Maid Marian in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood
BERNADETTE O'FARRELL, the actress who has died aged 75, was often seen in the cinema in parts written by her husband, Frank Launder, who with Sidney Gilliat created the St Trinian's films; but she was best known for a television role, as Maid Marian in the long-running 1950s series The Adventures of Robin Hood.
The programme, which was shown from 1955 until 1959, was created for Lew Grade's television company and proved immensely popular with younger viewers. Essentially a traditional version of the legend, the merry men included Paul Eddington as Will Scarlet, while Donald Pleasence and Richard O'Sullivan were Princes John and Arthur respectively. Robin himself was played by Richard Greene.
Much of the success of the series was attributed to its catchy theme (Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen, Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his merrie men) which, sung by Dick James, became a big hit in 1956. But its other virtues included a high standard of scriptwriting, some of it by Ring Lardner Jr, who had been blacklisted in Hollywood for his suspected Communist sympathies.
The programme was made at Nettlefold Studios, Walton-on-Thames, where the art director, Peter Proud, mounted on wheels props such as baronial fireplaces. This facilitated the quick set changes necessary for a shooting schedule of an episode every four days. Some of the series was directed by Lindsay Anderson.
As Maid Marian, the Irish-born Bernadette O'Farrell was among the most popular characters with viewers, and in 1956 she and Greene toured America to promote the series there.
The Adventures of Robin Hood became one of the first British television programmes to enjoy success on the other side of the Atlantic, and at the height of its popularity more than 30 million viewers in Britain and North America watched its weekly episodes.
But, after two years and 78 episodes of the programme, Bernadette O'Farrell feared that she was becoming typecast, and in 1957 left the series, despite receiving thousands of letters begging her not to abandon Robin. The turning point had come, she said, when the shopkeepers in Chelsea, where she lived, began to greet her with "Good Morning, Maid Marian".
Bernadette Mary O'Farrell was born on January 30 1924 at Birr, Co Offaly.
Her father was a bank manager and her mother a keen amateur actress. Nevertheless, Bernadette initially showed no interest in the stage and, after being educated at a local convent, was working as a solicitor's secretary when she was asked to an audition by Carol Reed, who knew her father.
There she met the director and scriptwriter Frank Launder, 17 years her senior, who gave her a small part in Captain Boycott (1947), with Stewart Granger. In 1949 she appeared as the glamorous sportsmistress in Launder and Gilliat's The Happiest Days of Your Life, with Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, and the following year married Frank Launder.
In the early 1950s, Bernadette O'Farrell combined repertory stage work with small parts in such films as Life in Her Hands (1951), Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951), for Launder and Gilliat, and Lady in the Fog (1952), a Hammer production starring Cesar Romero.
In 1953 she was in her husband's The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, The Genie, with Douglas Fairbanks Jr, and The Square Ring, a boxing tale in which she divorced her husband (Robert Beatty) as she could not bear to see him battered any more. Joan Collins also appeared, as a cheap hussy.
After laying down her Lincoln green as Maid Marian, Bernadette O'Farrell was seen in Launder and Gilliat's The Bridal Path (1959), about a Western Islander (Bill Travers) scouring splendidly vivid Highland scenery for a mate. Then in 1960 she largely retired from acting to spend more time with her young family on their farm at Radnage, Buckinghamshire.
Later, she and Launder moved to Monaco, where they were active in local stage productions and charities. Her husband suffered a severe stroke in 1990, and she nursed him until his death in 1997.
She is survived by their two daughters.
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Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:49:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: chuck <chuckmk@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: (exotica) OT Italian film question
Don't Look Back
Three Coins In the Fountain
Easy listening in the Big Easy
Chuck
- --- Charles Moseley <Charles_Moseley@MCKINSEY.COM> wrote:
>
> Can anybody on the list recommend an American or English film that is set
I just stumbled on a strange little feature at allmusic.com -- you can see a rank ordered list showing how often info was accessed on artists within a musical style. Of course, it doesn't say what the time period is - today, this month, since the begining of allmusic.com?? Anyway, here's the current list:
- -Lou
lousmith@pipeline.com
EASY LISTENING:
List of Most Frequently Accessed Artistsá
Herb Alpert ( 497)áá
Henry Mancini ( 486)á
Sergio Mendes ( 402)á
Esquivel ( 243)á
Ray Conniff ( 232)áá
James Last ( 156)á
Les Baxter ( 134)á
Percy Faith ( 120)á
Nelson Riddle ( 114)á
Xavier Cugat ( 112)áá
Lawrence Welk ( 97)áá
Mantovani ( 96)áá
Bert Kaempfert ( 95)áá
Meco ( 88)áá
Liberace ( 85)áá
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass ( 84)á
Paul Mauriat ( 83)á
Billy Vaughn ( 82)á
Jackie Gleason ( 82)á
Martin Denny ( 80)áá
John Williams ( 76)áá
Richard Clayderman ( 73)á
Hugo Montenegro ( 71)á
Enoch Light ( 71)
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Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 18:40:17 EDT
From: Jazzbaby27@aol.com
Subject: Re: (exotica) let's talk moog
<< I'm also wondering if there is a site somewhere
that lists old moog albums, with scans of covers.
I'd like to know what albums there are besides
the usual Dick Hyman or Kingsley/Perrey -- you know,
the famous ones. I've also got a Limelight or two
in my collection, the Jean Denjean with the sexy
big lips cover, both Switched-On Bacharachs, and
something on Pickwick called "The Happy Moog". Oh,
and _The Copper-Plated Circuit_. Great lp, really
great cover! I think I've got more, but my collection needs
straightening. I'd like to hear about other people's
Moog lp's....
--
Kerry
>>
Yeah! Another moog lover! Our collection overlaps a bit.. my fave record is
definitely Claude Denjean's "Open Circut" His versions of Song Sung Blue, Big
Yellow Taxi and Tightrope just can't be beat.
It's so hard to find moog record info.. but try these sites...
