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Avis Bunnage

Avis Bunnage

Acting

Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Avis Bunnage (22 April 1923, Manchester, England, UK – 4 October 1990, England) was a British actress of film, stage and television. She attended Manley Park Municipal School and Chorlton Central School in Manchester. She worked as a secretary and a nursery teacher before deciding to become an actress. She gained stage experience in rep and made her first professional appearance at Chorlton Rep Theatre in Manchester in 1947. Most notably, she appeared as Veronica, the wife of Rigsby, in Rising Damp, for one episode. Bunnage was a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. There she created the role of Helen, the mother in A Taste of Honey, her first West End role when the play transferred to Wynndems Theatre, and also a role in Oh, What a Lovely War! at Stratford East, which also transferred to Wyndams Theatre. When Avis was on holiday from this production for two weeks, her role was taken over by Danny La Rue. Among her other roles for Theatre Workshop were Mrs. Lovitt in Christopher Bond's play Sweeny Todd (the basis for the Sondheim musical), and the title role in a play about the music hall legend Marie Lloyd. In the early years of Coronation Street she played Lucile Hewitt's auntie. She was in the musical Billy at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, playing the mother of 'Billy Liar'. She played Golda in Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Alfie Bass, at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Married to Derek Orchard, she died in Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, aged 67. Description above from the Wikipedia article Avis Bunnage, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Playhouse
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974
Theatre 625
7.2

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.

Theatre 625

1964
Half Hour Story
7.5

18 short plays written especially for TV, an opportunity for up-and-coming directors such as floor manager Alan Clarke, who ended up doing 10 of the episodes. Some top ranking performers were attracted to the series.

Half Hour Story

1967
No image
N/A

Drama 61-67 is anthology drama series which took a different title, based on year of transmission, each year. It alternated with Armchair Theatre from ABC in the Sunday evening slot. The series was described at the time as epitomising ATV drama.

Drama 61-67

1961
Gideon's Way
7.0

Gideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey. The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series. It starred Liverpudlian John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, with Alexander Davion as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen, Reginald Jessup as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre, Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and Basil Dignam as Commissioner Scott-Marle. The show did not acknowledge any help from Scotland Yard, any other police force or advisor. Daphne Anderson starred as his wife, Kate with Giles Watling as young son, Malcolm, Richard James as older son, Matthew who seemed to have a lot of new girlfriends and Andrea Allan as daughter, Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in "State Visit" that his wife had walked out on him for a while years ago when he put the job first and her second. They live in an expensive detached house in Chelsea.

Gideon's Way

1965
The Human Jungle
8.2

The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Television by the small production company Independent Artists for transmission on ITV. Starring Herbert Lom, it ran for two series which were first transmitted during 1963 and 1965.

The Human Jungle

1963
Espionage
10.0

Pulled from actual case histories and utilizing newsreel and documented narratives, the activities of spies from various countries are depicted as far back as the American Revolution and as recent as the Cold War.

Espionage

1963
Rising Damp
7.5

Set in a seedy bedsit, the cowardly landlord Rigsby has his conceits debunked by his long suffering tenants.

Rising Damp

1974
Gandhi
7.6

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

Gandhi

1982
Cilla
8.0

A mostly live weekly entertainment show starring Cilla Black and her special guests.

Cilla

1968
In Loving Memory
6.8

In Loving Memory is a British period sitcom set in an undertakers business that starred Thora Hird and Christopher Beeny. A pilot was transmitted in 1969 by Thames Television who rejected the idea before it was finally accepted by Yorkshire Television in 1979 where it further ran for five series between until 1986.

In Loving Memory

1969
The Frighteners
8.5

A horror anthology series, with each episode featuring a different eerie tale.

The Frighteners

1972
Armchair Theatre
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956
The Fosters
5.8

The Fosters is a British sitcom created and written by Jon Watkins and Eric Monte. It showcases the early work of Lenny Henry as the budding artist son of easygoing family man Samuel Foster (Norman Beaton). The series follows the day-to-day trials of Samuel, his lively wife Pearl (both immigrants from Guyana) and their three children on a South London housing estate.

The Fosters

1976
Tom Jones
5.9

Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?

Tom Jones

1963
No image
7.0

A situation comedy about divorcee James Shepherd, a charismatic vet, who struggles to run both a successful surgery and a home for his two teenage children.

Close to Home

1989
Seven of One
7.3

Seven of One is a 1973 BBC2 comedy anthology starring Ronnie Barker. 7 of 1 is a series of seven separate comedies that would serve as possible pilots for sitcoms, three of which were picked up for a full series run. Originally called Six of One, which Barker planned to follow up with another series called Half Dozen of the Other.

Seven of One

1973
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
7.2

A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy’s reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution by impressing its Governor through his prowess as a long distance runner. He is encouraged to compete in an upcoming race, but faces ridicule from his peers.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner

1962
The Mayor of Casterbridge
6.8

The Mayor of Casterbridge is a 1978 BBC seven-part serial based on the eponymous 1886 book by the British novelist Thomas Hardy. The six-hour drama was written by dramatist Dennis Potter and directed by David Giles, with Alan Bates as the title character. Michael Henchard, an out-of-work hay-trusser, gets drunk at a fair and, for five guineas, sells his wife and child to a sailor. When the horror of his act finally sets in, Henchard swears he will not touch alcohol for twenty-one years. Through hard work and acumen, he becomes rich, respected, and eventually the mayor of Casterbridge. But eighteen years after his fateful oath, his wife and daughter return to Casterbridge, and his fortunes steadily decline.

The Mayor of Casterbridge

1978
The Krays
6.1

Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two become notorious crime lords who rule over the East End club scene. But at the height of their power, the brothers veer into different lives, giving the older crime bosses a chance to reclaim what the Krays took from them.

The Krays

1990