tonymima

Hi,

Does anyone remember this fine actress from the 70's and 80's?

Apparently she died a few years ago. Any further info on her life and death would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,


Tony

Geronimo

Tony - I had the great pleasure of working in theatre with Hilary in 1975. She was playing the lead in a provincial tour of "Verdict", an Agatha Christie play. I played a small part as a Detective Sergeant and also worked as Assistant Stage Manager. She was one of the most feline and sexy women I have ever come across and was a delightful person. She told me how just wearing something on TV (e.g. in The Brothers) would cause a mass purchase of that item. She used to have a leather cartridge bag as a handbag and, while we toured to Coventry, wanted to go to a village in Oxfordshire to buy another bag. Some of the rest of the cast were going to Kenilworth Castle for a trip that day and, to my surprise, Hilary asked if I would like to go with her to buy the bag, to keep her company. Hilary was a star and earning at least ten times my salary plus profits and she was kind enough to ask me if I would like to go out with her. It was a most enjoyable day and she treated me to lunch. Some years later I met her again when I interviewed her live on radio when she toured to Cardiff with a play.

I have never forgotten her kindness and her open friendship. I worked with quite a few stars during my acting career and only a few were really nice people to know. Hilary was one - Ted Rogers another. Sadly, they are both dead now.

Unfortunately, Hilary's husband was an agressive and arrogant boor.

tonymima

Thanks for your reply, G.

You say that you worked with other stars; can you elaborate?

Regards,

Tony

fred kite

im also very interested to hear your storys geronimo....i live not to far from you .tell me more

Geronimo

I think the best way forward is for me to list stars (and well known performers) I have worked with in theatre and television and let you pick the ones who interest you most. My involvement with these people varies widely from friendship to barely being spoken to. Pick two or three and I'll see what comes to mind ... Tony Adams, Anne Aston, Brian Blessed, Anthony Booth (Tony Blair's father-in-law), Dora Bryan, Lisa Daniley, Tony Danza, Barry Evans, Robert Flemyng, Bernard Hepton, Christopher Guard, Jean Heywood, Michael Kitchen, William Lucas, Phillip Madoc, Ewan Roberts, Ted Rogers, Jenny Seagrove, David Thewlis, Peter Vaughan, Simon Williams and Stephen Yardley. I appeared in two pantomimes with Stan Stennet but that was more like a punishment than a pleasure.

In the 1980's I became heavily involved in dubbing of foreign films into english and became friendly with Conrad Phillips (TV's William Tell) - a very nice man. I also ran a voice-over agency for some years and represented Jack Watson (Wild Geese) for some years. I also met Peter Wyngarde a few times (my wife worked with him in theatre). His kindness impressed me.

Also in the 80's I conducted a series of live, 60 second commercials from the New Theatre, Cardiff, interviewing stars of shows. I was chuffed to interview Leslie Crowther, Sheila White, Diane Solomon, Kenneth Connor, Tommy Trinder, Judy Geeson, Ian Lavender and Andrew Cruickshank in that series (and Hilary Tindall of course).

I worked with Joanna Lumley in a recording studio some years ago and have reason to be grateful to her for her considerate behaviour. I have also worked in studio with Joss Ackland and Mollie Sugden.

That's it for now. Fire away and I'll see wht I remember.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

fred kite

wowwwwwwwwwwwwww...great stuff .kenneth conner was one of my faves .what was he like?.....and why was stan stennet so bad .if you dont mind me asking

Geronimo

Kenneth Connor was a gentleman. I only met him briefly but liked him. Not having worked with him in tv or theatre I have no anecdotes.

