JAPANESE phone card, depicting Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson from the BBC Television series . .

TODAY WE REMEMBER an acting legend! Laurence Olivier who was born on this day in 1907. Olivier dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. Among Olivier's best known films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955). OLIVIER'S LATER FILMS included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. 

THE NATIONAL THEATRE'S  largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. PETER CUSHING co-starred and was directed by Olivier in Hamlet (1948) with Cushing playing Osric. Another notable thing about the film although they shared no scenes together it was the first film to star both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who had an uncredited role as a spear carrier with no spoken lines.

THE PETER CUSHING HAND PAINTED SILK SCARF FOR OLIVIERS 1948 HAMLET PREMIER

THE PETER CUSHING HAND PAINTED SILK SCARF . .designed by Peter for the movie premier of Olivier's Hamlet in 1948. As we all know, Peter impressively played Osric in the film, but showed an extra talent, as a designer and artist! So impressive was the scarf design, that BLOND Bros of London, renowned makers of ladies and gentlemen's scarves, placed orders and sold it in twelve different colours! Even the Queen had her own, Peter Cushing designed scarf!

THE WHOLE TOOTH AND NOTHING BUT! ALSO SOMEONE IS SNOOZING! WHO IS THAT???

FOR MUCH OF HIS PROFESSIONAL CAREER from 1948 onwards, wore a front denture. Loosing the tooth came in handy during the making of the BBC production of George Orwell's '1984' in 1954. Never one to miss an opportunity to use props, some business, or indeed anything that would add authenticity to his performance, Cushing REMOVED his 'one tooth plate'  for the horrifying 'Room 101' scenes in the climax of the television drama. It really enhances his emaciated and broken appearance. Vanity never got in the way, of Cushing's quest in perfecting a role. This week's TOUGHY QUESTION is 'HOW DID PETER CUSHING LOOSE THAT TOOTH?' 

THIS QUESTION AND POST has also been posted at our PCASUK FACEBOOK FAN PAGE where followers comment and debate this question and all of our posts here, every day! Please feel free to join the page. You'll be most welcome. JUST CLICK HERE and the CLICK LIKE THERE! 

AN EXTRA QUESTION  for you this week! #TOOCOOLTUESDAY! Someone is having a SNOOZE! Can you name the actor, the name of the film and his co-star? Like our TOUGHY question this post is ALSO LIVE at our FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE Please free to join us there to discuss and maybe answer this question and post your ANSWER in our thread!

BELOW THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S TUESDAY TOUGHY!

BOTH PETER CUSHING AND CHRISTOPHER LEE starred in episodes of the television SCI FI DRAMA series SPACE 1999. LEE'S played Captain Zantor in an episode was entitled 'EARTHBOUND' and was broadcast on December 4th 1975.

YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE, comment and discuss this post and all other features as they appear every day at our JUST CLICK HERE   and CLICK LIKE THERE! You will be MOST welcome!  

A CATCH UP : ALL POSTS FROM THE LAST FOUR DAYS!

CONGRATULATIONS TO FROLLY COOKE. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED HERE AND AT THE PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE!

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, everything came to grinding halt here on the website for the past few days. A few problems with the uploading, cause by someone tampering with the site. YOu may have also noticed we lost our PCAS YOUTUBE CHANNEL two weeks ago. Despite much effort trying to get it back, I fear the same 'Peter Cushing and Hammer Films Fan' who made us a target for YOUTUBE taking us down, is also behind causing trouble with our website. Everything is now fixed, we will be reactivating our MARK ONE YOUTUBE ACCOUNT, which was superseded by our MARK TWO CHANNEL, about two years ago. It will just take time to update that channel to the point where, the closed channel was... over 2,000 clips and intervirews, trailers and rare Cushing films... before it was taken down. Worked has started on the channel already, and THIS post will bring us up date, with posts that WERE posted at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE during the short time, this website was having problems! 

THE 22ND OF MAY, brought us an opportunity to celebrate the BIRTHDAY of one of PETER CUSHING's favourite writers and one of his close friends. of his early days in theatre and film . . .

TODAY WE REMEMBER SIr Arthur Conan Doyle who was born on this day a writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes. Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson. In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. Peter Cushing played Sherlock Holmes in Hammer's THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, then in the BBC TV SERIES and finally in Tyburn's THE MASKS OF DEATH

TODAY WE ALSO REMEMBER an acting legend! Laurence Olivier who was born on this day in 1907. Olivier dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. Among Olivier's best known films are Wuthering Heights (1939), Rebecca (1940), and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director: Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948), and Richard III (1955).
 

OLIVIER'S LATER FILMS included The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Sleuth (1972), Marathon Man (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatre's largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre.
 

PETER CUSHING co-starred and was directed by Olivier in Hamlet (1948) with Cushing playing Osric. Another notable thing about the film although they shared no scenes together it was the first film to star both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who had an uncredited role as a spear carrier with no spoken lines. What are some of your favorite Olivier films and performances?

THIS LADY NEEDS no introduction... and we covered her special day on the 23rd of May! TODAY WE ARE are wishing Joan Collins a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today.

AT AGE 22 in 1955, Collins headed to Hollywood and landed sultry roles in several popular films, including The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) and Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (1958). While she continued to make films in the US and the UK throughout the 1960s, she also guest-starred in an episode of Star Trek in 1967 named "The City on the Edge of Forever", as Edith Keeler.

DURING THE 1970'S she appeared in a number of Horror films such as Hammer's FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972) Amicus's TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972) both with Peter Cushing and also Tales That Witness Madness (1973)

 MORE ON 'TALES FROM THE CRYPT' HERE!

JOAN COLLINS WITH JUDY GEESON IN  HAMMER FILMS FEAR IN THE NIGHT

HER BIGGEST SUCCESS came in 1981, she landed the role of Alexis Colby, the vengeful and scheming ex-wife of John Forsythe's character, in the 1980s soap opera Dynasty, winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1982; she is credited with the success of Dynasty, which was the most-watched television series in the United States during the 1984-85 broadcast season. 

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach all lovers of Peter Cushing's work AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!