| Noele Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Noele Gordon December 25, 1919 |
| Died | April 14, 1985 (aged 65) |
| Occupation | Television actress |
Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 - 14 April 1985) was a British film and television actress. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 43 BC - Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar 's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works
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Early life
Her father was a merchant seaman and she was born in East Ham, London. East Ham is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is a built-up district located 8 miles (12 London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. After attending Ilford Convent School and RADA, she appeared in repertory theatres, including 1,000 performances in Brigadoon. The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art ( RADA) in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as one of the most prestigious Drama schools in the world For other meanings of repertory please see Repertory (disambiguation. Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
Early television and film career
She was credited as the first woman to be seen on colour television sets, as she took part in the BBC's early tests in colour broadcasting in the 1940s. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be Noele appeared in two movies in the 1940s, produced in Britain and then distributed to the United States (29 Acacia Avenue and Lisbon Story). The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949 Events and trends The 1940s was a period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s which also leads the period to be The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Lisbon Story ( German title Viagem a Lisboa Lisbonne Story) is a 1994 film directed by Wim Wenders. Her acting career came to a halt in 1955 when she joined Associated TeleVision where she presented their first-ever programme, The Weekend Show. Associated TeleVision Limited, best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981 She also worked behind the scenes as Head of Lifestyle programmes. She then studied the television medium at New York University in America and upon her return helped Reg Watson and Ned Sherrin launch a new station, ATV Midlands in 1956. New York University ( NYU) is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research University in New York City. Reg Watson is an Australian Television producer best known for creating Soap operas like Prisoner and Neighbours Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE ( 18 February 1931 &ndash 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster author Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This was a spin-off station from the already established ATV London. As well as being a producer, Noele also turned her hand to presenting again for the new Birmingham based service. Her first television appearance for ATV, Tea With Noele Gordon, was one of the first ITV chat shows and whilst presenting this, was the first woman to interview a British Prime Minister (Harold Macmillan). Initially commissioned as an emergency schedule filler, the show became so successful that she gave up her executive position to concentrate on programme presentation. [1] She then moved on to present a daily live entertainment show, Lunchbox a programme which pioneered daytime broadcasts.
Crossroads
In the summer of 1964 Lunchbox came to an end after over 2000 episodes. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. It was axed to make way for a new daily soap opera, The Midland Road, retitled Crossroads at the last minute, in which Noele took the role of motel owner Meg Richardson (later Meg Mortimer). A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Crossroads is a British Television Soap opera set in a Motel near Birmingham, England. Entering dictionaries after World War II, the word motel, a Portmanteau of motor and hotel or motorists' hotel, referred The public came to adore Meg - and Noele, and before long everyone referred to her by her nickname "Nolly", which is what she was called by her close friend Larry Grayson. Larry Grayson (21 August 1923 – January 7 1995 born William White, was an English stand-up comedian and Gameshow host of the late
During the 1970s, she won the TV Times award for most popular television actress on no fewer than eight separate occasions, such was her popularity in the show. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. In 1980 she was voted best dressed female by the TV Times, and also won numerous newspaper awards, including most popular person on TV, as voted by The Sun readers. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) The Sun is a Tabloid daily newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the highest circulation of any daily English-language
Noele was the only member of the Crossroads cast who had a permanent contract; all other cast members were booked as and when on an 'ad hoc' basis. Noele, however, had been a staff member on the board of ATV since her days of Lunch Box.
Noele stayed with the programme until the producers sensationally sacked her in 1981, when ATV was re-constituted into a new company, Central Independent Television. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Associated TeleVision Limited, best known simply as ATV, was a British ITV company from 1955 until 1981 Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central and now legally ITV Central Ltd, is the British Independent Television contractor The decision to axe Noele was taken by Head of Programmes Charles Denton and Head Of Drama Margaret Matheson - who was new to ATV and wanted to ditch soap opera for more expensive and lavish drama production. Charles Denton is a British Film and Television producer and executive [2] Noele did make a brief return to the series in 1984, when Meg met up with her daughter Jill and son-in-law Adam on their Venice honeymoon.
However, in 1985 Matheson's successor Ted Childs ordered Crossroads to be totally revamped. Ted Childs is a British Television producer, Screenwriter and director, whose notable works include The Sweeney, Kavanagh This new-look was also designed to bring back Noele Gordon on an 'as and when' basis, starting with a three month stint from April 1985. Noele's return as Meg was devised by the new Producer, Phillip Bowman, who himself axed Crossroads stalwarts Ronald Allen and Sue Lloyd in order for the motel to be sold - and thus Meg's daughter Jill was to face a tough choice of whether to agree to the sale, or hold on to the shares her mother left her in 1981. Ronald Allen ( 16 December, 1930 – (some sources say 1934 in Reading Berkshire — 18 June, 1991) was an established Sue Lloyd (born 7 August 1939 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk) is an English model turned actress with many notable Film and Meg's return was to advise Jill to sell the shares, as Meg, we were to discover, was good friends with the new to be owner - Nicola Freeman (played by Gabrielle Drake) and so Noele's character would have plenty of reasons to return to Crossroads once more. Gabrielle Drake (born 30 March, 1944) is a British actress who was born in Lahore Pakistan and lived in several Far East countries Alas, this storyline never came about as Noele died before the planned return.
