The year was 1971 and Glenda Jackson was nervous. Then in her 30s, Jackson was already one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation. Her most recent triumph had seen her bringing Tudor history into the living rooms of the nation in the acclaimed BBC series Elizabeth R. Now she was to play another legendary historical ruler, but the show was very different. She was to send herself up playing the Egyptian queen in a hilarious rewrite of Antony and Cleopatra as part of The Morecambe & Wise Show.
Would she be funny enough? Would she damage her hard-earned reputation as a serious dramatic actress? Would she be able to resist breaking into laughter on screen? In the end, she needn’t have worried. She and Eric and Ernie got along famously. “Oh, I loved working with them,” she remembered, more than 50 years later. “They had this reputation for being intensely funny, and they were.”
Jackson’s appearance saw her deliver the line (supposedly crafted by the extremely amateur playwright Ernie Wise): “All men are fools and what makes them so is not having beauty like what I have got.” Jackson’s comedy success led directly to her being cast opposite George Segal in A Touch of Class (1973), the role which led to her second Oscar. “Stick with us,” cabled Morecambe on hearing the news, “and we will get you another one.” Today her stint as Cleo is remembered fondly by more people than anything she ever did and paved the way for later celebrated Morecambe & Wise guest appearances from Andre Previn and Angela Rippon.
Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom