Birthdays
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724 – 1816), a British Admiral
known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French
Revolutionary Wars. In 1754, he was made commander of the sloop Jamaica
and served on her at the North American station. In 1778, he accepted a
command which in the ordinary course would have terminated his active career,
becoming Commissioner of the dockyard at Portsmouth and governor of the Naval
Academy. He acted as a mentor to Horatio Nelson.
Joseph Bruce Ismay (1862 –1937), an English businessman who served as
chairman and managing director of the White Star Line of steamships. He came to
international attention as the highest-ranking White Star official among the
705 survivors (vs. 1,517 fatalities from crew and passengers totaling 2,223) of
the maiden voyage of his company's marquee ocean liner, the RMS Titanic.
When the ship hit an iceberg and started sinking on 14 April 1912, Ismay was
rescued in Collapsible Lifeboat C and arrived in New York on 18 April.
John James Osborne (1929 –1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter,
actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look
Back in Anger transformed English theatre. In a productive life of more
than 40 years, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film
and TV. His personal life was extravagant and iconoclastic. He was notorious
for the ornate violence of his language, not only on behalf of the political
causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and
children.
William Francis "Bill" Nighy (born
12 December 1949), an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and
television before his first cinema role in 1981, and became known around the
world in 2003 for his critically acclaimed performance in Love Actually.
Other notable roles in cinema include his portrayal of Davy Jones in Pirates
of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World's End, as well as Viktor in the Underworld film series.
The facts about William Francis "Bill" Nighy
ReplyDeleteSome serious, and some, well not so serious.
Bill Nighy (or officially William Francis Nighy) was born the 12th of December, 1949, in Caterham, Surrey, England.
As a young boy Bill wanted to become a writer, Ernest Hemingway being his example. But a girl got him into Drama School, and he accidentally became an actor. Had she told him to become an astronaut, he would probably have done that. Luckily she didn’t.
Bill has a thing for Paris. He ran away to Paris when he was a boy, to write the great English novel.
Talking about that novel, Bill did attempt to write it but got never further than writing the title, and drawing a margin. The title is supposed to be The Golden Calf, according to an interview in the Guardian.
He is together with but not married to the actress Diana Quick. They have one daughter, Mary.
Bill Nighy has starred in many radio and television dramas, notably the BBC serial, The Men’s Room (1991), and more recently the thriller State of Play (2003) and costume drama He Knew He Was Right (2004). He played Sam in the 1981 BBC Radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings, and also appeared in the 1980s BBC radio versions of Yes, Minister episodes.
He has also done some audio books, and recently has been narrating a Meerkat soap on Animal Planet.
Bill has two dogs, Smokey a rescue dog and Nelly, a posh terrier
Bill has a cat too, Ziggy, who has only one eye.
Bill likes the Rolling Stones (and that’s the understatement of the year)
And Bob Dylan.
Bill loves Doctor Martin shoes
He has an iPod, and christens his trailer with Rolling Stones music whenever he starts filming on a new project.
He loves to read poems by Harold Pinter.
He generally loves to read books. Favourite writers : Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ford Madox Ford
Bill has once performed together with Radiohead
He loves acting because he can wear a lounge suit all the time
Talking about suits: Top button sometimes. Middle buttons always. Bottom one never. Cuff links : seldom
Joseph Bruce Ismay accompanied his ships on their maiden voyages and the Titanic was no exception.But he was rescued from the Titanic in Collapsible C. During his life Ismay would inaugurate the cadet ship Mersy for the training of officers for the merchant navy, gave £11,000 to found a fund to benefit widows of lost seamen and in 1919 gave £25,000 to establish a fund to recognise the contribution of merchantmen in the war. He divided his time between his homes in London and Ireland.
ReplyDeleteErasmus Darwin (12 December 1731 – 18 April 1802) was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist, inventor and poet. His poems included much natural history, including a statement of evolution and the relatedness of all forms of life. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family, which includes his grandsons Charles Darwin and Francis Galton. Darwin was also a founding member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers.
ReplyDeleteArthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteAnne of Denmark (12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at age 14 and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I. She demonstrated an independent streak and a willingness to use factional Scottish politics in her conflicts with James over the custody of Prince Henry and his treatment of her friend Beatrix Ruthven. Anne appears to have loved James at first, but the couple gradually drifted and eventually lived apart, though mutual respect and a degree of affection survived.
ReplyDeleteBill Nighy was born on December 12th 1949 in Caterham, Surrey. His father managed a garage in Croydon and his mother worked as a psychiatric nurse. At school he gained 'O'-levels in English Language and English Literature and enjoyed reading, particularly Ernest Hemingway. On leaving school he wanted to become a journalist but didn't have the required qualifications. He eventually went on to work as a messenger boy for the Field magazine. He stayed in Paris for a while because he wanted to write "the great novel", but he only managed to write the title. When he ran out of money, the British consul shipped him home. A girlfriend suggested that he should become an actor, so he trained at Guildford School of Dance and Drama. Since then he has found continuous work as an actor, on stage, screen and radio. His stage work includes National Theatre roles in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, David Hare's Skylight and Blue Orange. Bill's partner was actress Diana Quick (he asked her to marry him but she said: "don't ask me again", he called her his wife because anything else would have been too difficult). They have a daughter, Mary Nighy, who is studying at university and contemplating an acting career. She has already began to appear on TV dramas and radio programs.
ReplyDeleteI've watched several Bill Nighy's films, but I really liked his acting in both of them! In 2003, Nighy played the role of the Vampire Elder Viktor in the American production Underworld and returned in the same role for the sequel Underworld: Evolution in 2006 and again in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans in 2009. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as shameless, washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually (a role foreshadowed by his Still Crazy character).
Deleteohn James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre.
ReplyDeleteIn a productive life of more than 40 years, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film and TV. His personal life was extravagant and iconoclastic. He was notorious for the ornate violence of his language, not only on behalf of the political causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and children.
Osborne was one of the first writers to address Britain's purpose in the post-imperial age. He was the first to question the point of the monarchy on a prominent public stage. During his peak (1956–1966), he helped make contempt an acceptable and now even cliched onstage emotion, argued for the cleansing wisdom of bad behaviour and bad taste, and combined unsparing truthfulness with devastating wit