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1-15 of 15
- Eunice Gayson was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's girlfriend in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love). Originally, Gayson was to be cast as Miss Moneypenny, but that part went to Lois Maxwell instead.
Gayson was originally to have been a regular in the Bond film series, but her character was dropped. Gayson's voice in Dr. No and From Russia with Love was overdubbed by voice actress Nikki van der Zyl, as were the voices of nearly all the actresses appearing in the first two Bond films, though Gayson's real voice can still be heard in original trailers for Dr. No.
As the first female to be seen in Dr. No together with James Bond (Sean Connery), she is officially the very first actress to play a Bond girl.
Decades later, Gayson's daughter appeared in a casino scene in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye.
She also starred in the Hammer horror film The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).
Gayson died on 8 June 2018, aged 90. - Nigel Harman was born on 11 August 1973 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor, known for EastEnders (1985), Blood Diamond (2006) and Telstar: The Joe Meek Story (2008). He has been married to Lucy Liemann since 2011. They have one child.
- Shelagh Fraser was born on 25 November 1920 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), The History of Mr. Polly (1949) and Doomwatch (1970). She was married to Anthony Squire. She died on 29 August 2000 in London, England, UK.
- Best known now for his role in Emmerdale/ Emmerdale Farm he shot to fame as Dr John Rennie in Emergency Ward 10 in the 50's which launched him to fame. and led to A Family at War, and To the Manor Born while his films include The Dam Busters. He has 4 children by 3 marriages.
- John Baskcomb was born on 7 February 1916 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Battle of Britain (1969), The Forsyte Saga (1967) and Doctor Who (1963). He died on 29 March 2000 in Kerrier, Cornwall, England, UK.
- Originally from Manchester Joanne grew up in South London, her father the sales rep for a Lancashire cotton mill and her mother a classroom assistant. Youth theatre gave her the dream to act professionally, and after training at Rose Bruford College (the year after Gary Oldman) she has worked regularly in the foremost British theatre companies, with eminent actors and directors including Sam Mendes, John Lithgow, Glenda Jackson, Patrick Stewart, David Bradley, Rik Mayall and Hugh Bonneville. In the USA she returned to her Welsh roots playing the matriarch in The Pull of Negative Gravity Off-Broadway. On screen, after a season in Grange Hill and rising from Police Constable to Inspector in Eastenders, her highlights have been Kenneth Branagh consoling her on the murder of her parents in 'Wallander' and throwing a party in 'It's a Sin'.
- Arwen Holm was born on 30 October 1947 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Final Conflict (1981), Flickers (1980) and Heartland (1979). She died on 9 August 2003 in Poole, Dorset, England, UK.
- Louise Purnell was born on 29 May 1942 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Clayhanger (1976), Three Sisters (1970) and Sebastian (1968). She has been married to Andrew Roberston since 1974.
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
John Read was born on 7 June 1923 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. He was a producer and writer, known for British Art and Artists (1958), The Artist Speaks (1960) and L.S. Lowry (1957). He died on 26 July 2011 in London, England, UK.- Son of a rope, raffia and canvas importer-exporter, Antony Brown began his drama career during the war as a stage manager with the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He then became a scriptwriter for the BBC and wrote a number of radio and television plays. In 1955 he was offered a two-week job as holiday relief to read the news for the newly-formed Independent Television News. Such was his popularity as a newscaster that the two-week job lasted for nine years. His most historic news announcement came in 1963 when he just happened to be on duty at the time of President Kennedy's assassination. During this period, also, he occasionally did cameo acting roles playing himself as newscaster in films such as The Square Mile Murder (1961).
Brown married two actresses, the first being Joan Mundy in Bridgwater in 1948. By co-incidence, he met his second wife while divorcing the first. His neighbour, 28-year-old Sheila McCormack was divorcing her first husband, radio actor Roger Braban, in the same court hearing that Antony was divorcing Joan. Antony and Sheila married in Folkestone in 1958 and their son Ben Brown came along in 1960. Ben too is a leading news reporter, but with the BBC.
After leaving ITN in 1965, Antony fronted political debating programme "Challenge" for Tyne-Tees Television. His most memorable show was the sensational "black book" interview with Leeds footballer Jack Charlton who revealed that he kept a blacklist of rough players from whom he intended to exact revenge. Antony also wrote books, including the popular "Captain Justice" series (1981 to 1984) which he co-authored with Norman McKenzie using the joint pseudonym "Anthony Forrest." Also, he wrote a nativity play "David and the Donkey" (1966) which was televised by ITV. Antony Brown died at his Battersea home on 21 January 2001 and was survived by Sheila, his wife for over 42 years. - Eileen Winterton was born on 5 July 1903 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Theatre 625 (1964). She died on 1 May 2004 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK.
