Heroes

Richard Burton

Burton (10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) in the 1940s and early 1950s Burton started his early acting career working on stage and in cinema in the United Kingdom. He later then, in 1952, successfully made the transition to a Hollywood star where he was given the leading role in My Cousin Rachel. The film was a critical success and established Burton as a Hollywood leading man and won him his first Academy Award nomination and the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor.  In his later career Burton found success in 1978 when he narrated Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. His distinctive performance became a necessary part of the concept album - so much so that a hologram of Burton is used to narrate the live stage show (which toured in 2006, 2007 and 2009) of the musical.

Vivian Stanshall

Stanstall (21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was often called a "great British eccentric", but this was a label he hated: it suggested that he was putting on an act. Instead, as he himself always insisted, "...he was merely being himself." The famous name of the band came from a word game which Stanshall played with art school peer and Bonzo member Rodney Slater, involving cutting up sentences and juxtaposing the fragments to form new ones. One of the combinations that came out of this exercise was "Bonzo Dog/Dada". The band consisted of the core members mentioned above but at one point there were times where there were as many as 30 of them, with gigs often featuring more people on stage than in the audience.

Joe Strummer

John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), better known by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer of the English punk rock band The Clash. He was also a member of the The 101'ers, The Mescaleros and, temporarily, The Pogues. The Clash was said to be "considered one of the most overtly political, explosive and exciting bands in rock and roll history”. Their songs tackled social decay, unemployment, racism, police brutality, political and social repression, and militarism in detail. 

Dudley Moore 

 

                                                            

 

John Peel

 

Peel (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004) was an English disc jockey, radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style. He was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock, reggae and punk records on British radio, and he is widely acknowledged for promoting artists in various styles including alternative rock, pop, death metal, British hip hop and dance music.

 

 

Peter O’Toole 

O’Toole (born 2 August 1932)  is an actor of stage and screen who achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia. He went on to become a highly-honored film and stage actor. O'Toole is also one of a handful of actors to be Oscar-nominated for playing the same role in two different films; he played King Henry II in both 1964's Becket and 1968's The Lion in Winter. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most competitive Academy Award acting nominations without a win.

 

 

Marc Bolan 

Marc Bolan (30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T.Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era, though he preferred to call his music Cosmic Rock, and made him one of the most recognisable stars in British music.

 

Keith Moon 

Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978)was the drummer of the rock group The Who. He gained notoriety for exuberant drumming and his destructive lifestyle that earned him the nickname, "Moon the Loon”. Moon was known for innovative, dramatic drumming when he joined the band in 1964, replacing Doug Sandom. He played on all albums and singles from their debut, 1965's My Generation, to 1978's Who Are You, which was released two weeks before his death.

 

 

 

Ian Curtis 

Ian Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was the vocalist and lyricist, as well as occasional guitarist and keyboardist, of the band Joy Division, which he joined in 1976 after meeting with Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook at a Sex Pistols gig. Years after his death, critics and fans continue to write and discuss at length Curtis's music, as well as possible motivations and inspirations for his work.

 

 

 

 

Lee Brilleaux  

Brilleaux (10^th May 1952 – 7^th April 1994) was a member of the Dr. Feelgood band, a British pub rock band formed in mid 1971. The name of the band, Dr. Feelgood, is slang for heroin, or for doctors who are prepared to overprescribe drugs. The group's original distinctively British R&B sound was centered on Wilko Johnson's choppy guitar style. Along with Johnson, the original band line-up comprised John B. Sparks (bass guitar), John Martin aka The Big Figure (drummer) and Lee Brilleaux (vocals).

 

 

 

Laurence Olivier

 

Laurence Olivier (22 May, 1907 – 11 July, 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. Olivier played a wide variety of roles on stage and screen from Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and Restoration comedy to modern American and British drama. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour.

 

 

  

Peter Sellers

 

Sellers (8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was a British comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, as Clare Quilty in the original 1962 screen version of Lolita, and as the guileless man-child Chance in his penultimate film, Being There. Sellers rose to fame on the BBC Home Service radio series The Goon Show. His ability to speak in different accents (e.g., French, Indian, American, British, German), contributed to his success as a radio personality, screen actor and earned him national and international nominations and awards.

 

 

 

 

Peter Cook

 Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English satirist, writer and comedian. He is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as 'the funniest man who ever drew breath'. Cook is very closely associated with the anti-establishment style of comedy that first emerged in Britain and the US in the late 1950s.

 

 

 

Steve Marriot

 

Steve Marriot (30 January 1947 - 20 April 1991), popularly known as Steve Marriott, was a successful and versatile English singer-songwriter, guitarist and musician. He is best remembered for his powerful singing voice which belied his small stature and for his aggressive guitar playing in the rock groups the Small Faces (1965-1969) and Humble Pie (1969-1975 and 1980-1981). In Britain, Marriott became a popular, often-photographed mod style icon through his role as lead singer and guitarist with the Small Faces in the mid to late sixties.

 

 

 

 

John Gielgud

 

Gielgud (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor/director/producer, considered by many to be the greatest Classical actor of the twentieth century, particularly known for his warm and expressive voice, which his colleague Sir Alec Guinness likened to "a silver trumpet muffled in silk".

 

 

 

 

Dirk Bogarde

 

Sir Dirk Bogarde (28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was a British actor and novelist. Bogardewas a challenged actor and played parts such as barrister Melville Farr in Victim (1961); decadent valet Hugo Barrett in The Servant (1963) (directed by Joseph Losey); television reporter Robert Gold in Darling (1965); Stephen, a bored Oxford University professor, in Accident(1967); German industrialist Frederick Bruckman in Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969); the ex-Nazi, Max Aldorfer, in the chilling and controversial The Night Porter (1974) directed by Liliana Cavani; and, most notably, as Gustav von Aschenbach in Death in Venice (1971) also directed by Luchino Visconti.

