Author: Ed

Jonas Armstrong Stars with Tom Cruise & Emily Blunt

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Jonas Armstrong, born on January 1, 1981, in Dublin, Ireland, is an English actor who gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of the iconic character Robin Hood in the BBC series Robin Hood (2006–2009). After his family moved to Lytham St Annes at the age of six, Armstrong attended Arnold School before studying acting at RADA, where he graduated in 2003. Armstrong’s feature film career began with Book of Blood (2009), a horror film based on a Clive Barker short story. He followed this with Twenty8k (2012), a British thriller, and then appeared in Edge of Tomorrow (2014), where he… Read more »

Dave Ball Meets Marc Almond

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David James Ball, born on 3 May 1959 in Chester, Cheshire, is an influential English producer and electronic musician best known for his work with the synthpop duo Soft Cell and the electronic music group The Grid. Raised in Blackpool after being adopted, Ball attended Arnold School before moving on to studying art at Leeds Polytechnic, where he met Marc Almond, and together they formed Soft Cell in 1978. The duo found fame with hits like “Tainted Love” and “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye,” and continued until their split in 1984. Ball’s solo career began in 1983 with the album In… Read more »

Andy Summers Joins the Police

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Andrew James Summers was born in Poulton-le-Fylde on 31 December 1942, though he grew up in Bournemouth. After several years of piano lessons, he began playing guitar at age 10. His love for the instrument grew after he saw Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie perform in London, and by 16, he was playing in local clubs. Summers later moved to London at 19 to form Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, and his early influences included jazz greats like Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, and Wes Montgomery. Summers’ career in the 1960s saw him play in various bands, including the psychedelic Dantalian’s… Read more »

Fleetwood’s Jane Couch Receives MBE

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Jane Couch MBE, born on 14 August 1968 in Fleetwood, Lancashire, overcame a tumultuous youth and went on to pioneer women’s professional boxing in the United Kingdom. Expelled from school in Blackpool, Couch described her early years as marked by “a life of booze, drugs, and street fighting.” Her life took a dramatic turn at the age of 26 when she watched a television documentary about women’s boxing. Inspired, she entered the world of combat sports, beginning with a Muay Thai fight in which she defeated a policewoman—an experience she described as exhilarating. Couch became the first licensed female professional…

Carol Royle Makes it in TV and Films

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Carol Buchanan Royle, born on 10 February 1954 in Blackpool, is an accomplished English actress renowned for her extensive work in television, film, and theatre. The daughter of actor Derek Royle, she was inspired by her family’s artistic background and pursued formal training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Her training laid the foundation for a diverse career characterised by memorable roles across a variety of genres. Royle’s television debut came with her portrayal of Jane Mottram in The Cedar Tree, appearing in 45 episodes between 1977 and 1978. This soap opera, set in the interwar… Read more »

Cathryn Bradshaw Stars in BBC Blackpool TV Series

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Cathryn Bradshaw, born on 13 January 1964 in Blackpool and raised in Poulton-le-Fylde, attended Breck School before training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 1987 alongside Louise Plowright and Mark Strong. An accomplished English actress, she is widely known for her role as Melanie in the acclaimed BBC drama Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990), opposite Charlotte Coleman. Bradshaw married actor Mark Strong in 1989 in Lancashire, though the marriage ended in divorce after a few years. Her first television role was in 1988, playing the Princess in an episode of The Storyteller. She followed this… Read more »

John Mahoney Wins Big in Frasier

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Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-American actor, born in Blackpool, known for playing retired police officer Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier from 1993 to 2004, receiving nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was the seventh of eight children. His father, Reg, was a baker who played classical piano, and his mother, Margaret (née Watson), was a housewife who loved reading. His paternal grandfather was Irish. The family had been evacuated to Blackpool from their home city of Manchester when it was heavily bombed during World War… Read more »

Moya Brady’s Rise to Fame

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Moya Brady, born on 8 September 1962 in Manchester and raised in Blackpool, is a versatile actress known for her roles across film, television, and theatre. She is perhaps best recognized for playing Breda McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2018–2020). Brady’s acting career spans decades, beginning in 1986, and includes a wide array of memorable roles. On television, she played F.D.O. Roberta Cryer in the police drama The Bill, appeared in Harry Hill’s TV Burp, and starred as Bridget in the Doctor Who episode “Love & Monsters” (2006). In 2021, she portrayed Millie in Russell T Davies’… Read more »

Jacqueline Leonard Stars in Chaplin

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Jacqueline Leonard, born in 1967 in Blackpool, is an actress known for her extensive work in British television, film, and theatre. She has been married to Alex Mansfield since 2000, and the couple has one child. Leonard trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where she won the Michael Warre Award for Best Actress in 1988. Her career highlights include roles in several popular British soap operas: Lorraine Wicks in the BBC’s EastEnders (1996–1997), Caroline Powers in the BBC’s Doctors (2000), Lydia Murdoch in the Scottish soap River City, Linda Hancock in ITV’s Coronation Street, and appearances… Read more »

John Evan Meets Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

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John Evan, born John Spencer Evans on 28 March 1948, in Derby, Derbyshire, is a musician and composer best known as the keyboardist for Jethro Tull. While his birthplace is often cited as Derby, the official Jethro Tull website claims he was born in Blackpool. His father was a headmaster at a Derbyshire village school, and his mother was a concert pianist and piano teacher. The family relocated to Blackpool, Lancashire, in October 1949. Evan was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, where he met future Jethro Tull members Ian Anderson and Jeffrey Hammond. He later attended Chelsea College, now part… Read more »