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Spanish postcard by Archivo Bermejo, no. C-124, presented by Kores Carboplan. Photo: Warner Bros. Publicity still for the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962). The Spanish title was Rompeolas 6.
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor, no. 299.
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Spanish postcard by CyA, no. 56. Photo: Warner Bros. Diane McBain and Chad Everett in Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961).
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Bournemouth Aviation Meeting, Southbourne Aerodrome, 6th-16th July, 1910.
Claude Grahame White was born at The Towers (Bursledon Towers), Hampshire, on 21st August 1879, the second son and the youngest of the three children of John Reginald White, a cement merchant and keen yachtsman who later took the name Grahame-White, and his wife, Ada Beatrice, the daughter of Frederick Chinnock, a property agent, of London and Dinorbin Court, Hampshire.
The 1881 census shows them living at The Towers, Hound, Hants: John (Head, 33, b.Southampton, living on income from houses); his wife Ada B. (wife, 26, b.London); and their children Beatrice (4, b.Southampton), Montague (3, b.Hound), and Claud (1, b.Hound); with four servants.
Claude's education began as a day boy at Crondall House School, Farnham, until the family moved to London.
The 1891 census shows all the children with the initial G (for Grahame) added before their surname, the family living with Ada's widowed mother, Ellen Chinnock (72, b.Berkshire), at 63 Linden Gardens, Kensington: son-in-law John White (cement merchant); his wife, Ada Beatrice, and their children Beatrice Ely G, Montague R G, and Claude G; plus one domestic servant.
From there Claude continued his education at Bedford Grammar School. He built his own bicycle, became very enthusiatic about motor cars, and in 1895 (aged 16), began an apprenticeship as an engineer. In 1897 he became one of the founder members of Frederick Simms’s Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland and, the next year, went to work for his uncle, Francis Willey, a Yorkshire wool magnate at the Shipley Wool Combing Company. The engineering side of the business interested him and he persuaded his uncle to replace the firm's horse-drawn vans with motor lorries. He then formed his own company in Bradford, the Yorkshire Motor Vehicle Company, in competition with the steam trams but the business failed due to a lack of skilled drivers. The 1901 census shows the single Claude G. White boarding at 14 Hanover Square, Bradford, described as Manager, Motor Works. In the census for Brighton his father has assumed the name John Graham White (without the 'e' or hyphen).
He spent some time in London and Monte Carlo before meeting the wealthy land-owner George Wilder and his wife, owners of Stansted Park in Sussex. They paid Claude to buy new cars on their behalf and teach them how to drive. Claude became agent for their estate, a position he held for three years before making a nine-month visit to South Africa, during which he hunted big game.
On his return he set up a motor-car dealership at 1 Albemarle Street, London, and traded as C. Grahame-White and Co., whilst living at 166 Piccadilly.
Aviation was in its infancy in the early years of the 20th century. Claude had his own balloon but he disliked being at the mercy of the elements, and soon his attention turned to heavier-than-air flight. He was a member of both the Aéro-Club de France and the Aero Club of Great Britain, and in 1908 he travelled to France to see Wilbur Wright fly. Inspired by Louis Blériot's crossing of the English Channel in 1909, he attended the Reims aviation meeting, at which he met Blériot and subsequently enrolled at his flying school becoming one of the first Englishmen to qualify as a pilot. He ordered an aircraft for himself and spent eight weeks at Blériot’s factory helping to build a new Type XII.
On 4th January, 1910, he became the first Englishman to receive a pilot's certificate from the Aero Club de France (Certificate no. 30). He went on to establish a flying school at Pau, before transferring it to England where, on 26th April, when he was awarded the Royal Aero Club Certificate No. 6. He became a celebrity in England that month when he competed with the French pilot Louis Paulhan for the £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail newspaper for the first flight between London and Manchester in under 24 hours. Although Paulhan won the prize, Grahame White's achievement was widely praised being the first aviator to make a night flight.
On 2nd July 1910, in his Farman biplane, he won the £1,000 first prize for Aggregate Duration in Flight (1 hr 23 min 20 secs) at the Midlands Aviation Meeting at Wolverhampton. Disappointed to learn that aviation was not included in the Fleet Review of July. 1910. To prove a point he took his Farman biplane to the coast and flew low over the fleet, performing lots of aerial manoeuvres. At a meeting in Blackpool, Claude demonstrated the potential use of the aeroplane for military reconnaissance and dispatch carrying, at one point taking up a photographer who captured images of ‘enemy positions’
This sparked his first trip to America where he won the Gordon Bennett Aviation Cup race in Belmont Park, Long Island, New York, for which he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club. He followed this up on 4th October, while in Washington, D.C. by flying his Farman biplane over the city and landing on Executive Avenue near the White House before meeting President Taft. Far from being arrested Claude was congratulated for the feat by the newspapers. During three months spent in the USA he earned $250,000 in prize money and exhibition fees. This undoubtedly helped to promote his commercial achievements in aeronautics and he soon became immersed in promoting the military application of air power (as Europe teetered on the brink of war) with a campaign called "Wake Up Britain". He also experimented with fitting various weapons and bombs to planes and was later credited with mounted the first aerial defence of a city when he flew the first night patrol mission against an expected German raid on 5th September, 1914.
In the 1911 census the single Claude Grahame-White (Engineer in Aerial Engineering, an Employer of 2) is living at 73 St. James' Street, London; and signs with a hyphenated surname.
During 1911 he leased 207 acres of land at Hendon and created an oval airfield two miles in circumference with associated hangars, workshops and an office block and established a flying school, which quickly became Hendon Aerodrome. He formed the Grahame-White Aviation Company to cover his aviation interests, including the aerodromes and developed some aircraft. One of the designers was John Dudley North who would become Boulton and Paul's chief designer.
A regular contributor to The Aeroplane monthly magazine, and other publications, he also wrote at least fifteen books on flying and aeronautics in the military and commercial fields between 1911 and 1930.
War was brewing in Europe and in April 1912 the War Office announced the creation of a Royal Flying Corps. Claude immediately volunteered but was turned down on account of his civilian status. In May 1912 the Royal Flying Corps came into being, and at a Royal Review of the Home Fleet in Weymouth Bay naval pilots performed a display of their flying skills. Claude and a fellow pilot from Hendon then took to the air, performing manoeuvres which included taking a photograph of the upper decks of the dreadnought Neptune from a height of about 500 feet – that same photograph appeared on the front page of the next days’ Daily Mirror. Again Claude was pushing the importance of the aeroplane and the potential value of photography from the air.
On 27th June, 1912, Grahame-White married Dorothy Caldwell Taylor, the wealthy socialite daughter of Bertrand Le Roy Taylor of New York, at Chelmsford. After his marriage he continued to work tirelessly, embarking upon his ‘Wake Up England’ tour aimed at raising the profile of the aeroplane and convincing the public of its value. Claude and his pilots visited 121 towns, gave over 500 exhibition flights and took up approximately 1,200 passengers. In 1912 Grahame-White gave H.G. Wells his first flight.
At the outbreak of war in 1914 Claude was commissioned as a Flight-Commander in the Royal Naval Air Service, and Hendon Aerodrome and the hangars, workshops and aircraft of the Grahame-White Aviation Company were requisitioned under the Defence of the Realm Act, becoming a station of the RNAS. On the night of the 5th/6th September 1914 Claude and Richard Gates made the first night patrol over London in response to the threat of bombing from German airships, and in February 1915 he took part in a mass air raid on the German-held ports of the Belgian coast. In appalling flying conditions he was forced to ditch into the sea five miles off the Belgian coast and was eventually picked up by a French minesweeper. On returning to England he heard conflicting reports that he had drowned in the Channel or been shot as a spy in the Tower of London.
Claude resigned his commission in June 1915 and focused his efforts on aircraft production, expanding his factory and employing more staff. He encountered many problems along the way: checks were made by Naval personnel rather than aircraft specialists leading to the rejection of perfectly sound components; unsuitable materials were supplied; he had to borrow money from his uncle to finance the expansion of his factory; and in December 1916 he and Dorothy were divorced. Just before Christmas 1916 he married Ethel Levy, a friend of Dorothy’s whom Claude had known for some time. The cumulative effect of years of relentless hard work and successive frustrations contributed to a nervous breakdown in December 1917, and a period of six weeks spent in hospital.
The summer of 1918 saw several government contracts changed and/or cancelled, and following the Armistice of November 1918 all outstanding contracts were suspended or cancelled pending a decision on the future of the Royal Air Force. This was extremely costly and frustrating for Claude who had claims of over £400,000 lodged with the Treasury. Out of necessity, Claude returned to automobile engineering to keep the factory going. One of his hangars became an auction house for war-surplus vehicles, and he turned his wood-working department to furniture production. In this way he was able to keep his factory fully operational and all of his staff in employment.
Despite his financial difficulties and the challenging post-war situation, Claude had the drive and somehow the capital to help found a new company, Aerofilms Ltd, which was registered on the 9th May 1919. His contribution to the venture was to provide £3,000 and premises at Hendon.
The London Flying Club at Hendon opened its doors on the 1st July 1919, but it was a flying club without an airfield as that was still in the hands of the government. During a visit to the USA Claude heard that without notice the Treasury had appointed a Receiver to his company, taken possession of his factory and discharged his employees. A lengthy legal battle ensued; after four and a half years Claude had had enough and planned to publish his view of the affair on the front page of the Daily Mail. The government caved in, Claude got his money and decided to leave aviation behind him. His post-Hendon life involved extensive travel, often aboard his private yacht Ethleen, and time spent living abroad. In 1925 he became agent for Baby Gar speed boats, an American company, he wrote several books on aviation with Harry Harper, and branched out into property and real-estate investment, for example making £100,000 on the sale of the site of Victoria Coach Station in London. His marriage to Ethel came to an end, and in November 1939 he married another American, Miss Phoebe Lee of New York. They spent the war together at Cowes on the Isle of Wight and later at Rossmore Court, a Grahame-White development next to Regent’s Park in London. Claude’s only role during the Second World War was as a fire-watcher during the air raids.
Claude died at 33 Avenue Maeterlinck in Nice on the 19th August, 1959, just two days before his 80th birthday, leaving £248,708. 17s. 6d.
Hendon Aerodrome later became RAF Hendon but, after flying ceased there in the 1960s, it was largely redeveloped as a housing estate which was named Grahame Park. An original World War I Grahame-White aircraft factory hangar was relocated a few years ago to the RAF Museum, where it houses the museum's World War I collection and is named the Grahame-White Factory.
Stanford Photo, Boscombe, Bournemouth.
Postally unused (1910).
Spanish postcard by CyA, no. 67. Photo: Warner Bros. Diane McBain, Chad Everett and Will Hutchins in Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961).
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Spanish postcard by Postal Oscarcolor, no. 365.
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in Par, Cornwall using a 1d. stamp on Monday the 25th. August 1930. It was sent to:
C. F. Baker Esq.,
'Hedgerow',
Russell Grove,
Westbury Park,
Bristol.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Sunday.
35, Par Green,
Par, Cornwall.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Baker,
This is as quiet a place as
anyone could wish for - a
beautiful little bay & nice
sands.
We have the use of a hut
on the beach.
The Westermans wanted
me to preach, but I fear I
could not have stood in my
own pulpit today.
We have been thinking of
you all, and hope you are
having a good day.
Love to all from both,
S & B."
Kingswear
Kingswear is a village in the South Hams area of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth, and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and has a population of 1,332.
Kingswear is noted for being the railhead for Dartmouth, a role continued to this day by the presence of the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway in the village. Two vehicle ferries and one pedestrian ferry provide links to Dartmouth.
The village itself contains several small tourist-oriented shops and public houses, and is home to the Royal Dart Yacht Club. Kingswear Castle, a privately owned 15th. century artillery tower, is situated on the outskirts.
Kingswear also contains the Church of St. Thomas, which is a member of the Anglican Diocese of Exeter and whose patron saint is Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
Sir Sean Connery
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 25th. August 1930 marked the birth in Edinburgh of Sean Connery.
Sir Sean Connery, who was born Thomas Sean Connery, was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.
Originating the role in Dr. No, Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions' entries, and made his final Bond appearance in the non-Eon-produced Never Say Never Again.
If non-Eon-produced Bond movies are included, Connery shares the record for the most portrayals as James Bond with Roger Moore (with seven apiece).
Following Sean's third appearance as Bond in Goldfinger (1964), in June 1965, Time magazine observed:
"James Bond has developed into the
biggest mass-cult hero of the decade".
Connery began acting in smaller theatre and television productions until his break-out role as Bond. Although he did not enjoy the off-screen attention the role gave him, the success of the Bond films brought Connery offers from notable directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston.
Their films in which Connery appeared included Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
He also appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), Finding Forrester (2000), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
Connery officially retired from acting in 2006, although he briefly returned for voice-over roles in 2012.
His achievements in film were recognised with an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (including the BAFTA Fellowship), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award.
In 1987, Sean was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, and he received the US Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
Sean Connery - The Early Years
Thomas Connery was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was named after his paternal grandfather.
He was brought up at No. 176 Fountainbridge, a block which has since been demolished. His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" McLean, was a cleaning woman. Connery's father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver.
His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. Connery had a younger brother Neil, and was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy".
Although Sean was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) at 18. Connery was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and he said that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14.
He had an Irish childhood friend named Séamus; when the two were together, those who knew them both called Connery by his middle name Sean, emphasising the alliteration of the two names. Since then Connery preferred to use his middle name.
Connery's first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. In 2009, Connery recalled a conversation in a taxi:
"When I took a taxi during a recent Edinburgh
Film Festival, the driver was amazed that I
could put a name to every street we passed.
"How come?" he asked. "As a boy I used to
deliver milk round here", I said. "So what do
you do now?" That was rather harder to
answer."
In 1946, at the age of 16, Connery joined the Royal Navy, during which time he acquired two tattoos. Connery's official website says:
"Unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous –
his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong
commitments: his family and Scotland. One
tattoo is a tribute to his parents, and reads
'Mum and Dad', and the other is self-explanatory,
'Scotland Forever'".
Sean trained in Portsmouth at the naval gunnery school and in an anti-aircraft crew. He was later assigned as an Able Seaman on HMS Formidable.
Connery was discharged from the navy at the age of 19 on medical grounds because of a duodenal ulcer, a condition that affected most of the males in previous generations of his family.
Afterwards, he returned to the Co-op and worked as a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, a labourer, an artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, and after a suggestion by former Mr. Scotland Archie Brennan, as a coffin polisher, among other jobs.
The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour. Artist Richard Demarco, at the time a student who painted several early pictures of Connery, described him as:
"Very straight, slightly shy, too,
too beautiful for words, a virtual
Adonis".
Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, a former gym instructor in the British Army. While his official website states he was third in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest, most sources place him in the 1953 competition, either third in the Junior class or failing to place in the Tall Man classification.
Connery said that he was soon deterred from bodybuilding when he found that Americans frequently beat him in competitions because of sheer muscle size and, unlike Connery, refused to participate in athletic activity which could make them lose muscle mass.
Connery was a keen footballer, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose in his younger days. He was offered a trial with East Fife.
While on tour with South Pacific, Connery played in a football match against a local team that Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby was impressed with Sean's physical prowess, and offered Connery a contract worth £25 a week (equivalent to £743 in 2021) immediately after the game. Connery said he was tempted to accept, but he recalls,
"I realised that a top-class footballer could
be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was
already 23. I decided to become an actor,
and it turned out to be one of my more
intelligent moves".
Sean Connery's Acting Career
(a) Pre-James Bond
Seeking to supplement his income, Connery helped out backstage at the King's Theatre in late 1951. During a bodybuilding competition held in London in 1953, one of the competitors mentioned that auditions were being held for a production of South Pacific, and Connery landed a small part as one of the Seabees chorus boys.
By the time the production reached Edinburgh, he had been given the part of Marine Cpl. Hamilton Steeves, and was understudying two of the juvenile leads, and his salary was raised from £12 to £14–10s a week.
The production returned the following year, out of popular demand, and Connery was promoted to the featured role of Lieutenant Buzz Adams, which Larry Hagman had portrayed in the West End.
While in Edinburgh, Connery was targeted by the Valdor gang, one of the most violent in the city. He was first approached by them in a billiard hall where he prevented them from stealing his jacket and was later followed by six gang members to a 15-foot-high (4.6 m) balcony at the Palais de Danse.
There, Connery singlehandedly launched an attack against the gang members, grabbing one by the throat and another by the biceps and cracking their heads together. From then on, he was treated with great respect by the gang and gained a reputation as a "hard man".
Connery first met Michael Caine at a party during the production of South Pacific in 1954, and the two later became close friends. During this production at the Opera House, Manchester, over the Christmas period of 1954, Connery developed a serious interest in the theatre through American actor Robert Henderson, who lent him copies of the Ibsen works Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, and When We Dead Awaken, and later listed works by the likes of Proust, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Bernard Shaw, Joyce, and Shakespeare for him to digest.
Henderson urged Sean to take elocution lessons, and got him parts at the Maida Vale Theatre in London. He had already begun a film career, having been an extra in Herbert Wilcox's 1954 musical Lilacs in the Spring alongside Errol Flynn and Anna Neagle.
Although Connery had secured several roles as an extra, he was struggling to make ends meet, and was forced to accept a part-time job as a babysitter for journalist Peter Noble and his actress wife Marianne, which earned him 10 shillings a night.
One night at Noble's house Sean met Hollywood actress Shelley Winters, who described Connery as:
"One of the tallest and most charming
and masculine Scotsmen I have ever
seen."
Shelley later spent many evenings with the Connery brothers drinking beer. Around this time, Connery was residing at TV presenter Llew Gardner's house.
Henderson landed Connery a role in a £6 a week Q Theatre production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, during which he met and became friends with fellow Scot Ian Bannen.
This role was followed by Point of Departure and A Witch in Time at Kew, a role as Pentheus opposite Yvonne Mitchell in The Bacchae at the Oxford Playhouse, and a role opposite Jill Bennett in Eugene O'Neill's play Anna Christie.
During his time at the Oxford Theatre, Connery won a brief part as a boxer in the TV series The Square Ring, before being spotted by Canadian director Alvin Rakoff, who gave him multiple roles in The Condemned, shot on location in Dover in Kent.
In 1956, Connery appeared in the theatrical production of Epitaph, and played a minor role as a hoodlum in the "Ladies of the Manor" episode of the BBC Television police series Dixon of Dock Green.
This was followed by small television parts in Sailor of Fortune and The Jack Benny Program (in a special episode filmed in Europe).
In early 1957, Connery hired agent Richard Hatton, who got him his first film role, as Spike, a minor gangster with a speech impediment in Montgomery Tully's No Road Back.
In April 1957, Rakoff – after being disappointed by Jack Palance – decided to give the young actor his first chance in a leading role, and cast Connery as Mountain McLintock in BBC Television's production of Requiem for a Heavyweight, which also starred Warren Mitchell and Jacqueline Hill.
Sean then played a rogue lorry driver, Johnny Yates, in Cy Endfield's Hell Drivers (1957) alongside Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, and Patrick McGoohan.
Later in 1957, Connery appeared in Terence Young's poorly received MGM action picture Action of the Tiger; the film was shot on location in southern Spain.
He also had a minor role in Gerald Thomas's thriller Time Lock (1957) as a welder, appearing alongside Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson, Betty McDowall, and Vincent Winter. This commenced filming on the 1st. December 1956 at Beaconsfield Studios.
Connery had a major role in the melodrama Another Time, Another Place (1958) as a British reporter named Mark Trevor, caught in a love affair opposite Lana Turner and Barry Sullivan.
During filming, Turner's possessive gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, who was visiting from Los Angeles, believed she was having an affair with Connery. Connery and Turner had attended West End shows and London restaurants together.
Stompanato stormed onto the film set and pointed a gun at Connery, only to have Connery disarm him and knock him flat on his back. Stompanato was banned from the set. Two Scotland Yard detectives advised Stompanato to leave and escorted him to the airport, where he boarded a plane back to the United States.
Connery later recounted that he had to lay low for a while after receiving threats from men linked to Stompanato's boss, Mickey Cohen.
In 1959, Connery landed a leading role in director Robert Stevenson's Walt Disney Productions film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). The film is a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns.
Upon the film's initial release, A. H. Weiler of The New York Times praised the cast (save Connery whom he described as "merely tall, dark, and handsome") and thought the film:
"An overpoweringly charming concoction
of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and
romance."
Sean also had prominent television roles in Rudolph Cartier's 1961 productions of Adventure Story and Anna Karenina for BBC Television, co-starring with Claire Bloom in the latter.
Also in 1961 he portrayed the title role in a CBC television film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth with Australian actress Zoe Caldwell cast as Lady Macbeth.
(b) James Bond: 1962–1971, 1983
Connery's breakthrough came in the role of British secret agent James Bond. He was reluctant to commit to a film series, but understood that if the films succeeded, his career would greatly benefit.
Between 1962 and 1967, Connery played 007 in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice, the first five Bond films produced by Eon Productions.
After departing from the role, Connery returned for the seventh film, Diamonds Are Forever, in 1971. Connery made his final appearance as Bond in Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of Thunderball produced by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm.
All seven films were commercially successful. James Bond, as portrayed by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute.
Connery's selection for the role of James Bond owed a lot to Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who is reputed to have been instrumental in persuading her husband that Connery was the right man.
James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, originally doubted Connery's casting, saying:
"He's not what I envisioned of James
Bond looks. I'm looking for Commander
Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man."
He added that Connery (muscular, 6' 2", and a Scot) was unrefined. However Fleming's girlfriend Blanche Blackwell told Fleming that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma, and Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No première.
He was so impressed, he wrote Connery's heritage into the character. In his 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, Fleming wrote that Bond's father was Scottish and from Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.
Connery's portrayal of Bond owes much to stylistic tutelage from director Terence Young, who helped polish him while using his physical grace and presence for the action.
Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny, related that:
"Terence took Sean under his wing.
He took him to dinner, showed him
how to walk, how to talk, even how
to eat".
The tutoring was successful; Connery received thousands of fan letters a week after Dr. No's opening, and he became a major sex symbol in film.
Following the release of the film Dr. No in 1962, the line "Bond ... James Bond", became a catch phrase in the lexicon of Western popular culture. Film critic Peter Bradshaw writes:
"It is the most famous self-introduction
from any character in movie history.
Three cool monosyllables, surname first,
a little curtly, as befits a former naval
commander.
And then, as if in afterthought, the first
name, followed by the surname again.
Connery carried it off with icily disdainful
style, in full evening dress with a cigarette
hanging from his lips.
The introduction was a kind of challenge,
or seduction, invariably addressed to an
enemy.
In the early 60's, Connery's James Bond
was about as dangerous and sexy as it
got on screen."
During the filming of Thunderball in 1965, Connery's life was in danger in the sequence with the sharks in Emilio Largo's pool. He had been concerned about this threat when he read the script.
Connery insisted that Ken Adam build a special Plexiglas partition inside the pool, but this was not a fixed structure, and one of the sharks managed to pass through it. He had to abandon the pool immediately.
(c) Post-James Bond
Although Bond had made him a star, Connery grew tired of the role and the pressure the franchise put on him, saying:
"I am fed up to here with the whole
Bond bit. I have always hated that
damned James Bond. I'd like to kill
him."
Michael Caine said of the situation:
"If you were his friend in these early
days you didn't raise the subject of
Bond. He was, and is, a much better
actor than just playing James Bond,
but he became synonymous with
Bond. He'd be walking down the
street and people would say,
'Look, there's James Bond'.
That was particularly upsetting
to him."
While making the Bond films, Connery also starred in other films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and Sidney Lumet's The Hill (1965), which film critic Peter Bradshaw regards as his two great non-Bond pictures from the 1960's.
In Marnie, Connery starred opposite Tippi Hedren. Connery had said he wanted to work with Hitchcock, which Eon arranged through their contacts. Connery shocked many people at the time by asking to see a script, something he did because he was worried about being typecast as a spy, and he did not want to do a variation of North by Northwest or Notorious.
When told by Hitchcock's agent that Cary Grant had not asked to see even one of Hitchcock's scripts, Connery replied:
"I'm not Cary Grant."
Hitchcock and Connery got on well during filming, and Connery said he was happy with the film "with certain reservations".
In The Hill, Connery wanted to act in something that wasn't Bond related, and he used his leverage as a star to feature in it. While the film wasn't a financial success, it was a critical one, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival and winning Best Screenplay.
The first of five films he made with Lumet, Connery considered him to be one of his favourite directors. The respect was mutual, with Lumet saying of Connery's performance in The Hill:
"The thing that was apparent to me –
and to most directors – was how much
talent and ability it takes to play that
kind of character who is based on charm
and magnetism.
It's the equivalent of high comedy, and
he did it brilliantly."
In the mid-1960's, Connery played golf with Scottish industrialist Iain Maxwell Stewart, a connection which led to Connery directing and presenting the documentary film The Bowler and the Bunnet in 1967.
The film described the Fairfield Experiment, a new approach to industrial relations carried out at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow, during the 1960s; the experiment was initiated by Stewart and supported by George Brown, the First Secretary in Harold Wilson's cabinet, in 1966.
The company was facing closure, and Brown agreed to provide £1 million (£13.135 million; US$15.55 million in 2021 terms) to enable trade unions, the management and the shareholders to try out new ways of industrial management.
Having played Bond six times, Connery's global popularity was such that he shared a Golden Globe Henrietta Award with Charles Bronson for "World Film Favorite – Male" in 1972.
He appeared in John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975) opposite Michael Caine. Playing two former British soldiers who set themselves up as kings in Kafiristan, both actors regarded it as their favourite film.
The same year, Sean appeared in The Wind and the Lion opposite Candice Bergen who played Eden Perdicaris (based on the real-life Perdicaris incident), and in 1976 played Robin Hood in Robin and Marian opposite Audrey Hepburn.
Film critic Roger Ebert, who had praised the double act of Connery and Caine in The Man Who Would Be King, praised Connery's chemistry with Hepburn, writing:
"Connery and Hepburn seem to have
arrived at a tacit understanding
between themselves about their
characters. They glow. They really
do seem in love."
During the 1970's, Connery was part of ensemble casts in films such as Murder on the Orient Express (1974) with Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud, and played a British Army general in Richard Attenborough's war film A Bridge Too Far (1977), co-starring with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Olivier.
In 1974, he starred in John Boorman's sci-fi thriller Zardoz. Often called one of the weirdest and worst movies ever made, it featured Connery in a scarlet mankini – a revealing costume which generated much controversy for its unBond-like appearance.
Despite being panned by critics at the time, the film has developed a cult following since its release. In the audio commentary to the film, Boorman relates how Connery would write poetry in his free time, describing him as:
"A man of great depth and intelligence,
as well as possessing the most
extraordinary memory."
In 1981, Connery appeared in the film Time Bandits as Agamemnon. The casting choice derives from a joke Michael Palin included in the script, which describes the character's removing his mask and being:
"Sean Connery – or someone
of equal but cheaper stature".
When shown the script, Connery was happy to play the supporting role.
In 1981 he portrayed Marshal William T. O'Niel in the science fiction thriller Outland. In 1982, Connery narrated G'olé!, the official film of the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
That same year, he was offered the role of Daddy Warbucks in Annie, going as far as taking voice lessons for the John Huston musical before turning down the part.
Connery agreed to reprise Bond as an ageing agent 007 in Never Say Never Again, released in October 1983. The title, contributed by his wife, refers to his earlier statement that he would "never again" return to the role.
Although the film performed well at the box office, it was plagued with production problems: strife between the director and producer, financial problems, the Fleming estate trustees' attempts to halt the film, and Connery's wrist being broken by the fight choreographer, Steven Seagal.
As a result of his negative experiences during filming, Connery became unhappy with the major studios, and did not make any films for two years. Following the successful European production The Name of the Rose (1986), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Connery's interest in more commercial material was revived.
That same year, a supporting role in Highlander showcased his ability to play older mentors to younger leads, which became a recurring role in many of his later films.
In 1987, Connery starred in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables, where he played a hard-nosed Irish-American cop alongside Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness. The film also starred Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro as Al Capone.
The film was a critical and box-office success. Many critics praised Connery for his performance, including Roger Ebert, who wrote:
"The best performance in the movie
is Connery. He brings a human element
to his character; he seems to have had
an existence apart from the legend of
the Untouchables, and when he's
onscreen we can believe, briefly, that
the Prohibition Era was inhabited by
people, not caricatures."
For his performance, Connery received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Connery starred in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), playing Henry Jones Sr., the title character's father, and received BAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominations. Harrison Ford said Connery's contributions at the writing stage enhanced the film:
"It was amazing for me in how far he got
into the script and went after exploiting
opportunities for character.
His suggestions to George Lucas at the
writing stage really gave the character
and the picture a lot more complexity
and value than it had in the original
screenplay.
Sean's subsequent box-office hits included The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Russia House (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999). In 1996, he voiced the role of Draco the dragon in the film Dragonheart.
He also appeared in a brief cameo as King Richard the Lionheart at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). In 1998, Connery received the BAFTA Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Connery's later films included several box-office and critical disappointments such as First Knight (1995), Just Cause (1995), The Avengers (1998), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
The failure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was especially frustrating for Connery. He sensed during shooting that the production was "going off the rails", and announced that the director, Stephen Norrington should be "locked up for insanity".
Connery spent considerable effort in trying to salvage the film through the editing process, ultimately deciding to retire from acting rather than go through such stress ever again.
However, he received positive reviews for his performance in Finding Forrester (2000). He also received a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.
In a 2003 UK poll conducted by Channel 4, Connery was ranked eighth on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars.
Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings films, saying he did not understand the script. He was reportedly offered US$30 million along with 15% of the worldwide box office receipts, which would have earned him US$450 million.
He also turned down the opportunity to appear as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series and the Architect in The Matrix trilogy.
In 2005, he recorded voiceovers for the From Russia with Love video game with recording producer Terry Manning in the Bahamas, and provided his likeness. Connery said he was happy the producers, Electronic Arts, had approached him to voice Bond.
(d) Retirement
When Connery received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on the 8th. June 2006, he confirmed his retirement from acting.
Connery's disillusionment with the "idiots now making films in Hollywood" was cited as a reason for his decision to retire.
On the 7th. June 2007, he denied rumours that he would appear in the fourth Indiana Jones film, saying:
"Retirement is just too
much damned fun."
In 2010, a bronze bust sculpture of Connery was placed in Tallinn, Estonia, outside The Scottish Club, whose membership includes Estonian Scotophiles and a handful of expatriate Scots.
In 2012, Connery briefly came out of retirement to voice the title character in the Scottish animated film Sir Billi. Connery served as executive producer for an expanded 80-minute version.
Sean Connery's Personal Life
During the production of South Pacific in the mid-1950's, Connery dated a Jewish "dark-haired beauty with a ballerina's figure", Carol Sopel, but was warned off by her family.
He then dated Julie Hamilton, daughter of documentary filmmaker and feminist Jill Craigie. Given Connery's rugged appearance and rough charm, Hamilton initially thought he was an appalling person and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, declaring him to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.
He also shared a mutual attraction with jazz singer Maxine Daniels, whom he met whilst working in theatre. He made a pass at her, but she told him she was already happily married with a daughter.
Connery was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1974, though they separated in 1971. They had a son, actor Jason Joseph. Connery was separated in the early 1970's when he dated Dyan Cannon, Jill St. John, Lana Wood, Carole Mallory, and Magda Konopka.
In her 2006 autobiography, Cilento alleged that he had abused her mentally and physically during their relationship. Connery cancelled an appearance at the Scottish Parliament in 2006 because of controversy over his alleged support of abuse of women.
He denied claims that he told Playboy magazine in 1965:
"I don't think there is anything
particularly wrong in hitting a
woman, though I don't
recommend you do it in the
same way you hit a man".
He was also reported to have stated to Vanity Fair in 1993:
"There are women who take it
to the wire. That's what they are
looking for, the ultimate
confrontation. They want a smack."
In 2006, Connery told The Times of London:
"I don't believe that any level of
abuse of women is ever justified
under any circumstances. Full stop".
When knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 he wore a green-and-black hunting tartan kilt of his mother's MacLean clan.
Connery was married to French-Moroccan painter Micheline Roquebrune (born 4th. April 1929) from 1975 until his death. The marriage survived a well-documented affair Connery had in the late 1980's with the singer and songwriter Lynsey de Paul, which she later regretted due to his views concerning domestic violence.
Connery owned the Domaine de Terre Blanche in the South of France from 1979. He sold it to German billionaire Dietmar Hopp in 1999.
He was awarded an honorary rank of Shodan (1st. dan) in Kyokushin karate.
Connery relocated to the Bahamas in the 1990's; he owned a mansion in Lyford Cay on New Providence.
Connery had a villa in Kranidi, Greece. His neighbour was King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, with whom he shared a helicopter platform.
Growing up, Connery supported the Scottish football club Celtic F.C., having been introduced to the club by his father who was a lifelong fan of the team.
Later in life, Connery switched his loyalty to Celtic's bitter rival, Rangers F.C., after he became close friends with the team's chairman, David Murray.
Sean was a keen golfer, and English professional golfer Peter Alliss gave Connery golf lessons before the filming of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, which involved a scene where Connery, as Bond, played golf against gold magnate Auric Goldfinger at Stoke Park Golf Club in Buckinghamshire.
The golf scene saw him wear a Slazenger v-neck sweater, a brand which Connery became associated with while playing golf in his free time, with a light grey marl being a favoured colour.
Record major championship winner and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus said:
"He loved the game of golf – Sean
was a pretty darn good golfer! –
and we played together several
times.
In May 1993, Sean and legendary
driver Jackie Stewart helped me
open our design of the PGA
Centenary Course at Gleneagles
in Scotland."
Sean Connery's Political Views
Connery's Scottish roots and his experiences in filming in Glasgow's shipyards in 1966 inspired him to become a member of the centre-left Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
In 2011, Connery said:
"The Bowler and the Bunnet was just
the beginning of a journey that would
lead to my long association with the
Scottish National Party."
Connery supported the party both financially and through personal appearances. In 1967, he wrote to George Leslie, the SNP candidate in the 1967 Glasgow Pollok by-election, saying:
"I am convinced that with our resources
and skills we are more than capable of
building a prosperous, vigorous and
modern self-governing Scotland in which
we can all take pride and which will
deserve the respect of other nations."
His funding of the SNP ceased in 2001, when the UK Parliament passed legislation prohibiting overseas funding of political activities in the United Kingdom.
Dean Connery's Tax Status
In response to accusations that he was a tax exile, Connery released documents in 2003 showing he had paid £3.7 million in UK taxes between 1997 and 1998 and between 2002 and 2003. Critics pointed out that had he been continuously residing in the UK for tax purposes, his tax rate would have been far higher.
In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Connery's brother Neil said that Connery would not come to Scotland to rally independence supporters, since his tax exile status greatly limited the number of days he could spend in the country.
After Connery sold his Marbella villa in 1999, Spanish authorities launched a tax evasion investigation, alleging that the Spanish treasury had been defrauded of £5.5 million.
Connery was subsequently cleared by officials, but his wife and 16 others were charged with attempting to defraud the Spanish treasury.
The Death and Legacy of Sean Connery
Connery died in his sleep on the 31st. October 2020, aged 90, at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau in the Bahamas. His death was announced by his family and Eon Productions; although they did not disclose the cause of death, his son Jason said he had been unwell for some time.
A day later, Roquebrune revealed he had suffered from dementia in his final years. Connery's death certificate recorded the cause of death as pneumonia and respiratory failure, and the time of death was listed as 1:30 am.
Sean's remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in Scotland at undisclosed locations in 2022.
Following the announcement of his death, many co-stars and figures from the entertainment industry paid tribute to Connery, including Sam Neill, Nicolas Cage, Robert De Niro, Michael Bay, Tippi Hedren, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, George Lucas, Shirley Bassey, Kevin Costner, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Tributes also came from Barbra Streisand, John Cleese, Jane Seymour and Harrison Ford, as well as former Bond stars George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, the family of late former Bond actor Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig, who played 007 until No Time to Die.
Connery's long-time friend Michael Caine called him:
"A great star, brilliant actor
and a wonderful friend".
James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli released a statement saying that:
"Connery has revolutionized the world
with his gritty and witty portrayal of the
sexy and charismatic secret agent.
He is undoubtedly largely responsible
for the success of the film series, and
we shall be forever grateful to him".
In 2004, a poll in the UK Sunday Herald recognised Connery as "The Greatest Living Scot," and a 2011 EuroMillions survey named him "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure".
He was voted by People magazine as the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century" in 1999.
Final Thoughts From Sir Sean Connery
"I am not an Englishman, I was never an
Englishman, and I don't ever want to be
one. I am a Scotsman! I was a Scotsman,
and I will always be one."
"I admit I'm being paid well, but it's no more
than I deserve. After all, I've been screwed
more times than a hooker."
"Love may not make the world go round,
but I must admit that it makes the ride
worthwhile."
"There is nothing like a challenge
to bring out the best in man."
"I like women. I don't understand
them, but I like them."
"Some age, others mature."
"I met my wife through playing golf. She is
French and couldn't speak English, and I
couldn't speak French, so there was little
chance of us getting involved in any boring
conversations - that's why we got married
really quickly."
"Everything I have done or attempted to do
for Scotland has always been for her benefit,
never my own, and I defy anyone to prove
otherwise."
"The knighthood I received was a fantastic
honor but it's not something I've ever used,
and I don't think I ever will."
"I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs."
"More than anything else, I'd like to be an
old man with a good face, like Hitchcock or
Picasso."
"Laughter kills fear, and without fear there
can be no faith. For without fear of the devil
there is no need for God."
"Perhaps I'm not a good actor, but I would
be even worse at doing anything else."
"I'm an actor - it's not brain surgery. If I do
my job right, people won't ask for their
money back."
"I haven't found anywhere in the world
where I want to be all the time. The best
of my life is the moving. I look forward to
going."
West German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/241.
On the morning of 21 December 2022, American actress Diane McBain (1941-2022) passed away. As a bouncy, blonde-coiffed Warner Brothers starlet, she reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s as a "bad girl" and "spoiled rich girl". She was best known for playing an adventurous socialite in the television series Surfside 6 (1960–1962) and as one of Elvis Presley's leading ladies in Spinout (1966).
Diane F. MacBain was born in 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. McBain moved to the Hollywood area at an early age and began her show business career as an adolescent model in print and television advertisements. During her senior year at Glendale High School, while appearing in a Los Angeles play, she was spotted by a Warner Bros talent scout and added to the studio's roster of contract performers. Starting with the premiere of the hour-long, three-shows-in-one Warner Brothers Presents, the studio's TV arm, Warner Brothers Television, provided ABC with nearly 20 shows, including seven Westerns and four detective series. At 17, she was immediately put to work, making her television acting debut in two episodes of Maverick (1959), with Jack Kelly and James Garner, and an episode of Sunset Strip (1960). Having received a positive reaction to McBain's initial performances, the studio realised it had a potential star under contract. She was given a prominent ingenue role in her first feature, the $3.5 million Ice Palace (Vincent Sherman, 1960) alongside Richard Burton and Robert Ryan. The filmed-on-location Technicolor epic was released on in 1960, to mixed reviews, but McBain's notices were generally favourable. McBain had a banner year in 1960. She was assigned two more theatrical features. The first offered her one of three ingenue roles in a major "A" film, Parrish (Delmer Daves, 1961), supporting beefcake star Troy Donahue; the others were Connie Stevens and Sharon Hugueny. The film was a hit and made over $4 million. Warners then gave McBain the star part in her own "B"-film vehicle, Claudelle Inglish (Gordon Douglas, 1961) when she replaced the original choice for the lead, Anne Francis, in the title role. It was based on a novel by Erskine Caldwell. Warner Bros continued to keep McBain busy during 1960 with numerous appearances on its TV shows. She returned to 77 Sunset Strip and had a guest role in The Alaskans, starring Roger Moore. She was also in Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot. and Lawman. Then Warners gave McBain a regular role on Surfside 6 (1960–62), supporting Troy Donahue, Van Williams, and Lee Patterson. Surfside 6 ran for two seasons. Warners gave her another lead role in a feature, Black Gold (Leslie H. Martinson, 1962), but it was not a success. She returned to guest starring on shows like Hawaiian Eye. Producer Hall Bartlett borrowed McBain for a role in The Caretakers (Hall Bartlett, 1963) with Polly Bergen and Joan Crawford. When 77 Sunset Strip kicked off its sixth and final season in 1963 with a special five-part story called 'Five', McBain played opposite Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as "Carla Stevens". She then supported Debbie Reynolds in Mary, Mary (Mervyn LeRoy, 1963). Her last film for Warners was the Western A Distant Trumpet (Raoul Walsh, 1964) with Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette, the final film of director Raoul Walsh. In a 1964 interview, she said she had "mostly been cast as the spoilt rich girl". Warners announced her for Sex and the Single Girl (Richard Quine, 1964) as a secretary. She turned down the role and Warners elected not to renew her contract.
Diane McBain guest starred in Arrest and Trial (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965-1967), The Man from UNCLE (1965-1967), and other series. She was announced for the films Spring Is for Crying and Halcyon Years but neither was made. She made Five from the Hawk in Spain. "I was very stupid about money," McBain said later. "My mother had always made my clothes, and I was embarrassed about it. I became a shopaholic and spent a fortune on store-bought clothes. Tammy Bakker probably copied the way I did my shopping and eyelashes." Work began to dry up. "We were going through a revolution in society with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War," she said. "Now, white Anglo-Saxon, pretty people were low on the totem pole. We were thought to be on the other side, conservatives who were the cause of the war and the civil-rights problem. Dustin Hoffman, yes. Troy Donahue, no. Nobody wanted beautiful people on the screen. They wanted people like them, average. I didn't get much work." In August 1965 McBain's parents reported her as missing. It turned out she had checked herself into a hotel in San Diego under the name "Marilyn Miller" for "a change of faces, scenery and attitudes... I just wanted to be Miss Nobody from Nowhere." She said she had been despondent over a slackening income and not getting the type of roles she wanted. She was Elvis Presley's leading lady in Spinout (Norman Taurog, 1966) alongside Shelley Fabares and Deborah Walley, and later that year she guest-starred on the second season of the ABC series Batman. She played socialite Pinkie Pinkston, a friend of Batman's alias Bruce Wayne. McBain made two films with Fabian Forte at American International Pictures, Thunder Alley (Richard Rush, 1967), and Maryjane (Maury Dexter, 1968). Dexter then put McBain in the lead of AIP's The Mini-Skirt Mob (Maury Dexter, 1968), a hit at the box office. McBain supported Gardner McKay in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (Richard L. Bare, 1968) and went to Crown International Pictures for Five the Hard Way (Gus Trikonis, 1969). She toured Vietnam in 1968 with Tippi Hedren and Joey Bishop.
During the 1970s, Diane McBain slowed her career somewhat to care for her son Evan, though she continued to make guest appearances in a number of television series. "I never really cared about superstardom, I only cared about the roles that were available to those who were superstars," she later said. "I was motivated to continue on in the face of total failure because I had a child to rear on my own with little help from his father. The acting was the best way for me to make money and the best way for me to be a more present mom in my son's life. Full-time jobs brought in money but kept me away from the day-to-day life of my child." McBain guest starred in Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1970), To Rome with Love (1970), Land of the Giants (1970), and The Mod Squad (1971). She had roles in the features The Delta Factor (Tay Garnett, 1970) with Yvette Mimieux, The Wild Season (1971), Huyendo del halcón/Flying from the Hawk (Cecil Barker, 1973), Wicked, Wicked (Richard L. Bare, 1973), and The Deathhead Virgin (Norman Foster, 1974), which she later called "the stupidest screenplay I ever had to work with." McBain also guested on the TV series The Wide World of Mystery (1974), Police Story (1974), Barbary Coast (1975), and Marcus Welby, M.D (1976). Towards the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s McBain was in the TV movie Donner Pass: The Road to Survival (James L. Conway, 1978), and such TV series as The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978), Hawaii Five-O (1980), Charlie's Angels (1979-1981), Days of Our Lives (1982-1984), Dallas (1982), Airwolf (1984) and Knight Rider (1985). She also worked steadily in regional theatre. In 1982, McBain was beaten, robbed, and raped by two men in her garage at West Hollywood at 1:30 am on Christmas Day, after she came home from a party. She began a second career as a rape victim counsellor. They never found the culprits. "The shock of what happened caused loss of memory, inability to concentrate, and I'm still startled out of proportion," she said in 1990. In 1990 she was seeking financing for her screenplay The Spilling Moon about the first woman to trek along the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. McBain appeared in the series Jake and the Fatman (1990), Puppet Master 5 (1994), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996), Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1998), Invisible Mom II (1999), and The Young and the Restless (1999). In the cinema, she could be seen in the gay comedy The Broken Hearts Club (Greg Berlanti, 2000), starring Timothy Olyphant and Dean Cain, Besotted (Holly Hardman, 2001). Her final screen appearance was in the TV series Strong Medicine (2002). She was also in the TV movie Cab to Canada (1998) which she said: "was enough to make me never want to act again". Diane McBain died from liver cancer in 2022, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Los Angeles, California, where she had lived for a number of years. She was 81.
Source: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Des heures et des heures de clic et clic...
Pour un résultat assez moyen, beaucoup trop de.. ,pas assez de … Un gros manque de....
A revoir...
Sinon, que vous dire sur cette stéréo ?
Que si vous avez 5% de sang noire, vous êtes noire au USA !
Mais c'est bien les métisses qui s'en sortent le mieux quand même en politique ( un président quand même !! des maires de grande villes ... ) dans des corps de métiers interdits il y a moins de 50 ans sans oublier Hollywood....
Comment était considéré ce paysans par les autres propriétaire, ces familles mixtes ? Et les problèmes d'inceste ?
Vous avez remarqué la signature : les nez !
Et pour vous donner une idée de la vie de ce paysans, lisez ou relisez Erskine Caldwell.
« Cette définition est très différente de celles que l'on trouve dans d'autres pays. F. James Davis rappelle notamment qu'en 1956, pendant une conférence d'écrivains noirs à Paris, le chef de la délégation américaine, John Davis, avait la peau tellement claire qu'un organisateur français lui a demandé pourquoi il se considérait comme noir. L'histoire est relatée par l'écrivain afro-américain James Baldwin et, pour lui, la réponse est simple: Davis est noir car les lois américaines le considèrent comme tel, parce qu'il a choisi de l'être, de s'impliquer dans cette communauté et parce qu'il a l'expérience sociale d'être noir. »
www.slate.fr/story/102949/etats-unis-rachel-dolezal-noir-...
Hours and hours of click and click ...
For a fairly average result, too much of ..., not enough of ... A big lack of ...
To review...
If not, what can you tell about this stereo?
That if you have 5% black blood, you are black in the USA!
But it is the mixed race women who are doing the best anyway in politics (a president anyway !! mayors of big cities ...) in trades banned less than 50 years ago without forgetting Hollywood ....
How was this peasant considered by the other owners, these mixed families? What about incest problems?
You noticed the signature: the noses!
And to give you an idea of the life of this peasant, read or reread Erskine Caldwell.
“This definition is very different from those found in other countries. F. James Davis recalls in particular that in 1956, during a conference of black writers in Paris, the head of the American delegation, John Davis, was so light-skinned that a French organizer asked him why he considered himself black . The story is told by the African-American writer James Baldwin and, for him, the answer is simple: Davis is black because American laws consider him as such, because he chose to be, to be get involved in this community and because he has the social experience of being black. "
www.slate.fr/story/102949/etats-unis-rachel-dolezal-noir-...
The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name. The image is a glossy real photograph.
The card was posted in Battersea, S. W. London on Monday the 25th. August 1930 to:
Mr. G. H. Wadsworth,
16, Old Square,
Lincoln's Inn,
London.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"London, S. W. 11.
Dear Uncle George,
Having a fine time.
Have been to the Tivoli,
Astoria, Coliseum, and
a great number of other
picture palaces.
Have also been to the
Gaiety to see 'The Love
Race', which made me
laugh during the whole
performance.
Have been to the Test
Match, and am going to
the Oval again today".
The Love Race
The Love Race was a stage musical comedy that was first presented at the Gaiety Theatre in London on the 25th. June 1930.
The play was a hit production, and was made into a black and white film starring Stanley Lupino, and co-directed by Lupino Lane (a.k.a. George Lupino). The film was released in the UK on the 9th. May 1932.
The storyline of the play and the film was based around the fierce rivalry between two motor manufacturers - and the romance that develops between the daughter of one and the son of the other.
During the film a mix-up with suitcases lands wealthy racing driver (Stanley Lupino) into an embarrassing situation with his fiancée at a party.
The film co-starred silent-era veteran Jack Hobbs and Hitchcock heroine Dorothy Boyd - along with another member of the famous theatrical family, Wallace Lupino.
The film includes rare racing footage of British sports cars of the period.
Sir Sean Connery
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 25th. August 1930 marked the birth in Edinburgh of Sean Connery.
