William James "Bill" Murray.

Lawrence Eugene "Larry" David.

Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers.

Jim Laker.

By Brian Viner

Jim Laker died 25 years ago today. 

For my generation, who came of age as cricket enthusiasts in the 1970s, he represents the golden age of BBC television's Test match coverage.

His gruff, slightly nasal: "Thank you, Richie, morning everyone", on taking the microphone from his great commentary-box compadre Richie Benaud was part of the soundtrack of my youth, no less than The Specials singing "Too Much Too Young".

Maybe we did have too much too young, all those hours of Test match coverage filling one of only three available TV channels. My older son is now the age I was in 1978, and seems to be revising much harder for his GCSEs than I did for my O levels. I was tempted from my text books 33 years ago by the twin seductresses of a football World Cup in Argentina, and England thumping Pakistan in one-day and Test cricket, distractions that did much the same damage to my exam results as Bob Willis and Chris Old, as laconically described by Laker, or Benaud, routinely did that summer to the Pakistani top order.

To those who had been schoolboys in the 1950s, however, the commentary-box version of Laker was merely a passing incarnation of the off-spinning hero of Old Trafford, the Yorkshireman who had saved his greatest deeds for an audience of Lancastrians. In 1978 my cricket-loving friends and I knew about Laker's 19 for 90, in the fourth Ashes Test in 1956, in much the same way that my son and his friends know about Ian Botham's heroics in 1981, interesting enough but only as a history lesson.

At least their history lesson comes in full Technicolor. For those of us who in 1956 weren't even padded up for the innings of life, jerky black-and-white newsreel footage is all we've seen of Laker's match, although it is enough to appreciate the singularly undemonstrative way, even in those undemonstrative times, in which he greeted each wicket to fall. It is said that when Laker got home that night, his wife Lilly, who was Austrian and had bewilderedly fielded lots of congratulatory phone calls, said, "Darling, did you do something good today?" There's no account of his response, but it was doubtless a shrug, and a gruff "not bad".

Laker was only 64 when he died. He could have been with us still, watching orgiastic eruptions on the taking of a wicket, the scoring of a goal, and shaking his big Yorkshire head in disbelief. Yet it would be wrong to assume from the old newsreel footage that there was no ferment on the field at Old Trafford. As Colin Cowdrey later told it, it was not an Australian who felt most humiliated by Laker's 19 wickets but his chippy Surrey and England team-mate Tony Lock, the left-arm spinner best-known these days as the answer to a quiz question: who took the only Aussie wicket that Jim Laker didn't in the 1956 Old Trafford Test?

The England captain that day, Peter May, knew how Lock was feeling. "Forget the scorebook, Tony, you played your part, too," he said afterwards. But Lock never did forget the scorebook, and nor, for happier reasons, and whether or not we were alive at the time, will the rest of us.




Click here for some vintage footage...

John Charles Bryan Barnes.

One of my real heroes as a young lad...

"He's scored!... And England, amazingly, are in the lead!"

Bertrand Arthur William Russell.

Peter Edward Cook (6 of 6).

Peter Edward Cook (5 of 6).

Peter Edward Cook (4 of 6).

Peter Edward Cook (3 of 6).

Peter Edward Cook (2 of 6).

Peter Edward Cook (1 of 6).

Richard Henry 'Peter' Sellers.

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Master impressionist Peter Sellers was born Richard Henry Sellers on September 8, 1925 in Southsea, Hampshire, England. His parents, Agnes (Peg) and Bill Sellers, called him Peter in memory of his stillborn older brother. Sellers' parents were vaudeville entertainers, and at two days old, Sellers was carried onto the stage at King's Theatre. He spent his childhood traveling the vaudeville circuit, where he gained a fondness for entertaining and a desire to succeed beyond the realm of vaudeville.

As a youth, Sellers attended 'Miss Whitney's School of Dancing' in Southsea, and 'Madame Vacani's Dancing Classes' in London before enrolling in St Aloysius' Boarding and Day School for Boys. In the early 1940s, Sellers played the drums with touring jazz bands and also learned to play the banjo and ukulele. Just after his 18th birthday, Sellers was drafted into the British Royal Air Force. He became an official RAF concert entertainer, and between 1943 and 1946, Sellers spent his free time performing comedy sketches and playing the drums for the other servicemen.

