British Actors Archives - Page 43 of 124

Finola Hughes

Finola Hughes was born in 1959 in London. She has carved out a niche in long running television series in the U.S. such as “All My Children” and “General Hospital”. She starred opposite Joan Collins and Carol White in “Nutcracker” and John Travolta in the movie “Staying Alive” in 1983.

TCM overview:

Starting as a dancer, the British-born Finola Hughes originated the role of Victoria in “Cats” and then made the leap to Hollywood as Laura, the icy Broadway dance diva opposite John Travolta in the sequel “Stayin’ Alive” (1983). She achieved her greatest fame on “General Hospital” (ABC, 1963- ) as superspy Anna Devane, who became a longtime fan favorite and earned the actress a Daytime Emmy as well as a fun cameo in “Soapdish” (1991). Although she notched many non-soap credits, including notable stints as the English stepmother of “Blossom” (NBC, 1990-95) and the spirit of the dead mother of the witchy sisters of “Charmed” (The WB, 1998-2006), Hughes grabbed her biggest headlines when she jumped to “All My Children” (ABC, 1970-2011) as Dr. Alex Devane Marick, twin sister to the beloved Anna Devane, whom she subsequently reprised. She briefly hosted the makeover show “How Do I Look?” (Style Network, 2004- ), wrote a juicy novel about soap operas, and returned repeatedly for a series of guest spots as Anna on “General Hospital.” Although she was most widely known for her soap stardom, Finola Hughes managed to maintain a loyal fanbase and to carve out an interesting and enviable career.

Born Oct. 29, 1959 in London, England, Finola Hughes began her dance training from an early age, joining the Northern Ballet Company after winning the Markova award. After a few small dancing appearances in films, Hughes’s talents caught the eye of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who cast her as the original Victoria the White Cat in the London production of the global smash musical “Cats.” Hollywood took notice, and Hughes booked the female lead in the Sylvester Stallone-helmed “Stayin’ Alive” (1983), the sequel to the blockbuster “Saturday Night Fever” (1977). As Laura, the haughty star dancer in the Broadway musical “Satan’s Alley,” Hughes sparred with star John Travolta as Tony Manero, memorably dismissing him after a one-night stand with an icy “Everybody uses everybody.” Although critics hated nearly every aspect of the film and she herself earned two Razzie nominations, Hughes emerged relatively unscathed and was rewarded with a juicy role on the most popular daytime soap in the history of the genre.

As the glamorous spy Anna Devane, Hughes created a sensation day one of her arrival on “General Hospital” (ABC, 1963- ). Viewers adored the character’s complicated love affairs and intrigue Anna coolly navigated, including tumultuous marriages to fellow spy Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) and mobster Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan). A soap superstar, Hughes also found time to film guest spots on “L.A. Law” (NBC, 1986-1994) and to parody her overly dramatic persona in a juicy “Soapdish” (1991) cameo. That same year, Hughes won a Daytime Emmy for her “General Hospital” work, and she would also collect several Soap Opera Digest Awards and nominations. Surprisingly, Hughes was fired by the soap’s producer Gloria Monty in 1991, and briefly replaced by another actress. But fans would have none of it and the stage was set for a return by popular demand.

In the meantime, Hughes played a waitress on “Jack’s Place” (ABC, 1992-93) and continued to lens a steady stream of guest spots and supporting roles, including a lengthy stint as a sympathetic stepmother to “Blossom” (NBC, 1990-95) and an appearance as the evil comic book psychic Emma Frost, the White Queen, on “Generation X” (Fox, 1996). She played a seemingly perfect wife on the verge of collapse on the short-lived series “Pacific Palisades” (Fox, 1997) and contributed voices to “Superman: The Animated Series” (The WB, 1996-2000), “Life with Louie” (Fox, 1994-98) and “Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World” (1998). Her soap opera roots came calling, however, and strangely, she joined “All My Children” (ABC, 1970-2011) as neurologist Dr. Alexandra “Alex” Devane Marick, who was revealed to be the twin sister of Anna Devane of the network’s “General Hospital.” Thankfully for “GH” fans, Alex located and rescued her sister, then conveniently left Pine Valley to return to Port Charles so Hughes could solely focus on breathing life back into Anna, who quickly reclaimed her fan favorite mantle, embarking on a slew of new adventures.

