
Acting
Avis Bunnage
Born 1923-04-22 · Manchester, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Avis Bunnage (22 April 1923, Manchester, England, UK – 4 October 1990, England) was a British actress of film, stage and television. She attended Manley Park Municipal School and Chorlton Central School in Manchester. She worked as a secretary and a nursery teacher before deciding to become an actress. She gained stage experience in rep and made her first professional appearance at Chorlton Rep Theatre in Manchester in 1947. Most notably, she appeared as Veronica, the wife of Rigsby, in Rising Damp, for one episode. Bunnage was a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop company at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. There she created the role of Helen, the mother in A Taste of Honey, her first West End role when the play transferred to Wynndems Theatre, and also a role in Oh, What a Lovely War! at Stratford East, which also transferred to Wyndams Theatre. When Avis was on holiday from this production for two weeks, her role was taken over by Danny La Rue. Among her other roles for Theatre Workshop were Mrs. Lovitt in Christopher Bond's play Sweeny Todd (the basis for the Sondheim musical), and the title role in a play about the music hall legend Marie Lloyd. In the early years of Coronation Street she played Lucile Hewitt's auntie. She was in the musical Billy at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, playing the mother of 'Billy Liar'. She played Golda in Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Alfie Bass, at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. Married to Derek Orchard, she died in Thorpe Bay, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, aged 67. Description above from the Wikipedia article Avis Bunnage, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting credits
7.6In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.
Gandhi
1982
6.5Rogues Jelly Knight, Scapa Flood, and Lennie the Dip leave prison expecting boss The Duke to have their stash ready to share out. Instead, Duke's girl Sara gives them the news Duke is dead and the money gone on nursing care. They soon discover that Duke is actually running Hope Springs Nature Clinic with the help of most of the local villains. Very strange - and the nearby army camp and Sara's encouragement of Lieutenant Vine would seem to be no coincidence either. Written by Jeremy Perkins
Rotten to the Core
1965
6.0Twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are raised in east London, under the influence of their hateful but doting mother Violet. As they grow up, Ronnie's violent nature takes over, and Reggie follows his brother's lead. The two become notorious crime lords who rule over the East End club scene. But at the height of their power, the brothers veer into different lives, giving the older crime bosses a chance to reclaim what the Krays took from them.
The Krays
1990
5.9Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?
Tom Jones
1963
7.0A 22-year-old factory worker lets loose on the weekends: drinking, brawling, and dating two women, one of whom is older and married.
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
1960
6.4In Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other—or can be made to have seemed to do so.
The Wrong Box
1966
7.2A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy’s reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution by impressing its Governor through his prowess as a long distance runner. He is encouraged to compete in an upcoming race, but faces ridicule from his peers.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
1962
6.8Jane is young, French, pregnant and unmarried. Bucking convention, she is uninterested in settling with her baby's father or getting an abortion. After renting a room in a dingy London boarding house, Jane befriends the odd group of inhabitants and starts an affair with one boarder, Toby. As Jane's pregnancy threatens her new relationship, and the reality of single motherhood approaches, she is forced to decide what to do about both her baby and her budding romance.
The L-Shaped Room
1962
6.2When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.
A Study in Terror
1965
7.5After being harassed by a couple of punks, a young woman picks up an old lady standing at the roadside in the rain.
Panic
1978
5.5Doctors Burke and Hare leave the confines of St Swithins for the world of general practice, stopping off on the way as patients at the Foulness Anti-cold Unit. Hare then takes up a position as junior in a well-healed G.P.'s surgery while Burke continues to sow his doctorial wild oats.
Doctor in Love
1960
8.0Comedy play about a seaside photographer, Henry Hunter, who goes to Margate every year to work, staying with his friends Frank and Hylda. However, he is getting older, and his trade is dying out as people have their own instamatic cameras.
Everybody Say Cheese
1971
6.5Margaret Ross is an impoverished old woman who lives alone in a seedy apartment and enjoys a rich fantasy life as an heiress. One day she discovers stolen money hidden by her son and believes her fantasy has come true.
The Whisperers
1967
5.3Charlie returns to the East End after two years at sea to find his house demolished and wife Maggie gone. Everyone else knows she is now shacked up with married bus driver Bert and a toddler, and they all watch with more than a little interest at the trail of mayhem Charlie leaves as he goes about sorting things out.
Sparrows Can't Sing
1963
6.7Johnnie Byrne is a member of the British Parliament. In his 40s, he's feeling frustrated with his life and his personal as well as professional problems tower up over him. His desires to win the next election are endangered by his constant looking for love and he is faced with the choice of giving up a career in politics or giving up the woman he loves.
No Love for Johnnie
1961
6.7It's New Year's Eve in Thatcher's de-industrialising Britain. The scene is set at a seedy bar in Liverpool where a group of Irish Protestant and Irish Catholic pensioners will gather to clash and bash the new year in.
No Surrender
1985
5.1Herman inherits a greyhound and decides to make his fortune by dog racing. After traveling from Manchester to London in the hope of entering a national invitational, Herman and his friends find work in a pop group, and Herman falls in love.
Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter
1968
6.4Unemployed East End lad Alf Hitchens has an on-off relationship with his girlfriend Marilyn and a dream of hitting the big time in the music business. Cheerful pop musical with a working-class background which uses a number of genuine London locations.
What a Crazy World
1963
5.3A seedy London promoter turns a naive, working-class teenager into a pop singing sensation.
Expresso Bongo
1959
NRA TV play from Taste of Honey writer Shelagh Delaney. A chance encounter late one night in central Manchester reunites two estranged sisters-but for how long?
Find Me First
1981
NRSecure in her suburban home, Virginia Fly dreams of a life of unbridled passion and romance. She feels her fantasies are about to become reality when she is asked to take part in a TV documentary about pre-marital love - a subject about which she is sadly ignorant...
Virginia Fly is Drowning
1981
4.0Sweet Hilda Capper spends her birthday fending off the well-meaning intrusions of family and friends.
Mrs Capper's Birthday
1985
10.0A woman starts work as a nanny to a mute boy in a Victorian household. The boy's growing attachment to her however causes greater problems than his original detachment to his family. Part of the 1980 season of BBC Play for Today.
Jessie
1980
Alfred decides to move with the times and improve his family business. However, he finds that it's bad enough to be up against strong-minded relations without the biggest stumbling block of all - his own stupid, but well-meaning, son.
The Stumbling Block
1972