Thursday, June 14, 2007

Croydonians of Note...


...Include;
I've heard of her so many times, but I couldn't name you one single film or telly appearance of hers. I'd imagine she has been in some sort of period drama with other such actors as Omar Sharif, etc.

Jeff Beck, guitarist
Ah! I know this guy (not personally, mind). Unfortunately, he will mostly be known for the song "Hi Ho Silver Lining". A very stylish player, modest and quite down to earth as a person.

Keith Berry, musician & composer
Never heard of 'im. Something to do with ambient music, apparently.

Derren Brown, psychological illusionist
This is a top man! The bullshit-detector extraordinaire! Spiritualists cack themselves if Derren's around. He's also handy to have as a mate, he can get you cash winnings from a losing ticket at the dog-track...I'm serious.

Lewis Grabban, footballer
An up'n'coming young striker for Crystal Palace FC. Grabban scored his first league goal for Crystal Palace on 14th March 2007 coming on as an 86th minute substitute for Michael Hughes and securing a 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion in the 4th minute of Extra-Time, much to the delight of his teammates, the Palace management and Grabban himself, but not to the delight of Baggiebird.

David Lean, film director
Well known for some marvels of celluloid including Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, and Doctor Zhivago. Classics - each and every one of them. Hang on, what's this?!? He directed "A Passage to India" starring none other than Dame Peggy Ashcroft?!? Is this a case of Croydon people sticking together?

Kirsty MacColl, musician
The very talented, beautiful and sadly missed Kirsty was a smart songwriter but she also used to do a few mean cover versions to boot. Her untimely death in Mexico has started a "Justice for Kirsty" campaign. Perhaps one day the Mexican government will sit up and take this seriously.

Kate Moss, model
Skinny bird who is currently shagging a flea-bitten QPR supporter.

Malcolm Muggeridge British media personality
He was also a journalist, spy, satirist and author. He was a bit of a wild one in his early days and then he went on to slag off Monty Python's Life of Brian. He converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 79, eight years before he kicked the bucket.

Nigel Reo-Coker, footballer
Currently playing for West Ham but perhaps not for much longer. Tottenham fans spelled it out with partly correct foresight in a chant to the tune of "The Hokey-Cokey", aimed at WHUFC supporters;
"You put your Argentines in, Your Argentines out,
The Iceman comes in and he kicks the gaffer out,
You're selling Reo-Coker and you're going down,
That's why we love to shout...
Ooh, wanky, wanky West Ham (etc)..."
(With heartfelt apologies to Geoff)

Dane Bowers, Singer
Dane went on to claim that his highest achievement in life was that he shagged Jordan. Sad git.

Ronnie Corbett, comedian
Comedy hero of the people. He once gave the finger to a young schoolboy Sensible from his car.
I never watch the soaps on the telly, but this lass is a big CPFC fan, so she can't be all that bad, can she?

Peter Sarstedt, Singer, Winner of Ivor-Novello Award
This guy was actually born in Delhi (there is some connection with Croydon, not too sure what it is though) and had a 1969 one-hit wonder with the song "Where do you go to (my lovely)". It won an Ivor Novello award alongside "Space Oddity" by Bowie. Sarstedt created that look that was often to be seen in early seventies episodes of Swedish Erotica.
Famous for his starring role in the fantastic film "The Wicker Man" but also as the main character in US telly series "The Equaliser". He married Michele Dotrice who used to have a romantic thing going on with wombat-whoopsie Frank Spencer.

Roy Hudd, comic actor
He's also known as a British radio and television actor, playwright and music hall bod. Not to be confused with Yorkshire born puppet-meister Rod Hull.
Fairy illustrator, in a Laura Ashley type of way.

Mark Butcher, Surrey and England cricketer
Mark Butcher partnered with Sarah Brightman on the second series of Just the Two of Us aired on BBC One in January, 2007. Poor bastard.

23 comments:

rockmother said...

God - I LOVE The Equaliser!

Istvanski said...

Christ! That was a super-fast comment! I've only just posted this up and I've not even got around to proof reading it.
It's like you're just hanging about waiting to pounce ha-ha!

rockmother said...