Hughes kept her other options open, however, making a string of guest appearances as Patty Halliwell, the deceased matriarch of the Halliwell clan on “Charmed” (The WB, 1998-2006), appearing to provide support, advice and love to her witch daughters (Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and eventually Rose McGowan). Hughes proved quite the popular figure despite the inherent limitations of playing a spirit, and recurred throughout the hit show’s run. After briefly hosting the makeover show “How Do I Look?” (Style Network, 2004- ), she was eventually replaced. Her fans remained loyal however, and Hughes’ much trumpeted return to “General Hospital” as part of the 2006 May sweeps earned excellent ratings, opening the door for Hughes to continue to make special appearances over the next few years and to pop up on “General Hospital: Night Shift” (SOAPnet, 2007-08). She branched out into writing when, along with Digby Diehl, Hughes penned a successful soap opera-themed novel Soapsuds, which offered up enough bitchy bon mots and over-the-top events to delight readers. The actress continued to earn credits on a variety of projects as varied as the procedural “CSI: NY” (CBS, 2004- ), the gymnastics teen drama “Make It or Break It” (ABC Family, 2009- ) and the well-reviewed romance “Like Crazy” (2011) which also featured Jennifer Lawrence.

By Jonathan Riggs

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Glyn Houston obituary in “The Guardian” in 2019

Glyn Houston, who has died aged 93, was never quite as famous as his older brother, Donald, but he enjoyed a film career as a supporting actor, often playing sailors, soldiers or police officers, before television became a natural home to his acting skills.

He took the roles of the miners’ union leader Davy Morgan in the BBC’s 1960 serialisation of How Green Was My Valley and the news editor, Mike Grieves, throughout the newspaper drama Deadline Midnight (1961) before being seen intermittently as Detective Superintendent Arthur Jones in Softly Softly between 1966 and 1969.

Then came one of his best performances, as Bunter – Lord Peter Wimsey’s valet – in three serials adapted from Dorothy L Sayers stories starring Ian Carmichael as the aristocratic sleuth, Clouds of Witness (1972), The Nine Tailors (1974) and Five Red Herrings (1975).

“Mr Houston had everything right,” wrote a New York Times critic. “The lower-class look combined with upper-class hauteur, absorbed over the years from his master; an accent in limbo, not quite upstairs but not downright down; assurance of his own competence in his own station combined with deference to Wimsey’s more exalted place and special talents; and impeccable service in all contingencies, whether mixing the perfect cocktail, reciting railway timetables … or acting as a sounding board during trips in one of the master’s sports cars.”

Later Houston appeared in the sitcom Keep It in the Family (1980-83) as Duncan Thomas, the literary agent for a cartoonist, Dudley Rush (played by Robert Gillespie). He was at the top of the cast for Robert Pugh’s TV play Better Days (1988), in which he was Edgar, a widowed former miner leaving his community in the South Wales valleys to live with his son, a barrister. The modest star’s moving performance won him a best actor award at the 1989 Monte-Carlo television festival.

Houston was born in the valleys himself, in Tonypandy, Glamorgan, the second of three children of Elsie (nee Jones) and Alex Houston. His father was a Scottish professional footballer who finished his career at Mid Rhondda United after playing for Dundee United and Portsmouth.

When Mid Rhondda went bust in 1928 as South Wales was hit by recession and unemployment, Glyn’s parents moved to London to find work. They could not afford to take all the children, so Glyn was left behind to be raised by his maternal grandmother, Gwenllian. When his mother died three years later, all three children were reunited under Gwenllian’s care.

