Dance and actor Lionel Blair chooses his friend and dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy described himself as a 'one-eyed black Jew' - and he was described by others as one of the greatest all-round entertainers of all time.Lionel danced and sang with Sammy in a dazzling performance on the stage at the Royal Variety Performance in 1961, and he revisits that memory through an evocative archive recording. Paul Gambaccini is on hand to help presenter Matthew Parris draw out the contradictions and triumphs of Sammy Davis Jr's great American life. Producer: Beth O'DeaFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2010.
FeatureKultur & Gesellschaft
Great Lives Folgen
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Folgen von Great Lives
396 Folgen
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Folge vom 28.12.2010Sammy Davis Jr
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Folge vom 21.12.2010Samuel BeckettBusiness guru Sir Gerry Robinson was born in Ireland but moved to England in his teens, and he chooses Samuel Beckett, another Irishman who lived away for much of his life - in Paris. Gerry, a late convert to Beckett's plays, loves him because he's accepting of the human condition: that we're all locked in this repetitive pattern. We don't want to keep on doing the same thing over and over again, but we do. Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined by Jim Knowlson, who was a personal friend of Samuel Beckett for 19 years, and is his authorised biographer. He reveals that Beckett was far from the dour gloomy figure of popular imagination, and was in fact very good company - as long as you didn't interrupt him when he was watching the rugby on the telly on a Saturday afternoon.Producer: Beth O'Dea.
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Folge vom 14.12.2010DH LawrenceDH Lawrence was, in the words of Geoff Dyer, a man with thin wrists and thick trousers. He was also the author of Women in Love, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley's Lover. But poet and performer John Hegley has chosen him above all for the quality of his poetry, an admiration presenter Matthew Parris also shares.Lawrence died aged just 44. An obituary at the time reckoned he was 'a rebel against all the accepted values of modern civilization'. Certainly his life - born in Eastwood, Notts, became a teacher only to run off with a German-born mother of three to embark on his 'savage pilgrimage' around the world - was unpredictable. As indeed was this programme, recorded in front of an audience at the Arnolfini in Bristol, with John Hegley using both music and verse to make his point. Geoff Dyer, the author of Out of Sheer Rage, makes the case that Lawrence's unpredictability was a sign of strength, and that his best work lies in his letters and not his books. The producer is Miles Warde.
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Folge vom 07.12.2010Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren was the great rock'n'roll swindler, who died in April 2010, aged 64. 'I've been called many things,' McLaren wrote as advance publicity for his one man show, 'a charlatan, a con man, or the culprit responsible for turning popular culture into nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick. This is my chance to prove these accusations are true.'The man behind the Sex Pistols and Duck Rock is nominated by public relations expert Mark Borkowski, author of The Fame Formula, and a man who knew him well. What intrigues Borkowski is not just the success, but the myths that have evolved around this highly manipulative man. Presenter Matthew Parris is more sceptical.So is the journalist for NME between 1974-1981, Chris Salewicz who watched McLaren rewrite the rules of management. He also introduced the Sex Pistols to the man from EMI who then signed them up. An intriguing programme about fame, the media, and why the truth should not be confused with an easily believable myth.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2010.