Sir Sean Connery, who was born Thomas Connery, was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.
Originating the role in Dr. No, Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions' entries, and made his final Bond appearance in the non-Eon-produced Never Say Never Again.
If non-Eon-produced Bond movies are included, Connery shares the record for the most portrayals as James Bond with Roger Moore (with seven apiece).
Following Sean's third appearance as Bond in Goldfinger (1964), in June 1965, Time magazine observed:
"James Bond has developed into the
biggest mass-cult hero of the decade".
Connery began acting in smaller theatre and television productions until his break-out role as Bond. Although he did not enjoy the off-screen attention the role gave him, the success of the Bond films brought Connery offers from notable directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston.
Their films in which Connery appeared included Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
He also appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), Finding Forrester (2000), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
Connery officially retired from acting in 2006, although he briefly returned for voice-over roles in 2012.
His achievements in film were recognised with an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (including the BAFTA Fellowship), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award.
In 1987, Sean was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, and he received the US Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
-- Sean Connery - The Early Years
Thomas Connery was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was named after his paternal grandfather.
He was brought up at No. 176 Fountainbridge, a block which has since been demolished. His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" McLean, was a cleaning woman. Connery's father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver.
His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. Connery had a younger brother Neil, and was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy".
Although Sean was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) at 18. Connery was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and he said that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14.
He had an Irish childhood friend named Séamus; when the two were together, those who knew them both called Connery by his middle name Sean, emphasising the alliteration of the two names. Since then Connery preferred to use his middle name.
Connery's first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. In 2009, Connery recalled a conversation in a taxi:
"When I took a taxi during a recent Edinburgh
Film Festival, the driver was amazed that I
could put a name to every street we passed.
"How come?" he asked. "As a boy I used to
deliver milk round here", I said. "So what do
you do now?" That was rather harder to answer."
In 1946, at the age of 16, Connery joined the Royal Navy, during which time he acquired two tattoos. Connery's official website says:
"Unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous –
his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong
commitments: his family and Scotland. One
tattoo is a tribute to his parents, and reads
'Mum and Dad', and the other is self-explanatory,
'Scotland Forever'".
Sean trained in Portsmouth at the naval gunnery school and in an anti-aircraft crew. He was later assigned as an Able Seaman on HMS Formidable.
Connery was discharged from the navy at the age of 19 on medical grounds because of a duodenal ulcer, a condition that affected most of the males in previous generations of his family.
Afterwards, he returned to the Co-op and worked as a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, a labourer, an artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, and after a suggestion by former Mr. Scotland Archie Brennan, as a coffin polisher, among other jobs.
The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour. Artist Richard Demarco, at the time a student who painted several early pictures of Connery, described him as:
"Very straight, slightly shy, too,
too beautiful for words, a virtual
Adonis".
Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, a former gym instructor in the British Army. While his official website states he was third in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest, most sources place him in the 1953 competition, either third in the Junior class or failing to place in the Tall Man classification.
Connery said that he was soon deterred from bodybuilding when he found that Americans frequently beat him in competitions because of sheer muscle size and, unlike Connery, refused to participate in athletic activity which could make them lose muscle mass.
Connery was a keen footballer, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose in his younger days. He was offered a trial with East Fife.
While on tour with South Pacific, Connery played in a football match against a local team that Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby was impressed with Sean's physical prowess, and offered Connery a contract worth £25 a week (equivalent to £743 in 2021) immediately after the game. Connery said he was tempted to accept, but he recalls,
"I realised that a top-class footballer could
be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was
already 23. I decided to become an actor,
and it turned out to be one of my more
intelligent moves".
-- Sean Connery's Acting Career
(a) Pre-James Bond
Seeking to supplement his income, Connery helped out backstage at the King's Theatre in late 1951. During a bodybuilding competition held in London in 1953, one of the competitors mentioned that auditions were being held for a production of South Pacific, and Connery landed a small part as one of the Seabees chorus boys.
By the time the production reached Edinburgh, he had been given the part of Marine Cpl. Hamilton Steeves, and was understudying two of the juvenile leads, and his salary was raised from £12 to £14–10s a week.
The production returned the following year, out of popular demand, and Connery was promoted to the featured role of Lieutenant Buzz Adams, which Larry Hagman had portrayed in the West End.
While in Edinburgh, Connery was targeted by the Valdor gang, one of the most violent in the city. He was first approached by them in a billiard hall where he prevented them from stealing his jacket and was later followed by six gang members to a 15-foot-high (4.6 m) balcony at the Palais de Danse.
There, Connery singlehandedly launched an attack against the gang members, grabbing one by the throat and another by the biceps and cracking their heads together. From then on, he was treated with great respect by the gang and gained a reputation as a "hard man".
Connery first met Michael Caine at a party during the production of South Pacific in 1954, and the two later became close friends. During this production at the Opera House, Manchester, over the Christmas period of 1954, Connery developed a serious interest in the theatre through American actor Robert Henderson, who lent him copies of the Ibsen works Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, and When We Dead Awaken, and later listed works by the likes of Proust, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Bernard Shaw, Joyce, and Shakespeare for him to digest.
Henderson urged Sean to take elocution lessons, and got him parts at the Maida Vale Theatre in London. He had already begun a film career, having been an extra in Herbert Wilcox's 1954 musical Lilacs in the Spring alongside Errol Flynn and Anna Neagle.
Although Connery had secured several roles as an extra, he was struggling to make ends meet, and was forced to accept a part-time job as a babysitter for journalist Peter Noble and his actress wife Marianne, which earned him 10 shillings a night.
One night at Noble's house Sean met Hollywood actress Shelley Winters, who described Connery as:
"One of the tallest and most charming
and masculine Scotsmen I have ever
seen."
Shelley later spent many evenings with the Connery brothers drinking beer. Around this time, Connery was residing at TV presenter Llew Gardner's house.
Henderson landed Connery a role in a £6 a week Q Theatre production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, during which he met and became friends with fellow Scot Ian Bannen.
This role was followed by Point of Departure and A Witch in Time at Kew, a role as Pentheus opposite Yvonne Mitchell in The Bacchae at the Oxford Playhouse, and a role opposite Jill Bennett in Eugene O'Neill's play Anna Christie.
During his time at the Oxford Theatre, Connery won a brief part as a boxer in the TV series The Square Ring, before being spotted by Canadian director Alvin Rakoff, who gave him multiple roles in The Condemned, shot on location in Dover in Kent.
In 1956, Connery appeared in the theatrical production of Epitaph, and played a minor role as a hoodlum in the "Ladies of the Manor" episode of the BBC Television police series Dixon of Dock Green.
This was followed by small television parts in Sailor of Fortune and The Jack Benny Program (in a special episode filmed in Europe).
In early 1957, Connery hired agent Richard Hatton, who got him his first film role, as Spike, a minor gangster with a speech impediment in Montgomery Tully's No Road Back.
In April 1957, Rakoff – after being disappointed by Jack Palance – decided to give the young actor his first chance in a leading role, and cast Connery as Mountain McLintock in BBC Television's production of Requiem for a Heavyweight, which also starred Warren Mitchell and Jacqueline Hill.
Sean then played a rogue lorry driver, Johnny Yates, in Cy Endfield's Hell Drivers (1957) alongside Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, and Patrick McGoohan.
Later in 1957, Connery appeared in Terence Young's poorly received MGM action picture Action of the Tiger; the film was shot on location in southern Spain.
He also had a minor role in Gerald Thomas's thriller Time Lock (1957) as a welder, appearing alongside Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson, Betty McDowall, and Vincent Winter. This commenced filming on the 1st. December 1956 at Beaconsfield Studios.
Connery had a major role in the melodrama Another Time, Another Place (1958) as a British reporter named Mark Trevor, caught in a love affair opposite Lana Turner and Barry Sullivan.
During filming, Turner's possessive gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, who was visiting from Los Angeles, believed she was having an affair with Connery. Connery and Turner had attended West End shows and London restaurants together.
Stompanato stormed onto the film set and pointed a gun at Connery, only to have Connery disarm him and knock him flat on his back. Stompanato was banned from the set. Two Scotland Yard detectives advised Stompanato to leave and escorted him to the airport, where he boarded a plane back to the United States.
Connery later recounted that he had to lay low for a while after receiving threats from men linked to Stompanato's boss, Mickey Cohen.
In 1959, Connery landed a leading role in director Robert Stevenson's Walt Disney Productions film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). The film is a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns.
Upon the film's initial release, A. H. Weiler of The New York Times praised the cast (save Connery whom he described as "merely tall, dark, and handsome") and thought the film:
"An overpoweringly charming concoction
of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and
romance."
Sean also had prominent television roles in Rudolph Cartier's 1961 productions of Adventure Story and Anna Karenina for BBC Television, co-starring with Claire Bloom in the latter.
Also in 1961 he portrayed the title role in a CBC television film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth with Australian actress Zoe Caldwell cast as Lady Macbeth.
-- (b) James Bond: 1962–1971, 1983
Connery's breakthrough came in the role of British secret agent James Bond. He was reluctant to commit to a film series, but understood that if the films succeeded, his career would greatly benefit.
Between 1962 and 1967, Connery played 007 in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice, the first five Bond films produced by Eon Productions.
After departing from the role, Connery returned for the seventh film, Diamonds Are Forever, in 1971. Connery made his final appearance as Bond in Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of Thunderball produced by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm.
All seven films were commercially successful. James Bond, as portrayed by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute.
Connery's selection for the role of James Bond owed a lot to Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who is reputed to have been instrumental in persuading her husband that Connery was the right man.
James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, originally doubted Connery's casting, saying:
"He's not what I envisioned of James
Bond looks. I'm looking for Commander
Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man."
He added that Connery (muscular, 6' 2", and a Scot) was unrefined. However Fleming's girlfriend Blanche Blackwell told Fleming that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma, and Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No première.
He was so impressed, he wrote Connery's heritage into the character. In his 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, Fleming wrote that Bond's father was Scottish and from Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.
Connery's portrayal of Bond owes much to stylistic tutelage from director Terence Young, who helped polish him while using his physical grace and presence for the action.
Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny, related that:
"Terence took Sean under his wing.
He took him to dinner, showed him
how to walk, how to talk, even how
to eat".
The tutoring was successful; Connery received thousands of fan letters a week after Dr. No's opening, and he became a major sex symbol in film.
Following the release of the film Dr. No in 1962, the line "Bond ... James Bond", became a catch phrase in the lexicon of Western popular culture. Film critic Peter Bradshaw writes:
"It is the most famous self-introduction
from any character in movie history.
Three cool monosyllables, surname first,
a little curtly, as befits a former naval
commander.
And then, as if in afterthought, the first
name, followed by the surname again.
Connery carried it off with icily disdainful
style, in full evening dress with a cigarette
hanging from his lips.
The introduction was a kind of challenge,
or seduction, invariably addressed to an
enemy.
In the early 60's, Connery's James Bond
was about as dangerous and sexy as it
got on screen."
During the filming of Thunderball in 1965, Connery's life was in danger in the sequence with the sharks in Emilio Largo's pool. He had been concerned about this threat when he read the script.
Connery insisted that Ken Adam build a special Plexiglas partition inside the pool, but this was not a fixed structure, and one of the sharks managed to pass through it. He had to abandon the pool immediately.
(c) Post-James Bond
Although Bond had made him a star, Connery grew tired of the role and the pressure the franchise put on him, saying:
"I am fed up to here with the whole
Bond bit. I have always hated that
damned James Bond. I'd like to kill
him."
Michael Caine said of the situation:
"If you were his friend in these early
days you didn't raise the subject of
Bond. He was, and is, a much better
actor than just playing James Bond,
but he became synonymous with
Bond. He'd be walking down the
street and people would say,
'Look, there's James Bond'.
That was particularly upsetting
to him."
While making the Bond films, Connery also starred in other films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and Sidney Lumet's The Hill (1965), which film critic Peter Bradshaw regards as his two great non-Bond pictures from the 1960's.
In Marnie, Connery starred opposite Tippi Hedren. Connery had said he wanted to work with Hitchcock, which Eon arranged through their contacts. Connery shocked many people at the time by asking to see a script, something he did because he was worried about being typecast as a spy, and he did not want to do a variation of North by Northwest or Notorious.
When told by Hitchcock's agent that Cary Grant had not asked to see even one of Hitchcock's scripts, Connery replied:
"I'm not Cary Grant."
Hitchcock and Connery got on well during filming, and Connery said he was happy with the film "with certain reservations".
In The Hill, Connery wanted to act in something that wasn't Bond related, and he used his leverage as a star to feature in it. While the film wasn't a financial success, it was a critical one, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival and winning Best Screenplay.
The first of five films he made with Lumet, Connery considered him to be one of his favourite directors. The respect was mutual, with Lumet saying of Connery's performance in The Hill:
"The thing that was apparent to me –
and to most directors – was how much
talent and ability it takes to play that
kind of character who is based on charm
and magnetism.
It's the equivalent of high comedy, and
he did it brilliantly."
In the mid-1960's, Connery played golf with Scottish industrialist Iain Maxwell Stewart, a connection which led to Connery directing and presenting the documentary film The Bowler and the Bunnet in 1967.
The film described the Fairfield Experiment, a new approach to industrial relations carried out at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow, during the 1960s; the experiment was initiated by Stewart and supported by George Brown, the First Secretary in Harold Wilson's cabinet, in 1966.
The company was facing closure, and Brown agreed to provide £1 million (£13.135 million; US$15.55 million in 2021 terms) to enable trade unions, the management and the shareholders to try out new ways of industrial management.
Having played Bond six times, Connery's global popularity was such that he shared a Golden Globe Henrietta Award with Charles Bronson for "World Film Favorite – Male" in 1972.
He appeared in John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975) opposite Michael Caine. Playing two former British soldiers who set themselves up as kings in Kafiristan, both actors regarded it as their favourite film.
The same year, Sean appeared in The Wind and the Lion opposite Candice Bergen who played Eden Perdicaris (based on the real-life Perdicaris incident), and in 1976 played Robin Hood in Robin and Marian opposite Audrey Hepburn.
Film critic Roger Ebert, who had praised the double act of Connery and Caine in The Man Who Would Be King, praised Connery's chemistry with Hepburn, writing:
"Connery and Hepburn seem to have
arrived at a tacit understanding
between themselves about their
characters. They glow. They really
do seem in love."
During the 1970's, Connery was part of ensemble casts in films such as Murder on the Orient Express (1974) with Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud, and played a British Army general in Richard Attenborough's war film A Bridge Too Far (1977), co-starring with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Olivier.
In 1974, he starred in John Boorman's sci-fi thriller Zardoz. Often called one of the weirdest and worst movies ever made, it featured Connery in a scarlet mankini – a revealing costume which generated much controversy for its unBond-like appearance.
Despite being panned by critics at the time, the film has developed a cult following since its release. In the audio commentary to the film, Boorman relates how Connery would write poetry in his free time, describing him as:
"A man of great depth and intelligence,
as well as possessing the most
extraordinary memory."
In 1981, Connery appeared in the film Time Bandits as Agamemnon. The casting choice derives from a joke Michael Palin included in the script, which describes the character's removing his mask and being:
"Sean Connery – or someone
of equal but cheaper stature".
When shown the script, Connery was happy to play the supporting role.
In 1981 he portrayed Marshal William T. O'Niel in the science fiction thriller Outland. In 1982, Connery narrated G'olé!, the official film of the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
That same year, he was offered the role of Daddy Warbucks in Annie, going as far as taking voice lessons for the John Huston musical before turning down the part.
Connery agreed to reprise Bond as an ageing agent 007 in Never Say Never Again, released in October 1983. The title, contributed by his wife, refers to his earlier statement that he would "never again" return to the role.
Although the film performed well at the box office, it was plagued with production problems: strife between the director and producer, financial problems, the Fleming estate trustees' attempts to halt the film, and Connery's wrist being broken by the fight choreographer, Steven Seagal.
As a result of his negative experiences during filming, Connery became unhappy with the major studios, and did not make any films for two years. Following the successful European production The Name of the Rose (1986), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Connery's interest in more commercial material was revived.
That same year, a supporting role in Highlander showcased his ability to play older mentors to younger leads, which became a recurring role in many of his later films.
In 1987, Connery starred in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables, where he played a hard-nosed Irish-American cop alongside Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness. The film also starred Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro as Al Capone.
The film was a critical and box-office success. Many critics praised Connery for his performance, including Roger Ebert, who wrote:
"The best performance in the movie
is Connery. He brings a human element
to his character; he seems to have had
an existence apart from the legend of
the Untouchables, and when he's
onscreen we can believe, briefly, that
the Prohibition Era was inhabited by
people, not caricatures."
For his performance, Connery received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Connery starred in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), playing Henry Jones Sr., the title character's father, and received BAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominations. Harrison Ford said Connery's contributions at the writing stage enhanced the film:
"It was amazing for me in how far he got
into the script and went after exploiting
opportunities for character.
His suggestions to George Lucas at the
writing stage really gave the character
and the picture a lot more complexity
and value than it had in the original
screenplay.
Sean's subsequent box-office hits included The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Russia House (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999). In 1996, he voiced the role of Draco the dragon in the film Dragonheart.
He also appeared in a brief cameo as King Richard the Lionheart at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). In 1998, Connery received the BAFTA Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Connery's later films included several box-office and critical disappointments such as First Knight (1995), Just Cause (1995), The Avengers (1998), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
The failure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was especially frustrating for Connery. He sensed during shooting that the production was "going off the rails", and announced that the director, Stephen Norrington should be "locked up for insanity".
Connery spent considerable effort in trying to salvage the film through the editing process, ultimately deciding to retire from acting rather than go through such stress ever again.
However, he received positive reviews for his performance in Finding Forrester (2000). He also received a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.
In a 2003 UK poll conducted by Channel 4, Connery was ranked eighth on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars.
Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings films, saying he did not understand the script. He was reportedly offered US$30 million along with 15% of the worldwide box office receipts, which would have earned him US$450 million.
He also turned down the opportunity to appear as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series and the Architect in The Matrix trilogy.
In 2005, he recorded voiceovers for the From Russia with Love video game with recording producer Terry Manning in the Bahamas, and provided his likeness. Connery said he was happy the producers, Electronic Arts, had approached him to voice Bond.
(d) Retirement
When Connery received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on the 8th. June 2006, he confirmed his retirement from acting.
Connery's disillusionment with the "idiots now making films in Hollywood" was cited as a reason for his decision to retire.
On the 7th. June 2007, he denied rumours that he would appear in the fourth Indiana Jones film, saying:
"Retirement is just too
much damned fun."
In 2010, a bronze bust sculpture of Connery was placed in Tallinn, Estonia, outside The Scottish Club, whose membership includes Estonian Scotophiles and a handful of expatriate Scots.
In 2012, Connery briefly came out of retirement to voice the title character in the Scottish animated film Sir Billi. Connery served as executive producer for an expanded 80-minute version.
-- Sean Connery's Personal Life
During the production of South Pacific in the mid-1950's, Connery dated a Jewish "dark-haired beauty with a ballerina's figure", Carol Sopel, but was warned off by her family.
He then dated Julie Hamilton, daughter of documentary filmmaker and feminist Jill Craigie. Given Connery's rugged appearance and rough charm, Hamilton initially thought he was an appalling person and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, declaring him to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.
He also shared a mutual attraction with jazz singer Maxine Daniels, whom he met whilst working in theatre. He made a pass at her, but she told him she was already happily married with a daughter.
Connery was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1974, though they separated in 1971. They had a son, actor Jason Joseph. Connery was separated in the early 1970's when he dated Dyan Cannon, Jill St. John, Lana Wood, Carole Mallory, and Magda Konopka.
In her 2006 autobiography, Cilento alleged that he had abused her mentally and physically during their relationship. Connery cancelled an appearance at the Scottish Parliament in 2006 because of controversy over his alleged support of abuse of women.
He denied claims that he told Playboy magazine in 1965:
"I don't think there is anything
particularly wrong in hitting a
woman, though I don't
recommend you do it in the
same way you hit a man".
He was also reported to have stated to Vanity Fair in 1993:
"There are women who take it
to the wire. That's what they are
looking for, the ultimate
confrontation. They want a smack."
In 2006, Connery told The Times of London:
"I don't believe that any level of
abuse of women is ever justified
under any circumstances. Full stop".
When knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 he wore a green-and-black hunting tartan kilt of his mother's MacLean clan.
Connery was married to French-Moroccan painter Micheline Roquebrune (born 4th. April 1929) from 1975 until his death. The marriage survived a well-documented affair Connery had in the late 1980's with the singer and songwriter Lynsey de Paul, which she later regretted due to his views concerning domestic violence.
Connery owned the Domaine de Terre Blanche in the South of France from 1979. He sold it to German billionaire Dietmar Hopp in 1999.
He was awarded an honorary rank of Shodan (1st. dan) in Kyokushin karate.
Connery relocated to the Bahamas in the 1990's; he owned a mansion in Lyford Cay on New Providence.
Connery had a villa in Kranidi, Greece. His neighbour was King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, with whom he shared a helicopter platform.
Growing up, Connery supported the Scottish football club Celtic F.C., having been introduced to the club by his father who was a lifelong fan of the team.
Later in life, Connery switched his loyalty to Celtic's bitter rival, Rangers F.C., after he became close friends with the team's chairman, David Murray.
Sean was a keen golfer, and English professional golfer Peter Alliss gave Connery golf lessons before the filming of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, which involved a scene where Connery, as Bond, played golf against gold magnate Auric Goldfinger at Stoke Park Golf Club in Buckinghamshire.
The golf scene saw him wear a Slazenger v-neck sweater, a brand which Connery became associated with while playing golf in his free time, with a light grey marl being a favoured colour.
Record major championship winner and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus said:
"He loved the game of golf – Sean
was a pretty darn good golfer! –
and we played together several
times.
In May 1993, Sean and legendary
driver Jackie Stewart helped me
open our design of the PGA
Centenary Course at Gleneagles
in Scotland."
-- Sean Connery's Political Views
Connery's Scottish roots and his experiences in filming in Glasgow's shipyards in 1966 inspired him to become a member of the centre-left Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
In 2011, Connery said:
"The Bowler and the Bunnet was just
the beginning of a journey that would
lead to my long association with the
Scottish National Party."
Connery supported the party both financially and through personal appearances. In 1967, he wrote to George Leslie, the SNP candidate in the 1967 Glasgow Pollok by-election, saying:
"I am convinced that with our resources
and skills we are more than capable of
building a prosperous, vigorous and
modern self-governing Scotland in which
we can all take pride and which will
deserve the respect of other nations."
His funding of the SNP ceased in 2001, when the UK Parliament passed legislation prohibiting overseas funding of political activities in the United Kingdom.
-- Sean Connery's Tax Status
In response to accusations that he was a tax exile, Connery released documents in 2003 showing he had paid £3.7 million in UK taxes between 1997 and 1998 and between 2002 and 2003. Critics pointed out that had he been continuously residing in the UK for tax purposes, his tax rate would have been far higher.
In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Connery's brother Neil said that Connery would not come to Scotland to rally independence supporters, since his tax exile status greatly limited the number of days he could spend in the country.
After Connery sold his Marbella villa in 1999, Spanish authorities launched a tax evasion investigation, alleging that the Spanish treasury had been defrauded of £5.5 million.
Connery was subsequently cleared by officials, but his wife and 16 others were charged with attempting to defraud the Spanish treasury.
-- The Death and Legacy of Sean Connery
Connery died in his sleep on the 31st. October 2020, aged 90, at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau in the Bahamas. His death was announced by his family and Eon Productions; although they did not disclose the cause of death, his son Jason said he had been unwell for some time.
A day later, Roquebrune revealed he had suffered from dementia in his final years. Connery's death certificate recorded the cause of death as pneumonia and respiratory failure, and the time of death was listed as 1:30 am.
Sean's remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in Scotland at undisclosed locations in 2022.
Following the announcement of his death, many co-stars and figures from the entertainment industry paid tribute to Connery, including Sam Neill, Nicolas Cage, Robert De Niro, Michael Bay, Tippi Hedren, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, George Lucas, Shirley Bassey, Kevin Costner, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barbra Streisand, John Cleese, Jane Seymour and Harrison Ford, as well as former Bond stars George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, the family of late former Bond actor Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig, who played 007 until No Time to Die.
Connery's long-time friend Michael Caine called him:
"A great star, brilliant actor
and a wonderful friend".
James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli released a statement saying that:
"Connery has revolutionized the world
with his gritty and witty portrayal of the
sexy and charismatic secret agent.
He is undoubtedly largely responsible
for the success of the film series, and
we shall be forever grateful to him".