Ooh freaky - no - coincidence I can assure you.

Dick Headley said...

Ever heard of Jabez Balfour? This is going back a few years mind....interesting man.

Howesy said...

Wasn't Attila the Hun from Croydon?

rockmother said...

Don't you mean Attila the Stockbroker?

Istvanski said...

DH - I had to google him. What a character, he certainly lived a colourful life.
Just another crooked politician, makes for some interesting reading.

Howesy - Surely you must mean Istvanski the Hun?

RoMo - The chap you're refering to comes from Br*ght*n.

savannah said...

croydon was mentioned in a show i was watching last night..(the last detective on dvd)

what was the question?

Bock the Robber said...

That's a remarkable collection of famous people, ranging from the sublime (Jeff Beck, Kirsty MacColl), through the I've-never-heard-of (Lewis Grabban) to the ridiculous (Kate Moss, Dane Bowers) and on to the great Mark Partman, who butchered Sarah brightman, fair play to him.

I preferred Callan to the Wicker Man, but in the end it all comes down to personal taste.

rockmother said...

Didn't the Head of Barneys call Kate Moss a 'working class slag from a crap town' when she launched her 'duplikate' collection in NY?

Istvanski said...

Savvy - I don't know what the question was, I've not seen the show. There is a Croydon in Pennsylvania, US, but there's also a Croydon near Adelaide in South Australia.

Which Croydon was the question refering to?

Bock - Yes, that's a right motley bunch of celebs that's been spewed forth from the town. I remember Callan, it had some pretty good dialogue.

Callan: "How do you like your tea?"
Lonely: "Interfered with."

RoMo - The head of Barneys was right about Kate, but wrong about the town. It's not that bad...no, really it's not.

savannah said...

the one you live in...

Istvanski said...

Savvy - Was it something to do with Tramlink?

savannah said...

no, murder

rockmother said...

Are you sure that wasn't Taggart? "There's been a murrrdhuhhh!"

Istvanski said...

What the hell is Taggart doing in Croydon?

rockmother said...

Investigating a murrrdhurrr of course - or having a drink with Edwud Wudwurd.

savannah said...

mp, no, no...dc dangerous davies on the last detective!

Istvanski said...

Davies is a low-ranked CID officer in the London borough of Willesden. He is nicknamed "Dangerous" ironically because he is the member of the department least likely to get into a dangerous situation. In the novels and TV series he is called "The Last Detective" from his superior's assessment of him as "the last detective you'd ever send out on a case". Despite this, Davies is by no means a poor detective, and although he can take longer than his colleagues, and is dogged by bad luck, he does usually "get his man" in the end.

The first story had him drifting into the years-old unsolved case of the disappearance of Celia Norris, a local girl with a dark side. With his friend, the perpetually unemployed and well-read Mod Lewis (he spends all his time at the library to save on heating) he tracks down the culprit, collecting plenty of cuts, bumps and bruises along the way at the hands of the local thugs. At one point he is "binned" — an empty dustbin is placed over his head, pinning his arms, and the outside is then hit with pickaxe handles.

Bernard Cribbins played Davies in the first television version of this story. At the end he was swathed in so many bandages as to be unrecognizable, and confined temporarily to a wheelchair.

Much of the appeal of the books and TV series lies in the comical interactions between Davies and the other characters. His kindly manner enables him to gain the confidence of witnesses and suspects, many of whom reveal their eccentricities to him. Other humour comes from his friendship with Mod, and from his relationship with his estranged wife Doris.

Was it the film you were watching (starring Bernard Cribbins) or the TV series?

savannah said...

tv series...so you know it, sugar?

Anonymous said...

You forgot Mai Ledwidge from Penge.

Istvanski said...

Savvy - I know of it but I haven't seen it. I'm hoping they'll have it at the library.

Anon - Who??? Not even Wiki and Google have heard of this Penge living person with a Welsh name.

Póló said...

This "Penge living person" died on 21 January 2011.

http://photopol.blogspot.com/2011/01/mai.html

RIP