Minder: The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs
2:45 pm - 3:50 pm, Monday, February 16 on That's TV (56)
Add to Favourites
About this Broadcast
The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs
Season 3, Episode 7
Arthur looks forward to a big payout when an ex-con needs his help to recover the loot from a robbery committed 14 years earlier - but learns banks are not always as safe as they seem. Vintage comedy drama, guest starring Rula Lenska, Maurice Denman and Max Wall
General
Movie/Drama
Cast & Crew
George Cole
(Actor)
.. Arthur Daley
Dennis Waterman
(Actor)
.. Terry McCann
Maurice Denham
(Actor)
.. Billings
Rula Lenska
(Actor)
.. Kate
Stephen Greif
(Actor)
.. Spencer
Avril Angers
(Actor)
.. Mrs Knight
Joe Ritchie
(Actor)
.. Grundy
Max Wall
(Actor)
.. Ernie
Ian Toynton
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
George Cole
(Actor)
.. Arthur Daley
Born:
April 22, 1925
in
London
Best Known For:
Playing Arthur Daley in Minder.
Early-life:
George Edward Cole was born in London on April 22, 1925. His mother, whom he never met, abandoned him at 10 days old, and he was adopted by the Cole family. George left school to be a butcher's boy, but won a part in a touring musical and opted for acting instead. At 15 he and his adoptive mother moved in with Alastair Sim's family after he appeared in a film with the thespian. They helped him lose his cockney accent, and he stayed with them until his first marriage at 27.
Career:
Cole made his big-screen debut in 1941's Cottage to Let, but didn't achieve fame until he landed the part of Flash Harry in the classic St Trinian's films. He went on to have a successful career on stage, TV and in movies, often appearing opposite mentor Sim in such productions as Scrooge and The Green Man. TV credits include My Good Friend, Dad, An Independent Man, Blott on the Landscape and Minder, which ran for 15 years. In his later years, he appeared in Station Jim, Bodily Harm, Mary Reilly, A Class Apart, and Diamond Geezer. He died on August 6, 2015, after a long illness. He was 90.
Quote:
"I made my first film in 1940. I can't think much has changed apart from the equipment and cost."
Trivia:
In 2013, Cole published his autobiography, The World Was My Lobster.
Dennis Waterman
(Actor)
.. Terry McCann
Born:
February 24, 1948
in
Clapham
Best Known For:
The Sweeney, Minder, and New Tricks.
Early-life:
Born February 24, 1948, in Clapham, south London, the youngest of nine children, the son of a British Rail ticket collector. As a child he attended the Corona Theatre School and began his professional career with a role in Snowball, a 1960 Children's Film Foundation production. The same year he made Night Train to Inverness, and was asked to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. Playing William in a TV series based on the Just William books made him a star. He then tried to break into Hollywood.
Career:
At 16, Waterman returned to Britain and concentrated on stage work until an acclaimed performance in 1968's Up the Junction led to more film roles. Low-budget movies (such as Scars of Dracula) and TV shows (including Colditz) followed until, in 1974, he co-starred with John Thaw in Regan, the pilot episode of iconic series The Sweeney, which became a major TV hit. A 10-year stint in comedy drama Minder followed. Other projects include TV shows On the Up, Stay Lucky, and Circles of Deceit. He's also worked on the stage, most notably in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, and My Fair Lady. As Gerry Standing, in BBC drama New Tricks, he has introduced himself to a new generation of fans.
Quote:
"If I am not such a hell-raiser any more, it isn't because I've given up. It's just that my energy levels have fallen. I haven't stopped looking at women. I'm not blind."
Trivia:
He has made several records, including, famously, the theme tunes of several of his TV shows.
Maurice Denham
(Actor)
.. Billings
Rula Lenska
(Actor)
.. Kate
Born:
September 30, 1947
in
St Neots, Cambridgeshire
Best Known For:
Playing Coronation Street's Claudia Colby.
Early-life:
Countess Roza-Marie Leopoldyna Lubienska was born in 1947 in Huntingdonshire to Major Count Ludwik Lubienski, the chief of the Polish military mission in Gibraltar during the Second World War. Her mother was the former Countess Elzbieta Tyszkiewicz. The family moved to the United Kingdom in 1946. Aspiring actress Roza-Marie changed her name to Rula Lenska, and appeared in early 1970s projects including Peter Sellers comedy Soft Beds, Hard Battles, TV series Special Branch and Edward the Seventh.
Career:
After appearing in Confessions of a Pop Performer and Space: 1999, she became a mainstream British star in 1976 series Rock Follies. Despite having little fame in North America, her appearance on shampoo commercials helped make her a cult star, largely thanks to chat show host Johnny Carson who used the ads as a running gag. Rula has been a TV regular in Britain for decades, starring in Minder, Boon, Casualty, Return of the Saint and Robin of Sherwood. She's also no stranger to soapland, having starred in Doctors and EastEnders. From 2009 to 2011 she played Coronation Street's Claudia Colby, leaving the role for the stage show Calendar Girls.
Quote:
"I don't like getting older. It's not so much the looks changing, it's that your body doesn't obey you in the same way."
Trivia:
On stage, Lenska has also appeared in The Vagina Monologues and 84 Charing Cross Road.
Stephen Greif
(Actor)
.. Spencer
Avril Angers
(Actor)
.. Mrs Knight
Joe Ritchie
(Actor)
.. Grundy
Max Wall
(Actor)
.. Ernie
Ian Toynton
(Director)