Glyn left Llwynypia elementary school in Tonypandy at the age of 14 to work on his grandmother’s milk round while Donald – two years his senior – started an acting career. Glyn briefly worked for the Bristol Aeroplane Company before serving in the second world war, from 1944, as an air gunner in the Fleet Air Arm and with the Royal Corps of Signals in Singapore, where he entertained the troops with shows as a stand-up comedian. He then toured India with a Combined Services Entertainment group that included Jimmy Perry, the future writer of Dad’s Army and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.

On demob in 1947, Glyn harboured ambitions to continue performing comedy, but failed an audition at the Windmill theatre in London. Instead, Donald eventually helped him to get a job as an assistant stage manager with Guildford repertory company in 1949. The following year he made his film debut as a barrow boy in The Blue Lamp (1950), memorable for constantly being told by police to “move on”.

Supporting roles followed in several dozen movies during the 50s, as a sailor in Gift Horse (1952, alongside Trevor Howard), and in The Cruel Sea (1953, with Jack Hawkins), as Joan Collins’s boyfriend in Turn the Key Softly (1953), an army corporal in Private’s Progress (1956, with Carmichael), and a detective in Tiger Bay (1959, with John and Hayley Mills).

A talented footballer and rugby player at school, he was catapulted into a leading role as the star player in The Great Game (1952), a football drama, and enjoyed returning to comedy to act as a foil to Norman Wisdom in Follow a Star (1959), There Was a Crooked Man (1960), The Bulldog Breed (1960) and A Stitch in Time (1963). On radio Houston played two characters – Arthur Evans (1962) and Joe Higgins (1963-66) – in the soap opera The Dales.

Thereafter, apart from joining Donald in the 1980 wartime drama The Sea Wolves, his career was consumed by television roles. They included Bob Berris, Leslie Crowther’s darts partner, in the last two series (1972-73) of the sitcom My Good Woman, and Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary, Bernard Ingham, in Thatcher: The Final Days (1991).

He had made his West End stage debut in The Happy Family at the Duchess theatre in London in 1951, but turned down various Shakespearean roles, something that may well have restricted his career on the boards. “I always worried about learning the lines,” he said. “My one regret is that I didn’t become a leading classical actor. I think it’s what you have to do, like Anthony Hopkins. He never liked working in theatre, but he did all those Shakespeare roles.”

He won a Bafta Cymru lifetime achievement award in 2008. A year later his autobiography, A Black & White Actor, was published.

In 1956 he married the actor and model Shirley Lawrence. She died in 2016. He is survived by their two daughters, Leigh and Karen.

• Glyn (Glyndwr Desmond) Houston, actor, born 23 October 1925; died 30 June 2019

Naomi Chance was born in Bath, Somerset in 1930. After a short period in repertory and on tour she obtained a small screen part and followed this with some starring roles in films opposite some American stars appearing in British films. She became well-known on British TV for her appearances as Amelia Huntley in “The Newcomers” (1965). Hrt first husband was the film director Guy Hamilton. Her second husband was a retired naval surgeon, with whom she lived in Devon for many years. Her final appearance was in 1976 in the TV series “Within These Walls”.. Her movies include “Wings of Danger” in 1852, “The Gambler and the Lady” and “Blood Orange”. She died in 2003.

IMDB entry:

Naomi Chance attended Central School of Drama. After a short period in repertory and on tour she obtained a small screen part and followed this with some starring roles in films opposite some American stars appearing in British films. She became well-known on British TV for her appearances as Amelia Huntley in The Newcomers (1965). Her second husband was a retired naval surgeon, with whom she lived in Devon for many years. Her final appearance was in 1976. She still had friends in the business in London. She frequently went to visit them and wanted to act again, but they told her to forget it.Anthony Hinds, who produced some of her early films, said of her, “She is very talented, but her trouble is she won’t sell herself.”

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Sophie Okonedo was born in London in 1968. She was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in “Hotel Rwanda”. On television she has starred in “Oliver Twist” and “Mayday”.

TCM overview:

Born in London to a Nigerian father and British mother, Sophie Okonedo never considered being an actress when she grew up, let alone an international star. A voracious reader all her life-a government official visiting the family’s home marveled at the large bookcase stocked with books-Okonedo got her start through a writing workshop she took with renowned novelist and playwright, Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette, My Son the Fanatic). Though she had no desire to be a writer, Okonedo took the course because it was something interesting to do at night. She soon realized, however, that she was no good as a writer. But she was very good at reading other people’s work aloud, which eventually led to her involvement with the Royal Court Theatre. From there she got a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where she got her true start as an actress.

After a series of theatrical roles, including Shahrazad in “The Arabian Nights” and Anippe in Christopher Marlowe’s “Tamburlaine the Great”, Okonedo broke through with an acclaimed performance as Cressida in “Troilus and Cressida,” staged by famed theatrical director Trevor Nunn for the National Theatre. Though the only Shakespeare role of her career, Okonedo earned high praise for her ability to project a tense ambiguity between love and passion. The success of her Cressida led the actress to British television: she appeared in episode 5 of “Clocking Off” (BBC-1, 2000), a six-part drama series about the secret lives of every day people; in “Never Never” (2000), she earned a Royal Television Society Award nomination for playing a single mom; and she appeared on “Spooks” (BBC-1, 2002- ), a popular series about Britain’s domestic security agency that was presented across the Atlantic as “MI5” (A&E, 2004- ).

From British television, Okonedo made a quick jump to film. Though she had several thankless parts in major features, including two lines as a princess in “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls” (1995), and as a nameless Jamaican Girl in “The Jackal” (1997), she made a deep impression with her characterization of a prostitute living in a rundown West London hotel in Stephen Frears’ “Dirty Pretty Things” (2003).

She was then cast in her highest profile role to date as Tatiana Rusesabagina, the wife of a hotel manager (Don Cheadle), who houses 1200 Tutsi refugees fleeing the 1994 genocide in “Hotel Rwanda” (2004). Acclaim for both the film and its performances was bestowed by critics, as Okonedo received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress. To prepare for the challenging role, Okonedo read Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey, by Fergal Keane, then went to Brussels to meet the real-life Tatiana. The topic of the genocide was avoided-Okonedo asked about her relationship with Paul and what she liked to eat. The cultural leap of transforming herself from a London woman to a Rwandan refugee turned out to be her biggest challenge on the film, though two weeks of torrential rain and a sudden loss of financing were also on the list.

After “Hotel Rwanda,” Okonedo returned to the Hollywood system and was cast in the long-awaited film version of the popular MTV series, “Aeon Flux” (2005)-the movie proved to be a disappointing failure on all fronts. But Okonedo rebounded with a moving performance in “Tsunami, the Aftermath” (HBO, 2006), an ensemble drama that depicted various stories involving the devastating 2004 tidal wave that destroyed large portions of Thailand and other parts of South Asia. Okonedo played a mother searching frantically with her husband (Chiwetel Ejiofor) for their 6-year-old daughter after the tsunami literally ripped her from their arms. She earned a nomination for a 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Esmond Knight was born in East Sheen, Surrey in 1906. An accomplished stage actor, he was injured during World War Two but continued to act. His movies include “Holiday Camp” in 1947 and “Sink the Bismarck” in 1960. He died in 1987. His daughter is the actress Rosalind Knight.

IMDB entry:

A stage actor from 1925, Esmond made his first film appearance in 77 Park Lane (1931) for Michael Powell for whom he eventually made 11 films. Esmond served in the Royal Navy during WWII and lost one eye and was almost totally blinded in the other during an engagement against The Bismarck. This didn’t stop him later portraying a Royal Naval officer in Sink the Bismarck! (1960).

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Crook <steve@brainstorm.co.uk>


A sulky, handsome young man with a mane of black hair and magnetic eyes, almost too romantically handsome to be true. Then one day I saw him giggling with one of the sound engineers and I realised that it was all a pose and he had a sense of humour.”

Cousin of Jean Knight.

Nephew of C.W.R. Knight.

Father of Rosalind Knight.

Esmond Knight played the captain of the Prince of Wales in the film Sink the Bismarck!(1960). Ironically, it was while serving aboard the real Prince of Wales during her fight with the Bismarck that he suffered his injuries.

