He walked from London to Cardiff to look for work. ibid.
Norman had no choice but to live on the streets … Salvation came in the form of the army. ibid.
He became the Flyweight champion of the British troops. ibid.
He de-mobbed to launch himself as a variety artist. ibid.
Rank’s The Trouble in Store ... broke box office records. ibid.
The Square Peg … An authoritative figure memorably played by Edward Chapman: ‘Mr Grimsdale!’ ibid.
The Bulldog Breed and On the Beat … Throughout the 1950s and 60s Norman was one of the nation’s best loved film stars, seldom out of the news. ibid.
‘Growing up with Norman Wisdom as your dad was as much fun as you can imagine.’ ibid.
By the 1970s Norman was a screen and stage star, but the pressure was now on to make it in television. ibid.
BAFTA established Norman as a serious actor. ibid.
I’m Amy. I write lyrics. I write songs. And I sing. Reclaiming Amy, interview, BBC 2021
My daughter Amy died when she was just 27 years old. ibid. mum
But there was so much more. She resonated at a different frequency to everyone else. ibid.
After she died her dad and I were accused of failing Amy. ibid.
The incredible woman that she was. ibid.
She was 19 when she wrote her first album Frank. ibid.
She was bulimic. She had that struggle the whole time. ibid. friend
My name is Dionne Bromfield, and Amy Winehouse was my godmother. We had a special bond and our relationship was unique. Amy’s support inspired my to follow my dream of becoming a singer. And she signed me to her lable Lioness when I was just 13 years old. Amy Winehouse & Me: Dionne’s Story, MTV 2021
Soul is heart, is guts, I guess … It’s something that controls you … To sing soul, I think you have to have grit. Amy Winehouse in Her Own Words, caption, BBC 2021
The music that speaks to me the most has always been jazz … and that emotional connection to it to you know that so many great singers had. ibid.
Can you hear me? I was 20 in October 1962. I had moved to Cambridge to undertake my Phd. It was a very cold winter and my mother persuaded me to go skating on the lake in St Albans. I fell over and had great difficulty getting up again. At first I became depressed. Hawking: Can You Hear Me? Sky Showcase 2021
I had discovered a concept that is named after me: Hawking Radiation. ibid.
In the early hours of February 6th 1978, the body of a young journalist was discovered on a street in Washington DC. Her name was Linda Lipnack Kuehl. For the past decade, she’d devoted her life to uncovering the true story of legendary singer Billie Holiday. Billie: In Search of Billie Holiday, BBC 2021
She was the queen bee. Without even trying, she was the most sensuous of all the lady singers. ibid. Sylvia Syms, friend & singer
It was her voice allowed her to escape. ibid.
‘It was Billie’s interpretation of Strange Fruit not the song itself that changed the direction of American music. But not everyone stood to applaud her primal howl against the bloody history of white America.’ ibid. critic
‘She consumed more stimulants … she was an extremist.’ ibid. observer
Elizabeth Taylor: the unofficial queen of Hollywood. Two times Oscar winner and star of over forty films including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She was the first actress to bag one million dollars for one movie. Her high-octane love life resulted in eight marriages, marked by passion and excess, by diamonds. Her many addictions threatened to destroy her. Elizabeth Taylor: A Fierce Love aka The Story of Elizabeth Taylor, Channel 5 2021
She was born in London in February 27th 1932 to a life of privilege. Her parents were Americans who moved in high society. ibid.
[Eddie] Fisher left Debbie Reynolds for Liz … She was brazen about it. ibid.
This latest affair with Burton would cause an international sensation. ibid.
There is more to the story of Princess Diana than meets the eye. The nursery school assistant who became the most famous woman in the world. But who she really was is still disputed. Some see her as a victim. Others cast her as manipulative. But while she may have tried to use the press there is no doubt they hunted her … The princess who changed the world. Diana, ITV 2021
When Diana is six, her parents split up. It is a bitter divorce for which her mother is blamed for. Her father wins custody, and Diana is sent to boarding school the following year. ibid.
Diana has been asking her parents if she could move to London for some time. ibid.
The Royal Family approved of the relationship. But Diana is becoming aware that Charles still has feelings for his ex, Camilla Parker Bowles. ibid.
As a teenager, Diana didn’t get along with her stepmother. And having lived out the fallout of a divorce first-hand, she’s determined that her marriage will be different. ibid.
Charles and Diana go no honeymoon on the royal yacht Britannia, along with over 200 members of Her Majesty’s media. Diana becomes consumed with jealousy about Camilla, and is dismayed to discover that Charles has taken a photo of him with her. The couple begin to argue. Diana’s weight loss becomes ever more apparent. And Charles is becoming concerned. ibid.
Diana is suffering from post-natal depression. ibid.
She is becoming the biggest star in the world. ibid.
Diana arrived unannounced in the Bullring near Waterloo Station to meet the homeless who lived there. She spent the evening listening to stories of the men and women of cardboard city. ibid.
Rumours began to circulate that a tell-all book was about to be published. As the publication date nears, Diana is asked by the Palace if she has had any hand in the book. She strongly denies her involvement. The book is a huge scandal. The Queen and Prince Philip hold crisis talks with the couple and urge them to save their marriage. ibid.
Diana starts to become involved in an ever-more elaborate game with the press. As the paparazzi chase her, she briefs journalists and has dinner with editors. ibid.
Diana nicknames her boyfriend [Dr Hasnat Khan] Mr Wonderful. She is extremely careful to keep him a secret from the world’s press. And then she takes a big step by introducing him to William and Harry. ibid.
Dean Reed lives in East Berlin because he likes it better over there. An entertainer who has become the Soviet version of a superstar: he sings, he acts, and he speaks with what seem to be genuine conviction the Soviet line. Red Elvis: The Cold War Cowboy ***** 60 Minutes, Sky Documentaries 2022
Six weeks after the 60 Minutes interview is broadcast he disappears. ibid. historian
From that point on there is no way back; he is an enemy of the government of the United States. ibid.
By the late 1960s Dean Read is a fully fledged political radical. ibid.
He is rebelling against the government [East German] he previously cooperated with. ibid.