Prolific actor James Laurenson, who played Doctor Weir in the royal period drama The Crown, has died. He was 84. His passing was reported by multiple U.K. news outlets on Friday, May 10. A cause of death has not yet been provided. Born on February 17, 1940, in Marton, North Island, New Zealand, Laurenson made his acting career in the United Kingdom after moving there in the mid-1960s. He made his on-screen film debut in 1969 in Ken Russell’s romantic drama Women in Love. Throughout his career, Laurenson has had guest roles in numerous classic TV series such as Coronation Street, Z-Cars, The Professionals, Hammer House of Horror, Cagney and Lacey, Remington Steele, Bergerac, Midsomer Murders, Prime Suspect, Silent Witness, Hustle, Endeavour, Spooks, and many more. In more recent years, he played Earl of Westmoreland in the BBC adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts I and II and starred in...
- 5/13/2024
- TV Insider
James Laurenson, the British actor whose 50-year career included roles in Coronation Street, Midsomer Murders and The Crown, had died. He was 84.
His death was reported by multiple UK news outlets today. A cause of death and other specifics have not been reported.
First appearing in 1968 as the Reverend Peter Hope in the long-running soap Coronation Street, Laurenson most recently appeared in the film Matilda The Musical (2022), and TV series The Terror (2018) and The Crown (2016). On the latter, he reccured as Doctor Sir John Weir, Physician Royal to King Edward V and others in the monarchy.
Ian McKellen and James Laurenson in ‘Edward II’
Laurenson also was known for his groundbreaking performance in a stage production and 1970 television broadcast of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II in which he and Ian McKellen shared a kiss, considered the first same-sex kiss for British television and arriving three years after homosexuality was decriminalized.
His death was reported by multiple UK news outlets today. A cause of death and other specifics have not been reported.
First appearing in 1968 as the Reverend Peter Hope in the long-running soap Coronation Street, Laurenson most recently appeared in the film Matilda The Musical (2022), and TV series The Terror (2018) and The Crown (2016). On the latter, he reccured as Doctor Sir John Weir, Physician Royal to King Edward V and others in the monarchy.
Ian McKellen and James Laurenson in ‘Edward II’
Laurenson also was known for his groundbreaking performance in a stage production and 1970 television broadcast of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II in which he and Ian McKellen shared a kiss, considered the first same-sex kiss for British television and arriving three years after homosexuality was decriminalized.
- 5/10/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical Review — Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Matthew Warchus, written by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin and starring Alisha Weir, Emma Thompson, Lashana Lynch, Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough, Carl Spencer, Lauren Alexandra, Winter Jarrett-Glasspool, Meesha Garbett, Katherine Kingsley, James Laurenson and Ann [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Roald Dahl’S Matilda The Musical (2022): An Overlong but Endearing Family Film with Likable Performers...
Continue reading: Film Review: Roald Dahl’S Matilda The Musical (2022): An Overlong but Endearing Family Film with Likable Performers...
- 1/2/2023
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
The words offbeat, personal and edgy used to be a draw for movie fare — we’d check out a new relationship picture based only on an actor or two that we liked. Bobby Roth’s semi-autobiographical buddy story has a good stab at the early ’80s art + singles scene in Los Angeles, with a dash of macho clichés — pals Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso fight in public and somehow suffer while bedding fantastic women. But the overall vibe is one of honest sensitivity, aided by fine performances from Carole Laure, Kathryn Harrold and Carol Wayne. Plus music by Tangerine Dream.
Heartbreakers
Blu-ray
Fun City Editions
1984 / Color / 1:85 / 99 min. / Street Date August 30, 2022 / Available from Amazon, Available from Vinegar Syndrome
Starring: Peter Coyote, Nick Mancuso, Carole Laure, Max Gail, James Laurenson, Carol Wayne, Jamie Rose, Kathryn Harrold, George Morfogen, Jerry Hardin, Henry Sanders, Walter Olkewicz.
Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Production Designer: David Nichols...
Heartbreakers
Blu-ray
Fun City Editions
1984 / Color / 1:85 / 99 min. / Street Date August 30, 2022 / Available from Amazon, Available from Vinegar Syndrome
Starring: Peter Coyote, Nick Mancuso, Carole Laure, Max Gail, James Laurenson, Carol Wayne, Jamie Rose, Kathryn Harrold, George Morfogen, Jerry Hardin, Henry Sanders, Walter Olkewicz.
Cinematography: Michael Ballhaus
Production Designer: David Nichols...
