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Character actor known for a host of TV roles and for her award-winning work in the films of Ken Russell

In 2010, Kevin Younger began an article in the Guardian with the words: “Recognise the faces but can’t place the names?” Among the list of Britain’s top 10 great unsung television character actors that followed was Georgina Hale. “This slinky, adenoidal, estuarine glamour-puss oozed naughtiness in some interesting films and some classic television in the 70s,” he wrote. “She has latterly cornered the market in nouveau riche languor and middle-aged decadence.”

Although most of her screen roles were on television, Hale, who has died aged 80, was a favourite of the flamboyant film director Ken Russell, who once said she was “an actress of such sensitivity that she can make the hair rise on your arms”.

We’ve got a new trailer for you to check out for the HBO limited series Catherine the Great, starring Helen Mirren… the great. She is pretty great, after all, so casting was right on. The trailer stars Mirren as the Russian monarch during her famed 18th century “Golden Era” reign.

Here’s the synopsis:

Helen Mirren will lead miniseries Catherine the Great as the tumultuous monarch and politician who ruled the Russian empire and transformed its place in the world in the 18th century. The four-part historical drama will follow the end of Catherine’s reign and her affair with Russian military leader Grigory Potemkin that helped shape the future of Russian politics.

The series stars Jason Clarke as Catherine’s lover Grigory Potemkin, as well as Georgina Beedle, Thomas Doherty, Andrew Rothney, Georgina Hale, Antonia Clarke, Phil Dunster, and many more.

Check out the trailer below, and watch...

We have the trailer for HBO’s upcoming miniseries Catherine The Great starring badass Helen Mirren in a role she was pretty much born to play. Mirren portrays the longest reigning Empress of Russia as she makes her mark expanding the Russian Empire, and becoming the most powerful female leader in history. The series follows the later years of her reign, as well as her famous love affair with Grigory Potemkin.

Mirren is joined by Jason Clarke (Pet Sematary) as Grigory Potemkin, as well as Georgina Beedle, Thomas Doherty, Andrew Rothney, Antonia Clarke, Phil Dunster, Adam El Hagar, Georgina Hale, and James Northcote. The trailer looks solid, and I don’t know much about the history of Catherine the Great, so I will be checking this out for sure.

Check it out below and let us know if you’re into it! Catherine the Great airs this Fall on HBO.

Joseph Baxter Sep 6, 2019

HBO miniseries Catherine the Great will star Helen Mirren as the Enlightenment-era Russian monarch.

Catherine the Great is headed to HBO in the U.S. and Sky in the U.K. as a four-part television miniseries starring Helen Mirren (who will also direct and executive produce). She plays the eponymous Russian empress, whose late-18th-century reign is widely considered the Golden Age of the old Russian monarchy and a time of rapid rise for the country. Indeed, the miniseries focuses on Catherine's political machinations, chronicling her rise to power and subsequent rule.

Mirren will be joined by co-star Jason Clarke, who plays Grigory Potemkin, a Russian military leader who came into Catherine’s favor as a friend and trusted advisor, going back to his support for her during the 1762 coup, which removed her husband, Emperor Peter III, from the throne, leading to her ascension. The series serves as a quick reunion,...

It’s hard to think of a musical that would benefit more from a Blu-ray boost than Ken Russell’s kaleidoscopic all dancing, all singing send-up of theatrical clichés on the music hall stage, circa 1925. We’re just happy that the adorable Twiggy got to be put in a film like this, to be enjoyed forever. The Russell crowd is all aboard, led by Glenda Jackson and Murray Melvin. Gosh!

The Boy Friend

Blu-ray

The Warner Archive Collection

1971 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 136 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian, Bryan Pringle, Murray Melvin, Moyra Fraser, Georgina Hale, Sally Bryant, Vladek Sheybal, Tommy Tune, Brian Murphy, Graham Armitage, Antonia Ellis, Caryl Little, Glenda Jackson.

Cinematography: David Watkin

Film Editor: Michael Bradsell

Production Design: Tony Walton

Costumes: Shirley Russell

Written by: Ken Russell from the musical by Sandy Wilson

Produced and Directed by: Ken Russell

Some...

Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...

Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...

McM Expo/London Comic Con returns to ExCel London on 25th – 27th October. As well as hosting a galaxy of great sci-fi, movie, games, comics, anime and cosplay content, they’ve also got their usual huge line up of special guests – with more guests being added all the time! see www.mcmcomiccon.com for the latest London Comic Con news – but here’s a round-up of who’s been announced so far:

Red hot fantasy-noir show Lost Girl is coming to McM London Comic Com, with stars Ksenia Solo (Black Swan, Life Unexpected) and Rachel Skarsten (Transporter: The Series, Birds Of Prey) plus executive producer Jay Firestone (Andromeda, La Femme Nikita). Stars from hit sci-fi series Warehouse 13: Kelly Hu (Arrow, X-Men 2, The Vampire Diaries); Eddie McClintock (Bones, Desperate Housewives) and actor/director Saul Rubinek (Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm). The stars of new crime thriller By Any Means: Warren Brown (Luther,...

