Six years earlier, Sean OConnor, the producer of the Channel 5 soap Family Affairs who directed her in various stage plays created the part of Madge Bennett, an elderly woman in hospital in an Armistice Day story, specially for Chasen. READ MORE:Bradley Walsh in tears during emotional talk with son Barney. The actor Janet Hargreaves, who has died aged 81, played Rosemary Hunter in Crossroads during the 1970s heyday of the TV serial. The popular actor starred for nine years in the Midland soap and also took on a memorable role opposite Hollywood legend Steve McQueen in iconic war movie, The Great Escape. Heather found fame playing Valerie Pollard on Crossroads (not Emmerdale) for four years from 1982. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. The Cast Of Crossroads: Where Are They Now? - BrainSharper Cook Shughie blagged his way into a job at the motel, boasting he once worked on a luxury cruise ship which turned out to be a workers ferry on the Clyde. His fans included British troops serving in the Falklands War in 1982, who nicknamed the Falkland Islanders Bennies after the character. The British actress is now 79 years old and she is married with two children. Jane Rossington was part of the cast from day one and she played Jill Richardson in the soap. Her first television appearance for ATV in the Midlands, Tea With Noele Gordon, was the first popular ITV chat show, and while presenting this series, she became the first woman to interview a British Prime Minister,[7] when Harold Macmillan was in office. She is patron of the Crossroads Appreciation Society, a fan club for the show. The actress - best known for her role in hit ITV soap, Crossroads, was today being remembered by family and famous friends following her death on October 20. Since Crossroads , she also starred as Rusty Dickinson in film Back Home , and TV show Powers . Heather Chasen as Valerie Pollard in Crossroads, with her daughter Miranda, played by Claire Faulconbridge. Initially commissioned as an emergency schedule filler, the show became so successful that Gordon gave up her executive position to concentrate on presenting. Jane Rossington Jane, now 77, played Jill. She was the only original cast member of Crossroads to star in both the first and last ever episodes, and she spoke the first words spoken on the soap, "Crossroads Motel, good evening". [14], For many years in the 1960s and early 1970s, Gordon lived in a large white-washed country house in Weir End, near Ross-on-Wye, beside the A40 road to Monmouth. For they had played many scenes opposite each other in Crossroads in the mid-1960s. David Moran. Anthony W Morton, who made his name during three years' service in the motel kitchen during the mid-60s died after a short illness. Tonge won the role by accident. The plan was for Amy to be arrested for being a Soviet double agent, Amelia Turtleovski, but sadly it never appeared on screen. Roger Tonge played Sandy Richardson in the soap between 1964 and 1981. The killing of Georgie Broadhead could have come straight from the script . Tuesday, 2nd May 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. Work was scarce afterwards and then in 1989 our daughter, Justine, was killed in a car crash aged only 18. Now, 76 he lives on the island of Anglesey in Wales, where he was born. His absence and death were never mentioned in Crossroads until the final episode. Her last stage role was in No, No, Nanette at Plymouth's Theatre Royal. The actor Heather Chasen, who has died aged 92, landed her best-known screen role in the television soap Crossroads. It took him nine years to escape from the Midland soap. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Lovable Crossroads legend Angus Lennie, who played cheeky chef, Shughie McFee. READ MORE:Helena Bonham Carter 'wasn't sexual' enough in early career struggle. (Image: Central Television) David Hunter A. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. David Fennell played Brian Jarvis for 11 years between 1964 and 1975. In August 2012, it was announced that Hanson had joined the cast of long-running soap opera Coronation Street as a character called Penny Thornley. Gavin and Stacey actress Margaret John dies at 84 - BBC News Dont snigger but lovable Crossroads legend Angus Lennie, who played cheeky chef Shughie McFee, had previously starred opposite Hollywood legend Steve McQueen in iconic war movie The Great Escape. She became ill during the run and had to be replaced. The actor Heather Chasen, who has died aged 92, landed her best-known screen role in the television soap Crossroads. Janet Hargreaves obituary | Television | The Guardian The character caught on. In 1953, she toured as Mrs Sally Adams in Call Me Madam after Billie Adams had played the role in the London season at the Coliseum. Ive managed to get a 40 overdraft.. [1] Early life Chasens 1949 marriage to John Webster ended in divorce. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. While he had much success in films and other television series, he never forgot Crossroads and was always keen to be involved with reunion events. The planned chain never worked out as other businessmen jumped on the bandwagon, offering cheaper rates. Johnny Briggs (actor) - Wikipedia She went on to star in episodes of Casualty, Worlds Beyond and Fizz. Early life [ edit] Sue was seen by a skin cancer specialist who diagnosed her with malignant melanoma, and the mole was removed. I keep in touch with Tony Adams [Adam Chance from Crossroads] and I hear from Susan. My time on Crossroads came to an end when I found it difficult working with a new producer who wanted to make changes. 