I did not find it easy working with Stan Stennet. I have high standards and I felt that many aspects of his production organisation were below my expectations. At one point, while protesting to Stan over a particular problem I said something along the lines of "I am a professional and I expect professional standards". His reply was " Ah, but this isn't a professional theatre". We were in Bedwas Miner's Institute at the time. I believe that wherever you, if you are performing in front of a paying audience, that location is a professional stage. I could tell you more but I am not sure that this forum is the place for detailing specific grievances. I prefer to talk about the people who have impressed me with their personality and kindness.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

fred kite

excellent ....as youll see on other pages of this forum barry evans has been a subject ..i liked him too and noticed youve also worked with him .a tragic ending to a talented man

Geronimo

I like Barry a lot. We worked together for weeks so had the time to get to know him a little. I am a huge fan of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" and was pleased to have an opportunity to be in a company with him. He was a keen photographer and took a set of publicity shots of me which I used for years. Enormously likeable and good at his job!

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

tonymima

Hi G,

Your posts are fascinating.

Which actors did you find difficult to work with apart from Stan Stennett?

Regards

Tony

Moor Larkin

For some reason I've always had a thing for Dora Bryan. Maybe it was those Philadelphia commercials.........

I was walking along the upper level on Madeira Drive last spring (or was it the sping before...time flies). It was still quite early (10am) and there weren't many people about. I noted a couple of elderly ladies approaching with small dogs on leads skittering about their ankles.

As they got nearer the unmistakeable sound of Ms. Bryan's voice was like a sweet smell in the morning air. She passed by, chattering about a trip to the vet (I think). My ears breathed deep........

Later in the year I was at the dog track and she was doing a charity raffle. It sounded like they were having trouble getting her off the microphone - having a great time........

[code]http://www.flickr.com/photos/29487363@N02/sets/72157606700675506/code]

Hell_driver

Geronimo what was Jean Heywood like to work with? If you don't mind telling, I am an admirer of her work.

Geronimo

Bear with me - I will answer all your questions as soon as my workload allows.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

Geronimo

Right - Tony Mima first...Which actors did you find difficult to work with apart from Stan Stennett?

Difficulty spreads into different areas - including personality (self-opinion and perceived status) and plain old fashioned theatre rules or practice.

Something a young actor often experiences is simply being ignored by the stars of a production except when exchanging dialogue. I would include Brian Blessed, Michael Kitchen and David Thewlis in this category. To be fair to these actors, they do have a huge burden to bear in a production. However, it benefits a production if an effort is made to "include" the lower echelon of actors in a production.

When I worked on an episode of "General Hospital" (ATV) in the late 70's, I was involved in only the second of two weeks of rehearsals. Walking into a room where everyone else knows each other is hard for a nervous young actor. General Hospital, however, was an unique and exceptional company. The minute I walked into the room I was approached by the star, Tony Adams, who introduced himself by name and as the company's "social secretary". He introduced me to the rest of the cast and, over the next week, he regularly spoke to me and disarmed any fear or nerves I had (even giving me a shoulder massage at one time). The cast were extremely friendly, never allowing me to sit alone in the canteen. I was always invited to joing others, stars and regulars alike. Of course, this meant they could also take the mickey when I did something stupid. It was a very good experience for me.

When I worked with David Thewlis, as his brother, in "Dandelion Dead" (LWT International 1993), I could have done with a friendly word or two. The entire cast was staying at the location, Hay-on-Wye. For some reason I was made to commute every day from my home in South Wales. This meant an early morning drive of 1 hr 15 minutes to be on location by 8.00 am. I would then sit around my allocated caravan until maybe 1.00 pm, when I would work in a scene. The afternoon would be more hours of hanging around at my caravan before working at maybe 5 or 6 pm and then the drive home at the end of shooting. After one or two attempts to chat between scenes and getting nothing back you just give up and become a rather lonely actor. Michael Kitchen, the main star of Dandelion Dead, was similar. I once tried to tell him something funny his young son (real son) had said to me about a particular scene but he just couldn't relate to me on any level.