Crossroads was derided by critics for what one referred to as "storylines that are as badly cobbled together as the plywood sets" but it was greatly loved by the British public and regularly got 17 million viewers. Noele was the epitome of the British soap 'matriarch'; despite everything that happened to her she still managed to cope, care for her family and successfully run her business, which endeared her to the viewing public, particularly the female audience. [3]
There are varying reasons for the termination of her contract in 1981; her forthright manner had never endeared her to her fellow board members. However, it is now widely believed that her removal was due to the fact that ATV was about to be reconstituted into the new Central Independent Television, who did not want to inherit Crossroads. (Central were to ruthlessly cull many of ATV's programmes when they took over, and many viewers' favourites disappeared overnight). Central believed that by removing the linchpin of the show, it would come to a natural conclusion. This was not to be so; though undeniably the programme was never the same after Noele's departure, Crossroads carried on for another seven years until Head Of Production Andy Allen took the decision to end the show in 1987.
Noele had battled cancer publicly since 1982, undergoing two major operations. It didn't stop her making a return to Crossroads in August 1983 for two episodes during the honeymoon episodes of Jill and Adam, filmed in Venice. As one person who simply referred to herself as "Midlands Housewife" wrote to the TV listings magazine, "TV Times", ". A listings magazine is a magazine which contains information about the upcoming weeks events such as TV Listings, Music, Clubs, Theatre . . It was wonderful to see Meg back, why can't she return full time?"
Noele's Public Revenge
After Charles Denton controversially sacked Noele from Crossroads she famously sang a 'love song' to him at the ATV End of Year Party, publicly ridiculing him - which although was never shown to the public, was leaked to YouTube in April 2007. Crossroads is a British Television Soap opera set in a Motel near Birmingham, England. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload view and share Video clips YouTube was created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees
Post Crossroads
After her sacking, Noele appeared in a revival of Irving Berlin's musical Call Me Madam at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Irving Berlin (11 May 1888 &ndash 22 September 1989 was a Russian-born American Composer and Lyricist, and one of the most prolific American songwriters Call Me Madam is a musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station.
In an interview she gave the TV Times in 1981 she announced she may, once her stage work had come to an end, take up the offer of returning to presenting. The broadcaster TV-am was said to be interested in bringing Noele on board to present some of their breakfast programmes. TV-am was a Breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. Speaking in 1984 she said "I did several mornings on TV-am a week or so ago. And I have been recording some programmes for my local radio station. But I would like to do more television - and I am ready for it," However she fell ill, and that promised more regular presenting role at TV AM never materialised because of her failing health, also her grand 1985 comeback in Crossroads also never happened, with the actor Edward Clayton who had previously played Stan Harvey in the 1970s returning to take her place in the storyline.
She retired to her home in Birmingham, where she died in 1985 of cancer. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Her grave is in Ross-on-Wye. Ross-on-Wye ( Welsh: Rhosan ar Wy) is a small Market town with a population of 10089 (according to the 2001 census in southeastern Herefordshire Despite playing such a memorable matriarch, Noele Gordon never married and had no children of her own.
Tony Adams who played Adam Chance in the series commented in 1985 just after her death that "There has never been a star of Crossroads, although Nolly was Crossroads. Tony Adams (born Anthony S Adams 11 December 1940) is a Welsh Actor, best known for his performances in two British Television "[4]
References
- ^ "Noele Gordon (obituary)", 'The Stage', 1985-04-18, p. The Stage is a weekly British Newspaper founded in 1880 available nationally and published on Thursdays Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Events 1025 - Bolesław Chrobry is crowned in Gniezno, becoming the first King of Poland. 15.
- ^ As detailed in the 1982 book 'Crossroads - The Drama Of A Soap Opera. '
- ^ As detailed in the 1982 book 'Crossroads - The Drama Of A Soap Opera.
- ^ As spoken by Adams on 'Crossroads Revisited, the 21st Anniversary documentary for the soap.
External links
- Noele Gordon at the Internet Movie Database
- Noele Gordon The Noele Gordon Website
- Noele Gordon Interview with Noele Gordon
- Noele Gordon Meg Sings!
- Feature about Noele Gordon
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