In 2004, a poll in the UK Sunday Herald recognised Connery as "The Greatest Living Scot," and a 2011 EuroMillions survey named him "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure".
He was voted by People magazine as the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century" in 1999.
Final Thoughts From Sir Sean Connery
"I am not an Englishman, I was never an
Englishman, and I don't ever want to be
one. I am a Scotsman! I was a Scotsman,
and I will always be one."
"I admit I'm being paid well, but it's no more
than I deserve. After all, I've been screwed
more times than a hooker."
"Love may not make the world go round,
but I must admit that it makes the ride
worthwhile."
"There is nothing like a challenge to bring
out the best in man."
"I like women. I don't understand them,
but I like them."
"Some age, others mature."
"I met my wife through playing golf. She is
French and couldn't speak English, and I
couldn't speak French, so there was little
chance of us getting involved in any boring
conversations - that's why we got married
really quickly."
"Everything I have done or attempted to do
for Scotland has always been for her benefit,
never my own, and I defy anyone to prove
otherwise."
"The knighthood I received was a fantastic
honor but it's not something I've ever used,
and I don't think I ever will."
"I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs."
"More than anything else, I'd like to be an
old man with a good face, like Hitchcock or
Picasso."
"Laughter kills fear, and without fear there
can be no faith. For without fear of the devil
there is no need for God."
"Perhaps I'm not a good actor, but I would
be even worse at doing anything else."
"I'm an actor - it's not brain surgery. If I do
my job right, people won't ask for their
money back."
"I haven't found anywhere in the world
where I want to be all the time. The best
of my life is the moving. I look forward to
going."
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Brazen New Year Runs 5K 10K Half Marathon - 10K - Age GroupJanuary 2, 2011
Last updated on January 5, 2011
Brazen Racing - New Years Run 10K
Age Group Results
January 02, 2011
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Results By BUZZWORD Productions, Inc. / It's About Time Timing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Men: 1- 1 2- 8 9-12 13-17 18-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90-99
Women: 1- 1 2- 8 9-12 13-17 18-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90-99
Overall Female Winners
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Nayeli Reyburn Brentwood CA 174
39
4
55:02
55:02
00:00
8:52/M
2
Kate Dougherty Fremont CA 579
34
7
56:09
56:09
00:00
01:07
9:02/M
3
Brooke Bray San Francisco CA 565
34
10
56:37
56:37
00:00
01:35
9:07/M
Top
NO AGE DIVISION
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Leslie Shenefiel Pleasanton CA 572
1
56
1:09:59
1:10:00
00:01
11:16/M
Top
Female 13 to 17
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Mary Harrington Berkeley CA 390
16
26
1:01:56
1:01:57
00:01
9:58/M
2
Whitney Welker Brentwood CA 521
17
169
1:32:21
1:32:44
00:23
30:25
14:52/M
Top
Female 18 to 24
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Victoria Collins San Rafael CA 334
24
24
1:01:52
1:01:55
00:03
9:58/M
2
Madeleine Harrington Berkeley CA 389
23
27
1:01:56
1:01:57
00:01
00:04
9:58/M
3
Elly Davids Elk Grove CA 342
19
37
1:05:22
1:05:42
00:20
03:30
10:32/M
4
Evelyn Hoover Moraga CA 403
19
65
1:12:26
1:12:48
00:22
10:34
11:40/M
5
Kellyn Hansen Pleasanton CA 383
22
101
1:18:41
1:18:55
00:14
16:49
12:40/M
6
Megan Snyder Davis CA 498
22
105
1:19:20
1:19:35
00:15
17:28
12:47/M
7
Danielle Silva Hayward CA 497
24
146
1:27:06
1:27:16
00:10
25:14
14:02/M
8
Jordan Triplett Brentwood CA 571
18
168
1:32:19
1:32:44
00:25
30:27
14:52/M
9
Taylor Laumann Hercules CA 425
24
179
1:39:19
1:39:32
00:13
37:27
16:00/M
10
Katrina Catipon Livermore CA 325
24
210
1:56:03
1:56:23
00:20
54:11
18:41/M
Top
Female 25 to 29
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Dina Brasil Oakland CA 314
28
19
59:43
59:50
00:07
9:37/M
2
Meghan Harrington Berkeley CA 391
25
31
1:04:05
1:04:06
00:01
04:22
10:19/M
3
Nicole Rink San Francisco CA 484
29
44
1:07:31
1:07:41
00:10
07:48
10:52/M
4
Heather Whiteman Alameda CA 525
26
55
1:09:46
1:10:00
00:14
10:03
11:14/M
5
Amy Lieu Emeryville CA 430
27
72
1:13:34
1:13:44
00:10
13:51
11:51/M
6
Denise Rankin Livermore CA 478
29
102
1:19:02
1:19:27
00:25
19:19
12:44/M
7
Cora Hardin Palo Alto CA 384
25
108
1:19:47
1:20:03
00:16
20:04
12:51/M
8
Amanda Linares Woodland CA 432
27
124
1:22:24
1:22:26
00:02
22:41
13:16/M
9
Shannon Carr Concord CA 322
28
127
1:22:56
1:23:12
00:16
23:13
13:21/M
10
Leanne Radosevich Marietta GA 477
27
140
1:24:59
1:25:02
00:03
25:16
13:41/M
11
Amerizza Quemada Fremont CA 476
29
143
1:25:39
1:26:04
00:25
25:56
13:48/M
12
Brandi Hollingsworth Fremont CA 401
26
164
1:32:04
1:32:24
00:20
32:21
14:50/M
13
Sarah Gehring Pleasanton CA 372
26
167
1:32:18
1:32:27
00:09
32:35
14:52/M
14
Tara Cuslidge-Staiano Tracy CA 340
26
172
1:34:18
1:34:26
00:08
34:35
15:11/M
15
Paige Leeds Mountain View CA 568
26
196
1:44:53
1:44:55
00:02
45:10
16:53/M
16
Shannon Gilbreath Lodi CA 374
29
204
1:46:47
1:47:06
00:19
47:04
17:12/M
Top
Female 30 to 34
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Kate Dougherty Fremont CA 579
34
7
56:09
56:09
00:00
9:02/M
2
Brooke Bray San Francisco CA 565
34
10
56:37
56:37
00:00
00:28
9:07/M
3
Kiyoko Ikeuchi San Jose CA 407
33
15
59:19
59:19
00:00
03:10
9:33/M
4
Ashley Rowson-Baldwin Concord CA 550
32
35
1:05:08
1:05:08
00:00
08:59
10:29/M
5
Danyel Vandiver Clayton CA 516
33
41
1:07:13
1:07:30
00:17
11:04
10:49/M
6
Elke O'Neill San Leandr CA 465
32
49
1:08:55
1:09:22
00:27
12:46
11:06/M
7
Lesley Podesta Oakland CA 472
33
84
1:14:32
1:14:50
00:18
18:23
12:00/M
8
Erin King Foster City CA 422
31
90
1:15:34
1:15:39
00:05
19:25
12:10/M
9
Nicole Salven San Ramon CA 490
33
120
1:21:51
1:22:01
00:10
25:42
13:11/M
10
Laura Nichols San Francisco CA 460
32
122
1:22:23
1:22:25
00:02
26:14
13:16/M
11
Livia Jenvey Walnut Creek CA 413
33
126
1:22:51
1:23:17
00:26
26:42
13:20/M
12
Emily Trimble Anchorage AK 513
30
134
1:24:26
1:24:39
00:13
28:17
13:36/M
13
Maida Maderazo Fremont CA 437
31
139
1:24:58
1:25:28
00:30
28:49
13:41/M
14
Elmare Botha Alameda CA 537
34
180
1:39:28
1:39:43
00:15
43:19
16:01/M
15
Janice Bolloso Union City CA 312
30
181
1:39:40
1:40:11
00:31
43:31
16:03/M
16
Koza Stewart San Lorenzo CA 584
32
190
1:41:36
1:42:03
00:27
45:27
16:22/M
17
Melissa Dimic Hayward CA 349
31
191
1:41:37
1:42:04
00:27
45:28
16:22/M
18
Amber Pasco San Ramon CA 567
34
197
1:44:53
1:44:55
00:02
48:44
16:53/M
19
Dawn Duspiva Lodi CA 352
32
203
1:46:46
1:47:06
00:20
50:37
17:12/M
20
Arlene Ongpin Walnut Creek CA 466
34
208
1:53:53
1:54:29
00:36
57:44
18:20/M
Top
Female 35 to 39
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Nayeli Reyburn Brentwood CA 174
39
4
55:02
55:02
00:00
8:52/M
2
Dianne Woolery Clayton CA 590
39
28
1:02:34
1:03:01
00:27
07:32
10:05/M
3
Rose Jefimenko San Francisco CA 410
36
30
1:02:49
1:02:49
00:00
07:47
10:07/M
4
Elizabeth Gutierrez Aromas CA 563
39
33
1:05:06
1:05:06
00:00
10:04
10:29/M
5
Samantha Harnett Oakland CA 387
35
39
1:06:10
1:06:11
00:01
11:08
10:39/M
6
Christina Fitzgibbons San Anselmo CA 587
38
60
1:11:06
1:11:28
00:22
16:04
11:27/M
7
Sarah Wharton Oakland CA 524
37
62
1:11:33
1:11:37
00:04
16:31
11:31/M
8
Catherine Brozena Oakland CA 317
36
66
1:12:31
1:12:49
00:18
17:29
11:41/M
9
Cathy Remick Orinda CA 481
38
83
1:14:29
1:14:47
00:18
19:27
12:00/M
10
Erica Kuhl Oakland CA 423
36
85
1:14:33
1:14:50
00:17
19:31
12:00/M
11
Erika Eastman San Ramon CA 353
35
97
1:18:08
1:18:32
00:24
23:06
12:35/M
12
Toni Schultz Danville CA 552
36
98
1:18:19
1:18:41
00:22
23:17
12:37/M
13
Anerien Botha Alameda CA 536
35
111
1:20:16
1:20:31
00:15
25:14
12:56/M
14
Somaya Bit San Ramon CA 310
35
112
1:20:16
1:20:38
00:22
25:14
12:56/M
15
Aniesha Sapp San Leandro CA 492
37
121
1:22:12
1:22:29
00:17
27:10
13:14/M
16
Dinda Hughes Sunnyvale CA 404
37
132
1:23:11
1:23:16
00:05
28:09
13:24/M
17
Melinda Berumen Castro Valley CA 309
38
141
1:25:24
1:25:42
00:18
30:22
13:45/M
18
Christy Bentivoglio Moraga CA 308
39
150
1:28:29
1:28:37
00:08
33:27
14:15/M
19
Erin Fitzgerald Concord CA 363
37
173
1:34:24
1:34:38
00:14
39:22
15:12/M
20
Ilana Kaufman El Cerrito CA 420
38
178
1:38:33
1:38:42
00:09
43:31
15:52/M
21
Maria Gillies Fremont CA 540
35
183
1:40:11
1:40:35
00:24
45:09
16:08/M
22
Olga Sandoval San Leandro CA 491
36
186
1:41:19
1:41:38
00:19
46:17
16:19/M
23
Tanya Hurley Castro Valley CA 542
39
192
1:41:54
1:41:58
00:04
46:52
16:25/M
24
Elaine Tran Santa Clara CA 554
35
213
2:00:46
2:00:52
00:06
1:05:44
19:27/M
25
Kari Rayford Livermore CA 562
39
223
2:30:07
2:30:13
00:06
1:35:05
24:10/M
Top
Female 40 to 44
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Carolyn Costamagna San Ramon CA 337
44
45
1:07:35
1:07:36
00:01
10:53/M
2
Shelly Wineinger San Ramon CA 528
42
51
1:09:09
1:09:29
00:20
01:34
11:08/M
3
Nicole Carey San Ramon CA 321
41
53
1:09:19
1:09:39
00:20
01:44
11:10/M
4
Laura Fairbanks San Francisco CA 359
41
61
1:11:21
1:11:56
00:35
03:46
11:29/M
5
Cindy Cooper San Jose CA 336
43
74
1:13:35
1:13:59
00:24
06:00
11:51/M
6
Nicole Chappelle Walnut Creek CA 329
40
77
1:14:11
1:14:27
00:16
06:36
11:57/M
7
Katherine Harris San Jose CA 392
41
86
1:15:04
1:15:12
00:08
07:29
12:05/M
8
Jean Tudhope Oakland CA 515
43
88
1:15:10
1:15:26
00:16
07:35
12:06/M
9
Tai Williams Danville CA 526
40
96
1:18:06
1:18:28
00:22
10:31
12:35/M
10
Debbie Delisle Livermore CA 348
41
107
1:19:38
1:20:02
00:24
12:03
12:49/M
11
Rosetta Cheung San Ramon CA 539
40
113
1:20:30
1:20:51
00:21
12:55
12:58/M
12
Kirsten Johnsen Walnut Creek CA 543
41
129
1:23:02
1:23:15
00:13
15:27
13:22/M
13
Ade Echizenya Dublin CA 354
41
135
1:24:30
1:24:42
00:12
16:55
13:36/M
14
Debbie Stone Pleasanton CA 503
44
137
1:24:33
1:24:54
00:21
16:58
13:37/M
15
Jenny Baie Lafayette CA 303
40
148
1:27:34
1:28:02
00:28
19:59
14:06/M
16
Marilou McDonald Crockett CA 444
40
153
1:29:02
1:29:30
00:28
21:27
14:20/M
17
Norma Stark Walnut Creek CA 502
43
155
1:29:04
1:29:18
00:14
21:29
14:21/M
18
Lisa St.claire Piedmont CA 501
44
159
1:30:49
1:31:20
00:31
23:14
14:37/M
19
Lisa High Pleasanton CA 395
41
162
1:31:00
1:31:12
00:12
23:25
14:39/M
20
Susan Barber Fremont CA 305
44
175
1:35:03
1:35:32
00:29
27:28
15:18/M
21
Carey Rufino Castro Valley CA 489
40
177
1:37:36
1:37:40
00:04
30:01
15:43/M
22
Jennifer Johnson San Ramon CA 414
42
185
1:40:42
1:40:46
00:04
33:07
16:13/M
23
Carmela Barrera San Lorenzo CA 574
41
205
1:47:02
1:47:23
00:21
39:27
17:14/M
24
Luana Matus-Ritchie Fremont CA 440
40
209
1:55:20
1:55:27
00:07
47:45
18:34/M
25
Shauna White San Leandro CA 556
41
215
2:02:37
2:03:08
00:31
55:02
19:45/M
26
Anna Lissa Tran Pleasanton CA 512
40
218
2:07:57
2:08:04
00:07
1:00:22
20:36/M
Top
Female 45 to 49
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Johnna Davis Martinez CA 344
47
25
1:01:54
1:01:57
00:03
9:58/M
2
Betsy Zimpfer Pleasanton CA 573
48
32
1:04:47
1:05:08
00:21
02:53
10:26/M
3
Sally Baldwin Fairfield CA 304
48
36
1:05:22
1:05:22
00:00
03:28
10:32/M
4
Kelly Emo Campbell CA 358
46
40
1:06:30
1:06:30
00:00
04:36
10:43/M
5
Teresa Hillstrom Fremont CA 577
48
42
1:07:18
1:07:20
00:02
05:24
10:50/M
6
Terrie Fontes Fremont CA 570
48
59
1:10:29
1:10:31
00:02
08:35
11:21/M
7
Patricia Lowry Walnut Creek CA 434
46
63
1:11:33
1:11:47
00:14
09:39
11:31/M
8
Paulette Schafir Berkeley CA 557
45
68
1:12:58
1:13:17
00:19
11:04
11:45/M
9
Tracy Gomez Palo Alto CA 541
49
70
1:13:12
1:13:53
00:41
11:18
11:47/M
10
Janet Ferolito San Jose CA 362
47
75
1:13:36
1:13:59
00:23
11:42
11:51/M
11
Julie Emmett Pleasanton CA 357
45
76
1:14:11
1:14:18
00:07
12:17
11:57/M
12
Cynthia Hamilton Walnut Creek CA 380
46
87
1:15:05
1:15:21
00:16
13:11
12:05/M
13
Kathleen Pastor Pleasant Hill CA 470
45
92
1:17:06
1:17:22
00:16
15:12
12:25/M
14
Kirsten Cherry Walnut Creek CA 331
46
93
1:17:24
1:17:35
00:11
15:30
12:28/M
15
Beth Mikesell Pleasant Hill CA 450
46
95
1:17:59
1:18:13
00:14
16:05
12:33/M
16
Alesia Woods Oakland CA 532
45
100
1:18:39
1:18:56
00:17
16:45
12:40/M
17
Gail Palin Hayward CA 469
49
116
1:21:28
1:21:39
00:11
19:34
13:07/M
18
Donna Woll Oakland CA 530
46
118
1:21:33
1:21:51
00:18
19:39
13:08/M
19
Robin James San Leandro CA 409
49
125
1:22:27
1:22:46
00:19
20:33
13:17/M
20
Gerry Lavin Pleasanton CA 544
47
128
1:23:01
1:23:14
00:13
21:07
13:22/M
21
Torrey Turner 575
47
136
1:24:32
1:24:54
00:22
22:38
13:37/M
22
Diane Hoh Concord CA 398
48
138
1:24:49
1:25:08
00:19
22:55
13:39/M
23
Kristin Chambers Walnut Creek CA 328
47
154
1:29:03
1:29:18
00:15
27:09
14:20/M
24
Sally Brown Los Angeles CA 316
49
165
1:32:13
1:32:52
00:39
30:19
14:51/M
25
Sydnie Nishiyama Alameda CA 461
45
184
1:40:40
1:41:05
00:25
38:46
16:13/M
26
Susan Noel Fresno CA 462
47
189
1:41:25
1:41:43
00:18
39:31
16:20/M
27
Wendy Samiljan Pleasanton CA 558
49
193
1:42:25
1:42:59
00:34
40:31
16:30/M
28
Donna Dao-Willins San Ramon CA 341
48
194
1:42:26
1:42:59
00:33
40:32
16:30/M
29
Vimala Venugopalan-Mark Fremont CA 520
48
207
1:52:07
1:52:17
00:10
50:13
18:03/M
Top
Female 50 to 54
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Patricia Barton Oakland CA 306
51
81
1:14:21
1:14:42
00:21
11:58/M
2
Linda Harrington Berkeley CA 388
51
109
1:20:00
1:20:02
00:02
05:39
12:53/M
3
Sui-Fen Liao Richmond CA 114
53
123
1:22:23
1:22:31
00:08
08:02
13:16/M
4
Maureen Sullivan Berkeley CA 506
52
157
1:30:24
1:30:49
00:25
16:03
14:33/M
5
Mimi Mugler Berkeley CA 456
50
187
1:41:24
1:41:49
00:25
27:03
16:20/M
6
Bernie Rossi Oakland CA 487
54
188
1:41:24
1:41:49
00:25
27:03
16:20/M
7
Ann Malko Pleasanton CA 438
50
195
1:42:27
1:42:59
00:32
28:06
16:30/M
8
Paula Jenkins Castro Valley CA 412
54
199
1:45:37
1:46:05
00:28
31:16
17:00/M
9
Sarah Gallagher Crockett CA 369
52
200
1:45:58
1:46:28
00:30
31:37
17:04/M
10
Theresa Armada Oakland CA 301
52
201
1:46:02
1:46:31
00:29
31:41
17:04/M
11
Linda Port Oakland CA 473
50
202
1:46:26
1:46:54
00:28
32:05
17:08/M
12
Diane Lucas Redwood City CA 435
52
212
2:00:16
2:00:42
00:26
45:55
19:22/M
13
Cathy Thoni Castro Valley CA 511
53
214
2:01:01
2:01:19
00:18
46:40
19:29/M
14
Jen Taylor Redwood City CA 507
54
219
2:10:01
2:10:22
00:21
55:40
20:56/M
15
Shawna Martin Oakland CA 439
52
220
2:11:29
2:11:52
00:23
57:08
21:10/M
Top
Female 55 to 59
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Barbara Bauer Manteca CA 307
58
130
1:23:06
1:23:17
00:11
13:23/M
2
Mary Serna Mountain View CA 494
55
152
1:28:54
1:29:01
00:07
05:48
14:19/M
3
Ronica Shelton El Sobrante CA 496
55
174
1:34:35
1:34:47
00:12
11:29
15:14/M
Top
Female 60 to 64
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Patricia Penton Monrovia CA 547
61
182
1:40:11
1:40:22
00:11
16:08/M
2
Helen Holdbrook Milpitas CA 399
63
217
2:03:54
2:04:00
00:06
23:43
19:57/M
Top
Female 65 to 69
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Mary Gee San Ramon CA 371
68
171
1:34:13
1:34:40
00:27
15:10/M
Top
Overall Male Winners
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Brian Collett Moraga CA 576
26
1
43:05
43:05
00:00
6:56/M
2
Christian Wirth San Jose CA 529
34
2
50:51
50:51
00:00
07:46
8:11/M
3
Ric Rodriguez Fremont CA 549
45
3
50:59
50:59
00:00
07:54
8:12/M
Top
Male 9 to 12
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Rei Echizenya Dublin CA 355
12
21
1:01:12
1:01:14
00:02
9:51/M
Top
Male 13 to 17
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Nicholas Strohl Benicia CA 505
15
6
56:02
56:02
00:00
9:01/M
Top
Male 25 to 29
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Brian Collett Moraga CA 576
26
1
43:05
43:05
00:00
6:56/M
2
Dan Patry Walnut Creek CA 471
28
8
56:24
56:27
00:03
13:19
9:05/M
3
David Rink San Francisco CA 483
29
43
1:07:30
1:07:41
00:11
24:25
10:52/M
4
Justin Gaerlan Fremont CA 368
29
73
1:13:35
1:13:45
00:10
30:30
11:51/M
5
Geovanni Linares Woodland CA 433
27
80
1:14:21
1:14:24
00:03
31:16
11:58/M
6
Babtunde Iroko Antioch CA 583
28
156
1:29:50
1:30:21
00:31
46:45
14:28/M
7
Marchal Monckton Fremont CA 453
29
163
1:32:03
1:32:24
00:21
48:58
14:49/M
8
Lance Reynolds Fresno CA 559
26
170
1:33:11
1:33:21
00:10
50:06
15:00/M
Top
Male 30 to 34
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Christian Wirth San Jose CA 529
34
2
50:51
50:51
00:00
8:11/M
2
Edwin Ortiz Marietta GA 468
31
11
57:21
57:24
00:03
06:30
9:14/M
3
Josh Maitland Concord CA 586
33
23
1:01:26
1:01:57
00:31
10:35
9:54/M
4
Joshua Hunt Castro Valley CA 406
31
29
1:02:38
1:02:42
00:04
11:47
10:05/M
5
Morgan McGuire San Jose CA 448
32
38
1:05:51
1:05:59
00:08
15:00
10:36/M
6
Paul Vandiver Clayton CA 517
34
64
1:11:38
1:11:55
00:17
20:47
11:32/M
7
Justin Tse San Francisco CA 514
33
69
1:13:08
1:13:28
00:20
22:17
11:47/M
8
Martin Hoehenr Richmond CA 397
33
103
1:19:03
1:19:31
00:28
28:12
12:44/M
9
Clifford Fong San Francisco CA 364
31
151
1:28:35
1:28:35
00:00
37:44
14:16/M
10
Daryl Bolloso Union City CA 311
32
221
2:16:46
2:17:20
00:34
1:25:55
22:01/M
11
Eric Ongpin Walnut Creek CA 467
34
222
2:16:57
2:17:30
00:33
1:26:06
22:03/M
Top
Male 35 to 39
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
John Harnett Oakland CA 386
36
9
56:28
56:29
00:01
9:06/M
2
Armando Bettencourt Walnut Creek CA 588
39
12
57:56
58:32
00:36
01:28
9:20/M
3
Toi Wong Alameda CA 531
35
18
59:39
59:45
00:06
03:11
9:36/M
4
Shawn Reyburn Brentwood CA 482
39
78
1:14:12
1:14:22
00:10
17:44
11:57/M
5
Brian Ladrillono Union City CA 424
35
94
1:17:35
1:17:44
00:09
21:07
12:30/M
6
Jess Reid Saratoga CA 480
37
104
1:19:09
1:19:16
00:07
22:41
12:45/M
7
Patrick Hughes Sunnyvale CA 405
37
131
1:23:08
1:23:13
00:05
26:40
13:23/M
8
James Wilson Cupertino CA 527
38
160
1:30:50
1:31:24
00:34
34:22
14:38/M
9
Claudio Martinez San Leandro CA 546
37
166
1:32:14
1:32:46
00:32
35:46
14:51/M
10
Andrew Fragoso San Leandro CA 366
39
206
1:48:37
1:48:46
00:09
52:09
17:29/M
Top
Male 40 to 44
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Chris McCoy Redding CA 443
40
13
58:23
58:26
00:03
9:24/M
2
Bernie Gee Geneva NY 370
40
20
1:01:10
1:01:15
00:05
02:47
9:51/M
3
David Rippon New York NY 485
41
22
1:01:14
1:01:14
00:00
02:51
9:52/M
4
Jeffrey St.claire Piedmont CA 589
44
34
1:05:06
1:05:35
00:29
06:43
10:29/M
5
Gary Holder Walnut Creek CA 400
43
47
1:08:13
1:08:25
00:12
09:50
10:59/M
6
Luis Villaroel 560
42
52
1:09:15
1:09:18
00:03
10:52
11:09/M
7
Morris McDaniel Birds Landing CA 585
43
58
1:10:10
1:10:25
00:15
11:47
11:18/M
8
Henry Caldwell San Francisco CA 538
43
89
1:15:27
1:19:13
03:46
17:04
12:09/M
9
Brian Hoover Moraga CA 402
44
91
1:16:16
1:16:38
00:22
17:53
12:17/M
10
Edmund Sanchez San Jose CA 551
42
99
1:18:34
1:18:37
00:03
20:11
12:39/M
11
Patrick McGlynn Walnut Creek CA 446
42
106
1:19:28
1:19:42
00:14
21:05
12:48/M
12
Vincent Mijares San Pablo CA 449
43
144
1:26:00
1:26:19
00:19
27:37
13:51/M
13
Jason Baie Lafayette CA 302
40
147
1:27:34
1:28:02
00:28
29:11
14:06/M
14
David Dippon Milpitas CA 350
44
158
1:30:24
1:30:58
00:34
32:01
14:33/M
15
Patrick High Pleasanton CA 396
43
161
1:31:00
1:31:12
00:12
32:37
14:39/M
16
Timothy Hamp Pinole CA 381
41
211
1:57:19
1:57:34
00:15
58:56
18:53/M
Top
Male 45 to 49
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Ric Rodriguez Fremont CA 549
45
3
50:59
50:59
00:00
8:12/M
2
Hongdeok Kim Pleasanton CA 421
49
17
59:34
59:34
00:00
08:35
9:36/M
3
Randy Hogan Walnut Creek CA 566
47
48
1:08:43
1:08:45
00:02
17:44
11:04/M
4
Rich Hahn Cupertino CA 569
49
54
1:09:27
1:09:27
00:00
18:28
11:11/M
5
Alan Burnett Mountain View CA 318
47
57
1:10:03
1:10:15
00:12
19:04
11:17/M
6
Marty Vaughan San Jose CA 555
49
114
1:20:49
1:20:52
00:03
29:50
13:01/M
7
Greg Byrne Dublin CA 319
47
115
1:21:19
1:21:58
00:39
30:20
13:06/M
8
Rich Schnetlage Plesanton CA 493
49
117
1:21:30
1:21:56
00:26
30:31
13:07/M
9
Gary Clark San Jose CA 581
48
133
1:23:45
1:24:24
00:39
32:46
13:29/M
10
Larry Catipon Livermore CA 326
49
145
1:26:26
1:26:47
00:21
35:27
13:55/M
11
Chris Falco Berkeley CA 360
46
176
1:36:00
1:36:26
00:26
45:01
15:28/M
Top
Male 50 to 54
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Mark Haight Fremont CA 578
52
5
55:24
55:26
00:02
8:55/M
2
Steve Sdol San Jose CA 580
54
14
58:37
58:37
00:00
03:13
9:26/M
3
Steve Cherry Walnut Creek CA 333
52
50
1:09:04
1:09:15
00:11
13:40
11:07/M
4
Jeff Mikesell Pleasant Hill CA 451
53
67
1:12:51
1:13:06
00:15
17:27
11:44/M
5
Steve Davids Elk Grove CA 343
53
71
1:13:20
1:13:42
00:22
17:56
11:49/M
6
Jojo Chavarria Pleasant Hill CA 330
53
82
1:14:26
1:14:53
00:27
19:02
11:59/M
7
John Leroux Woodland CA 545
50
149
1:27:38
1:28:17
00:39
32:14
14:07/M
8
Chet Lievre Oakland CA 431
50
216
2:02:52
2:02:53
00:01
1:07:28
19:47/M
Top
Male 55 to 59
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Dino Cardiasmenos Castro Valley CA 564
58
46
1:08:04
1:08:04
00:00
10:58/M
2
Mark Shelton El Sobrante CA 495
56
79
1:14:18
1:14:30
00:12
06:14
11:58/M
3
Andrew Morozovsky Castro Valley CA 455
55
198
1:45:28
1:45:56
00:28
37:24
16:59/M
Top
Male 60 to 64
Place
Name City Bib No
Age
Overall
Chip Time
Gun Time
Diff
Time Back
Pace
1
Jim Dougherty Fremont CA 351
64
110
1:20:01
1:20:05
00:04
12:53/M
2
Michael Gilson Lafayette CA 375
63
142
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Frank Nolte Pleasant Hill CA 463
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc.
