FRIG

When I was a boy growing up in sixties Belfast,
I learned a few choice things. One, a popular swear word
Used by women and that word was frig, sometimes extended
To friggin', not the bigger, badder f-word, no, no,
- "For frig sake" and "I'm fed up with this friggin' weather" -
Enough of a word to make whatever the point was,
Enough emphasis not to tangle with her or her.

THE ONLY ROBIN HOOD FOR ME

Richard Greene was born 100 years ago, 25 August 1918, in Plymouth. He cut his teeth in repertory companies which led to his lucky break into films via 20th Century Fox in 1938. He was a big success in Hollywood working with directors like John Ford. In 1939, he starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles as Sir Henry with top billing over Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.

In 1938, he starred in Kentucky with Loretta Young and Walter Brennan. Henry King directed him in Stanley and Livingstone, starring Spencer Tracy in 1939. In the same year he appeared alongside Shirley Temple in The Little Princess. 

His co-stars in films included Fred McMurray, Alice Faye, Ann Todd, Peter Graves, George Sanders, Myrna Loy, Edward G. Robinson and so many more.

But, for me anyway, his greatest role was on television in The Adventures of Robin Hood which ran for 144 episodes from 1955 to 1960, with regular repeats for some years after.

You can keep Errol Flynn (although he was great too), Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Jason Connery, Michael Praed, Douglas Fairbanks, Jonas Armstrong, Patrick Bergin, Sean Connery and any others. For me, no one can compete with the Robin Hood of my younger days.

A big salute from me to Richard Greene!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzzjI-k538g

I'm off to dig out the box set and sing along with Dick James: "Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen........."

Richard Greene died in 1985 at 66.

ACTORS WHO HAVE PLAYED JAMES BOND

As sure as death and taxes, whenever a current James Bond actor packs it in, the world and its cat digs into the debate about who will be next. I am at the stage where I couldn't care less how this spreadsheet/tick-all-the-boxes world decides on the next person to become 007. The important thing for me is that Bond movies should be bigger than Bond in terms of plot, action and entertainment, and as much attention should be paid to casting the villain.

But, here's a gallery of the actors who have played Bond in the past.



Barry Nelson in a TV version of Casino Royale (1954).




Bob Holness in a radio production of Moonraker (1955).



Sean Connery in films, Dr. No (1962), From Russia With Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Never Say Never Again (1983).



David Niven in the film Casino Royale (1967).



George Lazenby in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)



Roger Moore in films Live And Let Die (1973), The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View To A Kill (1985).



Timothy Dalton in films The Living Daylights (1987), Licence To Kill (1989).



Pierce Brosnan in films Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), Die Another Day (2002)



Daniel Craig in films Casino Royale (2006), Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), Bond 25 (2019)

And then ????????? But please, don't make a big deal out of it!

RIP CLINT WALKER

I missed completely the death of one of my TV western heroes - Clint Walker who starred as Cheyenne Bodie. He died at 90 on 21 May, 2018.

He made 108 episodes of Cheyenne from 1955 to 1962 in that golden age of television - alongside Maverick, Bronco, Sugarfoot, Laramie, Wagon Train, and several more. I loved them all. They were (and still are) a big part of my life.

Apart from this big TV hit, he impressed on the big screen in Yellowstone Kelly, None But The Brave and The Dirty Dozen, to name three.


 

 Farewell, old friend.

SALUTING ROBERT REDFORD

Robert Redford has said he is retiring from acting. He turns 82 later this month. How lucky are we to have lived in his time and been blown away by his movies, performances and directing triumphs? He made his screen debut in a 1960 episode of TV's Maverick. His proposed last outing as an actor will be in The Old Man & The Gun in September. His screen CV via IMDB is here. Click and marvel at this great man of the cinema. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000602/?ref_=nv_sr_1#actor

Here's a random gallery.

NOEL WILLMAN - DERRY-BORN ACTOR/DIRECTOR - BORN 100 YEARS AGO

Northern Ireland has never been short of creative and successful actors and directors. All of us from that part of the world can name at least a handful. But there are a few actors/directors who have achieved much but who are forgotten, and that is a great shame. So, in this post, I want to flag up an actor who doesn't automatically spring to mind when considering Ulster talent.

