Reputations: John Betjeman - The Last Laugh
10:00 pm - 11:05 pm, Monday, August 24 on BBC Four (9)
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About this Broadcast
John Betjeman - The Last Laugh
Simon Russell Beale narrates a 2001 profile of the former Poet Laureate using archive footage and interviews with those who knew him best. Relatives, friends and contemporaries, including King Charles - when he was the Prince of Wales - as well as Lord Snowdon and his daughter Candida Lycett Green, help build an intimate picture of one of England's finest 20th-century poets
subtitles
16x9
audio-description
Documentary
News/Current Affairs
Cast & Crew
Simon Russell Beale
(Narrator)
King Charles III
(Contributor)
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones
(Contributor)
Candida Lycett Green
(Contributor)
Edward Mirzoeff
(Producer)
More Information
Did You Know..
Simon Russell Beale
(Narrator)
Born:
January 12, 1961
in
Penang, Malaysia
Best Known For:
Being one of the country's most respected stage actors.
Early-life:
Simon Russell Beale was born in Penang, Malaysia on January 12, 1961. His early years were spent abroad as his father was Surgeon General to the British Army. However, he relocated to England at the age of eight and began studying at St Paul's Cathedral School. He studied English at the University of Cambridge and began a course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and was eventually spotted in a student play at the Edinburgh Festival, which led to the start of his professional acting career.
Career:
Simon first came to the attention of theatregoers in the 1980s with a series of acclaimed comic performances, and has since found great success on the stage, appearing in productions including King Lear, Richard III, The Seagull and Spamalot. He has also made a number of appearances on the small and big screen, appearing in A Very Peculiar Practice in 1988, playing the Earl of Moray in Orlando alongside Tilda Swinton and Billy Zane in 1992, and a small part in Kenneth Branagh's version of Hamlet in 1996. He also appeared as Napoleon in Blackadder: Back & Forth and the King of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, both in 1999.
Quote:
'People say you've done Hamlet so what do you do next? That hasn't happened to me. Not yet.'
Trivia:
He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2011 for services to drama.
King Charles III
(Contributor)
Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones
(Contributor)
Candida Lycett Green
(Contributor)
Edward Mirzoeff
(Producer)