Address:
Pillowtex Corporation
4111 Mint Way
Dallas, Texas 75237
U.S.A.
Telephone: (214) 333-3225
Fax: (214) 333-6016
Statistics:
Brand Name and Assets Acquired by Pillowtex Corporation
Incorporated: 1953 as Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.
Dissolved: 1997
Final Sales: $1.1 billion (1996)
NAIC:31321 Broadwoven Fabric Mills; 314129 Other Household Textile Product Mills
Key Dates:
1888: Cannon Mills is founded.
1898: Benjamin Franklin Mebane builds mills in North Carolina.
1910: Thread Mills Co. (unit of Marshall Field) takes over Mebane's operation.
1935: Thread Mills renamed Fieldcrest Mills.
1953: Fieldcrest is sold to Amoskeag Company.
1962: Fieldcrest becomes a public company.
1986: Fieldcrest Mills acquires Cannon Mills; company renamed Fieldcrest Cannon.
1993: Unsolicited buyout offer from Springs Industries threatens Fieldcrest Cannon.
1994: Fieldcrest Cannon acquires Amoskeag.
1997: Fieldcrest Cannon is acquired by Pillowtex Corporation.
Company History:
Prior to its acquisition by Pillowtex Corporation in 1997, Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc. was a leading producer of towels, bed sheets, bath accessories, bath rugs, and furniture coverings. Formed by the union of Fieldcrest Mills and Cannon Mills in 1986, the giant home textile company sold its products under an array of brand names, including Cannon, Fieldcrest, Monticello, Royal Velvet, St. Mary's, and Caldwell. After enduring a difficult period during the early 1990s, Fieldcrest Cannon regrouped and made several important acquisitions. However, in 1996, the company was over-extended and sold its blanket-manufacturing operations to Dallas-based Pillowtex, which then acquired the remainder of Fieldcrest Cannon the following year. Although Fieldcrest Cannon was wholly subsumed into Pillowtex--and ceased to exist as a corporate entity thereafter--Pillowtex remained committed to maintaining Fieldcrest Cannon's strong brand names.
The History of Fieldcrest Mills
The early histories of both Fieldcrest Mills and Cannon Mills center on determined industrialists. Fieldcrest started with aspiring empire-builder, Benjamin Franklin Mebane, who launched an ambitious plan to open
one mill a year on and around 600 acres of land he had purchased in Spray, North Carolina, in 1893. By
1905 he owned six mills in the area, renamed Eden (after a surveyor's comment that it resembled the garden of Eden). Mebane had gone to Chicago retailer Marshall Field for help in financing his plan, and after Mebane started having trouble repaying his debt, Field decided to take over. By 1910 Field had gained voting control of Mebane's Spray Water Power & Land Co. and had installed new managers; by 1912 the takeover was complete and the company had become a subsidiary of Marshall Field & Co. Field invested in improvements and expansion projects for the subsidiary, which was renamed the Thread Mills Company. In 1916 the company acquired a 1,600-acre site near Martinsville, Virginia, for a huck (flat weave) and terry towel plant and employee housing; the facility in the newly created community of Fieldale, started operation in 1919. It would continue operating into the 1990s.
In 1935 the mills were reorganized. Previously part of Marshall Field's wholesale division, they became part of the manufacturing division, and sales departments distributed their products nationally at both wholesale and retail levels.
During World War II shortages hampered the mills' ability to meet consumer demand. Nevertheless, they did produce a variety of goods for the armed services, including silk cartridge cloth, camouflage net, parachute cloth, and mosquito netting. In 1947 the division's name was changed to Fieldcrest Mills, to clearly identify them with the nationally advertised products that it manufactured.
By 1953 Marshall Field & Co. was eager to expand its stores, especially in the emerging suburban landscape. To raise enough capital, the company sold its mill operations (including its carpet mills, which manufactured the well-respected Karastan brand of carpets) to Amoskeag Co. Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., was incorporated in September of that year; its sales were $39 million.
Amoskeag Co., an investment trust based in Boston, also owned the Bangor & Aroostoock Railroad in Maine and various real estate and mining interests. Amoskeag, in turn, was controlled by the Dumaine trust, a family trust organized by F.C. Dumaine, Sr., a textile mill baron who had become the head of Amoskeag in 1905. Upon his death in 1951 stewardship for the trust passed to his son F.C. Dumaine, Jr., who had started working for Amoskeag in 1922. By 1961 sales had reached $77 million, and the following year Fieldcrest became a publicly owned company, with Amoskeag holding about 40 percent of the stock. In 1967 Fieldcrest was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Fieldcrest grew through the mid-1960s via a series of acquisitions and improvements, and by 1967 those costs totaled $82.3 million. At that time the Fieldcrest division, which produced blankets, bedspreads, sheets, and towels, comprised 65 percent of the company's sales, while the Karastan division, which produced Karastan and Laurelcrest carpets, contributed 20 percent. Sales that year were $175.3 million.
Fieldcrest produced goods under its own name as well as private labels, with customers Sears, Roebuck & Co. and J.C. Penney accounting for almost 15 percent of total sales. Fieldcrest's strength came from strong showing of its medium- and upper-priced lines, which made up almost two-thirds of total sales. These lines, carrying the Fieldcrest label, appeared primarily in department stores; its Royal Velvet towels, introduced in 1954, were known for their luxury. The lower priced St. Marys brand was sold through mass merchandisers.
The 20th anniversary of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc., in 1973, saw sales reach $290 million and annual growth since 1961. By 1977 volume had grown to $417 million. Profits had generally followed this upward trend as well. During this time, Fieldcrest tried to meet the growing consumer demand for more fashionable styles for bed and bath products, entering the 'designer' sweepstakes. In 1976 it introduced its first designer line, the Halston collection, and the following year a Geoffrey Beene line was introduced, as well as the Carleton Varney line for the St Marys brand. The market responded favorably, and Fieldcrest saw a 43 percent gain in its bed and bath products in 1976--77. Carpet sales also increased, due to a boom in housing as well as an aggressive promotional program and a successful entry in the contract carpeting market. Halston rugs were introduced in 1977.
That year the company formed a 50 percent joint venture with the Bank of Ireland and P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd.--Fieldcrest Ireland, Ltd.&mdashø build and operate a Fieldcrest towel plant in Kelkenney, Ireland, in an attempt to penetrate the European market.
Profits crested at $24.8 million on sales of $517.7 million in 1979. Thereafter profits began to slide, falling to $10.4 million in 1982 on sales of $492 million. The recession had affected the company's performance, but other mills proved able to sustain earnings during that period. Market analysts pointed to ill-conceived and expensive expansion attempts; Fieldcrest had spent $100 million expanding or updating its facilities between 1978 and 1981. Furthermore, Fieldcrest had responded to a surge in blanket sales in 1977 and 1978 due to unusually cold winters and high energy costs by modernizing its blanket mill in Eden for $40 million, but blanket sales had begun declining after 1978. The plant in Ireland closed in 1982 after high inflation in that country priced the towels out of the European market, and Fieldcrest lost $8 million.
Most troubling for Fieldcrest were attempts by other manufacturers to encroach upon its ensconced and lucrative position at the head of the premium towel market. Fieldcrest had decided aggressively to expand its St. Marys line, and this triggered attempts by J.P. Stevens, West Point-Pepperell, and most notably Cannon Mills to move into the upper end of the market as well. Cannon added a Royal Touch towel to its Royal Family line that directly competed with Fieldcrest's Royal Velvet. Fieldcrest found itself defending its territory at the top, where the profits were highest, while trying to advance farther at the other end of the market. As the recession took hold, rounds of discounting began and inventory was reduced.
Amoskeag Co., whose earnings were largely sustained by those of Fieldcrest, grew concerned, and in 1982 the chief executive of Amoskeag, Joseph Ely II, was brought in to head Fieldcrest, for which he had served as a board member since 1976. In December of that year, Fieldcrest wrote off its half of a Canadian joint venture, Crossley Karastan Carpet Mills, Ltd., which had lost $1.2 million in 1981.
Soon thereafter, Fieldcrest shifted its marketing strategy. Instead of trying to increase profits through high volume of its lower end products, it sought to broaden its range of items built around the Fieldcrest name. By reemphasizing the Fieldcrest lines, which it had neglected to update while the effort had been on the designer lines, the company chose to retain profits and avoid price cuts at the expense of expanding its market share. Fieldcrest was the only towelmaker that continued to use its name solely with its premium products; Cannon Mills, for example, sewed its name into all of its towels, regardless of the price category.
Fieldcrest promised department stores carrying its line that they had the protected use of its name, thereby hoping to seal their loyalty and expand its carriage trade. Fieldcrest also hoped to grow its private-brand business, of which Sears was its biggest customer, contributing $75 million in sales in 1983.
In 1986 Fieldcrest took the bold step of acquiring Cannon Mills, which it purchased for $321 million. With that acquisition, Fieldcrest, which became Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc., gained 12,900 employees, 12 plants, and 14 sales offices, thus doubling its size and becoming the country's fifth largest publicly held textile company.
The History of Cannon Mills, Co.
Towards the end of the 19th century, James William Cannon, a 35-year old partner and manager of a general store, became intrigued with the textile business and decided to open a cotton mill. He raised $75,000 and built a mill in Concord, North Carolina, which started business in 1887 as the Cannon Manufacturing Company. Cannon also managed the plant. He evidently brought some knowledge of the retail business with him when he decided to put his name on the fabric that his mill manufactured, reasoning that sales could only increase if customers could ask for a product by name. The popularity of 'Cannon cloth' spread throughout the south, and thus the Cannon retailing philosophy was born.
Realizing that the South had no towel manufacturing plants, Cannon opened a mill that produced huck towels in 1894 and another mill that made terry towels four years later. In 1906 Cannon bought a 600-acre parcel of land, previously a cotton plantation, and started developing the community that became Kannapolis. The mills there started operation in 1908 and were able to produce more towels than any other group of mills, due in part to automatic terry looms. The mills also produced a variety of 'gray goods' such as cotton cloth and woman's hosiery.
By 1916 Cannon had decided to try to market as well as manufacture his products, and so a new sales force, Cannon Mills, Inc., was established in New York City. James Cannon died in 1921 at which time he controlled 12 mills with over 15,000 employees and an estimated $40 million in annual sales. Kannapolis was considered a 'model mill city,' and its mills could turn out 300,000 towels daily. His youngest son,
Charles Cannon, who had quit college at the age of 19 to start work in his father's mills and had become a vice-president at the age of 23, became the company's president.
Charles 'Mr. Charlie' Cannon ran the company for the next 50 years. Under his stewardship, Cannon Mills maintained its dominant position in the U.S. towel market, regularly producing half of all towels purchased.
It also carried one-fifth of the sheeting business. Much of Cannon Mills' success was due to the very high efficiency of its mills, which were virtually all within a 20-mile radius of one another, affording close supervision; only a few steps separated the back door of the CEO's office from Plant No. 1. The company's production was vertically integrated, from the spinning of the cotton to the finished product.
In 1923 Cannon had the Cannon name sewn into all of its towels, becoming the first company to do so. By unabashedly identifying with what had been seen as purely a 'commodity' product, Cannon was to develop an intense brand loyalty among consumers, who came to identify the Cannon name with affordability and quality. Cannon, unlike other mills, used its name on its top-of-the line goods as well as its more affordably priced items. Most of Cannon Mills' products were distributed through mass merchandisers.
Cannon's tenure was marked by an entrenched fiscal conservatism. He made no effort to diversify, eschewing the idea of growth for growth's sake. While Cannon was in control, the company did not acquire any long-term debt. Furthermore, Cannon's reign over Kannapolis--which remained unincorporated--also reflected his paternalistic style. Kannapolis had no mayor, town council, or legal charter. Cannon Mills paid for the community's police and fire services and was responsible for its water and sewerage system, trash collection, and street maintenance. It also owned approximately 1,600 houses that were rented to mill employees.
Moreover, Cannon owned virtually all the property within the one-square-mile business district. Later, in the 1930s, Charlie Cannon returned from a business trip to Williamsburg so impressed by its colonial architecture that he had facades for the business district constructed to mimic their colonial style, and downtown Kannapolis was thus transformed into a Georgian village. A massive sign on the edge of town, lighted by 1,800 bulbs and visible from the highway and the railroad, proclaimed that Cannon Mills was the 'World's Largest Manufacturer of Towels.' (After World War II, the sign was altered to read 'Leading Manufacturer of Towels' and updated with neon.)
In 1927 Charlie Cannon brought his company to the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first southern mill owner to do so. The following year he consolidated the mills into a single entity, the Cannon Mills Co.
In the 1930s Cannon Mills started manufacturing sheets. For many years Charlie Cannon resisted turning out sheets in anything but white. Over time they became more colorful, but prints were disdained, except for one featuring a tightly closed rosebud introduced in 1953. 'It took another 13 years to get that rosebud opened,' a marketing vice-president told Forbes.
In 1962 Cannon Mills was removed from the New York Stock Exchange, when Charlie Cannon refused to solicit proxies from all of the company's shareholders, preferring to solicit only those who held voting stock. Cannon felt the required disclosure of information was intrusive and unnecessary. At that time the Cannon family and relatives held 40 percent of the voting stock and 27 percent of the total stock.
Charlie Cannon died in 1971 after suffering a heart attack at his office. At that time, Cannon Mills owned 17 plants and employed 24,000 workers, making it the largest employer in the Carolinas. The population of Kannapolis was 36,000, ten percent of which lived in company housing. Sales in 1971 reached $323 million.
Cannon left no long-term debt and over $60 million in cash and marketable securities. The Cannon name was recognized by a remarkable 90 percent of consumers. However, growth had been very slow; in the five years prior to Cannon's death, sales figures had increased only two percent a year.
The neon sign remained unlit after Cannon died, but Cannon Mills stock soared on Wall Street as investors believed that new management would fully take advantage of the company's cash-rich, debt-free position.
Nevertheless, Charlie Cannon's hand-picked successor, Don Holt, continued his mentor's policies of neither diversifying nor broadening its market appeal. As other mills were bringing in well-known designers to update their look, Cannon continued to resist. 'We have the Cannon name. We don't need designers' names,' the president of Cannon's merchandising subsidiary told Forbes in 1972.
For much of the 1970s Cannon was able to hold onto its share of the towel market, although its sales growth barely matched the rate of inflation and was far outstripped by its competitors. In 1975 its earnings were less than those of 1965, $2.66 a share, although its sales volume had grown 42 percent since that year to $395 million. A new chairperson, Harold Hornaday, was installed, who conceded to Forbes that 'the times require that Cannon be more market oriented.' Nonetheless, Hornaday hesitated to change strategies as its share of the sheet market dropped from 20 to 15 percent. Sales in 1979 reached $609 million. In that year, Cannon was reinstated to the New York Stock Exchange, having given voting rights to all public shareholders and begun publishing more detailed annual reports. Hornaday, however, was asked to leave in October 1980 after several embarrassing missteps led to Cannon's first money-losing quarter in over a decade.
Cannon attempted vigorously to catch up with its competitors, under the youthful leadership of its next chairperson, Otto Stolz. The company diversified into the manufacture of various items for kitchen and bath, including mats and rugs. Luxury fabric designer Robin Roberts was also hired to create a fashionable and upscale line of sheets and towels. Cannon had difficulty changing its old-fashioned image, however, and its share of the towel market fell to below 35 percent.
Cannon Mills was to experience dramatic change in 1982, after David Murdock, a self-made millionaire and takeover artist from California, disclosed his intention of acquiring the company. Charlie Cannon's son William was the first to sell, and the other trustees followed his example. After the $413 million leveraged buyout, Murdock took the company private.
Murdock set out to reshape the way Cannon did business. As other mills were reporting slowing growth or declines, Murdock sought to increase Cannon's sales by updating the company with a glamorous and trendy image. The design department was doubled in size, its manager released, and most of the existing towels and sheets discontinued. The Japanese designer Issey Miyake and the Swedish designer Katja were hired to create their own lines. A racy advertising campaign was launched featuring various celebrities between Cannon sheets with the tag line 'Two of the most famous names in America sleep together.' Towels were marketed at all price levels, including a line that competed directly with Fieldcrest's Royal Velvet. Efforts were also made to expand profits at the mass merchandisers; to that end, an agreement was signed with the producers of the nighttime soap opera Dynasty to produce a Dynasty collection, patterned after the sets used on the show.
Murdock quickly invested $200 million in upgrading mill equipment. Furthermore, he immediately laid off several hundred employees; mill workers who lived in company-owned homes were informed they would have to buy their houses or leave. And Murdock spent $30 million to raze businesses, move homes, build a highway, and refurbish the Georgian business district so as to turn it into 'Cannon Village,' a factory-outlet shopping mall.
Despite Murdock's attempts to invigorate Cannon with splashy designs and heavy advertising, Cannon continued to lose money. The import-battered market had led to further layoffs (reaching 3,000), the closing of three mills, and a $31 million drop in exports. Under these conditions, the Amalgamated Clothing & Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) attempted to organize Cannon employees, which culminated in a vote in October 1985. The union had failed previously, most recently in 1974 in a 44 to 56 percent vote. Murdock, by that time seeking a buyer for Cannon, fought the union in a venomous campaign in which he jetted frequently into Kannapolis, touring the factories and shaking hands with virtually all of the company's 10,000 employees. The movement to unionize was defeated in a 37 to 63 percent vote.
Several months later, in January 1986, Murdock sold approximately 75 percent of Cannon Mills to Fieldcrest Mills for $321 million. He retained the real estate holdings, which included most of the commercial real estate in downtown Kannapolis, worth approximately $100 million, as well as several other mills. The sale to Fieldcrest did not mark the end of Murdock's involvement with Cannon or the union, however. Murdock had also left Kannapolis with around $25 million from the Cannon pension fund, which had been terminated shortly before the sale was consummated. In October 1986 the ACTWU filed suit, charging that Murdock had mishandled the funds and thus violated his fiduciary duties as a trustee of the plan.
The point of contention was Murdock's use of the funds while he was battling for control of Occidental Petroleum. Murdock had started acquiring Occidental stock in 1981. In February 1982 he was elected as a director of that company under conditions which barred him from acquiring more than five percent of its stock. Late in that year the Cannon pension fund began to purchase Occidental stock, which by 1984 accounted for 7.8 percent of the fund's holding. In 1984 Occidental repurchased its stock from Murdock-controlled entities--including the Cannon pension fund--with a $60 million premium attached. After the fund was terminated late in 1985, the fund's excess assets--including the profits from the Occidental deal--were folded back into Murdock's other entities. The union's suit charged that Murdock had used the funds to either 'greenmail' or take over Occidental, as opposed to managing the funds for its participants and beneficiaries, and that he had used the funds similarly in actions against Kaiser Cement. The case was settled out of court in 1989 for a reported $1 million.
Upon the liquidation of the pension plan, Murdock invested the funds with Executive Life Insurance of California. The company, which had invested heavily in junk bonds underwritten by Michael Milken of Drexel Burnham Lambert during the 1980s, suffered sharp losses after the junk bond industry collapsed in 1990. In April 1991 state regulators seized its assets, and monthly pension payments were cut by 30 percent.
In August, Murdock announced he would 'personally pay all Cannon retirees the full amount of reduction they suffered.' The payments were to be in the form of personal checks and were to compensate for the shortfall from May 1 to September 30, when full payments were to resume.
Fieldcrest Cannon is Formed
The acquisition by Fieldcrest of Cannon catapulted the company to the number one position in the towel and blanket market and the number three spot in the sheet market. Observers wondered how Fieldcrest and Cannon, two textile powerhouses with very different market strategies, would work together, especially on the retail floor. The erstwhile rivals' various lines seemed poised to continue to compete against each other for market share and counterspace. Fieldcrest's flagship brand still prevailed in the department stores, where Cannon's Royal Family line vied against it. Cannon was the number one brand with discounters, where Fieldcrest's St. Marys always placed behind Cannon's Monticello line. There were tactical differences as well. Fieldcrest had chosen to not expand its market share to avoid price cuts, while Cannon had elected to cut prices to generate sales. Fieldcrest executives felt that it was best to keep the lines separate to hold onto precious counterspace as the retail industry consolidated. Fieldcrest had also quickly moved out some of Cannon's management team, replacing them with Fieldcrest staffers. Some observers felt that Fieldcrest lost much-needed experience with high-volume, low-margin mass merchandising.
Less than one year after the purchase of Cannon, Fieldcrest bought Bigelow-Sanford, Inc., a manufacturer of residential and industrial contract carpeting. Bigelow-Sanford had been purchased by a group of its executives in 1981, who in turn sold it to Fieldcrest Cannon in December 1986 for $129 million--$4 million in cash and 460,727 shares of Fieldcrest common stock. After the acquisition, Fieldcrest Cannon merged Bigelow-Sanford with its Karastan division and dismissed the Bigelow-Sanford executives. Soon thereafter, DuPont introduced its Stainmaster fiber, which was enormously popular but proved to be very difficult to dye into the carpet colors that consumers wanted. Lacking knowledgeable staff at the top of its carpet operations and still heavily in debt from its acquisitions, Fieldcrest Cannon committed to big capital outlays in an attempt to master the process.
In 1987 Fieldcrest Cannon lost $3.7 million on sales of $1.4 billion, and much of the loss was attributed to problems with Bigelow-Sanford. By 1988 Fieldcrest Cannon announced that it wanted out of the carpet business altogether and was looking for a buyer. Profits rebounded to $11.3 million that year and reached $23.4 million in 1989. However, 1990's economic downturn exacerbated internal problems, and the company posted a $38 million loss on $1.24 billion in sales. The company's stock value, which had peaked in 1986 at $43, dropped to below six dollars per share.
Restructuring and Takeover Threats in the 1990s
Several analysts pointed to Chairperson Ely as directly responsible for the troubles at Fieldcrest Cannon.
They cited an overly rapid expansion financed with heavy debt commitments, the exorbitant price paid for Cannon, ill-timed cotton purchases, and difficulties with Bigelow-Sanford. Moreover, critics reasoned that Ely had been able to remain at Fieldcrest Cannon as long as he had by virtue of his position as treasurer of the Dumaine trust, holding ultimate power over an elderly board on which remained several members from F.C. Dumaine, Sr.'s, era.
After Ely was forced out, Fieldcrest Cannon underwent a series of cost-cutting measures in 1990 under its new chairperson, James Fitzgibbons, which included reducing its workforce by 1,700, discontinuing its unprofitable automatic blanket operations, and unloading inventory. Unable to find a buyer for its rug and carpet division, the company consolidated those operations and was able to turn a profit in 1991. That year Fieldcrest Cannon as a whole was able to claim $3.2 million in profit, although sales were reported at $1.21 billion, less than those of 1990. Income in 1992 exceeded that of the previous year, aided by lower cotton prices and higher sales. In mid-1992 the company refinanced its loan agreements, reducing its interest payments. Nevertheless, Fieldcrest Cannon had experienced lower sales from 1988 to 1992, largely because of a decline in carpet and rug sales from $371.1 million in 1988 to $235.5 million in 1992. Total sales in 1992 were $1.22 billion.
In January 1993 Amoskeag announced that it was considering selling off its shares of Fieldcrest Cannon, disclosing that the Dumaine trust was reviewing its own investment in Amoskeag. At that time the Dumaine trust owned approximately 76 percent of the voting power of the equity of Amoskeag, and Amoskeag controlled about 80 percent of the voting stock and 30 percent of the equity of Fieldcrest Cannon. Some of the trust's beneficiaries had criticized the trust's management, but the Dumaine heirs had no say in the management of the trust unless Amoskeag failed to provide a dividend, which was largely furnished by Fieldcrest Cannon. Long-simmering dissension and rivalry ruptured into several legal battles attempting to break the trust, each of which ultimately failed.
The ownership issue came to a head again in May 1993 when one of Fieldcrest Cannon's chief competitors, Springs Industries, Inc., offered to purchase the company for $330 million. The unsolicited bid came at an especially bad time. With its new management in place since 1990, Fieldcrest Cannon was 'turning around nicely,' according to the Daily News Record. Earlier in the year, Fieldcrest Cannon had obtained the lucrative manufacturing and distribution operations for Caldwell, Canada's leading towel brand. Though Fitzgibbons tersely met Springs's takeover bid with the warning that 'Fieldcrest Cannon is not for sale,' rumors flew about the possible acquisition.
Fieldcrest Cannon's apparent weakness emboldened others to try to make inroads. Various competitors hungrily eyed the company, including Bibb Co., which made its own unsolicited offer for a controlling interest in the company. At the same time, the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers sensed an opportunity to once again approach Fieldcrest Cannon workers and sent representatives to the company's mills in Rowan and Cabarrus, North Carolina, to attempt to unionize employees.
In the face of these challenges, Fieldcrest Cannon finally was able to divest its carpet and rug business in June 1993. The company raised over $140 million with the sale of the division--including the Bigelow and Karastan brands&mdashø Mohawk Industries Inc. Fitzgibbons announced that Fieldcrest Cannon would thereafter focus on its core bed and bath operations. Springs's acquisition efforts continued, with a proposal to purchase Amoskeag, an offer the Dumaine trust rejected. Fieldcrest Cannon finally put an end to all acquisition efforts when it purchased Amoskeag--its largest shareholder--in August 1993 for $137.6 million.
After withstanding this period of turbulence, Fieldcrest Cannon turned to new ventures. In 1994 the company entered the bath fashions market, debuting a line of shower curtains and bath ceramics. That same year, the company signed on as the official supplier of bedding and towels for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 1995 it acquired Sure Fit, a division of UTC Holdings. Sure Fit was the leading producer of furniture coverings, especially slip covers. Fieldcrest Cannon swiftly converted Sure Fit's 'Decor Express' and 'Homescapes' to its own recognizable Cannon, Cannon Royal Family, and Fieldcrest labels.
Yet 1996 proved to be another difficult year for the company. Though Fieldcrest Cannon's sales reached $1.09 billion, profits flagged at $1.1 million. In an effort to reign in costs, the company closed a number of manufacturing facilities, including a towel-weaving plant, a towel-yarn plant, and two sheeting-yarn plants.
The company also sold its blanket-manufacturing operations for $30 million to Pillowtex Corporation, a firm which made pillows, sheets, and blankets under the Ralph Lauren, Disney, and Martha Stewart labels.
Pillowtex happened to be eager to gain access to the bath textile market. On September 11, 1997 it acquired the remainder of Fieldcrest Cannon's assets for $400 million.
Fieldcrest Cannon's operations and assets were folded into Pillowtex, and Pillowtex's chairman and chief executive officer pledged to cut costs at its new facilities by $30 million. In keeping with this goal, he fired 20 percent of Fieldcrest Canon's salaried employees, six days before Christmas. Pillowtex then shed two Fieldcrest Cannon home furnishing fabrics plants in 1998, and closed a factory that made decorative bedding as well.
Though Pillowtex had abruptly reduced Fieldcrest Cannon's workforce, it had no similar desire to decimate the company's roster of brands. Cannon, Fieldcrest, Charisma, and Royal Velvet were the industry's most recognizable labels, and Pillowtex stood to gain from their popularity. In 1998, Pillowtex resolved to expand the brand names into new product lines to boost sales.
Although Fieldcrest Cannon had ceased to exist as a company, its name remained valuable to Pillowtex.
edited by Kevin Doyle.
Toronto, Maclean Hunter Limited, 22 august 1983.
approx.8 x 1o, 14 sheets white glossy folded to 56 pp & stapled twice into white glossy wrappers (heavier stock?), all printed black offset with 3-colour colour additions to all covers & throughout.
cover photoraph by Walter Chin.
69 contributors ID'd:
Gary Adamache, Ian Austen, George Bain, William Bell, Carol Bruman, Fred Bruning, Calvin Caldwell, Jackie Carlos, Paul Chiasson, Walter Chin, Rita Christopher, John G.S.Cox, Mark Czarnecki, Donald J.Daly, Ken Danby, Derek DeBono, Kevin Doyle, John Faustmann, Allan Fotheringham, [--?--] Galvin, Lenny Glynn, Carol Goar, Peter Gorrie, Malcolm Gray, P.Habans, Gail Harvey, Gary Hershorn, Ernest Hillen, Alan Hughes, Mary Janigan, Peter Kiernan, Cornelius Krieghoff, Jean-Pierre Laffont, Paul Little, David Livingstone, William Lowther, Dawn MacDonald, Gillian MacKay, [--?--] Mattison, Marci McDonald, R.McKee, Linda McQuaig, Geoff Meggs, Jared Mitchell, James C.Newell, Peter C.Newman, John J.O'Connor, William Orme, Lawrence O'Toole, Roy Peterson, [--?--] Poincet, Peter Redman, Richard Reynolds, Mike Ridewood, Susan Riley, Eugene V.Rostow, Robert Runcie, William Scobie, Andy Shaw, Dave Silburt, Sven Simon, [--?--] Smith-O'Hara, Christione Spengler, Mary Helen Spooner, Sidney Tabak, Rhonda Van Heys, Ben Wicks, Brian Willer, Robin Wright.
includes:
i) Flying the flag at centre stage, by Mark Czarnecki (p.54; prose capsule theatre review with references to Mary Barton & bpNichol's Tracks)
___________________________
• uninspected, unarchived; image & information gleaned from Maclean's archive
This is the story of Molly Bowser, recently married and more recently divorced, faced with making a living for herself and for her illegitimate daughter, Lily, eighteen in years, eight in mind. With a marriage for Lily as her prime objective, Molly's reputation for free love (promiscuity, not without price) hinders her progress. The first respectable suitor is scared away by his family, until Lily's elopement, with an adolescent neighbor, saves the day. Molly, recharged with her optimism, is soon involved in scandal as the preacher suicides at her house, finishes her chances for respectability, and leaves her to a future as madam of a house of fame. [Source: Kirkus Review]
Caldwell's book was the basis for a 2004 made-for-TV movie titled "Sinners Need Company" on the Lifetime channel. Here is a link to the movie trailer:
Faux vintage photo of Union General Hancock being portrayed by reenactor.
Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886)
Hancock's most famous service was as a new corps commander at the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to July 3, 1863. After his friend, Maj. Gen. Hancock thus was in temporary command of the "left wing" of the army, consisting of the I, II, III, and XI Corps. This demonstrated Meade's high confidence in him, because Hancock was not the most senior Union officer at Gettysburg at the time. Hancock and the more senior XI Corps commander, Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, argued briefly about this command arrangement, but Hancock prevailed and he organized the Union defenses on Cemetery Hill as more numerous Confederate forces drove the I and XI Corps back through the town. He had the authority from Meade to withdraw the forces, so he was responsible for the decision to stand and fight at Gettysburg. Meade arrived after midnight and overall command reverted to him.
On July 2, Hancock's II Corps was positioned on Cemetery Ridge, roughly in the center of the Union line, while Confederate General Robert E. Lee launched assaults on both ends of the line. On the Union left, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's assault smashed the III Corps and Hancock sent in his 1st Division, under Brig. Gen. John C. Caldwell, to reinforce the Union line in the Wheatfield. As Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's corps continued the attack toward the Union center, Hancock rallied the defenses and rushed units to the critical spots. In one famous incident, he sacrificed a regiment, the 1st Minnesota, by ordering it to advance and attack a Confederate brigade four times its size, causing the Minnesotans to suffer 87% casualties. While costly to the regiment, this heroic sacrifice bought time to organize the defensive line and saved the day for the Union army.
On July 3, Hancock continued in his position on Cemetery Ridge and thus bore the brunt of Pickett's Charge. During the massive Confederate artillery bombardment that preceded the infantry assault, Hancock was prominent on horseback in reviewing and encouraging his troops. When one of his subordinates protested, "General, the corps commander ought not to risk his life that way," Hancock is said to have replied, "There are times when a corps commander's life does not count." During the infantry assault, his old friend, now Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Armistead, leading a brigade in Maj. Gen. George Pickett's division, was wounded and died two days later. Hancock could not meet with his friend because he had just been wounded himself, a severe injury caused by a bullet striking the pommel of his saddle, entering his inner right thigh along with wood fragments and a large bent nail. Helped from his horse by aides, and with a tourniquet applied to stanch the bleeding, he removed the saddle nail himself and, mistaking its source, remarked wryly, "They must be hard up for ammunition when they throw such shot as that." News of Armistead's mortal wounding was brought to Hancock by a member of his staff, Captain Henry H. Bingham. Despite his pain, Hancock refused evacuation to the rear until the battle was resolved. He had been an inspiration for his troops throughout the three-day battle. Hancock later received the thanks of the U.S. Congress for "... his gallant, meritorious and conspicuous share in that great and decisive victory."
Hancock suffered from the effects of his Gettysburg wound for the rest of the war. After recuperating in Norristown, he performed recruiting services over the winter and returned in the spring to field command of the II Corps for Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign, but he never regained full mobility and his former youthful energy. Nevertheless, he performed well at the Battle of the Wilderness and commanded a critical breakthrough assault of the Mule Shoe at the "Bloody Angle" in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, shattering the Confederate Stonewall Division. His corps suffered enormous losses during a futile assault Grant ordered at Cold Harbor.
After Grant's army slipped past Lee's army to cross the James River, Hancock found himself in a position from which he might have ended the war. His corps arrived to support Baldy Smith's assaults on the lightly held Petersburg defensive lines, but he deferred to Smith's advice because Smith knew the ground and had been on the field all day, and no significant assaults were made before the Confederate lines were reinforced. One of the great opportunities of the war was lost. After his corps participated in the assaults at Deep Bottom, Hancock was promoted to brigadier general in the regular army, effective August 12, 1864.
Hancock's only significant military defeat occurred during the Siege of Petersburg. His II Corps moved south of the city, along the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, tearing up track. On August 25, Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth attacked and overran the faulty Union position at Reams's Station, shattering the II Corps, capturing many prisoners. Despite a later victory at Hatcher's Run, the humiliation of Reams's Station contributed, along with the lingering effects of his Gettysburg wound, to his decision to give up field command in November. He left the II Corps after a year in which it had suffered over 40,000 casualties, but had achieved significant military victories. His first assignment was to command the ceremonial First Veterans Corps. He performed more recruiting, commanded the Middle Department, and relieved Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan in command of forces in the now-quiet Shenandoah Valley. He was promoted to brevet major general in the regular army for his service at Spotsylvania, effective March 13, 1865.
Aikins family tombstone in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Canada. Fall afternoon, 2019. Pentax K1 II.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/aikins_james_cox_13E.html
AIKINS (Eakins), JAMES COX, farmer, politician, office holder, and capitalist; b. 30 March 1823 in Toronto Township, Upper Canada, son of James Eakins and Ann Cox; brother of William Thomas*; m. 5 June 1845 Mary Elizabeth Jane Somerset in Toronto, and they had five daughters and three sons, including Sir James Albert Manning* and William Henry Beaufort*; d. 6 Aug. 1904 in Toronto.
In 1816 James and Ann Eakins emigrated from County Monaghan (Republic of Ireland) to Philadelphia. After four years they moved to Toronto Township, where Eakins took up land about 13 miles west of York (Toronto). A Presbyterian, he converted to Methodism and made his home a local centre for worship. He sent his eldest son, James Cox Eakins, to the Methodist-run Upper Canada Academy (Victoria College) in Cobourg, from 1840 to 1845. James Sr was a successful farmer and he accumulated sufficient land to provide his sons with farms. Shortly after his marriage in 1845, James Cox received a lot in Toronto Gore Township and began farming on his own. Some time thereafter he changed the spelling of his surname to Aikins to resemble its pronunciation more closely.
Aikins did well at farming, but, given the appreciation in real-estate values in the late 1840s and 1850s, never so well as to acquire the quantity of land necessary to settle his own family on farms. Instead he turned to politics as a career. He declined the reform nomination in York West in the 1851 provincial election, but three years later he chose to run in the newly formed riding of Peel and was elected as a Clear Grit [see George Brown*]. Never a vigorous debater or parliamentarian, he none the less won re-election in 1857. During the next several years, however, his position in the riding was weakened by divisions over the separation of Peel County from York. Though the decision to separate had been made in 1856, rivalry concerning the location of the county seat stalled actual creation of the independent county until 1867. Aikins was pulled this way and that by supporters of various centres. Dissension within Reform ranks over the issue presented an opportunity for John Hillyard Cameron*, a Conservative, to regain a seat in the Legislative Assembly in the 1861 election. He drew the Orange vote and some support among Catholics, and his wide margin in the poll at Brampton, where electors suspected that Aikins did not favour their village as county seat, gave him the victory.
Aikins came back from defeat to contest the Home division seat in the Legislative Council in 1862. As an assemblyman, he had advocated the election of the upper house, and in his campaign he declared his commitment to democratic principles, foremost being representation by population. Aikins also wanted equal rights for all religious denominations and thus opposed separate schools. He won by a comfortable majority.
The council’s debates on confederation in 1865 elicited from Aikins what was, for him, a major, if not terribly profound, speech. Though he favoured a federal union of the British North American colonies, he objected to its introduction into parliament as a coalition proposal; he feared that its merits and demerits were not likely to be debated adequately. He himself had questions about the implications for defence, the economic advantages of the intercolonial railway, and the burden of debt arising from union. His greatest concern was the composition of the proposed senate: members should be elected and should reside or possess property in their constituencies. Following the defeat of John Sewell Sanborn*’s amendment calling for an elected chamber, Aikins introduced a motion proposing the election of senators for Ontario and Quebec, but he was ruled out of order. His objections did not, in the end, lead him to refuse an appointment to the Senate in May 1867.
After union, Aikins, like his friend and fellow senator Billa Flint*, interpreted his opposition to the confederation coalition as a mandate for independence from partisan commitment. His principles were sorely tried, however, when Sir John A. Macdonald*, desiring to maintain a coalition government, invited him to join the cabinet in 1868 to replace William Pearce Howland. His presence would continue Ontario Reform representation while William McDougall was in London with Sir George-Étienne Cartier* negotiating the acquisition of the northwest. Aikins demurred, urging Macdonald to take another Reformer into cabinet with him and thereby demonstrate more clearly that the government was a coalition. Macdonald refused. After consulting with William McMaster* and Egerton Ryerson*, Aikins declined the offer. Undoubtedly aware that other influential Reformers, notably George Brown and Alexander Mackenzie*, openly opposed any semblance of coalition, Aikins was stiffened in his resolve by a pointed reminder from Liberals in Peel that to accept would “surely impair if not destroy the political prospects of your family.”
A cabinet position arose again in 1869. Sir Francis Hincks* had returned to Canadian politics as minister of finance and ostensibly as a leader of Reform opinion. To bolster Reform representation in cabinet, Macdonald wanted McMaster, who would also improve the government’s relations with Toronto business. Though McMaster would support Hincks in finance, he would not join the cabinet. In the words of David Lewis Macpherson*, who handled the negotiations, McMaster was none the less “alarmed lest a cabinet should be formed with no members of which, would he have any special influence.” McMaster and Macpherson agreed that Aikins should enter the government. To Macdonald, Aikins was attractive, and not just because he was “the most Brown-Grit” available, as Macpherson put it. Aikins agreed to “come in unconditionally under Hincks,” he was acceptable to Toronto business, and he enjoyed strong rural backing and the confidence of the Methodists. With McMaster’s blessing but much to the disgust of Liberal leaders in the House of Commons, particularly Edward Blake* and Alexander Mackenzie, Aikins joined the cabinet on 16 Nov. 1869 as a minister without portfolio and three weeks later he became secretary of state of Canada.
Aikins remained secretary of state until the fall of the Macdonald government in 1873. Upon its re-election in 1878, he was appointed to his former cabinet post, according to the Conservative Toronto Mail “as a concession to those Reform voters, estimated at something like fifty thousand, who contributed to the overthrow of the Mackenzie Administration.” In 1880 Aikins moved from the office of the secretary of state to the ministry of inland revenue. Neither department was a major portfolio, but both demanded the skills Aikins possessed. Plodding attention to administrative detail and the ability to impose effective organization and procedures were needed to manage departments that handled a good deal of correspondence. As he reported to parliament in 1872, his department in the past year had received and sent 10,866 letters, all handled with “fidelity and care.” One significant area, dominion lands, did initially fall to the secretary of state. But the order in council of 1871, which established the branch, and the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which defined its policy, were drafted by Alexander Campbell*, not Aikins, though he did introduce the bill in the Senate and speak to points raised in discussion.
The move to inland revenue was a promotion of sorts, since its budget was larger. It also dispensed considerable patronage in the appointment of excise collectors, licence inspectors, and timber cullers and afforded the government an opportunity to ingratiate itself with business supplicants requesting the remission of fines. The department needed a firm hand to standardize inspection procedures and to rein in officials whose apparently arbitrary exercise of authority was straining relations between the government and business. Aikins’s ministerial correspondence reveals his office as a large filing system in which applications and recommendations for positions were checked, collated, recorded, and indexed in anticipation of openings. But the minister’s role in dispensing largesse was constrained by the Conservatives’ practice of allowing mps to distribute favours in their ridings, while leaving preferment in opposition ridings to party organizers. In the west, however, Aikins could act more freely to overrule arriviste politicos, and even Premier John Norquay* of Manitoba, by maintaining that a new bureaucracy required men with experience and qualifications not easily found in new territories.
By the early 1880s Aikins was in some ways becoming a political liability. Macdonald worried that his firm temperance convictions would cost the party political support; in 1880 he warned Aikins, who was going into a debate on an amendment the senator had proposed to the Canada Temperance Act, “not to show any temper. . . . Our friends will be very much irritated if you adopt a factious course, which they will visit on the whole Ministry.” Later it was rumoured that Aikins had refused to overlook liquor licensing infractions, which, if pursued, would have damaged Conservative chances in the June 1882 election. Besides raising the ire of the liquor interests, Aikins also offended the Orange lodge. In early 1882 Robert Birmingham, an Ontario Conservative organizer, solicited a donation from Aikins, as he was doing with other cabinet ministers, to aid in the construction of an Orange hall in Toronto. Not knowing Birmingham, Aikins naïvely sent the request with a query about its author and the project to a Toronto associate, apparently unaware or unconcerned that he was a Liberal. The letter ended up in the Toronto Globe, much to the embarrassment of the government. Atkins had to go, but with grace, so as not to offend too greatly his Methodist, temperance, and business connections.
In 1882 Macdonald offered him the position of lieutenant governor of Manitoba and the District of Keewatin. At first Aikins did not want the job, “for the reason,” he later explained, “that when that term of office expired I would be out in the cold and a nobody.” Though Macdonald promised him the first Senate vacancy when he “tired” of the position, Aikins doubted the prime minister’s commitment and remained intransigent until his friend Mackenzie Bowell* guaranteed Macdonald’s good faith. In late May Aikins resigned from the government and the Senate. Appointed to the lieutenant governorship in September, he accepted the job with resignation: “I go to the far off land as a figure head,” he wrote Bowell. The announcement of his appointment provoked the Globe to charge that he had been “sacrificed to the Licensed Victuallers.” When Macdonald pressed him to write a public letter denying the rumour, Aikins refused, saying that “you never confided to me the reason for the change in the personnel of your Govt.”
Aikins assumed his post on 2 December, a difficult time since federal disallowance of provincial railway legislation was aggravating relations between the dominion and Manitoba. He arrived in Winnipeg with a Privy Council report on disallowance, which spelled out his authority and the procedures he was to follow. His main task, Macdonald repeatedly informed him, was to transmit copies of provincial acts to Ottawa, to proclaim the disallowance of those that encroached upon the monopoly of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and, “without infringing on the principle of Self Government,” to persuade his ministers to carry out national policy. In this last regard, the prime minister was not pleased with the lieutenant governor’s accomplishments and suggested that he had not taken a sufficiently active course. Aikins replied that his ministers “do not think so and as a result since this unfortunate struggle commenced things with them have not been so pleasant.” Strained communications with Norquay kept Aikins in the dark about the province’s creative financing of its railway commitments, and it was Macdonald who informed Aikins about the misappropriations of public funds that led to Norquay’s fall.