 

 

 

Lord Rochester

 John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680) was an English Libertine, a friend of King Charles II, and the writer of much satirical and bawdy poetry. , Rochester's poetic work varies widely in form, genre, and content. He was part of a "mob of gentlemen who wrote with ease”. Rochester's writings were at once admired and infamous. A Satyr Against Mankind (1675), one of the few poems he published (in a broadside in 1679) is a scathing denunciation of rationalism and optimism that contrasts human perfidy with animal wisdom.

 

 

Lemmy Kilmister

Ian Fraser Kilmister (born 24 December 1945) is a singer and bass guitarist who founded the famous rock and roll band Motorhead. From an early age, he was an addict to fruit machines. This is where his nickname ‘Lemmy’ originates from, due to always asking people to ‘lemmy a quid’ to feed his habit. Lemmy was known as a sex addict, claiming to have bedded over 2,000 women. It was this addiction along with alcohol and drugs that got him in trouble a lot of the time. As well as being in the band, Lemmy also made several appearances on TV and in films. It has been announced, that there will be a film released in 2010 about Lemmys career and life

 

Sir Anthony Hopkins

ir Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is an actor of film, television and stage. His most famous role was Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs which earnt him an Academy Award and an Oscar. Hopkins made Hannibal Lecter an icon, through this impressive performance in the three Lecter films. Hannibal Lecter was a serial killer who had impeccable style and a taste for eating his deserving victims. Due to Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter is now considered the ‘most memorable villain in film industry’, so therefore Hopkins is known for taking his acting roles very seriously, making sure he played each character to his full potential. Although Hopkins is very dedicated to his career, his off screen persona was very much in the mould of the original hell raisers such as Richard Burton.

 

Gary Oldman

Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is known for his acting and film making skills. He was known for playing a diverse range of roles. One of his most famous was the part of Count Dracula in Dracula but our favourite role he played was Bexy in The Firm. This role led him to become very popular in playing villains/anti heroes within other films. As well as films, Oldman has done a variety of other jobs such as cameos on TV and voice overs for video games. Like his character in Dracula, he lived up to a hell raising lifestyle and found himself in many scrapes with various drinking buddies in LA.

 

David Hemmings

David Hemmings (18 November 1941-3 December 2003) was an actor who made his first film debut in 1954 starring in The Rainbow Jacket. It was this, and his singing voice that led him to become very popular. This success came at the same time as the youth culture emerging in the 1950’s, meaning that Hemmings was also admired for his looks and style. This led him to starring in many films and pop videos, before moving behind the camera and directing films from 1972. Hemmings was most well known for his part in Blow Up in 1966, which led him to take on board the attitudes of the swinging-sixties scene portrayed in the film, becoming known for his partying antics.

 

Michael Hutchence

Hutchence (22 January 1960-22 November 1997) was born in Australia and is well known for being the voice of the band INXS. After gigging around their home country, the band soon became an international success, with Hutchence being the front man. Although music journalists praised him, Hutchence became well known for his hell raising ways and partying lifestyle. He became addicted drugs and alcohol as well as women. Apart from embarking on minor acting roles, Hutchence always stayed true to INXS. In 1997, just four days before starting INXS Australian tour, Hutchence sadly died in bizarre circumstances which to this day still cause speculation whether it was suicide or a bizarre sex game that ended in tragedy.

 

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe (19 January 1809-7 October 1849) was a poet and author who had a special interest in horror and detective stories. Poe spent his life between his home town of Massachusetts in America and England. His poem The Raven shot him to fame in 1845, which gained him international popularity. Throughout his whole career, Poe suffered with depression and other various mental illnesses, despite this however; he still remained very popular for his books and poems, which became increasingly dark in nature. Some of Poe’s most famous work is The fall of the house of Usher and Masque of the red death. These short stories highlighted major events which cause pain and guilt to others and the personalities which change people. Due to his fascination with doom and gloom, Poe became a man who used to cause trouble too, travelling all over the world and not being stable and settled.

Terence Stamp

Stamp (born 22 July 1939) is well known for his very successful acting career. He was an icon of the late 1960s, due to his acting abilities and string of famous girlfriends. This success, and the breakup from his supermodel girlfriend Jean Shrimpton, led Stamp to go on a 10 year sabbatical to India. After his return from this, Stamp played many minor roles in films, but one of his most popular was playing a transsexual in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. During the 60’s, Stamp shared a flat with Michael Caine which led to many legendary parties and outrageous behaviour.

 

Jim Morrison

Morrison (8 December 1943-3 July 1971) had many talents, and made it successfully in singing, song writing and film making. He was also an established poet. These many talents made him very popular, but his career as being the front man in the rock band The Doors gave him his greatest success. He was an inspiration for many people, especially rock bands of the next generation, due to his ability to always deliver an outstanding performance, however; Morrison lived up to the rock star lifestyle, having a very bad temper, and once even smashing up the bands studio space in a drunken temper. He was also arrested for exposing himself at his Miami gig in an extremely ‘refreshed’ state of mind.

 

Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875- 1 December 1947) was a magician. He was also very interested in Witchcraft. He lived at a time when these topics were very misunderstood. Crowley had always been different to his fellow members of society. When he met his first wife Rose Edith Kelly, she too became fascinated in Witchcraft. Together they would indulge in sexual magic as well as drug and alcohol abuse. Whilst travelling around Europe, Crowley also picked up a heroin addiction which he had for the rest of his life. As magic and Witchcraft became more popular, so did Crowley, who would often show off his black magic skills to the public.