Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-8 of 8
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Britain's most iconic and prolific composer of music for TV action/adventure in the 1950's and 60's was born in Cheshire, the son of a builder. He dropped out of school to work for a gas oven manufacturer at the tender age of fourteen. Music was in his blood and jazz was a particularly strong influence. Equally adept at playing and at composing/arranging, Edwin Astley began playing clarinet and saxophone for the Royal Army Service Corps while in his teens. After World War II, he joined a dance band, before long, fronting his own orchestra. Some time later, he moved to London to join a prominent music publishing firm as arranger for singers Vera Lynn and Ann Shelton. By 1953, Astley had also started in the film business (hired by the ever budget-conscious Danziger brothers), initially as a writer of incidental music.
Popularly, he first attracted attention with his nine-note fanfare introducing The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955) (though the actual theme song was written by American Carl Sigman). This inaugurated Astley's advancement to composer of scores for A-grade feature films (The Mouse That Roared (1959), The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960), The Phantom of the Opera (1962), etc.), always preferring to work freelance, never under contract. In between writing operatic pieces and music for son et lumière performances, Astley tended to reserve his best work for television, beginning with the classic jazzy harpsichord theme for Danger Man (1960). This was followed by similarly evocative, syncopated themes for The Saint (1962), The Baron (1966), The Champions (1968) and Department S (1969) -- instantly recognizable music which all but defined television in the swinging sixties.
Britain's film industry declined in the decade which followed and Astley retired to Goring-on-Thames, a village in Oxfordshire. There, he spent his remaining years growing vegetables, building a summer house and a recording studio in his garage, boating on the Thames, playing golf and travelling. Until his death in 1998, he continued to dabble in composition, working with his son on arrangements of The Who and The Rolling Stones, as well as providing music (commissioned by such employers as Pan Am, BOAC and the British Stock Exchange) for documentaries, travelogues and educational subjects.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dorothy Donegan was born on 6 April 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Sensations of 1945 (1944), The Blues (2003) and Playboy's Penthouse (1959). She was married to Walter Eady and John T. McClain. She died on 19 May 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Kokichi Takada was born Takeichi Kaijura in 1911. he began his film career with Shochiku Co. in 1926 and became a leading star in the mid-1930s. He oftend starred in historical films. Takada performed with a travelling trouope in post-war Japan before returning to the screen in 1954. He died in Kyoto of pneumonia at the age of 86 on May 19, 1998.
- Production Manager
- Producer
Louis Wipf was born on 4 August 1910 in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. He was a production manager and producer, known for The Wages of Fear (1953), French Cancan (1955) and Remorques (1941). He died on 19 May 1998 in Goussonville, Île-de-France, France.- Actor
- Sound Department
Amedeo Timpani was born on 28 April 1926 in Rome, Italy. He was an actor, known for SS Experiment Love Camp (1976), Crazy Desires of a Murderer (1977) and Women's Camp 119 (1977). He died on 19 May 1998 in Rome, Italy.- Wilfred X was born on 12 February 1920 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Ruth. He died on 19 May 1998 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
- Hank Earl Carr was born on 31 January 1968 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He died on 19 May 1998 in Hernando County, Florida, USA.
- Born Okada Matsue in Gunma Prefecture Japan she turned to documentary film making upon attending a meeting of the Proletarian Film League of Japan a.k.a. Prokino. A life-long supporter of leftist causes and resister to military she had to adopt an alias in order to hide her identity from the Japanese police and government, which were censoring dissent. She worked on documentaries on militarism, conversion of civilian factories to military ones and focused on feminist issues. She published her autobiography, called Memoirs Of A Female Documentary Maker (Josei Dokymenterisuto) in 1991.