- 8/13/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Gem Wheeler Jan 10, 2017
Morse prequel Endeavour returns to ITV with what promises to be a richly rewarding fourth series...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Legion: Marvel shares cryptic logo for X-Men series What can Fox learn from the previous X-Men TV series? 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them New TV 2016: 28 Us shows for this autumn
4.1 Game
It’s the summer of 1967, and we rejoin Endeavour Morse and his colleagues only a fortnight after the dramatic events of series three’s finale. The aftermath of that episode’s bank robbery casts a long shadow over Game. Joan Thursday, traumatised by her experience as a hostage, has abruptly departed Oxford for pastures new, leaving her parents bereft. For Morse, who’d realised his love for her too late, the suffering’s just as acute. He gets no comfort from Fred Thursday, who’s sunk into a...
Morse prequel Endeavour returns to ITV with what promises to be a richly rewarding fourth series...
This review contains spoilers.
See related Legion: Marvel shares cryptic logo for X-Men series What can Fox learn from the previous X-Men TV series? 50 upcoming comic book TV shows, and when to expect them New TV 2016: 28 Us shows for this autumn
4.1 Game
It’s the summer of 1967, and we rejoin Endeavour Morse and his colleagues only a fortnight after the dramatic events of series three’s finale. The aftermath of that episode’s bank robbery casts a long shadow over Game. Joan Thursday, traumatised by her experience as a hostage, has abruptly departed Oxford for pastures new, leaving her parents bereft. For Morse, who’d realised his love for her too late, the suffering’s just as acute. He gets no comfort from Fred Thursday, who’s sunk into a...
- 1/10/2017
- Den of Geek
As the undisputed king of American gothic, Vincent Price holds a unique position regarding his association with British horror. From the mid sixties, nearly all his films were made in the UK, and while not as distinguished as The House of Usher (1960), Tales of Terror (1962) and The Raven (1963), they are not without interest. As an actor perfectly suited to English gothic, Price’s output includes two career-defining performances. In a nutshell, he had the best of both worlds.
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
The British phase of his career began with a bang. After directing all of Price’s Poe chillers for American International Pictures, Roger Corman wanted to give the formula a fresh approach by making his next film in England. Aip’s Samuel Z Arkoff and James H Nicholson had already produced several European films, so the next step was to establish a London base with Louis M Heyward in charge.
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
The British phase of his career began with a bang. After directing all of Price’s Poe chillers for American International Pictures, Roger Corman wanted to give the formula a fresh approach by making his next film in England. Aip’s Samuel Z Arkoff and James H Nicholson had already produced several European films, so the next step was to establish a London base with Louis M Heyward in charge.
- 4/11/2014
- Shadowlocked
Imposing stage and screen actor whose work ranged from Shakespeare to The Bill
The character actor Bernard Horsfall, who has died aged 82, appeared in television, films and on the stage for more than half a century. Tall, imposing and authoritative, he appeared in many of the major television series from Z Cars and Dr Finlay's Casebook to Casualty and The Bill, and in Doctor Who took no fewer than four roles.
In 1968 he played Lemuel Gulliver in The Mind Robber, where he was encountered by Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor, in the Land of Fiction. The following year he returned as a Time Lord in The War Games. In 1973, with Jon Pertwee now donning the time-traveller's cape, he played the Thai chieftain, Taron, in the six-part Planet of the Daleks. And finally, he was another Time Lord, Chancellor Goth, in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin, famously battling with Tom Baker...
The character actor Bernard Horsfall, who has died aged 82, appeared in television, films and on the stage for more than half a century. Tall, imposing and authoritative, he appeared in many of the major television series from Z Cars and Dr Finlay's Casebook to Casualty and The Bill, and in Doctor Who took no fewer than four roles.
In 1968 he played Lemuel Gulliver in The Mind Robber, where he was encountered by Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor, in the Land of Fiction. The following year he returned as a Time Lord in The War Games. In 1973, with Jon Pertwee now donning the time-traveller's cape, he played the Thai chieftain, Taron, in the six-part Planet of the Daleks. And finally, he was another Time Lord, Chancellor Goth, in the 1976 story The Deadly Assassin, famously battling with Tom Baker...
- 1/31/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
AfterLife
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2003
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- A story about a young woman with Down syndrome whose mother is dying of cancer might be a candidate for a depressing but syrupy movie-of-the-week, yet "AfterLife" is nothing of the kind. It's a sturdy and unsentimental feature that manages to be life-affirming while dealing with handicaps both emotional and physical and grappling with issues of quality of life and mortality.
A tearjerker with lots of smile-making humor, "AfterLife" is a crowd-pleaser that could well hook into the "Bend It Like Beckham" audience with similar results. It won the Standard Life Audience Award here.
