I assume the actor’s resume of historical roles (W.S. Robert Morley makes a most unlikely Wilde in Gregory Ratoff’s low-budget Oscar Wilde, the first of two biopics released in 1960. Oscar Wilde (1960) and The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) A long-delayed animated feature starring Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Miranda Hart is expected at some point. I’ve selected the Pat Stewart take as it hews closer to Wilde’s story. The late Leslie Phillips appears as the present-day George, Lord Canterville. Many versions of The Canterville Ghost are available to watch online, including the 1986 TV movies with John Gielgud as the phantom 1996, Patrick Stewart and 1997, Ian Richardson. Wilde’s first published story has been adapted umpteen times, most famously in 1944 with Charles Laughton as the spectral Jacobean Sir Simon de Canterville, fated to roam the halls of his ancestral home until he overcomes his cowardice – quite unlike the original tale, where the ghost was cursed for killing his wife, and after being plagued by a rich American family who bought the hall finally found peace through the power of love (very much a Wildean theme). Here are selection of films inspired by Wilde that have also stood the test of time: Wilde (1997) – BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Pluto TV To twist Wilde’s cruel jibe regarding Charles Dickens’s sickly waif, the tiresome Little Nell: ‘One must have a heart of stone to watch Mills adaptations without shedding a tear.’ As a child of the 1970s, I was introduced to Wilde via Michael Mills’s wonderfully affecting animated versions of The Selfish Giant (1971) and The Happy Prince (1974), which Thames Television were wont to play during the school holidays. And more than a century later, that appeal hasn’t faded: this year in England alone, The Importance of Being Earnest toured the north and Richard Strauss’s adaptation of Salome was performed at the Royal Opera House.īut some of the best adaptations of Wilde’s work can be found on screen. One or the other of us must go.’ĭespite Wilde’s precipitous fall from grace and the ignominy heaped upon him (his children had to change their surname to Holland), within a relatively brief time his plays were revived and books reissued to renewed popular acclaim. His last words were said to be: ‘My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. Then she was offered an understudy role in a Sydney Theatre Company (STC) production of Top Girls in 1993.It is 122 years this week since Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde died – in exile, poverty and disgrace – at Paris’s shabby St Germain Hôtel d’Alsace. She was 10 years old.Īfter finding her voice in her school's choir (she has a three-octave vocal range), Blanchett became a drama captain at Methodist Ladies' College and later won a place at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Arts.įresh out of drama school and unemployed, she took a job for a casting agent, reading lines in other actors' auditions. Later that day, he died of a heart attack, aged 40. Sitting at the piano one morning, Blanchett waved goodbye to her father as he set off for his job as an advertising executive. She told ABC Classic earlier this year: "Watching him on stage I just wanted to be up there amongst it all it seemed to be such a playful and alive place to be."īy nine, Blanchett's piano teacher had picked up on her real ambitions and called an end to their lessons, as the actor recounted to The Guardian this year: " would have these concerts and she instinctively picked up on how I would just come along and act the part of a musician." She was seven when her mother first took her to the theatre, to see a production of The Mikado starring famous character actor Frank Thring. So what sets her apart? From a quiet Melbourne suburb to the stageīorn in 1969, Catherine Elise Blanchett spent her childhood exploring the hidden parks of Ivanhoe, a leafy suburb in Melbourne's north-east, and learning piano and German.īlanchett is the middle child of three, and her father, a US naval officer, met her mother, a teacher, when his ship broke down in Melbourne. While many make the pilgrimage to the States to further their careers, few get a foothold in the industry.īut not only has Blanchett found a foothold, she's climbed the highest peaks. Still, with two Oscar wins already under her belt, Blanchett is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated Australians in Hollywood. She was also nominated for best actress at this week's Oscars - but was pipped at the post by Everything Everywhere All at Once's Michelle Yeoh. Yes, that's Blanchett, in her early 20s, in an ad that is etched into the Australian imagination.įast forward to 2023 and Blanchett, now 53, has just come off a magical awards season run, winning a Golden Globe, Critics' Choice and BAFTA award for her titular turn in the psychological drama Tár, as a conductor coming undone.
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