1945-1984. Im well, despite having my right eye removed last year. [1] Henry's first acting credit was for his role as Guiccioli on the TV miniseries The Roads to Freedom. Following the accident, the character of Sandy was predominantly a wheelchair user, though he was able to stand and move upright with the aid of crutches. Stan Stennett obituary | Comedy | The Guardian In April 1949, she took the role of Meg Brockie in the original London production of Brigadoon for 685 performances at Her Majesty's Theatre. Company: ATV Master format: 16mm Description. What a Lovely War, directed by his Great Escape co-star Richard Attenborough, with a cast that included Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Olivier. 39 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1978. THE actor Paul Henry, who played Benny from Crossroads, has revealed how his grandfather was murdered by a Peaky Blinder. She died in 1969 at the age of 55, leaving behind her daughter Susan. In the 1940s, a stunning portrait of her was painted by Ella Mollo, with whom she conducted an affair while also sleeping with the artists Russian husband. [8] He then played the regular character Frank, a baker's delivery man and later attempted rapist, in the penultimate series of the ITV1 prison drama Bad Girls. Ted was the. She was also a star on stage, playing in several roles including Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. Express.co.uk has all you need to know about where the original cast are now. While in Crossroads he became a well-known face among the soaps army of loyal fans with his comic turn as the irascible Shughie McFee. Although you would never have known it from her on-screen squawk, she loved to sing and made a special appearance at Birmingham Town Hall, singing in Handels Messiah. A former chat show host she was the first woman ever to interview a serving Prime Minister she had been presenter of ATVs Lunchbox. Crossroads actor Angus Lennie - Shughie McFee - dies In 2013, at the age of 72, Adams began suffering from osteoarthritis, which he blames on a seafood diet. Has an actor ever died while they were still appearing in the soaps Now, Jane lives in Staffordshire with her husband David, and she has two grown up children, Sorrell and Harry. Something went wrong, please try again later. Charging charged $1.25 per room per night, it was luxurious for its time, comprising a number of small bungalows with private garages. Just a couple of years after her debut TV role as Lola Wise, Agyeman became the companion in Doctor Who, Martha Jones. What happened to stars of hit motel soap of 70s & 80s? It would be great to be working again, but at the end of the day, Ive got a lovely family and they are the love of my life.. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Cast of Crossroads L-R Meg Mortimer (Noele Gordon) David Hunter (Ronald Allen) Jill (Jane Rossington) Sandy (Roger Tonge) and Benny (Paul Henry). Years active. The programme's new look was designed to bring back Gordon on an 'as and when' basis, starting with a three-month stint from April 1985. [8] She then moved on to present a daily live entertainment show, Lunchbox, an early daytime programme. Died August 1976 Add photos, demo reels Add to list Known for Dracula A.D. 1972 5.9 Crying Matron 1972 Crossroads 4.2 TV Series Mrs. Witton Mrs. Witten Mrs Witton 1967-1976 44 eps Morning Story But in later years his ill-health left him increasingly immobile. He died at the age of 84 in September 2014. Playing Megs daughter, Jane Rossingtons claim to fame is that she was the only the only Crossroads original cast member to be in the first and last episode of the series. Luckily, two security cards were nearby and I was unhurt.. All rights reserved. Arthur Leslie who played Jack Walker in Coronation Street passed away very suddenly in 1970, and Beryl Johnstone (Kitty Jarvis) in Crossroads in 1969, and Jo Richardson (Mrs Whitton) in. He stayed on at a time when the soap saw its highest ratings pulling in 18 million viewers a night at its peak. Kathy played Doris Luke from 1978-1984, and then from 2001-2002. She now lives in Staffordshire and in 2022 her family revealed she was suffering from Alzheimers disease. He was usually cast as a villain in his career. When the soap's first stint finished, Jane shied away from TV work in favour of stage performances, before returning to her role in 2000. Prior to the 'accident' storyline, Tonge had for many months only been seen in seated scenes, standing rigid or lying in bed. Whatever happened to Streets Of London singer Ralph McTell. Paul played Benny Hawkins from 1975-1988, and then went on to star in prison drama Bad Girls, Doctors, and The Sweeney. [1] Henry's first acting credit was for his role as Guiccioli on the TV miniseries The Roads to Freedom. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Benny from Crossroads opens Monmouth Carnival", "Nolly cast: Meet the actors and their real-life counterparts", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Henry_(actor)&oldid=1146225718, Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands, Articles lacking reliable references from March 2023, Articles with dead external links from March 2023, Short description is different from Wikidata, BLP articles lacking sources from May 2010, Wikipedia introduction cleanup from April 2016, Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify from April 2016, All articles covered by WikiProject Wikify, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 March 2023, at 14:53. Group Shot, cast members with Producer William Smethurst, Susan Hanson, Jane Rossington and Tony Adams, Jeremy Nicholas And Jane Rossington in Crossroads- 1988 The Final Scene, Jane Rossington, Paul Henry, and Susan Hanson, Jessica Fox has played Nancy on Hollyoaks since 2008, Sue Nicholls plays Audrey Roberts on Coronation Street, Kathy Staff starred as Nora Batty in the hit show, Tony Adams was almost stabbed by a furious viewer. Henry trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, which was followed by eight years at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Now 37, she is best known for her long-standing role as Nancy Hayton on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks , which she began in 2008. Then there was perhaps the most memorable character of all, village idiot Benny Hawkins, whose trademark was a woolly hat worn all year round. Actress, Joan Collins took to her. or "Who starred on Crossroads?" [13], Henry and his wife Sheila had a son, Anthony, and a daughter, Justine, who died as a result of a traffic collision at the age of 19.[2]. In 1981, four years after The Navy Lark ended, Chasen appeared in Crossroads for the first time, in the role of a newspaper reporter for just one episode. Benny wasnt the brightest character to emerge from planet soap. Having dropped in at ATV during his lunch break to enquire about acting parts, a cleaner directed him to a meeting where production manager Margaret French handed him a script and invited him to return for an audition. We provide you with the latest breaking news and videos straight from the entertainment industry. The actor Roger Tonge, best known as Sandy Richardson on Crossroads, has died at the age of 35. [10], The comic actor Ronnie Barker revealed in his later years that he had suggested Henry for casting as his cellmate Lennie Godber in the sitcom Porridge, but that Richard Beckinsale was chosen instead. In a 1981 interview with Angela Rippon, Tonge claimed that viewers were often astonished to encounter him off-screen and discover he did not use a wheelchair or crutches, despite him having been a wheelchair user for many years. Gordon was the only member of the Crossroads cast who had a permanent contract;[11] all other cast members were booked on an ad hoc basis. Reg Watson, the producer, had already interviewed several actors for the part but was unsatisfied; after Tonge's audition, the producer offered him the role. You can various bits of trivia about these Crossroads stars, such as where the actor was born and what their year of birth is. Throughout her life, she had relationships with both men and women sometimes at the same time. While at drama school in the 60s, I used to work backstage watching actors like Laurence Olivier play Othello. Noele Gordon was the star of the show who played Meg Mortimer until she was fired in 1981. He is currently recovering from prostate cancer treatment, and he praised the NHS staff as "angels" for their care in a 2019 news report. {PPInfiniteScroll.addLazyLoadingAds()}; BrainSharper is your news, entertainment, music fashion website. Noele appeared in two episodes in 1983 as a surprise, and there were plans to bring her back as an occasional character in 1985. Who is Mrs Hall's husband in All Creatures Great and Small? I took the flack as that was part of my job to protect my staff. She is engaged to her long term boyfriend Nicholas Willes as of 2019, and calls herself a "cat mother" on Twitter. [3] Henry's post-Crossroads career included minor stage roles and the running of a nightclub in Whitchurch, Shropshire, but, in 1994, he returned to television briefly in a tribute to Crossroads, called 30 Years On. On television, she had runs as Helen Baker in the Francis Durbridge thriller The World of Tim Frazer (1960), Caroline Kerr (1968-69) in the BBC soap The Newcomers, Isabel Neal in the afternoon serial Marked Personal (1973-74), Mary Queen of Scots in the childrens adventure A Traveller in Time (1978) and Aunt Rachel in Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House (1982), as well as playing Margaret Thatcher in the drama-documentary Who Bombed Birmingham? [1] She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson, later Ryder) in the long-running British soap opera Crossroads from 1964 to 1981, with a brief return in 1983. In 1954, Gordon spent a year in New York City learning American television production at New York University. She led her soap life to the full for 24 years during which scripts saw her married five times once bigamously become a drug addict, an alcoholic and have a baby with her stepbrother. Duration: 0:02:21. Judy Cornwell, one of only a handful of other women in the show over its entire history, was in awe of them at first but told the author Richard Webber: Heather showed me how to push the men out of the way, because they would grab the microphones and not let us in, so we had to kick them in the shins and get to the microphones that way.. Henry made a guest appearance on the Central Television game show Bullseye, presented by Jim Bowen, on 11 February, 1985. It made way for a new daily soap opera, Crossroads, in which