Alan Arthur Bates was a British actor. He was born in 1934 at Allestree and died in 2003. He decided to be an actor at the age of 11. After attending grammar school in Derbyshire, he earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Following two years in the Royal Air Force, he joined the new English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, his West End debut coming in 1956. In the same year Bates appeared in Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger', a play that gave a name to a generation of post-war 'angry young men'. The play made Bates a star, and launched a lifetime performing in works written by great modern playwrights - Pinter, Gray, Storey, Bennett, Shaffer, Stoppard (as well as Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg, Shakespeare). Four years later, Alan Bates appeared in his first film, 'The Entertainer', in which he played one of Laurence Olivier's sons. More than fifty film roles followed, one of which, 'The Fixer' (from a novel by Bernard Malamud) earned him an Academy Award nomination. Research Alan Bates
Sam Wanamaker was an American actor and film director. He was born in 1919 at Chicago, Illinois and died in 1993 of prostate cancer. Educated at the Drake University he went on to train at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago before moving to England where he settled after being blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and was appointed director of the New Shakespeare Theatre and in 1959 joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre company at Stratford-upon-Avon. In 1994 he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award: Society of London Theatre's Special Award for Lifetime Achievement. Research Sam Wanamaker
Imelda Staunton is an English actress. She was born in 1956 at London. She has won many awards, including in 1986 being awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Supporting a Role for her roles in 'A Chorus of Disapproval' and 'The Corn is Green' and then in 1991 being awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in 'Into the Woods'. Research Imelda Staunton
Zoe Wanamaker is an American actress. She was born in 1949 at New York. After her father was blacklisted by the McCarthy persecutions her family moved to England where she grew up, but retained her American nationality. She won the 1984 London Critics Circle Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Supporting Actress in Mother Courage, the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of the 1997 season for her performance in Electra at the Donmar Warehouse and was made a CBE in 2000. Research Zoe Wanamaker
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