Are the recent deaths of high-profile actors tragic one-offs? Or is the profession now too precarious? Michael Simkins, a veteran of stage and screen, lifts the lid on a lonely world

Paul Bhattacharjee was a supremely gifted performer, liked and respected in equal measure. That's no small achievement in itself – but he also seemed as secure as any individual can be in the precarious business of acting. When his body was discovered near cliffs in East Sussex last week, having disappeared during rehearsals for a new play at the Royal Court, the news sent shockwaves through the acting profession.

It has been a cruel month. Cory Monteith, star of Glee, was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room after a suspected drink and drugs overdose, while the body of another British actor, Richard Gent, who disappeared last year and who once lived a few doors from me, was located in woods in Barnet,...

A Royal Affair; The Hunter; Your Sister's Sister; Cockneys vs Zombies; Silent Souls

While November and December are the months in which the studios traditionally roll out their most prized awards contenders, there'll have to be an extraordinary surge of great movies between now and the new year to knock A Royal Affair (2012, Metrodome, 15) out of my top 10 for 2012. Boasting yet another mesmerising performance from the mercurial Mads Mikkelsen, this handsome costume drama manages to wrap a complex discussion of power, corruption and censorship around an engrossing and increasingly passionate romance. Called to the court of his apparently unhinged ruler, altruistic doctor and Voltairian free-thinker Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mikkelsen) inveigles his way into the hearts of both the king and queen, with potentially world-changing results. Wresting power from the landed gentry whose brutal mistreatment of the poor he has witnessed first hand, Struensee spurs the king to invest in social...

There are several colors in the "horror/comedy" spectrum. Some films, like John Landis' An American Werewolf in London is a horror film with sly wit, whereas on the other side of the scale we have Scary Movie, which is little more than a broad spoof that happens to focus on cliches and stereotypes found in horror flicks. Somewhere right in the middle, of course, is Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead, one of the very rare films that finds a way to succeed at horror and comedy at the exact same time. Ever since the success of Shaun, we've seen a lot of zombie comedies from around the world, and the newest one from the UK, entitled Cockneys vs. Zombies, is most assuredly a farce first and a horror film second. Fortunately it's also a farce with quick wit, a few clever ideas, a nice brisk pace,...

The legendary Hammer Studios is widely recognized as the high watermark of the gothic macabre, creating some of the most chilling and recognizable horror films of all time.

Synapse Films is proud to present this essential collection of all 13 tales of terror from the legendary British film studio into The Complete Hammer House of Horror collector's set.

In 1980 Hammer took over the old Hampden Manor House in the heartland of England and produced a series of thirteen horror stories to air on British television.  With a host of Hammer regulars, including Peter Cushing (Twins of Evil, Star Wars) and Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark), classic thespians including Brian Cox (The Ring), Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Georgina Hale (The Devils), Diana Dors (Theatre of Blood) and Dark Shadows stalwart Kathryn Leigh Scott, along with early appearances by actors like Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye), each episode provides a...

One of our favorite shows around these parts is the anthology series "The Hammer House of Horror", and though it's been released on DVD before, you know the good folks over at Synapse Films are going to put together a package that puts that one to shame!

From the Press Release

Each generation creates tales of horror… stories that seep through the very heart of our collective fears. The legendary Hammer Studios is widely recognized as the high watermark of the Gothic macabre, creating some of the most chilling and recognizable horror films of all time. Synapse Films is proud to present this essential collection of all 13 tales of terror from the legendary British film studio into The Complete Hammer House Of Horror collector's set!

In 1980 Hammer took over the old Hampden Manor House in the heartland of England and produced a series of thirteen horror stories to air on British television.

Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, The Devils Ken Russell, the director of Women in Love, The Boy Friend, and Altered States, died Sunday, Nov. 27, at the age of 84. Coincidentally, the British Film Institute, with much fanfare, announced several months ago that it would be releasing for the first time on DVD the X-rated version of Russell's The Devils, a mix of history, political intrigue, religious fanaticism, and unbridled sex in 17th-century France. The X-rated version is purported to be the uncut version of The Devils. Well, it's not, really. Adapted by Russell from John Whiting's 1960 play and Aldous Huxley's 1952 historical novel The Devils of Loudun, The Devils stars Vanessa Redgrave (in lieu of a recalcitrant Glenda Jackson) as Loudun's Ursuline convent head Sister Jeanne, a neurotic, physically deformed woman who is sexually obsessed with local priest Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed). Following a series of "possessions" in the convent, Grandier...

Director Ken Russell, best known for his movies featuring sex-starved nuns, nude male wrestling, "offensive" religious symbolism, and kaleidoscopic musical numbers, died Sunday, Nov. 27, in the United Kingdom. Russell had suffered a series of strokes. He was 84. Now hardly as remembered or admired as, say, '70s Hollywood icons Steven Spielberg, Robert Altman, or Martin Scorsese, Russell not only was — more than — their equal in terms of vision and talent, but he was also infinitely more daring both thematically and esthetically. In fact, Russell was so innovatively controversial that he was referred to as the enfant terrible of British cinema while already in his 40s and 50s. But if middle age brings out complacency and apathy in most people, its effect on Russell (born July 3, 1927, in Southampton) seems to have been the opposite. Following years of work on British television, Russell's 1969 film adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's Women in Love...