Margaret Rose Mount (Peggy Mount) – born in Leigh on Sea, Essex – 2nd May 1916 – 13th November 2001.
She had an unhappy and poverty stricken childhood. Peggy and her sister were brought up by their mother, after her father died when she was tem. She later described her mother as “not a nice woman”. She never put her arms round me or gave me a kiss. She was always telling me that I was overweight and ugly. If you’re told that often enough, you become ugly, and no matter what other people say you believe it.” To no surprise she cut off contact with her family, not speaking to her sister for over 50 years. Continue reading Peggy Mount
Dame Helen Mirren DBE was born Ilyena Vasilievna Mironov on July 26, 1945, in Ilford, Essex, England. Helen’s grandfather Piotr Vasilievich Mironoff was a Tsarist (White Russian) aristocrat who was in London negotiating an arms deal for the World War I when the 1917 Russian Revolution stranded him there. His wife and son (Helen’s father) joined him in London. The daughter of a Russian father and a British mother, Helen’s birth name was changed while she was a child. Her father changed the family name to ‘Mirren’ in the 1950’s, to blend in with the British Society. Continue reading Helen Mirren
Denise van Outen was born Denise Outen in 1974 and lived in Basildon, Essex. She added the ‘van’ later on to make her name more interesting and also because she has Dutch roots. She is a television host and stage actress, with her most famous roles being a presenter for ‘The Big Breakfast’ and as ‘Roxie’ in the musical ‘Chicago’, which has played both Broadway and West End.
When she was a youngster, she appeared in the chorus of ‘Les Miserables, and she trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Initially, her stage name was Denise Douglas.
In her teenage years, she has small parts on a few television dramas – one of which was ‘Kappatoo. Later on, in 1996, became a weather and travel reporter for Channel 4’s ‘The Big Breakfast’, and in 1997 she became co-presenter, with funny man, Johnny Vaughan. Denise was able to utilize her sex appeal and cheeky Continue reading Denise van Outen
Jamie Huggins, 25, of Barncombe Close, Benfleet, is a former Appleton School pupil. He plays a medieval peasant in Helen Mirren’s latest film, ‘Inkheart’. As all the main actors had already shot their parts, he was stunned when she visited the set at Shepperton Studios, Middlesex. She had made the trip to see the rest of the cast and to show everyone her new Oscar award. Continue reading Helen Mirren visit
Helen Mirren won two Golden Globes for The Queen and Elizabeth I and also won two SAG awards the same year for the same roles. This makes her the third actress to win two Golden Globes in the same year, and the first ever to win for both leading roles in TV and film in the same year. She is one of only two actresses (the other is Helen Hunt) to win a Golden Globe, an Oscar and an Emmy for performances given in the same year.
2006
April 2001 saw Denise Van Outen first play Roxie Hart of the hit West End show, ‘Chicago’ at the Adelphi Theatre. She did a 20 week run and the show was a sellout – Denise very much suited the sexy show and was a hit. She then played the part over in Broadway for 5 weeks in 2002 and received excellent reviews.
Recent comments…