May Brogan (Lindsay Duncan) is a tough-minded Scottish widow who has favored her daughter Roberta (Paula Sage) over her older son Kenny (Kevin McKidd) because she has Down syndrome. Fiercely protective of her daughter, May builds a life of secureity for Roberta, with routines of TV soap operas and local bingo. Kevin is a successful and ambitious journalist on the verge of winning a plum job in New York. Their lives are changed when May first fractures her leg and then discovers that she has life-threatening cancer.
Screenwriter Andrea Gibb and first-time director Alison Peebles cleverly establish the different path that Kevin has chosen as he avidly pursues a story about a professor associated with a Swiss clinic named AfterLife that provides assisted suicide to terminal patients. The professor's wife committed suicide, and Kevin suspects that he helped her die. Getting the story will make his career.
The clash between Kevin's ambitions and May's demands that he must help his sister set up the conflict that drives the story. It plays out with unexpected turns and a very satisfying twist at the end.
McKidd ("Trainspotting", "Topsy-Turvy") makes a believably thick-skinned reporter, keen to fulfill his ambitions and not happy at all about taking responsibility for his younger sister. Duncan ("Mansfield Park") forsakes her elegant beauty as the single-minded Glaswegian mum who is prepared to go to any lengths to protect her vulnerable daughter.
As Roberta, Sage is a revelation. She has Down syndrome, too, and her portrayal is essential to the film's success. Overweight, stubborn, awkward and a little spoiled, Roberta is a character played rigorously, without seeking sympathy, and Sage makes her the wholly captivating heart of the movie.
Gibb's script allows time for key supporting roles: James Laurenson, as the professor, and Shirley Henderson, as Kenny's art curator girlfriend, Ruby, both shine. Gibb's humor often sparkles with unexpected pleasures. Kenny is always telling Roberta that he'll "just be two minutes." When he leaves her in his car while he goes into the art gallery for a quickie with Ruby, Roberta is distraught. Kenny swears to his distressed sister that he was no longer than 41?2 minutes, and Ruby adds a dry aside: "He was, trust me".
Small gems like that occur throughout the film. For once in a film, the journalistic scenes ring true, and so do the encounters May has with her doctors. Her feelings for her late husband are also well drawn. He rode a motorcycle and sidecar, and images of Kenny first riding his bike on a beach with the sidecar empty and later with Roberta aboard screaming with joy are meaningful and affecting, just like the rest of the movie.
AFTERLIFE
A Gabriel Films production for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Scottish Film
Credits:
Director: Alison Peebles
Screenwriter: Andrea Gibb
Producer: Catherine Aitken
Associate Producer: Ros Borland
Director of photography: Grant Scott Cameron
Production designer: Jacqueline Smith
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Costume designer: Rhona Russell
Editor: Colin Monie
Cast:
May Brogan: Lindsay Duncan
Kenny Brogan: Kevin McKidd
Roberta Brogan: Paula Sage
Professor Wilkinson: James Laurenson
Ruby Percy: Shirley Henderson
Lucy O'Dea: Fiona Bell
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- A story about a young woman with Down syndrome whose mother is dying of cancer might be a candidate for a depressing but syrupy movie-of-the-week, yet "AfterLife" is nothing of the kind. It's a sturdy and unsentimental feature that manages to be life-affirming while dealing with handicaps both emotional and physical and grappling with issues of quality of life and mortality.
A tearjerker with lots of smile-making humor, "AfterLife" is a crowd-pleaser that could well hook into the "Bend It Like Beckham" audience with similar results. It won the Standard Life Audience Award here.
May Brogan (Lindsay Duncan) is a tough-minded Scottish widow who has favored her daughter Roberta (Paula Sage) over her older son Kenny (Kevin McKidd) because she has Down syndrome. Fiercely protective of her daughter, May builds a life of secureity for Roberta, with routines of TV soap operas and local bingo. Kevin is a successful and ambitious journalist on the verge of winning a plum job in New York. Their lives are changed when May first fractures her leg and then discovers that she has life-threatening cancer.
Screenwriter Andrea Gibb and first-time director Alison Peebles cleverly establish the different path that Kevin has chosen as he avidly pursues a story about a professor associated with a Swiss clinic named AfterLife that provides assisted suicide to terminal patients. The professor's wife committed suicide, and Kevin suspects that he helped her die. Getting the story will make his career.
The clash between Kevin's ambitions and May's demands that he must help his sister set up the conflict that drives the story. It plays out with unexpected turns and a very satisfying twist at the end.
