by Malcolm Pheby | Aug 31, 2019 | Celebrity, Liverpool, Movies
Actors and actresses have odd high points in their careers. Sometimes the most unusual roles or cameos attract the greatest public acclaim. So it was for double Oscar-winning actress Glenda Jackson, who made her name at the Royal Shakespeare Company after learning her...
by Malcolm Pheby | Aug 22, 2019 | Celebrity, Theatre
What do Ralph Fiennes, Minnie Driver, Dame Thora Hird and Eric Sykes all have common? It’s not Academy Awards or BAFTAS. Neither is it appearances in the same movies or TV shows. The link they share is much closer to home. It’s the Oldham Coliseum. All four spent part...
by Malcolm Pheby | Feb 14, 2019 | Celebrity, Manchester, Uncategorised
American tennis legend Billie Jean King smiled for the cameras, shouldered her rackets and made her way back to her Manchester hotel. There would be no play again in the 1964 Northern Lawn Tennis Tournament at Didsbury. A weekend of torrential rain meant the courts...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jan 27, 2019 | Celebrity, Liverpool
Two great Liverpool icons – Ken Dodd and the Cavern Club – shared a unique milestone this week in 1964. The much-loved Knotty Ash comedian became the venue’s first ever honorary life member when he stepped on to the famous stage on January 24th. Ever the joker, he...
by Malcolm Pheby | Jan 19, 2019 | Celebrity, Liverpool, Music
It’s hard to believe that half a century has passed since John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their famous ‘Bed-In’ at the Amsterdam Hilton. The couple decided to spend their honeymoon staging a week-long protest against the Vietnam War and other conflicts. They took to...
by Malcolm Pheby | Nov 16, 2018 | Celebrity, Liverpool
It was supposed to be a party – but tell that to Les Dawson. The comic was at his lugubrious best when he switched on Liverpool’s Christmas lights in December 1980. Famed for his dead-pan monologues and off-key piano-playing, Dawson delighted the crowds with his...
