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- Joe Di Reda was born on 16 September 1928 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Andromeda Strain (1971), Mike Hammer (1958) and The Untouchables (1959). He was married to Rita Dubois Astrella, Adele Palacios and Elsie J Hartmann. He died on 16 June 2007 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Paula Fiona Boyd was born in Nakuru Hospital (Kenya) on 14th March 1951 to Diane and Jock Boyd, and was the youngest of four siblings (Pattie Boyd, Jenny Boyd and Colin).
Boyd started her acting career as a child actress in Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1964), but she wanted to be a model like her older sisters.
In his pursue for Pattie Boyd, George Harrison's wife, Eric Clapton dated her briefly in 1969/70.
She had problems with drugs, as Pattie Boyd explained in her autobiography "Wonderful Tonight". - Actor
- Soundtrack
Charles Dingle was born on 28 December 1887 in Wabash, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Little Foxes (1941), The Wife of Monte Cristo (1946) and Somewhere I'll Find You (1942). He was married to Dorothea White (actress). He died on 19 January 1956 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Edward Elgar was born on June 2, 1857, in Broadheath, near Worcester, where his father named William Elgar, was a music shop owner and a piano technician. Elgar was the fourth of six children. He was self-taught in all musical instruments, that were at his disposal in his father's shop, and he studied all the sheet music available in the shop.
Unrestricted by rules of "teaching", he remained highly original in developing his unique musical personality, that allowed him to surpass the other leading composers of his time. But having no teachers who would connect him into the entrenched musical establishment, it took all his genius, persistence and determination to advance through the rigid class structure of Victorian society. In 1889 Elgar married his student, Alice Roberts, daughter of the late General Sir Henry Roberts. She married beneath herself in opposition to her relatives. Alice played a vital role in Elgar's career by keeping a dogged faith in his genius.
Elgar was 42 when his "Enigma Variations" (1899) was premiered in London and brought him the first big success outside of his native Worcester. The performance of "The Dream of Gerontius" (1900) at the Rhine Festival in Dusseldorf earned him highest praise from Richard Strauss, who considered Elgar as the first English progressive musician.
The Coronation Ode "Land of Hope and Glory" came from his first "Pomp and Circumstance March" in D major (1901). Elgar prophesied: "I've got a tune that will knock'em-knock'em flat!... a tune like that comes once in a lifetime..." This piece became extremely popular and was later used in more than 30 films. In 1904 an all-Elgar festival was held at Covent Garden. In July of 1904, Elgar was knighted by King Edward VII.
Spending the winter of 1907-08 in Italy, Elgar composed the "Symphony No 1" in A flat. In just one year it had 100 performances all over Europe and in America, Australia and Russia, and was compared to the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven. The "Symphony No 2" in E flat was written during 1909-1911. It was dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII and was considered by many the greatest of Elgar's symphonic works.
Elgar's incidental music for a children's play "The Starlight Express" (1915) and his patriotic "The Spirit of England" (1917) on the war poems by Laurence Binyon preceded his last great masterpiece, the elegiac "Cello Concerto" in E minor (1919). It was used as a main theme in Hilary and Jackie (1998).
The death of Alice Elgar in 1920 took away much of Elgar's inspiration and will to write music. He made a series of studio recordings of his works for HMV. In 1928 he was created Knight Commander of the Victorian Order (K.C.V.O.). In 1933 he recorded his "Violin Concerto" in B minor with then young Yehudi Menuhin and a few weeks later both flew to Paris for performances of this concerto. Elgar died on February 23, 1934 and was laid to rest beside his wife.- Frederick Rawlings was born on 19 August 1915 in Bristol, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Journey to Murder (1971), Journey to the Unknown (1968) and The Escape of R.D.7 (1961). He was married to Mary Vallange. He died in 2003 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK.
- Writer
Joe McGinniss was born in New York City in 1942. After finishing high school, he attended Holy Cross College in Worchester, Massachusetts, where he worked for the school newspaper and, during summers, the Port Chester Daily Item. After graduating from Holy Crossin 1964, McGinniss worked as a reporter for the Worcester Telegram,where he realized that he had a talent worth pursuing.
