SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

Victoria Wood CBE (1953 – 2016)

April 20, 2016

Comedian Victoria Wood’s final tweet was: “Life’s not fair, is it? Some of us drink champagne in the fast lane, and some of us eat our sandwiches by the loose chippings on the A597”....

Patricia Routledge CBE (born Katherine Patricia Routledge)

April 2, 2016

Born in Tranmere, Merseyside, veteran actress Patricia Routledge is best known as Alan Bennett’s Irene Ruddock in Talking Heads: Lady of Letters and as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. Routledge has never married,...

Tom Read Wilson

February 15, 2016

Berkshire born singer, actor and sports massage therapist Tom Read Wilson described himself as “a cultural throwback” when he appeared on the BBC show The Voice in February 2016. Though the judges failed to...

Ellen Perry

December 28, 2015

Award-winning film director, producer and writer Ellen Perry made her name with her brilliantly insightful documentary film The Fall of Fujimori in 2005. Aside from having won accolades galore for that, this talented Californian...

Sam Hoare

December 6, 2015

Eton and University of Edinburgh educated actor and director Sam Hoare has appeared in everything from Eastenders and Blandings to Captain America. Surprisingly he has under 400 followers on Twitter and in July 2015...

Todd Traina

September 20, 2015

San Francisco born film producer and lover of lunches at Chateau Marmont Todd Traina is a graduate of Connecticut College. The founder of Red Rover Films, Traina has worked with Bruce Willis and Samuel...

Alex Wyndham

August 3, 2015

Winchester and Oxford educated actor Alex Wyndham came to public attention after playing Antoine ‘Wani’ Ouradi in the BBC’s adaptation of The Line of Beauty in 2006 and as Gaius Cilnius Maecenas in Rome in...

Dominique Dunne (1959 – 1982)

August 1, 2015

Born in Santa Monica, California and the daughter of the writer and investigate journalist Dominick Dunne and his ranching heiress wife Ellen Griffin Dunne, Dominique Dunne would likely have become an acting great. Her early...

Brendan Jay Sullivan

July 27, 2015

A former sidekick of Lady Gaga, New York based bartender turned DJ and author Brendan Jay Sullivan wrote a memoir of his time with her in 2013 titled Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the...

Shirley Temple (AKA “America’s Little Darling”, 1928 – 2014)

June 28, 2015

Despite having a non-alcoholic cocktail named in her honour, the actress and politician Shirley Temple actually hated the drink and its ingredients. Of it, she remarked: “The saccharine sweet, icky drink? … I had...

Emily Mortimer

June 19, 2015

Oxford educated actor, writer and co-creator of the comedy series Doll & Em Emily Mortimer is the daughter of the Rumpole of the Bailey creator Sir John Mortimer CBE, QC (1923 – 2009). Married...

Ava Gardner (1922 – 1990)

April 27, 2015

Once described as “having a mouth like a truck driver and the looks of a goddess”, thrice married American actress Ava Gardner spent her final years in Knightsbridge’s Ennismore Gardens. Born in Smithfield, North...

Sofia Coppola

April 15, 2015

Deemed a “global Godmother of Cool” by Town & Country, actress, director, producer and screenwriter Sofia Coppola triumphed with Lost in Translation and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for...

Charlie Siem

April 15, 2015

Violinist Charlie Siem was educated at Eton and Cambridge and has been described by Town & Country as “sleekly posh”. He is an ambassador of The Prince’s Trust and began playing the violin at...

Kerry Washington

March 30, 2015

A self-declared activist, Bronx born actress Kerry Washington has an astounding 2 million followers on Twitter. As Olivia Pope in ABC’s hit drama Scandal, Kerry Washington brought in “a new era of post-racial television,...

Gillian Anderson

March 28, 2015

Best known for her role in The X-Files, Gillian Anderson married her first husband on the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii. A mother of three who has admitted to lesbian relationships...

James Bay

March 23, 2015

This Hitchin, Hertfordshire born acoustic singer-songwriter declared that he “ want to be a prisoner in a hat” in an interview with The Independent’s Craig McLean in March 2015. James Bay was discovered by...

Aidan Turner

March 9, 2015

Despite tweeting just twice, Dublin born actor Aidan Turner has over 21,000 followers on Twitter. A graduate of The Gaiety School of Acting, Turner is best known for his role as Kíli in The...

Robin Wright (formerly “Robin Gayle Wright” and “Robin Wright Penn”)

February 23, 2015

Texas born actress Robin Wright has variously been married to Dane Witherspoon and Sean Penn. Best known for her role as Claire Underwood in the Netflix House of Cards series, Wright also appeared in...

Emily VanCamp

February 1, 2015

Canadian actress Emily VanCamp appeared in Everwood between 2002 and 2006 and Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2010. She starred in Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2014 and has dated her British...

Siân Phillips CBE

December 29, 2014

Thrice married and the wife of Peter O’Toole between 1959 and 1979, Siân Phillips was born in West Glamorgan and has two daughters. This actress extraordinaire took on her first professional role aged just...

Zack Peck (also known as Zackary Peck)

December 26, 2014

The grandson of the late, great actor Gregory Peck and the son of a wannabe actor named Anthony Peck and “the first American supermodel”, Cheryl Tiegs. New York based Zack Peck is currently studying...

Paula Wilcox

December 23, 2014

This modest Mancunian actress is best known for having starred in the 1970s series Man About the House. Twice married Paula Wilcox has appeared in everything from soap operas like Coronation Street and Emmerdale...

Jack Peñate

December 22, 2014

This talented musician and singer-songwriter is the grandson of the Gormenghast series author Mervyn Peake. A contemporary of Adele and The Maccabees, Londoner Jack Peñate released his first single in 2006 and has performed at Reading,...