It is often reported that he died in Cairo, Egypt. In fact (as his daughter confirms), he came back from working in Egypt and died the next day in his flat in Chelsea.

Remained close friends with his first wife Frances Clare after their divorce. Frances in fact attended his funeral alongside wife Nora Swinburne.

Suffered from a stuttering problem, which he continually had to overcome with speech exercises, and usually suffered from a huge case of stage fright just before going on.

Father-in-law of Michael Elliott.

Grandfather of Su Elliot and Marianne Elliott.

Elvi Hale was born in 1931 in Essex, England as Patricia Elvira Hake. She is an actress, known for True as a Turtle (1957), The Heroes of Telemark (1965) and The Navy Lark(1959).

Marcus Gilbert was born in 1958 in London. he starred in “Riders” with Michael Praed and “A Ghost in Monte Carlo” in 1990.

IMDB entry:

After training at the Mountview Theatre School (graduated 1981 – alumni), Gilbert became a founding member of the original Odyssey Theatre Company touring London schools with productions of contemporary classics. This was followed by seasons at the Dundee Repertory Theatre and the Library Theatre, Manchester. He has made over 50 commercials including one for Lee Jeans called Mean Jeans, directed by Willi Patterson, which won the best cinema commercial award in 1986. Gilbert also runs his own film production company, Touch The Sky Productions, and while making a documentary about his climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2004 he visited the Arusha Children’s Trust in Tanzania and filmed an appeal for the trust. Living near Croydon, Surrey with his wife and two children. Spends time now, making films on mountain expeditions. [January 2008]

Lulu is fondly remembered by movie buffs for her performance in “To Sir With Love” with Sidney Poitier and Suzy Kendall in 1967. She won the Eurovision for the UK in 1969. She was born in Glasgow in 1948.

IMDB entry:

Born in Glasgow in 1948. As a teenager, she toured the northern clubs with her band, “the Luvvers”. After her initial success with a cover of “Shout” reaching #7 in 1964, Lulu went on to establish herself as one of the biggest-selling British female singers of the 1960s. She made her film début in To Sir, with Love (1967), starring Sidney Poitier, and performed the title song, which went to No. 1 in the U.S., but was only released as a B-side in the UK with the A-side, “Let’s Pretend”, making #11. She was one of four joint winners of the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest with “Boom Bang-a-Bang”. In 1969, she married The Bee Gees’ Maurice Gibb, and moved more into family entertainment, building on the success of her self-titled BBC television show. After her divorce, she collaborated with David Bowie on the song, “The Man Who Sold the World,” which reached #3 in the UK charts, and sang the title theme to the James Bond feature The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), both in 1974.

After marriage to celebrity hairdresser John Frieda, with whom she had one son, Jordan Frieda, Lulu’s career moved more into occasional adverts and pantomimes. The 1990s saw her divorce again and, in 1993, she released the hit album, “Independence”. Along with her brother, she also penned the song, “I Don’t Wanna Fight”, which was performed by Tina Turner on the soundtrack to What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993), and aged 44, she finally topped the UK charts with the British boyband, Take That, with a cover of “Relight My Fire”. She went on to contribute to the soundtrack of the Tim Rice/Elton John musical, “Aida”, in 1999, front her own short-lived prime-time UK lottery show on BBC TV, Red Alert with the National Lottery (1999), and starred in the film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999).

In 2002, she released an album of duets entitled “Together”, featuring the likes of Paul McCartney, Elton John, Cliff Richard, Sting and Ronan Keating, along with a best-selling autobiography. In 2003, she released her “Greatest Hits” album, which débuted at #35 in the UK charts.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Glc19Gareth@netscape.ne

The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.

Collection of Classic Brittish Actors

Finola Hughes

Glyn Houston

Glyn Houston obituary in “The Guardian” in 2019

Aisling Bea

Naomi Chance

Sophie Okonedo

Esmond Knight

Elvi Hale

Marcus Gilbert

Lulu

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