Pamela Franklin

PAMELA FRANKLIN BY DANIEL OLIVER It’s often been observed how British film-makers routinely waste their best actresses. In which case, Pamela Franklin can count herself extremely lucky. As if sensing in advance how...

JUDY GEESON

  Judy Geeson By Daniel Oliver “For weeks I had hunted this girl, tracking her movements among the cafes, bars and nightclubs of Swinging London. Now at last I had her cornered in a small drinking booth in the Infer...

1966 & ALL THAT (BLOW UP)

When m’colleague Daniel Oliver and I came up with the idea of celebrating an era of British acting that straddled the 60s and 70s, we discussed just where this era would begin. Was there some moment in British cinema his...

Lewis Collins

LEWIS COLLINS by Nicholas Hughes “MEN WANT TO BE HIM, WOMEN WANT TO BE WITH HIM!” Correction. “BOYS WANT TO BE HIM, WOMEN WANT TO BE WITH HIM!” In 1978, every boy in the UK wanted to be like Lewis Collins. If he didn’t, ...

PATRICK MOWER

PATRICK MOWER By DANIEL OLIVER 1973: a decisive time in the men’s fragrance market. Bass noted musk, the disposable cartridge safety razor, soap-on-a-rope. There is everything to play for. But one man alone holds t...

The Men Who Would Be Bond

By NICHOLAS HUGHES “To look for a new James Bond is one of the most impossible jobs in the entire world”. These are the words of Debbie McWilliams, the head casting agent for the Bond movies. It has always been thus. The...

Nicky Henson

  by DANIEL OLIVER “O.K. I want long hair, I want cocky, I want leathers. I want the man most likely to get my daughter up the duff. There’s only one guy in the frame here, and as luck would have it, he’...

Judi Bowker

JUDI BOWKER by NICHOLAS HUGHES When I was growing up in the 1970’s and Saturday TV in the daytime meant watching The Flashing Blade or Swap Shop and drooling over Action Man adverts, my boys’ own junior machi...

Who Are The Flare Players?

by DANIEL OLIVER ‘Who are they?’ I hear you all ask, crowds now swarming forward with an insatiable hunger to learn more. Well, I’ll tell you. The Flare Players were a loose collection of British acting...