Gordon played the role of motel owner Meg Richardson (later Meg Mortimer), a part which had been developed with Gordon in mind, as she was still under contract to Lew Grade's ATV. Crossroads Cast | List of All Crossroads Actors and Actresses - Ranker ADVERTISEMENT Underneath his soft woolly hat lurked a soft woolly brain but Aston-born Paul Henry played him to perfection. [citation needed]. She worked behind the scenes as Head of Lifestyle programmes. This permanent character development was made to accommodate actor Roger Tonge who had been developing increasing ill-health. He frequently returned to Scotland to appear in pantomime, often as a double act with his friend Stanley Baxter, their partnership as pantomime dames becoming part of the legend of Scottish theatre. James from London International Treasure LV 5 Messages 7,507 Reaction score 14,214 Awards 16 Location Brixton Member Since Time immemorial Mar 1, 2021 #2 Looking back, Sandy and Diane were my favourites. Paul also set his sights on other avenues and purchased and ran a nightclub for a long time before his TV stints after Crossroads. Arguably the most successful actress to have starred in Crossroads, both old and new, the sky seems to be the limit for Freema Agyeman! Actress. Not much else is known about the soap actor and what became of him. Crossroads was routinely assailed by TV critics for what they saw as its low quality, and Tonge was one of the members of the cast who was regularly criticised. Tributes as Crossroads' Carlos dies, aged 73. - Free Online Library Peggy Aitchison played Vi Blundell for six years between 1964 and 1970. Crossroads actor John Bentley dies at 92 - Birmingham Live Anthony works in sales, while Jake, our grandson, has finished his A levels and Jade, our granddaughter, has just left university with an English degree. I enjoyed playing Benny, the studios were nearby and we built up an audience of 15 million viewers in its daily 6.30pm slot, just as people arrived home from work. Turtle was the remarkable creation of Smethwick-born Ann George. He had caught chicken pox and died of heart failure, his system unable to cope with the infection. Heather Chasen, most famed for her role as Valerie Pollard in Crossroads, has died at the age of 92.. During her career Chasen appeared in multiple British soaps, spending four years playing Pollard in the now-defunct Crossroads in the 1980s.. More recently she appeared in EastEnders as Janine's grandmother Lydia in 2011 for a brief stint.. He has appeared on Celebrity Pointless where he won the jackpot alongside Shaun Williamson, who played Barry Evans in EastEnders. ATV Today: 26.02.1981: Death of Roger Tonge | MACE Archive Royal Shakespeare Company-trained Elisabeth Croft had been a withdrawn child, so acting was perhaps an odd choice of career. Many were forced to sleep in their cars or camp overnight. We built up an audience of 15 million viewers. The actress died in January 1990 at the age of 68. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. She toured in plays Murder in Mind and Don't Rock the Boat , and starred on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank . Crossroads was very amateur when I went into it.. Arnold Ridley played Reverend Guy Atkins between 1964 and 1972 as part of the main cast. He was writing a storyline for a new character called Benny Hawkins in Crossroads and he felt Id be perfect. She died in April 1985, aged 65, after a battle with stomach cancer. Funnily enough, she starred alongside her fellow Crossroads actor Sue Nicholls, who played Audrey Roberts. [1] He is also known for roles in other television series such as Gangsters, The Onedin Line, The Day of the Triffids and Doctor Who. Gordon was credited as the first woman to be seen on colour television sets,[3][4] as she took part, as a teenager, in John Logie Baird's world's first colour transmission on 3 July 1938. Chasen also had an elegance and grand air about her that endeared her to friends, and she was often seen with a glass of champagne in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He had said: I was once in a large Birmingham department store, when an elegantly dressed lady rushed up to me and said I hate you.. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. Something went wrong, please try again later. "[6], Henry appeared in the episode "Stoppo Driver" in The Sweeney playing a gangster. It then moved to the Victoria Palace Theatre in the West End, where it ran for only 88 performances. Crossroads matriarch Meg later Meg Mortimer was memorably played by Brummie actress Noele Gordon. His absence and death were mentioned in an episode of Crossroads between his character's mother Meg and sister Jill and again in the episode featuring Meg leaving for a new life on the QE2. With adept changes of voice, Chasens roles included Ramona Povey, the wife of Richard Caldicots commander; Miss Simpkins, assistant to the Sea Lord; and Wren Chasen, alongside Leslie Phillips and Jon Pertwee as, respectively, the sub-lieutenant and chief petty officer perpetually trying to get the vessel out of the trouble they had personally created. Don't miss out on the biggest soaps gossip! Tuesday, 2nd May 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. She was also very well known for her role as Nora Batty in Last Of The Summer Wine , which she played from its inception in 1973 until her death.
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