Portrait Artist of the Year: Final - Laura Linney
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Wednesday, June 17 on Sky Arts (350)
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About this Broadcast
Final - Laura Linney
Season 5, Episode 10
Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell host the grand final of the painting contest. The three remaining artists paint actress Laura Linney at the National Portrait Gallery, before the winner of the career-changing £10,000 commission is announced
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16x9
Arts/Culture (without Music)
Fine Arts
Game Show/Quiz/Contest
Show/Game Show
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Did You Know..
Joan Bakewell
(Presenter)
Born:
April 16, 1933
in
Stockport
Best Known For:
Being the 'Thinking Man's Crumpet'.
Early-life:
Born Joan Dawson Rowlands on April 16, 1933, in Stockport, the eldest child of ambitious working class parents. She was educated at Stockport High School for Girls before heading off to Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read history. Bakewell began her working life as a studio manager for BBC radio, later becoming an advertising copywriter before leaving to marry and have a family - a matter which upset her mother.
Career:
Bakewell eventually returned to work in the early 1960s, and quickly made a name for herself thanks to numerous arts, travel and current affairs programmes. TV's Late Night Line Up made her a national pin-up. Since then she's presented the religious affairs programme Heart of the Matter, written radio plays, published numerous books and become one of the BBC's most respected broadcasters. She currently presents Something Understood for BBC Radio 4 and Belief for BBC Radio 3 and continues to write articles for various newspapers. Her autobiography, The Centre of the Bed, was published in 2004, which hit the headlines thanks to its account of her affair with playwright Harold Pinter, which inspired his 1978 play Betrayal. Her first novel, All the Nice Girls, came out in 2009.
Quote:
'I'm not a star. I never have been. I have a pretty average media life. It's not a career. I just work. I'm a worker.'
Trivia:
She was made a Dame in 2008, and two years later received a life peerage.
Stephen Mangan
(Presenter)
Born:
July 22, 1972
in
London
Best Known For:
Green Wing and Episodes.
Early-life:
Born on July 22, 1972, in London, and was raised in Hertfordshire. His parents were Irish, and his father owned a building company. He became interested in acting after appearing in numerous school plays, but never thought he would tread the boards professionally. Instead, he studied law at Cambridge University, but decided against being a solicitor after taking a year out to care of his terminally ill mother. After a spell at Rada, he began landing theatre roles.
Career:
Mangan became a regular on the West End stage, and apart from some foreign adverts, steered clear of TV work for years. He made his film debut in Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence in 1998, and had a small role in Billy Elliot. Early TV appearances came in Big Bad World, Sword of Honour, In Defence and Human Remains before his big break as the lead in Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years. He's worked consistently in movies and on TV ever since, with roles in Jane Hall, Marple, Never Better, I'm Alan Partridge, Hyperdrive, and the acclaimed Green Wing. His recent work includes Dirk Gently and Episodes on TV, as well as several well-received stage performances.
Quote:
'I love playing unattractive parts. I want to be really horrid. I want people to really hate me. Maybe one day in analysis, I'll discover what that's all about.'
Trivia:
Away from showbiz, Mangan is a Tottenham Hotspur fan. He attends games with Tamsin Greig's husband, actor Richard Leaf.
Laura Linney
(Guest)
Born:
February 05, 1964
in
New York
Best Known For:
Her consistently high quality performances.
Early-life:
Born Laura Leggett Linney on February 5, 1964, in New York. Her mother was a nurse, her father a playwright - it was his work which initially attracted her to acting. She has a half-sister, Susan, from her dad's second marriage. After graduating from high school in 1982, Linney studied at Northwestern University, then transferred to Brown University, where she became a prolific amateur stage actress. She later had spells studying acting at Juilliard and the Arts Theatre School in Moscow.
Career:
Linney's professional career began on Broadway, where she was acclaimed for her work in several productions. She started appearing in small roles in films and on TV in the early 1990s, but began landing bigger parts after the first instalment of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City was broadcast. Movies Primal Fear, The Truman Show and Absolute Power followed. She reunited with the director of Absolute Power, Clint Eastwood, for Mystic River, and bagged Oscar nominations for Kinsey, You Can Count on Me and The Savages. Other notable work includes Love Actually, Frasier, and The Squid and the Whale, while her extraordinary turns in miniseries John Adams and comedy drama The Big C have been widely acclaimed.
Quote:
'A lifetime of work, particularly where you get to see an actor grow and change, is better than becoming a rock 'n' roll movie star.'
Trivia:
Linney has received Tony Award nominations for The Crucible, Sight Unseen, and Time Stands Still.