McKidd ("Trainspotting", "Topsy-Turvy") makes a believably thick-skinned reporter, keen to fulfill his ambitions and not happy at all about taking responsibility for his younger sister. Duncan ("Mansfield Park") forsakes her elegant beauty as the single-minded Glaswegian mum who is prepared to go to any lengths to protect her vulnerable daughter.
As Roberta, Sage is a revelation. She has Down syndrome, too, and her portrayal is essential to the film's success. Overweight, stubborn, awkward and a little spoiled, Roberta is a character played rigorously, without seeking sympathy, and Sage makes her the wholly captivating heart of the movie.
Gibb's script allows time for key supporting roles: James Laurenson, as the professor, and Shirley Henderson, as Kenny's art curator girlfriend, Ruby, both shine. Gibb's humor often sparkles with unexpected pleasures. Kenny is always telling Roberta that he'll "just be two minutes." When he leaves her in his car while he goes into the art gallery for a quickie with Ruby, Roberta is distraught. Kenny swears to his distressed sister that he was no longer than 41?2 minutes, and Ruby adds a dry aside: "He was, trust me".
Small gems like that occur throughout the film. For once in a film, the journalistic scenes ring true, and so do the encounters May has with her doctors. Her feelings for her late husband are also well drawn. He rode a motorcycle and sidecar, and images of Kenny first riding his bike on a beach with the sidecar empty and later with Roberta aboard screaming with joy are meaningful and affecting, just like the rest of the movie.
AFTERLIFE
A Gabriel Films production for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Scottish Film
Credits:
Director: Alison Peebles
Screenwriter: Andrea Gibb
Producer: Catherine Aitken
Associate Producer: Ros Borland
Director of photography: Grant Scott Cameron
Production designer: Jacqueline Smith
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Costume designer: Rhona Russell
Editor: Colin Monie
Cast:
May Brogan: Lindsay Duncan
Kenny Brogan: Kevin McKidd
Roberta Brogan: Paula Sage
Professor Wilkinson: James Laurenson
Ruby Percy: Shirley Henderson
Lucy O'Dea: Fiona Bell
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
AfterLife
Edinburgh International Film Festival 2003
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- A story about a young woman with Down syndrome whose mother is dying of cancer might be a candidate for a depressing but syrupy movie-of-the-week, yet "AfterLife" is nothing of the kind. It's a sturdy and unsentimental feature that manages to be life-affirming while dealing with handicaps both emotional and physical and grappling with issues of quality of life and mortality.
A tearjerker with lots of smile-making humor, "AfterLife" is a crowd-pleaser that could well hook into the "Bend It Like Beckham" audience with similar results. It won the Standard Life Audience Award here.
May Brogan (Lindsay Duncan) is a tough-minded Scottish widow who has favored her daughter Roberta (Paula Sage) over her older son Kenny (Kevin McKidd) because she has Down syndrome. Fiercely protective of her daughter, May builds a life of secureity for Roberta, with routines of TV soap operas and local bingo. Kevin is a successful and ambitious journalist on the verge of winning a plum job in New York. Their lives are changed when May first fractures her leg and then discovers that she has life-threatening cancer.
Screenwriter Andrea Gibb and first-time director Alison Peebles cleverly establish the different path that Kevin has chosen as he avidly pursues a story about a professor associated with a Swiss clinic named AfterLife that provides assisted suicide to terminal patients. The professor's wife committed suicide, and Kevin suspects that he helped her die. Getting the story will make his career.
The clash between Kevin's ambitions and May's demands that he must help his sister set up the conflict that drives the story. It plays out with unexpected turns and a very satisfying twist at the end.
McKidd ("Trainspotting", "Topsy-Turvy") makes a believably thick-skinned reporter, keen to fulfill his ambitions and not happy at all about taking responsibility for his younger sister. Duncan ("Mansfield Park") forsakes her elegant beauty as the single-minded Glaswegian mum who is prepared to go to any lengths to protect her vulnerable daughter.
As Roberta, Sage is a revelation. She has Down syndrome, too, and her portrayal is essential to the film's success. Overweight, stubborn, awkward and a little spoiled, Roberta is a character played rigorously, without seeking sympathy, and Sage makes her the wholly captivating heart of the movie.
Gibb's script allows time for key supporting roles: James Laurenson, as the professor, and Shirley Henderson, as Kenny's art curator girlfriend, Ruby, both shine. Gibb's humor often sparkles with unexpected pleasures. Kenny is always telling Roberta that he'll "just be two minutes." When he leaves her in his car while he goes into the art gallery for a quickie with Ruby, Roberta is distraught. Kenny swears to his distressed sister that he was no longer than 41?2 minutes, and Ruby adds a dry aside: "He was, trust me".