Directors can be just as bad as well. Mike Hodges, who directed Dandelion Dead, did not make any attempt to integrate me into the production. As a small part player you are just expected to turn up, know everything, act well and go home. My first scene of the shoot was one in which I had to drive a 1919 Citroen up the street - stop the car in precisely the right spot so that the camera (in the midle of the road) could shoot through the driver window(open), across my chest and up the steps of a house to my left, filming my wife being brought down the steps and being helped into the car - say my dialogue and drive off. The day before, purely by chance, I saw a car which might be the one for my scene being driven around another loaction. I approached the owner/driver and confirmed that this was indeed the car I would have to drive the next day. I asked if I could have a test drive and, thank goodness I did. The car's brake and accelerator pedals were in reverse positions to UK vehicles and I was told that I would have to brake using the hand brake only - braking with the pedal would result in cogs being ripped off. I was able to spend fifteen minutes getting the feel of the car - albeit in a limited way. The next day I was pleased with my rehearsal approaches with the car - hitting the mark very well. Then we went for a take. I hit the mark - everything went smoothly - drove off. Then Mike Hodges came up to me and asked me why I wasn't using a West Country accent! Great! Thewlis was using an accent but as I hadn't had any scenes with him and as nobody had thought to discuss my part with me how the hell was I to know? I then had to concentrate even harder to get the driving, position, dialogue AND accent right. Nobody had thought to acquaint me with the car prior to driving it and if I had not acted on my own initiative the shoot could have been a disaster. A perfect example of how Director's can make life very difficult for lesser actors. (That was the third of three strange car experiences I had).

Brian Blessed was equally distant on "Return to Treasure Island" (HTV) - even though every day was spent confined on boat in Swansea Bay. Couldn't get a peep out of him until I insulted him. I was in the finance/accountants coach queueing for my expenses. I was at the back of a queue of around 8 actors when Blessed came in behind me. Stars don't have to queue so an envelope was immediately passed down the line for him. That bothered me as there was no public threat or irritation and he could have waited his turn. As I turned to him with the expenses envelope my feelings got the better of me and I said "Sorry - who are you?". Blessed looked like a volcano about to erupt and, just as steam was about to jet from his ears he diffused the situation in an extraordinary way. He loudly said "Colin Welland", snatched the envelope and stormed off. I don't defend my feelings but I was out of order. Wouldn't have happened if he had spoken to me, though. Actors like that make it difficult to work well.

Robert Flemyng comes into the "old school" category. You didn't speak unless spoken to except on company business. A friend of mine who was a production manager for Cameron Macintosh asked me if I would go on tour as his Deputy Stage Manager for six weeks. The play was Alan Ayckbourn's "Relatively Speaking". If you don't know, a Deputy Stage Manager (DSM) runs "The Book". You sit at the side of the stage all night following the dialogue in the book which has been marked up with lots of additional information during rehearsals - things like all the lighting and sound cues which you call quietly into a microphone for the technical people and props deatils. You also give calls to the dresing room to warn actors of their approching entrances and presences required on stage. Basically you run the show and have responsability for everything that happens (including prompts). One night there was a disturbance in a crew area somewhere behind me which filtered through to the stage. It was my job to deal with it but I would have been hung if I had left my post on the book. By the time I had summoned somebody to sort it out and shut everyone up the damage was done. Mr Flemyng came off stage and roasted me - tore a huge strip off me. Although it was unfair there was nothing I could do but apologise (Yes Mr felemyng. I am sorry. It won't happen again sir) and take all the blame. That was difficult to deal with. Whenever I was at dinner in his company after a show I learned to keep quiet and just eat. Actors of his age and status weren't interested in what a young actor had to say.

Funnily enough I was warned that Tony Danza would be difficult to work with and that I was not to talk to him unless spoken to. He was both star and co-producer of "Wall of Tyranny". He proved to be very pleasant. Our first meeting was when I walked into the make-up truck and he was there. He immediately turned, stretched out his hand and introduced himself to me. He was a pussy cat after that and, when we said goodbye, fulfilled one of my ambitions - to have someone say to me "Nice woikin widya kid".

I'll get onto Dora Bryan next in another posting.

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.

Geronimo

Here I am with the french Citroen

I asked him to look at the body. That's who he is.