McGinniss then worked as a sportswriter for The Philadelphia Bulletin, and soon its competitor The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he became a columnist in 1966. Two years later, in 1968 McGinniss stumbled upon a story that would become his first book. While working on a profile of Howard Cosell for TV Guide, McGinniss learned that a friend of Cosell's had the advertising account for Hubert Humphrey's presidential campaign. Humphrey would not cooperate with McGinniss, but Richard Nixon's campaign advisor's allowed him to observe first-hand the process of "selling" a president to the public. The book, The Selling of the President, was published in 1969. It earned him various positive critic reviews and put his name on the New York Times bestseller list overnight. McGinniss's next book, The Dream Team, published in 1972, was the story of a successful young novelist who ends up unhinged by his obsession with horse racing, women, and alcohol. Its reception was something of a letdown.
In the next book, Heroes, published in 1976, McGinniss mixed journalism with memoir. Critics gave the book mixed reviews, but the book earned him respect as an honest writer on a quest for self-understanding. Going to Extremes, published in 1980, was an account of his adventures and misadventures in Alaska. The book was a critical success and landed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review.
McGinniss's big commercial break came in 1979 when he met Jeffrey MacDonald, a former Green Beret U.S. Army doctor accused of murdering his wife and two daughters back in 1970. The doctor agreed to let McGinniss write a book about his murder trial. MacDonald was convicted of the triple murder and sentenced to life in prison. McGinniss researched MacDonald's case for three more years. Fatal Vision (1984), published in 1983. Fatal Vision was an immediate bestseller, which sold three million copies and earned McGinniss a place in the author's guild of the world. The book angered the imprisoned MacDonald so much that he sued McGinniss for breach of contract, claiming McGinniss wrote a book full of "contradictions and fabrications" portraying MacDonald as guilty when he, to his day, claims that he was wrongfully convicted. After a mistrial in 1987 the case was settled out of court.
McGinniss followed the success of Fatal Vision with two more real-life crime dramas. Blind Faith (1990), published in 1989, and Cruel Doubt (1992), published in 1991, were more or less part of a trilogy of crime dramas featuring dysfunctional families driven to extreme measures of murder. McGinniss's next book, published in 1993, was The Last Brother, a biography of Ted Kennedy.
McGinniss was offered a $1 million advance by his publisher to write a book on the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. The former football player was charged with the double murder of his ex-wife and a friend of hers. But in the end, despite being present throughout the long trial from January to October 1995, McGinniss declined to write any book on the case and gave back the $1 million, calling the trial: "a farce from start to finish," and the verdict: "a mockery of justice."
McGinniss traveled to Italy in 1996 where he wrote The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, which detailed the dramatic life and times of an Italian football (soccer) team. In 2004, McGinniss published The Big Horse, a compelling nonfiction account of a colorful thoroughbred trainer's one big success. In Never Enough (2007) McGinniss returned to true-crime with the critically acclaimed story of another family murder, this time a rich, unhappy wife who kills her investment banker husband in Hong Kong so she can be with her blue-collar lover.
McGinniss lived in Western Massachusetts. He died on March 10, 2014 from complications of inoperable prostate cancer at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.- Roger Kastel was born on 11 June 1931 in White Plains, New York, USA. He was married to Grace Trowbridge. He died on 8 November 2023 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Elsie Castellaneta was born on 8 October 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Elsie was married to Louis Castellaneta. Elsie died on 14 January 2008 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Louis Castellaneta was born on 1 August 1915 in the USA. Louis was married to Elsie Castellaneta. Louis died on 15 August 2014 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Cal Kuniholm was born on 17 December 1948. He was an actor, known for Dark Star (1974). He died on 26 November 2008 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kelly Groucutt was born on 8 September 1945 in Coseley, Staffordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Summer Job (1989), Midnight (1988) and Kelly Groucutt: Am I A Dreamer (1983). He was married to Anna-Maria Bialaga and Carol. He died on 19 February 2009 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK.- Carina Wyeth was born in 1954 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Boon (1986), A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971) and Maybury (1981). She was married to Geoffrey M Hall and Derek Goddard. She died in March 2022 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK.