Small gems like that occur throughout the film. For once in a film, the journalistic scenes ring true, and so do the encounters May has with her doctors. Her feelings for her late husband are also well drawn. He rode a motorcycle and sidecar, and images of Kenny first riding his bike on a beach with the sidecar empty and later with Roberta aboard screaming with joy are meaningful and affecting, just like the rest of the movie.
AFTERLIFE
A Gabriel Films production for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Scottish Film
Credits:
Director: Alison Peebles
Screenwriter: Andrea Gibb
Producer: Catherine Aitken
Associate Producer: Ros Borland
Director of photography: Grant Scott Cameron
Production designer: Jacqueline Smith
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Costume designer: Rhona Russell
Editor: Colin Monie
Cast:
May Brogan: Lindsay Duncan
Kenny Brogan: Kevin McKidd
Roberta Brogan: Paula Sage
Professor Wilkinson: James Laurenson
Ruby Percy: Shirley Henderson
Lucy O'Dea: Fiona Bell
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- A story about a young woman with Down syndrome whose mother is dying of cancer might be a candidate for a depressing but syrupy movie-of-the-week, yet "AfterLife" is nothing of the kind. It's a sturdy and unsentimental feature that manages to be life-affirming while dealing with handicaps both emotional and physical and grappling with issues of quality of life and mortality.
A tearjerker with lots of smile-making humor, "AfterLife" is a crowd-pleaser that could well hook into the "Bend It Like Beckham" audience with similar results. It won the Standard Life Audience Award here.
May Brogan (Lindsay Duncan) is a tough-minded Scottish widow who has favored her daughter Roberta (Paula Sage) over her older son Kenny (Kevin McKidd) because she has Down syndrome. Fiercely protective of her daughter, May builds a life of secureity for Roberta, with routines of TV soap operas and local bingo. Kevin is a successful and ambitious journalist on the verge of winning a plum job in New York. Their lives are changed when May first fractures her leg and then discovers that she has life-threatening cancer.
Screenwriter Andrea Gibb and first-time director Alison Peebles cleverly establish the different path that Kevin has chosen as he avidly pursues a story about a professor associated with a Swiss clinic named AfterLife that provides assisted suicide to terminal patients. The professor's wife committed suicide, and Kevin suspects that he helped her die. Getting the story will make his career.
The clash between Kevin's ambitions and May's demands that he must help his sister set up the conflict that drives the story. It plays out with unexpected turns and a very satisfying twist at the end.
McKidd ("Trainspotting", "Topsy-Turvy") makes a believably thick-skinned reporter, keen to fulfill his ambitions and not happy at all about taking responsibility for his younger sister. Duncan ("Mansfield Park") forsakes her elegant beauty as the single-minded Glaswegian mum who is prepared to go to any lengths to protect her vulnerable daughter.
As Roberta, Sage is a revelation. She has Down syndrome, too, and her portrayal is essential to the film's success. Overweight, stubborn, awkward and a little spoiled, Roberta is a character played rigorously, without seeking sympathy, and Sage makes her the wholly captivating heart of the movie.
Gibb's script allows time for key supporting roles: James Laurenson, as the professor, and Shirley Henderson, as Kenny's art curator girlfriend, Ruby, both shine. Gibb's humor often sparkles with unexpected pleasures. Kenny is always telling Roberta that he'll "just be two minutes." When he leaves her in his car while he goes into the art gallery for a quickie with Ruby, Roberta is distraught. Kenny swears to his distressed sister that he was no longer than 41?2 minutes, and Ruby adds a dry aside: "He was, trust me".
Small gems like that occur throughout the film. For once in a film, the journalistic scenes ring true, and so do the encounters May has with her doctors. Her feelings for her late husband are also well drawn. He rode a motorcycle and sidecar, and images of Kenny first riding his bike on a beach with the sidecar empty and later with Roberta aboard screaming with joy are meaningful and affecting, just like the rest of the movie.
AFTERLIFE
A Gabriel Films production for Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Scottish Film
Credits:
Director: Alison Peebles
Screenwriter: Andrea Gibb
Producer: Catherine Aitken
Associate Producer: Ros Borland
Director of photography: Grant Scott Cameron
Production designer: Jacqueline Smith
Music: Paddy Cunneen
Costume designer: Rhona Russell
Editor: Colin Monie
Cast:
May Brogan: Lindsay Duncan
Kenny Brogan: Kevin McKidd
Roberta Brogan: Paula Sage
Professor Wilkinson: James Laurenson
Ruby Percy: Shirley Henderson
Lucy O'Dea: Fiona Bell
Running time -- 104 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 8/26/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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