Ronnie Spector

October 28, 2014

Born in Spanish Harlem, big haired Ronnie Spector is a singer and a survivor. She’s worked with Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Ringo Starr and is best summed up by the title of her autobiography:...

Angela Lansbury

October 7, 2014

“An amalgam of British, Irish and American”, twice married actress Angela Lansbury was born in London and has a career that has spanned seven decades. The daughter of a Communist, Lansbury is best known...

Theo James (born Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis)

September 24, 2014

Julian Fellowes cast Theo James as the Turkish diplomat Kemal Pamuk in the first season of Downton Abbey and swiftly killed him off in a sex scene which brings on his having a heart...

Eli Wallach (1915 – 2014)

September 23, 2014

One of the finest ever “method actors”, Eli Wallach was a star of the stage and screen between 1945 and 2010 and once had to ask the director John Hutson for advice on how...

Robert F. Kennedy III (AKA “Bobby Kennedy III”)

September 18, 2014

A writer and film producer, Robert F. Kennedy III featured on the Town & Country ‘Most Eligible Bachelors’ list in September 2014. The son of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his first wife, Emily...

Gérard Depardieu

September 14, 2014

Vineyard owner and French actor Gérard Depardieu admitted to drinking up to 14 bottles of wine a day in September 2014 but also claimed he is “never totally drunk, just a little pi**ed”. He...

Sir Donald Sinden CBE, FRSA (1923 – 2014)

September 13, 2014

Born in Devon, Sir Donald Sinden was one of only two people known to have attended the funeral of Oscar Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas in March 1945. Colour blind and an asthma and...

Henry Cavill

August 24, 2014

This Jersey born actor was educated at Stowe and has appeared in everything from Midsomer Murders to The Tudors. Henry Cavill didn’t quite beat Daniel Craig to play James Bond but as Superman he’s...

Josh Bowman

August 20, 2014

Born in Berkshire, Josh Bowman is a rugby player turned actor who briefly dated Amy Winehouse in 2009. Having spent two years in the BBC’s Holby City, he moved to Los Angeles to take...

Matt Bomer

May 27, 2014

This Misouri born actor is best known for his role in the popular American crime series White Collar. Married to publicist Simon Halls since 2011 and the parent of three sons, Bomer was ranked...

Felicity Kendal CBE

January 21, 2014

This stunning actress has been known to have both lunch and dinner at La Brasserie in South Kensington on the same day and is best known for playing Barbara Good in The Good Life....

The Singing Lady

December 4, 2013

Late at night, the Kings Road and Sloane Square are the haunts of this eccentric singer of sorts. She favours the outside seating at Colbert but doesn’t venture indoors and rather likes Chelsea Fire...

The Hon. Nigella Lawson

November 28, 2013

A self-proclaimed “Domestic Goddess”, Lawson was rebranded a “habitual criminal” during the trial of her two former assistants in November 2013. In an email quoted during the case, her ex-husband, Charles Saatchi, nicknamed her...

Lord Britten, OM, CH (better known as Benjamin Britten; 1913 – 1976)

November 10, 2013

This composer, conductor and pianist’s life revolved around alliteration: Britten’s siblings were Barbara, Beth and Bob and his professional and personal partner was Peter Pears; his Simple Symphony included the Boisterous Bourrée, the Playful...

Anton Lesser

November 6, 2013

He’s played everyone from Robin Carrow in BBC Radio 4’s Ambridge Extra to Dr Karl Crabb in BBC One’s Ripper Street. “One of Britain’s leading classical actors”, Birmingham born Lesser has also starred in...

Peter Czernin

October 23, 2013

A property heir turned film director. Czernin is a scion of the de Walden £2.4 billion property dynasty but is better known as the producer of In Brgues and Piccadilly Jim. A friend of...

Susan Bennett (AKA Siri and Tillie The All Time Teller)

October 10, 2013

This voice actor provided the voice for Apple’s Siri and First National Bank’s Tillie the All Time Teller. She lives in suburban Atlanta, Georgia and finds hearing herself “creepy”.

Jake Shears (born Jason F. Sellards)

August 29, 2013

The co-founder of the Scissor Sisters was born in Mesa, Arizona and decided he wanted to marry Christopher Reeve when he was four. Shears, who doesn’t especially like wearing shirts, himself suggests he’s “not...

Anna Chancellor

August 26, 2013

An aristocratic actress, Chancellor is the daughter of the Hon. Mary Alice Jolliffe, a great-great-granddaughter of Herbert Asquith and a second cousin, once removed of Helena Bonham Carter. Born in Richmond, London, this star...

Jamie Campbell Bower

August 26, 2013

Bedales educated, Campbell Bower “always gets a tattoo done whenever finishes a film”. This Londoner’s appeared in The Twilight Saga, Sweeney Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Harry Potter and the Deathly...

Michael Cassidy

August 25, 2013

Portland, Oregon born Cassidy is best known for his role as Zach Stevens in The O.C. He has subsequently appeared in Smallville, Hidden Palms, Argo and Scandal and is one of the main characters...

Wentworth Miller III

August 22, 2013

British born, American raised, Miller rose to fame in the Fox Network series Prison Break. A Princeton graduate, the actor turned screenwriter used the pseudonym Ted Foulke to write Stoker and Uncle Charlie and...

Flora Ogilvy

July 27, 2013

A royal extra. 46th in line to the throne and the granddaughter of Princess Alexandra of Kent, Ogilvy scored a small part in the 2013 series of Downton Abbey. More regal than the Grantham...

Cory Monteith (1982 – 2013)

July 14, 2013

This Canadian actor and musician’s life was short but he packed plenty into it. A star of Fox’s Glee, Monteith appeared in 17 different films and attended 16 different schools. Tragically this substance addict...