- Madge Snell was born on 10 July 1885 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Last Waltz (1936), The Eternal Feminine (1931) and Above Rubies (1932). She died on 7 November 1985 in Brighton, Sussex, England, UK.
- Adrian Flynn was born in 1956 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. He was a writer, known for The Archers (2007) and Arena (1975). He was married to Gloria Metcalf. He died on 13 November 2022.
- Cinematographer
Derek R.M. Bray was born on 16 March 1921 in Purley, Surrey, England, UK. Derek R.M. was a cinematographer, known for It Came to Pass (1953). Derek R.M. died on 1 October 2010 in Eatonville, Washington, USA.- Director
- Producer
Award-winning CBC Radio producer and filmmaker Robert Chesterman grew up in southern England, in the London suburb of Purley (near Croydon). He attended Ardingly College, a boarding school in the nearby county of Sussex, for what he once described as an "undistinguished schooling". At a time when corporal punishments such as canings were common practice, the mischievous redhead with artistic sensibilities had a trying time of "prep school" compared to his only (older) brother David, who played rugby and went on to turn his top marks into a highly successful career as a London-based lawyer (eventually becoming Secretary of Shell Oil). Robert studied piano with Percy Taylor and George Oldroyd at the encouragement of his mother Mildred, a pianist herself who recognized his musical aptitude and keen ear. The death of his distinguished father, who died when Robert was 16, affected him profoundly - as did the untimely loss of many close friends during his brief but eventful stint with the Royal Air Force (stationed in Rhodesia). He moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1957 in search of fulfillment and opportunity - in what, he did not yet know. He arrived at Vancouver International Airport amid a typical west-coast downpour, with very little money and the names of just 2 local contacts whom he had yet to meet. Two years later, Chesterman joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation {CBC) as a fledgling producer and became the host of "Music Diary", a weekly national radio magazine. He found his niche as a director and facilitator of quality radio programming from his earliest years with the CBC. He headed up the CBC's 'Sunday Night,' 'Saturday Evening','Monday Evening,' 'Audience' and 'Monitor' series, thereby bringing an international musical culture - as well as superlative dramatic and literary talent - to a receptive audience of listeners who were treated to first-class realizations of works by gifted artists. "Rob"'s innate respect for, and understanding of, artistic temperaments - along with his instinctual abilities as a director - allowed him the privilege of working with some of Canada's best theatrical performers: Peggy Ashcroft, Doris Chillcott, Joy Coghill, Peter Haworth, Otto Lowy, Betty Phillips, Kate Reid, Bill Reiter, Eric Schneider, John Neville are just a few of the actors who converged under his gentle direction, helping to establish CBC Vancouver's state-of-the-art recording studios as a major center for broadcasting brilliance. At the heart of these creative hubs were some exciting original scores masterfully translated into radio broadcasts by both emerging and established writers - many of whom are considered today to be among the leaders of Canada's literary landscape. Margaret Hollingsworth, Laurence Gough, John Gray, Don Mowatt, John Murrell, David Watmough, George Woodcock... The long list of contributors with whom Chesterman worked was, he often remarked, one of the standout highlights of working as a CBC producer. Chesterman's dual interest in music and theatre led him to produce an 8-part series of radio dramatizations on the lives of Mahler, Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, while his features on the Chicago and Philadelphia orchestras were models of their kind. He produced many large-scale musical features recorded for radio in Europe and North America, and he holds various awards from the Canadian Music Council and Ohio State University. From 1964-76 Chesterman produced radio profiles of eminent conductors (Ansermet, Bernstein, Boult, Klemperer, Ormandy, von Karajan and Walter), and from his interviews for this series he prepared his first book (Conversations with Conductors, London 1976). Further work with conductors (eg. James Levine) led to his second book in 1990. In 2007, he combined both books into one volume to publish Conductors in Conversation: The Complete Collection: an exemplary and fascinating volume that continues to receive rave reviews. Chesterman's documentary on the choir at King's College, Cambridge, was a highlight of 'CBC Tuesday Night' and the subject of his first Prometheus Films release 'The Boast of Kings (1981)'. The film went on to win a New York Film Festival award. Following his retirement from the CBC in 1989, Chesterman continued to work as an independent producer and director of films - with his own company, Prometheus Productions - and radio programs such as 'Vienna's Golden Autumn' (1989) for the Ideas series. He directed 'Which Way to Carnegie Hall? (1986)', a study of gifted musical children, and produced and directed 'Summer Song (1988)', a feature film about the British Columbia Boys' Choir on tour in the Netherlands. 'McGill, Mahler and Montreal (1997)' and 'More Than a Thousand Kisses (2000)' are two more stand-out titles released by Prometheus Films. After a brave but brief fight with pancreatic cancer, Robert Chesterman succumbed to the disease at Vancouver General Hospital on June 1st, 2007. He was 76.