As lieutenant governor Aikins, a former agriculturist, developed sympathy for the economic complaints of Manitobans. From shortly after his arrival, he urged Macdonald to accede to some of their demands by granting better financial terms for entering confederation, turning crown lands over to the province, providing for representation of the North-West Territories in the commons, reconsidering the protective tariff on agricultural implements, which discouraged low prices, and ending the CPR’s elevator monopoly. He even suggested to Macdonald that a compromise might be worked out with Norquay to solve the financial crisis that destroyed his government in 1887. Macdonald would not help a man he considered a traitor, and Aikins himself gave up on Norquay when he realized that the premier had deceived him in having him sign orders in council which illegally expended public funds.
Besides his sensitivity to the concerns of farmers breaking a new frontier, Aikins privately shared the prejudice of many recent settlers from Ontario against dual education. While still a senator, in 1875 he had opposed the separate-school provision in the North-West Territories Act passed by the Mackenzie administration. Years later, in 1890, he would write to Macdonald that the abolition of funding for Catholic schools in Manitoba [see Thomas Greenway] was fitting retribution for the political treachery of the French there in bringing down the provincial government of David Howard Harrison in January 1888.
Aikins’s term as lieutenant governor ended on 1 July 1888 and he returned to Toronto, where he waited for his Senate appointment and attended to business interests. Even before his Manitoba sojourn, he had been alive to western investment opportunities and had used the contacts made while in cabinet to keep abreast of promising speculations. Two sons, John Somerset and James Albert Manning, went to Winnipeg in the late 1870s, the former to set up a real-estate and commission agency, the latter to practise law. Aikins drew upon their expertise in 1879 when he organized the Manitoba and North West Loan Company, of which he was president until his death. It provided mortgages on urban and farm properties evaluated by Somerset and conveyed by Albert. The company did well, and in 1889 Aikins organized the Trusts Corporation of Ontario to raise money in England and Scotland for similar investments. He was also president of the Union Fire Insurance Company and was a director of the Freehold Loan and Savings Company, the Loan and Deposit Company, and the Ontario Bank.
Aikins’s return to the Senate was complicated by Macdonald’s death in 1891. The new prime minister, John Joseph Caldwell Abbott*, had his own obligations to satisfy, and some of his Ontario people had no sympathy for Aikins’s claim. A cabinet crisis ensued over the issue in October 1892, when Mackenzie Bowell, bound by his pledge to assure Macdonald’s promise, tendered his resignation as minister of militia and defence. To retain cabinet unity, Abbott humbly asked Aikins to intercede. “My dear friend,” Aikins wrote to Bowell, “don’t do anything for me to prejudice your position in the matter. . . . Keep quiet until Sir John [Sparrow David Thompson*] returns if he ever does as the head of the govt.” In December Aikins willingly stepped aside, again, to let Thompson appoint Bowell to the Senate. Bowell, who became prime minister after Thompson died, made good on Macdonald’s pledge, and Aikins was recalled to the Senate on 7 Jan. 1896. He resided comfortably there until his death in 1904 at his home in Toronto.
John Henry Pope* once described Aikins, Bowell, and D. L. Macpherson as “smaller than the little end of nothing.” Although this blunt evaluation was unfair to Aikins, his career nevertheless attests to the banality of politics even in the era of nation building. Then, as now, some cabinet ministers brought talent to the government, others constituency support. Not all in either category performed to the credit of their government. Aikins filled his post competently and honourably, no matter what might be said about the pliability of his partisan affiliation.
www.biographi.ca/en/bio/aikins_william_henry_beaufort_15E...
AIKINS, WILLIAM HENRY BEAUFORT, physician, medical editor, and founder of radiotherapy in Canada; b. 22 Aug. 1859 in Toronto Gore Township, Upper Canada, son of James Cox Aikins* and Mary Elizabeth Jane Somerset; m. 27 Dec. 1887 Augusta Hawkesworth-Wood in London, Ont.; they had no children; d. 2 Oct. 1924 in Toronto.
W. H. B. Aikins’s family was prominent in Canadian politics and medicine. His father, James Cox Aikins, served as secretary of state under Sir John A. Macdonald* and in 1882 became lieutenant governor of Manitoba (a post later filled by another son, Sir James Albert Manning Aikins). Two uncles, Moses Henry and William Thomas*, were well-known physicians.
Aikins received his early education at Upper Canada College in Toronto, the Toronto School of Medicine (mb 1881), and Victoria College in Cobourg (md, cm 1881). Like many physicians of his day, he pursued postgraduate studies in Europe, where he was exposed to the many pathological and surgical advances of the period. During this time he visited London (where he obtained his licentiate from the Royal College of Physicians in 1881), Edinburgh, Paris, and Vienna. In 1883 he established a general practice in Toronto, and he became prominent in Canadian medical circles. He was appointed to the staff at Toronto General Hospital, the Toronto Home (later Hospital) for Incurables, and Grace Hospital. On the editorial staff of the Canadian Practitioner from 1884 and co-editor of the Dominion Medical Monthly when it began in 1893, he became in 1895 the founding editor of the Canadian Medical Review; this journal merged with the Canadian Practitioner four years later to form the Canadian Practitioner and Review, with which Aikins would be associated until his death. In 1907 he was one of the charter members of the Academy of Medicine in Toronto, and in the years before World War I he represented Canada at several international medical congresses. In his private life he was a Methodist, a mason, and a senator of the University of Toronto.
Aikins’s major contribution to Canadian medicine was the introduction and promotion of radium therapy. Radium had been discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898, but it was not until Henri Becquerel inadvertently inflicted a skin burn on himself in 1901 that the effect of its radiation on living tissue began to attract medical interest. Over the next decade radium was found to be an effective therapy for many diseases, particularly cancer where it held hope for treatment without the need for the mutilating operations then in vogue. Because of the limited sources of radium-bearing ore and the huge cost of refining it, however, radium remained scarce and expensive.
In 1907 Aikins visited the Laboratoire Biologique du Radium in Paris, a centre for the study of radium, and was impressed by the element’s effects on various benign and malignant skin conditions. Like other doctors of the day, he marvelled at radium’s ability to produce changes in tissues which could not be achieved by any other known substance and which resulted in “cures of a very surprising character.” He returned from Paris convinced of its usefulness as a therapeutic agent. After visiting the Paris laboratory on two further occasions, he bought a small supply of radium in 1909, and soon opened a radium clinic, the Radium Institute of Toronto, at 134 Bloor Street West. Although small quantities of radium existed in other parts of Canada – it would not be refined here until the 1930s – Aikins’s institute became the primary centre for radiotherapy. His many published case reports show that he treated over 3,000 patients referred from a wide area extending from Saskatchewan to Quebec. His equipment in 1914 included a radium plaque (a flat applicator coated with a varnish impregnated with radium) and a tube containing radium salts. With these instruments he treated patients suffering from a variety of cancerous and non-cancerous conditions. He became intrigued by the microscopic tissue changes which underlay the clinical effects of radium and carried out investigations into them with Dr Keith Myrie Benoit Simon, pathologist at Grace Hospital.
Aikins became particularly interested in the use of radiotherapy in thyroid disease. In 1920 he reported on 16 patients with “toxic goiter” (hyperthyroidism) who had been treated with a regime of quinine, ergotamine, and the application of ice-bags over the heart and radium over the thyroid. It is easy now to be shocked or amused by Aikins’s use of radium to remedy benign conditions; at the time, however, there were no other effective treatments and there was limited awareness of the possible dangers of radiation. Patients and physicians alike were eager to try a new remedy for distressful or disfiguring diseases. To those who questioned the value of radium, Aikins replied, “I have several hundred living reasons on which my faith is founded, and they are walking about on two legs.”
His continuing role as a medical editor gave him the opportunity to publicize the effects of radium in numerous articles. He became a leading proponent of the new medical science of radiotherapy and presented frequent papers and lectures to the Academy of Medicine, the Ontario Medical Association, and the Canadian Medical Association. His topics included the use of radium in gynaecological disorders, skin conditions, tuberculosis, and leukaemias. In October 1916 a group of North American physicians met in Philadelphia to establish the American Radium Society. It is a tribute to Aikins’s reputation among his peers that he was unanimously elected its first president. As head of the premier North American organization for radiotherapy, he was in a unique position to synthesize the existing body of evidence about radium’s efficacy in medicine. This he did masterfully in 1919 in an address before the society entitled “The value of radium in curing disease, in prolonging life, and in alleviating distressing symptoms.” The three goals mentioned remain the primary goals of cancer treatment. Although he used radium to cure cancers, he was also interested in the purely palliative effects of radiotherapy. He felt that its greatest benefit was the relief it gave to “countless patients whose condition is absolutely hopeless from the point of view of cure.” His case reports note numerous examples of its successful use in treating pain, bleeding, or discharge from advanced, incurable cancers to provide comfort to dying patients.
By the time of his sudden death from heart disease the avuncular Aikins was a respected and much liked figure in Canadian medicine. Although he made no original contributions to radiation science, he demonstrated radium’s clinical effectiveness to Canadian doctors and eloquently articulated the role of radiation in medicine. He was a model of the clinician-experimenter who tested a new medical treatment empirically in the clinic rather than in the laboratory. His pioneering work stimulated Canadian interest in radium that led to such initiatives as the opening, under Joseph-Ernest Gendreau*, of the Institut du Radium in Montreal in 1923 and the various provincial cancer control programs of the 1930s. In his will Aikins left his medical books to the Academy of Medicine; his estate, worth over $90,000, included $9,950 in radium, described as his “stock in trade.”
The Postcard
A postcard published by Worzedialeck of Hamburg bearing an image of the Town Hall in Hamburg.
The card was posted in Hamburg on Monday the 11th. August 1930 to an address in Ashville Avenue, Eaglescliffe, Co. Durham.
Sir Sean Connery
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Not a lot, but exactly two weeks later, on Monday the 25th. August 1930, a baby was born in Edinburgh who later became the Scottish actor Sir Sean Connery.
Sir Sean Connery, who was born Thomas Connery, was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983.
Originating the role in Dr. No, Connery played Bond in six of Eon Productions' entries, and made his final Bond appearance in the non-Eon-produced Never Say Never Again.
If non-Eon-produced Bond movies are included, Connery shares the record for the most portrayals as James Bond with Roger Moore (with seven apiece).
Following Sean's third appearance as Bond in Goldfinger (1964), in June 1965, Time magazine observed:
"James Bond has developed into the
biggest mass-cult hero of the decade".
Connery began acting in smaller theatre and television productions until his break-out role as Bond. Although he did not enjoy the off-screen attention the role gave him, the success of the Bond films brought Connery offers from notable directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet and John Huston.
Their films in which Connery appeared included Marnie (1964), The Hill (1965), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
He also appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Untouchables (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), Finding Forrester (2000), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
Connery officially retired from acting in 2006, although he briefly returned for voice-over roles in 2012.
His achievements in film were recognised with an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (including the BAFTA Fellowship), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award.
In 1987, Sean was made a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, and he received the US Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
Sean Connery - The Early Years
Thomas Connery was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was named after his paternal grandfather.
He was brought up at No. 176 Fountainbridge, a block which has since been demolished. His mother, Euphemia McBain "Effie" McLean, was a cleaning woman. Connery's father, Joseph Connery, was a factory worker and lorry driver.
His father was a Roman Catholic, and his mother was a Protestant. Connery had a younger brother Neil, and was generally referred to in his youth as "Tommy".
Although Sean was small in primary school, he grew rapidly around the age of 12, reaching his full adult height of 6 ft. 2 in. (188 cm) at 18. Connery was known during his teen years as "Big Tam", and he said that he lost his virginity to an adult woman in an ATS uniform at the age of 14.
He had an Irish childhood friend named Séamus; when the two were together, those who knew them both called Connery by his middle name Sean, emphasising the alliteration of the two names. Since then Connery preferred to use his middle name.
Connery's first job was as a milkman in Edinburgh with St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society. In 2009, Connery recalled a conversation in a taxi:
"When I took a taxi during a recent Edinburgh
Film Festival, the driver was amazed that I
could put a name to every street we passed.
"How come?" he asked. "As a boy I used to
deliver milk round here", I said. "So what do
you do now?" That was rather harder to answer."
In 1946, at the age of 16, Connery joined the Royal Navy, during which time he acquired two tattoos. Connery's official website says:
"Unlike many tattoos, his were not frivolous –
his tattoos reflect two of his lifelong
commitments: his family and Scotland. One
tattoo is a tribute to his parents, and reads
'Mum and Dad', and the other is self-explanatory,
'Scotland Forever'".
Sean trained in Portsmouth at the naval gunnery school and in an anti-aircraft crew. He was later assigned as an Able Seaman on HMS Formidable.
Connery was discharged from the navy at the age of 19 on medical grounds because of a duodenal ulcer, a condition that affected most of the males in previous generations of his family.
Afterwards, he returned to the Co-op and worked as a lorry driver, a lifeguard at Portobello swimming baths, a labourer, an artist's model for the Edinburgh College of Art, and after a suggestion by former Mr. Scotland Archie Brennan, as a coffin polisher, among other jobs.
The modelling earned him 15 shillings an hour. Artist Richard Demarco, at the time a student who painted several early pictures of Connery, described him as:
"Very straight, slightly shy, too,
too beautiful for words, a virtual
Adonis".
Connery began bodybuilding at the age of 18, and from 1951 trained heavily with Ellington, a former gym instructor in the British Army. While his official website states he was third in the 1950 Mr. Universe contest, most sources place him in the 1953 competition, either third in the Junior class or failing to place in the Tall Man classification.
Connery said that he was soon deterred from bodybuilding when he found that Americans frequently beat him in competitions because of sheer muscle size and, unlike Connery, refused to participate in athletic activity which could make them lose muscle mass.
Connery was a keen footballer, having played for Bonnyrigg Rose in his younger days. He was offered a trial with East Fife.
While on tour with South Pacific, Connery played in a football match against a local team that Matt Busby, manager of Manchester United, happened to be scouting. According to reports, Busby was impressed with Sean's physical prowess, and offered Connery a contract worth £25 a week (equivalent to £743 in 2021) immediately after the game. Connery said he was tempted to accept, but he recalls,
"I realised that a top-class footballer could
be over the hill by the age of 30, and I was
already 23. I decided to become an actor,
and it turned out to be one of my more
intelligent moves".
Sean Connery's Acting Career
(a) Pre-James Bond
Seeking to supplement his income, Connery helped out backstage at the King's Theatre in late 1951. During a bodybuilding competition held in London in 1953, one of the competitors mentioned that auditions were being held for a production of South Pacific, and Connery landed a small part as one of the Seabees chorus boys.
By the time the production reached Edinburgh, he had been given the part of Marine Cpl. Hamilton Steeves, and was understudying two of the juvenile leads, and his salary was raised from £12 to £14–10s a week.
The production returned the following year, out of popular demand, and Connery was promoted to the featured role of Lieutenant Buzz Adams, which Larry Hagman had portrayed in the West End.
While in Edinburgh, Connery was targeted by the Valdor gang, one of the most violent in the city. He was first approached by them in a billiard hall where he prevented them from stealing his jacket and was later followed by six gang members to a 15-foot-high (4.6 m) balcony at the Palais de Danse.
There, Connery singlehandedly launched an attack against the gang members, grabbing one by the throat and another by the biceps and cracking their heads together. From then on, he was treated with great respect by the gang and gained a reputation as a "hard man".
Connery first met Michael Caine at a party during the production of South Pacific in 1954, and the two later became close friends. During this production at the Opera House, Manchester, over the Christmas period of 1954, Connery developed a serious interest in the theatre through American actor Robert Henderson, who lent him copies of the Ibsen works Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, and When We Dead Awaken, and later listed works by the likes of Proust, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Bernard Shaw, Joyce, and Shakespeare for him to digest.
Henderson urged Sean to take elocution lessons, and got him parts at the Maida Vale Theatre in London. He had already begun a film career, having been an extra in Herbert Wilcox's 1954 musical Lilacs in the Spring alongside Errol Flynn and Anna Neagle.
Although Connery had secured several roles as an extra, he was struggling to make ends meet, and was forced to accept a part-time job as a babysitter for journalist Peter Noble and his actress wife Marianne, which earned him 10 shillings a night.
One night at Noble's house Sean met Hollywood actress Shelley Winters, who described Connery as:
"One of the tallest and most charming
and masculine Scotsmen I have ever
seen."
Shelley later spent many evenings with the Connery brothers drinking beer. Around this time, Connery was residing at TV presenter Llew Gardner's house.
Henderson landed Connery a role in a £6 a week Q Theatre production of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, during which he met and became friends with fellow Scot Ian Bannen.
This role was followed by Point of Departure and A Witch in Time at Kew, a role as Pentheus opposite Yvonne Mitchell in The Bacchae at the Oxford Playhouse, and a role opposite Jill Bennett in Eugene O'Neill's play Anna Christie.
During his time at the Oxford Theatre, Connery won a brief part as a boxer in the TV series The Square Ring, before being spotted by Canadian director Alvin Rakoff, who gave him multiple roles in The Condemned, shot on location in Dover in Kent.
In 1956, Connery appeared in the theatrical production of Epitaph, and played a minor role as a hoodlum in the "Ladies of the Manor" episode of the BBC Television police series Dixon of Dock Green.
This was followed by small television parts in Sailor of Fortune and The Jack Benny Program (in a special episode filmed in Europe).
In early 1957, Connery hired agent Richard Hatton, who got him his first film role, as Spike, a minor gangster with a speech impediment in Montgomery Tully's No Road Back.
In April 1957, Rakoff – after being disappointed by Jack Palance – decided to give the young actor his first chance in a leading role, and cast Connery as Mountain McLintock in BBC Television's production of Requiem for a Heavyweight, which also starred Warren Mitchell and Jacqueline Hill.
Sean then played a rogue lorry driver, Johnny Yates, in Cy Endfield's Hell Drivers (1957) alongside Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, and Patrick McGoohan.
Later in 1957, Connery appeared in Terence Young's poorly received MGM action picture Action of the Tiger; the film was shot on location in southern Spain.
He also had a minor role in Gerald Thomas's thriller Time Lock (1957) as a welder, appearing alongside Robert Beatty, Lee Patterson, Betty McDowall, and Vincent Winter. This commenced filming on the 1st. December 1956 at Beaconsfield Studios.
Connery had a major role in the melodrama Another Time, Another Place (1958) as a British reporter named Mark Trevor, caught in a love affair opposite Lana Turner and Barry Sullivan.
During filming, Turner's possessive gangster boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato, who was visiting from Los Angeles, believed she was having an affair with Connery. Connery and Turner had attended West End shows and London restaurants together.
Stompanato stormed onto the film set and pointed a gun at Connery, only to have Connery disarm him and knock him flat on his back. Stompanato was banned from the set. Two Scotland Yard detectives advised Stompanato to leave and escorted him to the airport, where he boarded a plane back to the United States.
Connery later recounted that he had to lay low for a while after receiving threats from men linked to Stompanato's boss, Mickey Cohen.
In 1959, Connery landed a leading role in director Robert Stevenson's Walt Disney Productions film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959). The film is a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns.
Upon the film's initial release, A. H. Weiler of The New York Times praised the cast (save Connery whom he described as "merely tall, dark, and handsome") and thought the film:
"An overpoweringly charming concoction
of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and
romance."
Sean also had prominent television roles in Rudolph Cartier's 1961 productions of Adventure Story and Anna Karenina for BBC Television, co-starring with Claire Bloom in the latter.
Also in 1961 he portrayed the title role in a CBC television film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth with Australian actress Zoe Caldwell cast as Lady Macbeth.
(b) James Bond: 1962–1971, 1983
Connery's breakthrough came in the role of British secret agent James Bond. He was reluctant to commit to a film series, but understood that if the films succeeded, his career would greatly benefit.
Between 1962 and 1967, Connery played 007 in Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice, the first five Bond films produced by Eon Productions.
After departing from the role, Connery returned for the seventh film, Diamonds Are Forever, in 1971. Connery made his final appearance as Bond in Never Say Never Again, a 1983 remake of Thunderball produced by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm.
All seven films were commercially successful. James Bond, as portrayed by Connery, was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute.
Connery's selection for the role of James Bond owed a lot to Dana Broccoli, wife of producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who is reputed to have been instrumental in persuading her husband that Connery was the right man.
James Bond's creator, Ian Fleming, originally doubted Connery's casting, saying:
"He's not what I envisioned of James
Bond looks. I'm looking for Commander
Bond and not an overgrown stunt-man."
He added that Connery (muscular, 6' 2", and a Scot) was unrefined. However Fleming's girlfriend Blanche Blackwell told Fleming that Connery had the requisite sexual charisma, and Fleming changed his mind after the successful Dr. No première.
He was so impressed, he wrote Connery's heritage into the character. In his 1964 novel You Only Live Twice, Fleming wrote that Bond's father was Scottish and from Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.
Connery's portrayal of Bond owes much to stylistic tutelage from director Terence Young, who helped polish him while using his physical grace and presence for the action.
Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny, related that:
"Terence took Sean under his wing.
He took him to dinner, showed him
how to walk, how to talk, even how
to eat".
The tutoring was successful; Connery received thousands of fan letters a week after Dr. No's opening, and he became a major sex symbol in film.
Following the release of the film Dr. No in 1962, the line "Bond ... James Bond", became a catch phrase in the lexicon of Western popular culture. Film critic Peter Bradshaw writes:
"It is the most famous self-introduction
from any character in movie history.
Three cool monosyllables, surname first,
a little curtly, as befits a former naval
commander.
And then, as if in afterthought, the first
name, followed by the surname again.
Connery carried it off with icily disdainful
style, in full evening dress with a cigarette
hanging from his lips.
The introduction was a kind of challenge,
or seduction, invariably addressed to an
enemy.
In the early 60's, Connery's James Bond
was about as dangerous and sexy as it
got on screen."
During the filming of Thunderball in 1965, Connery's life was in danger in the sequence with the sharks in Emilio Largo's pool. He had been concerned about this threat when he read the script.
Connery insisted that Ken Adam build a special Plexiglas partition inside the pool, but this was not a fixed structure, and one of the sharks managed to pass through it. He had to abandon the pool immediately.
(c) Post-James Bond
Although Bond had made him a star, Connery grew tired of the role and the pressure the franchise put on him, saying:
"I am fed up to here with the whole
Bond bit. I have always hated that
damned James Bond. I'd like to kill
him."
Michael Caine said of the situation:
"If you were his friend in these early
days you didn't raise the subject of
Bond. He was, and is, a much better
actor than just playing James Bond,
but he became synonymous with
Bond. He'd be walking down the
street and people would say,
'Look, there's James Bond'.
That was particularly upsetting
to him."
While making the Bond films, Connery also starred in other films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) and Sidney Lumet's The Hill (1965), which film critic Peter Bradshaw regards as his two great non-Bond pictures from the 1960's.
In Marnie, Connery starred opposite Tippi Hedren. Connery had said he wanted to work with Hitchcock, which Eon arranged through their contacts. Connery shocked many people at the time by asking to see a script, something he did because he was worried about being typecast as a spy, and he did not want to do a variation of North by Northwest or Notorious.
When told by Hitchcock's agent that Cary Grant had not asked to see even one of Hitchcock's scripts, Connery replied:
"I'm not Cary Grant."
Hitchcock and Connery got on well during filming, and Connery said he was happy with the film "with certain reservations".
In The Hill, Connery wanted to act in something that wasn't Bond related, and he used his leverage as a star to feature in it. While the film wasn't a financial success, it was a critical one, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival and winning Best Screenplay.
The first of five films he made with Lumet, Connery considered him to be one of his favourite directors. The respect was mutual, with Lumet saying of Connery's performance in The Hill:
"The thing that was apparent to me –
and to most directors – was how much
talent and ability it takes to play that
kind of character who is based on charm
and magnetism.
It's the equivalent of high comedy, and
he did it brilliantly."
In the mid-1960's, Connery played golf with Scottish industrialist Iain Maxwell Stewart, a connection which led to Connery directing and presenting the documentary film The Bowler and the Bunnet in 1967.
The film described the Fairfield Experiment, a new approach to industrial relations carried out at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow, during the 1960s; the experiment was initiated by Stewart and supported by George Brown, the First Secretary in Harold Wilson's cabinet, in 1966.
The company was facing closure, and Brown agreed to provide £1 million (£13.135 million; US$15.55 million in 2021 terms) to enable trade unions, the management and the shareholders to try out new ways of industrial management.