- Actor
- Writer
Mick Wall was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for ChuckleVision (1987), Bradley (1989) and Dizzy Heights Hotel (1990). He died on 18 October 2017 in Worcester, England, UK.- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
John W. Kellette was born in June 1873 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer and assistant director, known for Sweet and Lowdown (1999), J. Edgar (2011) and Green Street Hooligans (2005). He died on 7 August 1922 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.- Kimberly Rydzewski was born on 8 August 1987 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. She died on 19 December 2016 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Kenneth Higgins was born on 4 December 1904 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer, known for Strictly in the Groove (1942), Ghosts on the Loose (1943) and All-American Co-Ed (1941). He died on 10 April 1973 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Saveen was born on 27 May 1914 in Southwark, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Clairvoyant (1984), The Howerd Crowd (1952) and Call Boy (1957). He died on 14 April 1994 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England, UK.
- Art Department
- Art Director
- Stunts
Roy Wiffen was born in 1931 in Fulham, London, England, UK. Roy was an art director, known for Target of an Assassin (1977), Escape from Angola (1976) and Inyakanyaka (1977). Roy was married to Rita Lane. Roy died in 2006 in Worcester Park, Surrey, Engalnd, UK.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Constance Willis was born on 5 October 1893 in Southwark, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Mikado (1939), Plain Jane (1939) and Hansel and Gretel (1937). She died on 17 November 1940 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England, UK.- F. Oswell Jones was born on 31 December 1872 in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Night in Armour (1910). He died in 1971 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK.
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Bruce Bairnsfather was born on 9 July 1887 in Murree, Punjab, British India [now Pakistan]. He was a writer and director, known for Carry on, Sergeant! (1928), Old Bill and Son (1941) and The Better 'Ole (1926). He was married to Cecilia Agnes Bruton. He died on 29 September 1959 in Worcester, Worcestershire, England, UK.- William Francisco was born on 15 July 1933 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Symphony Sound with Henry Lewis (1974), NET Playhouse (1964) and American Heritage - The American Revolution II: The Impossible War (1972). He died on 21 November 2019 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Jonathan Rudder was born on 7 March 1973 in Belleville, Illinois, USA. Jonathan was a writer and editor, known for The Lord of the Rings Online (2007). Jonathan was married to Rebecca Blount. Jonathan died on 24 July 2023 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- Carlo Borelli was born on 3 October 1918. He was an actor, known for The Electronic Monster (1958), Never Take No for an Answer (1951) and When in Rome (1952). He died in September 1975 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.
- American novelist Esther Forbes was born in 1891 in Westborough, Massachusetts. Her family was strongly rooted in Massachusetts history, going back to colonial times, and in fact one of her ancestors--a young female--died in a jail in Cambridge in the 1600s while awaiting trial on charges of witchcraft.
She graduated from Massachusetts' Bradford Academy in 1912, and from 1914-18 attended the University of Wisconsin. After her return to Massachusetts she secured a job with the prestigious publishing house of Houghton Mifflin as a member of the editorial staff. She left the company after her 1926 marriage (which ended in divorce in 1933). She published her first novel, "O Genteel Lady", in 1926, which was--as were many of her works--about life in colonial-era Massachusetts. She published several more novels before releasing her most ambitious effort, "Paradise", in 1937, a history of colonial Massachusetts up to the King Phillip's War in 1675. In 1942 she published a well-received biography of one of the heroes of early American history, Paul Revere, entitled "Paul Revere and the World He Lived In". Her best-known novel, however, would probably be "Johnny Tremain", the story of a teenage boy who finds himself caught up in the American Revolution. It was made into a film by Walt Disney Studios, Johnny Tremain (1957), which, though criticized by some for straying too far from the book, was nevertheless very successful.