Noel Willman was born in Derry on 4 August, 1918. He was the son of a gentleman's hairdresser. He was educated at Foyle College and made his acting debut at 16 in a local production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, followed by a role in Journey's End.

He left Derry to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduated and entered the world of repertory theatre in London, Liverpool and Stratford. He grew in stature and received high praise as Hamlet, his big break in 1939, directed by John Gielgud, as Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler, as Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, as Antonio in The Merchant of Venice and as Pandarus in The Taming of the Shrew. He played an interrogator opposite Alec Guinness in The Prisoner. In 1951, he appeared on Broadway in Legend of Lovers along with Richard Burton.

Sir Tyrone Guthrie encouraged him to consider directing for the stage. He dipped his toe in the water as actor/director in a 1955 Stratford production of All's Well That Ends Well. But the biggest prize of his career came in 1962 on Broadway. He won a Tony Award for directing A Man For All Seasons, written by Robert Bolt and starring Paul Scofield. The play opened in 1961 and chalked up 620 performances. In 1966, Willman was nominated for an Emmy for directing a TV adaptation of A Lion In Winter featuring a young Christopher Walken.

With his theatre hat on, acting or directing, he worked with Tyrone Power, Robert Preston, Flora Robson, Nigel Stock, Michael Denison, Anthony Quayle, Claire Bloom, Ian Bannen, Geraldine McEwan, Peggy Ashcroft, Ralph Richardson, Stanley Baker, Leo McKern and Katherine Hepburn.

His screen career began in 1952 and included film and television roles such as The Pickwick Papers (1952), Beau Brummell (1954), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Carve Her Name With Pride (1958), Armchair Theatre (1958), Danger Man (1960), The Kiss of the Vampire (1963), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Paul Temple (1970), The Persuaders! (1971) and The Odessa File (1974).

He attracted a reputation as a rather sinister screen character in several horror films including one that is considered by fans as a classic Hammer production, The Reptile (1966). Here's a link to the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVszBcy-gxQ

Noel Willman's acting and directing CV is very impressive and his Tony Award is a glittering prize. He was a gifted man of many skills, a Northern Ireland man to be precise and a Derry man to  be even moreso. 

He suffered a heart attack and died at 70 in New York in 1988.

FEATURE WRITING IDEAS AUGUST 2018

Hello.

Here are ideas for August features. Some of them may be in your diary already. Some of them may be added to your diary after reading this. Some features may be written by in-house journalists. But maybe, just maybe, I can write something for you.

Let me know what you want, word count, deadline and fee and I will get to work. 

Here are some ideas and, if I can help, I look forward to hearing from you. joecushnan@aol.com

FREELANCE WRITING IDEAS FOR AUGUST 2018:

3 August - Terry Wogan was born 80 years ago (BBC TV & radio, and The Floral Dance) - Died 2016

4 August – Derry actor/director Noel Willman born 100 years ago (Theatre, film, TV) - Died 1988

6 August – Andy Warhol would have been 90 (Campbell's Soup art) - Died 1987

9 August - Robert Aldrich was born 100 years ago (The Dirty Dozen) - Died 1983

12 August - Guy 'Dambusters' Gibson was born 100 years ago (617 Squadron) - Died 1944

15 August - The horrific car bombing atrocity in Omagh 20 years ago (Multiple deaths and injuries)

16 August – Madonna will be 60 (Material Girl)

17 August - Mae West was born 125 years ago ("I used to be Snow White but I drifted!") - Died 1980

25 August – Richard Greene born 100 years ago. (The ONLY Robin Hood) - Died 1985

25 August - Leonard Bernstein was born 100 years ago (West Side Story) - Died 1990

26 August - Hey Jude by The Beatles was released 50 years ago (B-side Revolution)

26 August - Pope John Paul 1 died 40 years ago after only 33 days as Pope (Albino Luciani) - Died 1978

29 August – Michael Jackson would have been 60 (Thriller) - Died 2009

29 August - Cliff Richard's single Move It was released 60 years ago (UK number two)

31 August – The first Carry On film, Carry on Sergeant, was released 60 years ago. (William Hartnell, Bob Monkhouse and Kenneth Connor.)

31 August - James Coburn was born 90 years ago (The Magnificent Seven) - Died 2002

31 August - Alan Jay Lerner was born 100 years ago (My Fair Lady) - Died 1986