Having played Bond six times, Connery's global popularity was such that he shared a Golden Globe Henrietta Award with Charles Bronson for "World Film Favorite – Male" in 1972.
He appeared in John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975) opposite Michael Caine. Playing two former British soldiers who set themselves up as kings in Kafiristan, both actors regarded it as their favourite film.
The same year, Sean appeared in The Wind and the Lion opposite Candice Bergen who played Eden Perdicaris (based on the real-life Perdicaris incident), and in 1976 played Robin Hood in Robin and Marian opposite Audrey Hepburn.
Film critic Roger Ebert, who had praised the double act of Connery and Caine in The Man Who Would Be King, praised Connery's chemistry with Hepburn, writing:
"Connery and Hepburn seem to have
arrived at a tacit understanding
between themselves about their
characters. They glow. They really
do seem in love."
During the 1970's, Connery was part of ensemble casts in films such as Murder on the Orient Express (1974) with Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud, and played a British Army general in Richard Attenborough's war film A Bridge Too Far (1977), co-starring with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Olivier.
In 1974, he starred in John Boorman's sci-fi thriller Zardoz. Often called one of the weirdest and worst movies ever made, it featured Connery in a scarlet mankini – a revealing costume which generated much controversy for its unBond-like appearance.
Despite being panned by critics at the time, the film has developed a cult following since its release. In the audio commentary to the film, Boorman relates how Connery would write poetry in his free time, describing him as:
"A man of great depth and intelligence,
as well as possessing the most
extraordinary memory."
In 1981, Connery appeared in the film Time Bandits as Agamemnon. The casting choice derives from a joke Michael Palin included in the script, which describes the character's removing his mask and being:
"Sean Connery – or someone
of equal but cheaper stature".
When shown the script, Connery was happy to play the supporting role.
In 1981 he portrayed Marshal William T. O'Niel in the science fiction thriller Outland. In 1982, Connery narrated G'olé!, the official film of the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
That same year, he was offered the role of Daddy Warbucks in Annie, going as far as taking voice lessons for the John Huston musical before turning down the part.
Connery agreed to reprise Bond as an ageing agent 007 in Never Say Never Again, released in October 1983. The title, contributed by his wife, refers to his earlier statement that he would "never again" return to the role.
Although the film performed well at the box office, it was plagued with production problems: strife between the director and producer, financial problems, the Fleming estate trustees' attempts to halt the film, and Connery's wrist being broken by the fight choreographer, Steven Seagal.
As a result of his negative experiences during filming, Connery became unhappy with the major studios, and did not make any films for two years. Following the successful European production The Name of the Rose (1986), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Connery's interest in more commercial material was revived.
That same year, a supporting role in Highlander showcased his ability to play older mentors to younger leads, which became a recurring role in many of his later films.
In 1987, Connery starred in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables, where he played a hard-nosed Irish-American cop alongside Kevin Costner's Eliot Ness. The film also starred Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro as Al Capone.
The film was a critical and box-office success. Many critics praised Connery for his performance, including Roger Ebert, who wrote:
"The best performance in the movie
is Connery. He brings a human element
to his character; he seems to have had
an existence apart from the legend of
the Untouchables, and when he's
onscreen we can believe, briefly, that
the Prohibition Era was inhabited by
people, not caricatures."
For his performance, Connery received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Connery starred in Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), playing Henry Jones Sr., the title character's father, and received BAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominations. Harrison Ford said Connery's contributions at the writing stage enhanced the film:
"It was amazing for me in how far he got
into the script and went after exploiting
opportunities for character.
His suggestions to George Lucas at the
writing stage really gave the character
and the picture a lot more complexity
and value than it had in the original
screenplay.
Sean's subsequent box-office hits included The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Russia House (1990), The Rock (1996), and Entrapment (1999). In 1996, he voiced the role of Draco the dragon in the film Dragonheart.
He also appeared in a brief cameo as King Richard the Lionheart at the end of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). In 1998, Connery received the BAFTA Fellowship, a lifetime achievement award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Connery's later films included several box-office and critical disappointments such as First Knight (1995), Just Cause (1995), The Avengers (1998), and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003).
The failure of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was especially frustrating for Connery. He sensed during shooting that the production was "going off the rails", and announced that the director, Stephen Norrington should be "locked up for insanity".
Connery spent considerable effort in trying to salvage the film through the editing process, ultimately deciding to retire from acting rather than go through such stress ever again.
However, he received positive reviews for his performance in Finding Forrester (2000). He also received a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.
In a 2003 UK poll conducted by Channel 4, Connery was ranked eighth on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars.
Connery turned down the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings films, saying he did not understand the script. He was reportedly offered US$30 million along with 15% of the worldwide box office receipts, which would have earned him US$450 million.
He also turned down the opportunity to appear as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series and the Architect in The Matrix trilogy.
In 2005, he recorded voiceovers for the From Russia with Love video game with recording producer Terry Manning in the Bahamas, and provided his likeness. Connery said he was happy the producers, Electronic Arts, had approached him to voice Bond.
(d) Retirement
When Connery received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award on the 8th. June 2006, he confirmed his retirement from acting.
Connery's disillusionment with the "idiots now making films in Hollywood" was cited as a reason for his decision to retire.
On the 7th. June 2007, he denied rumours that he would appear in the fourth Indiana Jones film, saying:
"Retirement is just too
much damned fun."
In 2010, a bronze bust sculpture of Connery was placed in Tallinn, Estonia, outside The Scottish Club, whose membership includes Estonian Scotophiles and a handful of expatriate Scots.
In 2012, Connery briefly came out of retirement to voice the title character in the Scottish animated film Sir Billi. Connery served as executive producer for an expanded 80-minute version.
Sean Connery's Personal Life
During the production of South Pacific in the mid-1950's, Connery dated a Jewish "dark-haired beauty with a ballerina's figure", Carol Sopel, but was warned off by her family.
He then dated Julie Hamilton, daughter of documentary filmmaker and feminist Jill Craigie. Given Connery's rugged appearance and rough charm, Hamilton initially thought he was an appalling person and was not attracted to him until she saw him in a kilt, declaring him to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life.
He also shared a mutual attraction with jazz singer Maxine Daniels, whom he met whilst working in theatre. He made a pass at her, but she told him she was already happily married with a daughter.
Connery was married to actress Diane Cilento from 1962 to 1974, though they separated in 1971. They had a son, actor Jason Joseph. Connery was separated in the early 1970's when he dated Dyan Cannon, Jill St. John, Lana Wood, Carole Mallory, and Magda Konopka.
In her 2006 autobiography, Cilento alleged that he had abused her mentally and physically during their relationship. Connery cancelled an appearance at the Scottish Parliament in 2006 because of controversy over his alleged support of abuse of women.
He denied claims that he told Playboy magazine in 1965:
"I don't think there is anything
particularly wrong in hitting a
woman, though I don't
recommend you do it in the
same way you hit a man".
He was also reported to have stated to Vanity Fair in 1993:
"There are women who take it
to the wire. That's what they are
looking for, the ultimate
confrontation. They want a smack."
In 2006, Connery told The Times of London:
"I don't believe that any level of
abuse of women is ever justified
under any circumstances. Full stop".
When knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 he wore a green-and-black hunting tartan kilt of his mother's MacLean clan.
Connery was married to French-Moroccan painter Micheline Roquebrune (born 4th. April 1929) from 1975 until his death. The marriage survived a well-documented affair Connery had in the late 1980's with the singer and songwriter Lynsey de Paul, which she later regretted due to his views concerning domestic violence.
Connery owned the Domaine de Terre Blanche in the South of France from 1979. He sold it to German billionaire Dietmar Hopp in 1999.
He was awarded an honorary rank of Shodan (1st. dan) in Kyokushin karate.
Connery relocated to the Bahamas in the 1990's; he owned a mansion in Lyford Cay on New Providence.
Connery had a villa in Kranidi, Greece. His neighbour was King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, with whom he shared a helicopter platform.
Growing up, Connery supported the Scottish football club Celtic F.C., having been introduced to the club by his father who was a lifelong fan of the team.
Later in life, Connery switched his loyalty to Celtic's bitter rival, Rangers F.C., after he became close friends with the team's chairman, David Murray.
Sean was a keen golfer, and English professional golfer Peter Alliss gave Connery golf lessons before the filming of the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, which involved a scene where Connery, as Bond, played golf against gold magnate Auric Goldfinger at Stoke Park Golf Club in Buckinghamshire.
The golf scene saw him wear a Slazenger v-neck sweater, a brand which Connery became associated with while playing golf in his free time, with a light grey marl being a favoured colour.
Record major championship winner and golf course designer Jack Nicklaus said:
"He loved the game of golf – Sean
was a pretty darn good golfer! –
and we played together several
times.
In May 1993, Sean and legendary
driver Jackie Stewart helped me
open our design of the PGA
Centenary Course at Gleneagles
in Scotland."
Sean Connery's Political Views
Connery's Scottish roots and his experiences in filming in Glasgow's shipyards in 1966 inspired him to become a member of the centre-left Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
In 2011, Connery said:
"The Bowler and the Bunnet was just
the beginning of a journey that would
lead to my long association with the
Scottish National Party."
Connery supported the party both financially and through personal appearances. In 1967, he wrote to George Leslie, the SNP candidate in the 1967 Glasgow Pollok by-election, saying:
"I am convinced that with our resources
and skills we are more than capable of
building a prosperous, vigorous and
modern self-governing Scotland in which
we can all take pride and which will
deserve the respect of other nations."
His funding of the SNP ceased in 2001, when the UK Parliament passed legislation prohibiting overseas funding of political activities in the United Kingdom.
Dean Connery's Tax Status
In response to accusations that he was a tax exile, Connery released documents in 2003 showing he had paid £3.7 million in UK taxes between 1997 and 1998 and between 2002 and 2003. Critics pointed out that had he been continuously residing in the UK for tax purposes, his tax rate would have been far higher.
In the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Connery's brother Neil said that Connery would not come to Scotland to rally independence supporters, since his tax exile status greatly limited the number of days he could spend in the country.
After Connery sold his Marbella villa in 1999, Spanish authorities launched a tax evasion investigation, alleging that the Spanish treasury had been defrauded of £5.5 million.
Connery was subsequently cleared by officials, but his wife and 16 others were charged with attempting to defraud the Spanish treasury.
The Death and Legacy of Sean Connery
Connery died in his sleep on the 31st. October 2020, aged 90, at his home in the Lyford Cay community of Nassau in the Bahamas. His death was announced by his family and Eon Productions; although they did not disclose the cause of death, his son Jason said he had been unwell for some time.
A day later, Roquebrune revealed he had suffered from dementia in his final years. Connery's death certificate recorded the cause of death as pneumonia and respiratory failure, and the time of death was listed as 1:30 am.
Sean's remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in Scotland at undisclosed locations in 2022.
Following the announcement of his death, many co-stars and figures from the entertainment industry paid tribute to Connery, including Sam Neill, Nicolas Cage, Robert De Niro, Michael Bay, Tippi Hedren, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, George Lucas, Shirley Bassey, Kevin Costner, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Barbra Streisand, John Cleese, Jane Seymour and Harrison Ford, as well as former Bond stars George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, the family of late former Bond actor Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig, who played 007 until No Time to Die.
Connery's long-time friend Michael Caine called him:
"A great star, brilliant actor
and a wonderful friend".
James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli released a statement saying that:
"Connery has revolutionized the world
with his gritty and witty portrayal of the
sexy and charismatic secret agent.
He is undoubtedly largely responsible
for the success of the film series, and
we shall be forever grateful to him".
In 2004, a poll in the UK Sunday Herald recognised Connery as "The Greatest Living Scot," and a 2011 EuroMillions survey named him "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure".
He was voted by People magazine as the "Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century" in 1999.
Final Thoughts From Sir Sean Connery
"I am not an Englishman, I was never an
Englishman, and I don't ever want to be
one. I am a Scotsman! I was a Scotsman,
and I will always be one."
"I admit I'm being paid well, but it's no more
than I deserve. After all, I've been screwed
more times than a hooker."
"Love may not make the world go round,
but I must admit that it makes the ride
worthwhile."
"There is nothing like a challenge to bring
out the best in man."
"I like women. I don't understand them,
but I like them."
"Some age, others mature."
"I met my wife through playing golf. She is
French and couldn't speak English, and I
couldn't speak French, so there was little
chance of us getting involved in any boring
conversations - that's why we got married
really quickly."
"Everything I have done or attempted to do
for Scotland has always been for her benefit,
never my own, and I defy anyone to prove
otherwise."
"The knighthood I received was a fantastic
honor but it's not something I've ever used,
and I don't think I ever will."
"I never trashed a hotel room or did drugs."
"More than anything else, I'd like to be an
old man with a good face, like Hitchcock or
Picasso."
"Laughter kills fear, and without fear there
can be no faith. For without fear of the devil
there is no need for God."
"Perhaps I'm not a good actor, but I would
be even worse at doing anything else."
"I'm an actor - it's not brain surgery. If I do
my job right, people won't ask for their
money back."
"I haven't found anywhere in the world
where I want to be all the time. The best
of my life is the moving. I look forward to
going."
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Sept. 3, 2021) Vice Adm. Sean Buck, 63rd Superintendent of the US Naval Academy and Col J.P McDonough, 89th Commandant of Midshipman along with Adm. James Caldwell Jr., director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, and Class of 1981, reviews the U.S. Naval Academy’s first formal parade of the season. Additional parade reviewers include retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, Class of 1970; Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck; Commandant of Midshipmen Col. J.P. McDonough III; retired Navy Capt. James Minderlein, president of the Class of 1965; retired Cmdr. Edmund Moore, president of the Class of 1970; retired Cmdr. James Stutz, president of the Class of 1981; and Mr. Frank Bendik, president of the Class of 1990. Parades are a visual presentation of the military discipline, professionalism and teamwork necessary to succeed as a member of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and have been a part of Naval Academy training since its establishment in 1845. (U.S. Navy photo by Kenneth D. Aston Jr./Released)
Trevor Caldwell: Afflicted with an immune deficiency disorder, Trevor spent his early life confined in a sterilized germ-free plastic bubble with his only outside connection to the world being a laptop and an internet connection.
Instead of "making friends" Trevor resented the other children for their freedom of mobility and would often become the sharp tongued smarmy "edge-lord scourge" of many a forum. Trevor delighted in being a harsh critic of stories and artwork created by other teens,delighting in triggering and ripping apart anyone who dared post an imaginary musing or pitch for an original character.
Eventually Trevor bought a voice modulator and began reading his own "Scary Spaghetti" stories online and this propelled him to star-dom on Me-Tube both for his creepily altered vocals and bone chilling tales.
By the time Trevor was in his early 20's his interests had moved to more scientific and technological endeavors as he sought to create a space fluctuation suit that was bigger on the inside than the outside. This required studying "the 4th dimension" as well as Trevor actually wearing the suit in question.
Not only did the suit work and allow Trevor to finally "move around" but it also powered itself by sucking up the energy around it,causing wide spread black outs. Trevor was also able to use his voice modulator and sound synthesizer to use various sound effects to confuse and frighten his targets. Strangest of all, he could plant sentient dark matter from within his suit into inanimate toys or inanimate mannequins to bring them to life as manipulable pawns.
Upon being recruited into UNITY for his "scientific genius" Trevor modified the appearance of his suit to look like a demented mascot costume. Unable to decide what animal it most resembled, he simply gave himself the code-name "Kobold".
Reputedly Trevor's rarest talent is to draw people directly into his suit wherein they're trapped in a pocket dimension entirely under his control,made up of his twisted lusts,degenerate desires,and skewed memories.
PS: And if none of that impresses you there's also the advanced surveillance system,powerful hydraulics, and chain-gun arm of Trevor's "outer suit" to deal with too!
Motivations: Ambitous and a control freak, Trevor simply likes "being on top". Some of his best memories center around being a moderator on various forums,allowing him to "ban" whoever dared question him.
Additionally Trevor relishes in being a harsh critic of the arts and entertainment,wanting to bend these mediums to his will through mercilessly berating and belittling creators who refuse to follow his advice.
Some have said Trevor used to actually give helpful constructive feedback before his ego and various twisted ideologies he incorporated into his "review process" muddied the waters.
When taking lives via use of his dangerous suit, Trevor is so detached from the proceedings he often compares it to a video game in which he's trying to get the highest score. Enemies are perceived as mere "obstacles" holding him back as opposed to being seen as actual people with their own hopes,aspirations,and families to mourn for them once they are "taken off the chess-board". Indeed, Trevor exhibits the worst behaviors of a sociopath,reveling in his own cruelty and apathy.
One of Amy's "biggest fans" Trevor watched every episode of Red Ronin so he sees the young actress less as an enemy and more as an exotic pretty bird he can eventually put in his cage.....(There's also conceptual art of Trevor attacking Vivian James. This hints at two possibilities. Either his twisted affections transfer from Amy to Vivian OR he and Vivian are simply rivals of some kind.)
120518-N-IK959-652
GREAT LAKES, Ill. (May 18, 2012) Rear Adm. James F. Caldwell Jr., commander of submarine force U.S. Pacific Fleet, tours a simulated bomb-damaged berthing compartment aboard the 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator USS Trayer (BST 21) at Recruit Training Command (RTC). Caldwell toured the command’s training facilities, talked with staff members and recruits and was the reviewing officer at the weekly Pass-in-Review graduation. Trayer is the platform where recruits take their final test, Battle Stations, before graduating from RTC. Battle Stations is a 12-hour exam of 17 different scenarios, including firefighting, damage control, watchstanding and mass casualty evacuations. Exactly 600 recruits officially became Sailors at the weekly graduation. RTC trains more than 35,000 Sailors annually. (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)
Afghan Brig. Gen. Mahbob Rashad, Chief of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), walks with Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, IV, commanding general of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, during a tour at the (MoI) Technical Center, Kabul, Nov. 30, 2009. Lt. Gen. Caldwell visited the Logistics Embedded Training Team to get acquainted with members and familiarize himself with the operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brian Ybarbo/released)
Thursday ~ July 12, 2012 ~ 6-8 PM
The Bruce Marshall Group
Tsongas Center
300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell, MA 01852
An Outdoor Concert on the scenic Merrimack River! Bring the entire family down with your blankets or lawn chairs and enjoy the beautiful Summer weather with an evening of FREE Music, Food, Alcoholic and Non-alcoholic Beverages will be available for purchase at each show.
New England blues legend Bruce Marshall formed the BRUCE MARSHALL GROUP in 1991 and has been performing and recording steadily throughout the US since their inception. Bruce has shared the stage with over 150 national acts, was a former member of The Toy Caldwell Band (formed from members of Marshall Tucker) and toured with Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws and Charlie Daniels. The 4-piece band takes its listeners on a soaring ride through their 6 CD's in addition to putting out a healthy dose of Toy Caldwell songs from the Marshall Tucker catalog. The 2-guitar attack with Bruce and ace Dave Cournoyer has been going strong for 16 years and they're locked in tight. Bruce is an ASCAP award-winning songwriter, and has just released his 6th record, "Misspent Youth". It’s currently enjoying extensive airplay and excellent reviews.
Bruce also has a duo with Blues Harmonica Legend James Montgomery since 1994 and Montgomery & Marshall and together have released 2 CD's, headlined national shows and was nominated for a Boston Music Award. Bruce has represented New England twice at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, placed songs in film, won 2 Blues Audience Magazine Readers Poll Awards and was the vocalist for WB Mason Extra Innings on NESN TV 3 years running. Bruce is in his 37th year of full time music-making, and he has played over 7,000 shows with no signs of ever slowing down.
Bruce Marshall Web Sites
www.myspace.com/brucemarshallmusic
www.reverbnation.com/thebrucemarshallgroup
www.facebook.com/The-Bruce-Marshall-Group/105042126205929
Bruce Marshall is Presented by
Richard Axtman ~ Northern Music
northernmusic@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/northernmusicagency
120518-N-IK959-941
GREAT LAKES, Ill. (May 18, 2012) Rear Adm. James F. Caldwell Jr., commander of submarine force U.S. Pacific Fleet, troops-the-line and salutes Recruit Division 813 at a weekly Pass-in-Review graduation in the USS Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at Recruit Training Command. Caldwell toured the command’s training facilities, talked with staff members and recruits, and was the reviewing officer for the Pass-in-Review graduation. Division 813 was named the Hall of Fame division as the top graduating division. Exactly 600 recruits officially became Sailors at the weekly graduation. RTC trains more than 35,000 Sailors annually. (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)
120518-N-IK959-908
GREAT LAKES, Ill. (May 18, 2012) Rear Adm. James F. Caldwell Jr., commander of submarine force U.S. Pacific Fleet, salutes Seaman Recruit Ku Vang, from Sacramento, Calif., during a Pass-in-Review graduation in the USS Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at Recruit Training Command. Caldwell toured the command’s training facilities, talked with staff members and recruits, and was the reviewing officer at the weekly Pass-in-Review graduation. Vang was named the Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award winner as the top honor graduate recruit, and was one of the 600 recruits to officially became Sailors at the weekly graduation. RTC trains more than 35,000 recruits annually. (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)
Go to Page with image in the Internet Archive
Title: Zoonomia, or, The laws of organic life : vol. I
Creator: Darwin, Erasmus, 1731-1802
Creator: Darwin, Robert Waring, 1766-1848. On the ocular spectra of light and colours
Creator: Mitchill, Samuel L. (Samuel Latham), 1764-1831
Creator: Swords, Thomas, 1764-1843, printer
Creator: Swords, James, 1765-1846, printer
Publisher: New-York : Printed by T. & J. Swords ...
Sponsor: Open Knowledge Commons, U.S. National Library of Medicine
Contributor: U.S. National Library of Medicine
Date: 1796
Language: eng
Description: "Preface to the American edition" (pp. [ix]-xxix) signed: Samuel L. Mitchill
"This volume was first published in London in 1794. T. & J. Swords intended to reprint the 2d volume, which appeared in London in 1796 (cf. 'Advertisement,' p. [434]). Instead, an edition of the 2d volume by Charles Caldwell [Evans 32017] was published in Philadelphia in 1797"--Austin
"On the ocular spectra of light and colours, by Dr. R.W. Darwin, of Shrewsbury. Re-printed, by permission, from the Philosophical Transactions. vol. lxxvi. p. 313"--pp. 394-418
Includes an index
With a half-title
The six hand colored illustrations are on leaves that are integral to the gatherings and account for the six breaks in the pagination sequence. Cf. ESTC, which describes [6] separate leaves of plates
Signatures: [A]⁴ a-c⁴ B-3L⁴ (3L4 blank). Cf. ESTC
NLM copy: lacking the blank leaf
Film 633 reel 35 is part of Research Publications Early American Medical Imprints collection (RP reel 35, no. 617)
Evans
Austin, R.B. Early Amer. medical imprints
Blake, J. NLM 18th cent.
ESTC (RLIN)
Microfilm
NLM copy provenance: ownership inscription of Robt. [Robert] Dunbar
Condition reviewed
digitized
If you have questions concerning reproductions, please contact the Contributing Library.
Note: The colors, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals.
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Go to Page with image in the Internet Archive
Title: First lines of the practice of physic (Volume 1)
Creator: Cullen, William, 1710-1790
Creator: Caldwell, Charles, 1772-1853
Creator: Fry, William, 1777-1855, printer
Creator: Maxwell, James, printer
Creator: E. and R. Parker (Firm), publisher
Publisher: Philadelphia : Published by Edward and Richard Parker ...
Sponsor: Open Knowledge Commons, U.S. National Library of Medicine
Contributor: U.S. National Library of Medicine
Date: 1816
Language: eng
Description: Vol. 2 printed by James Maxwell
The author's preface is the same as that in the 1784 Edinburgh edition, where it is dated Nov. 1783. It is here erroneously (?) dated Nov. 1789. Caldwell's preface is dated Nov. 1, 1816
Film 633 reel 31 is part of Research Publications Early American Medical Imprints collection (RP reel 31, no. 574)
NLM copy, ms. notes regarding Dr. [Nathaniel] Chapman's lectures on various diseases on laid-in leaves
Austin, R.B. Early Amer. medical imprints
Shaw & Shoemaker
Microfilm
NLM copy, ownership inscription of M. Paul on front flyleaf of each vol.; additional ownership inscription excised from leaf inserted before t.p. in each vol.; ownership inscription of J.M. Paul on v. 2 front pastedown
Condition reviewed
digitized
If you have questions concerning reproductions, please contact the Contributing Library.
Note: The colors, contrast and appearance of these illustrations are unlikely to be true to life. They are derived from scanned images that have been enhanced for machine interpretation and have been altered from their originals.
Read/Download from the Internet Archive