After returning home from the war, Sellers pursued a position with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). By 1948 he had taken part in a few moderately successful auditions, none of which had resulted in an invitation to join the BBC. Having grown impatient for stardom, Sellers chose to take matters into his own hands. The comic made a telephone call to Roy Speer, producer of the BBC radio program, "Show Time." Sellers posed as a popular radio star and recommended himself to Speer. The producer, impressed with Sellers' "acting", gave him a spot on the air. Following his initial appearances on "Show Time," Sellers became a sought-after radio personality. 


On the long-running BBC radio show, "Crazy People" (later called "The Goon Show"), Sellers established himself as a master impressionist. The show's zany collection of skits and Sellers' outrageous characters, including Major Bloodnok, Bluebottle and Henry Crun, have been recognized as the predecessors to Monty Python's Flying Circus. "The Goon Show" provided Sellers with a showcase for his improvisational skills as well as an outlet for life's frustrations.

By the time "The Goon Show" ended in January 1960, Sellers had earned the exposure necessary to begin a career in film. After appearing in several British pictures, Sellers achieved success in the U.S. with "The Mouse That Roared" (1959). In 1960 he received international attention for his role in the film "The Millionairess," in which he co-starred with Sophia Loren. 

The incredibly versatile Sellers could slip in and out of characters with surprising speed. His genius was displayed through his depiction of multiple characters in "Mouse" as well as in several other films throughout his career. "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), considered Sellers' best film, earned him his first Oscar nomination in 1965. In 1963, Sellers introduced the world to his best-known character, Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther's bumbling master of disguise. 


There were four sequels to this successful comedic film: A Shot in the Dark (1964), The Return of the Pink Panther (1974), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). 1982's Trail of the Pink Panther is a posthumous collection of outtakes from the previous Panther films combined with new footage of other cast members.


Sellers garnered his second Oscar nomination for the critically acclaimed film, Being There (1979), in which he played the child-like Chance, a gardener mistaken for an economic guru. Sellers' controlled performance was key to the success of this subtle comedy. The comedian's film career ended just before his death in 1980, with The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu.

Though Sellers was a great success professionally, he did not fare as well in the personal realm. The son of an overprotective, controlling mother, Sellers often behaved like a child, throwing tantrums and demanding his wives' undivided attention. Sellers married four times, to Anne Howe, Britt Ekland, Miranda Quarry and Lynne Frederick. He also sired three children: Michael, Sarah and Victoria. Sellers' wives and children were forced to suffer the effects of living with an obsessive perfectionist whose attentions focused mainly on himself and his career.  












After appearing in over 60 films as well as on numerous radio and television shows throughout his career, Sellers died of a heart attack on July 24, 1980. Displaying his unending sense of humor, the comic said goodbye with one last joke. At Sellers' request, the song "In The Mood" was played at his funeral, a tune that he hated. According to biographer Roger Lewis, Sellers had told his son Michael that the song was "wonderfully inappropriate - hence, wonderfully appropriate - for solemn occasions." 


1974 Interview (Part 1)                (Part 2)                (Part 3)                (Part 4)

Peter Sellers (1925 - 1980)

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Richard "Richie" Benaud.

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Richie Benaud (1930 -   )

Richie Benaud is a former Australian cricketer   who, since his retirement from the game in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on   the game.

Although an honorable mention must go to the extraordinary Brian "Johnners" Johnston, his English commentating counterpart who passed away in 1994, Richie has consistently been my personal favourite accompaniment to the brilliant game. He possesses an unmistakable voice, a mellow and authoritative manner, a dry wit, and an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things cricket.


Most people under the age of 60 will be unfamiliar with him as a younger man.

He seems to have always had hair of grey-ish white and suit of beige-ish beige...

As captain of Australia (for 28 tests) he only lost 4 times, regaining the Ashes in 1958-59 and then managing to defend them twice. His presence summoned the best from his players: cool but communicative, he impressed as one to whom no event was unexpected and no contingency unplanned for.

Benaud enjoyed an illustrious playing career as an inventive leg spinner and aggressive batsman, which yielded 248 test wickets and 2201 runs from 63 tests - indeed, he was the first player to complete the Test double of 200 wickets and 2000 runs.

He then moved seamlessly into the commentary box, where his wry observations, great intelligence, high levels of preparation, and, crucially, his ability to think before speaking, made him a flawless broadcaster.

Below he gives his opinion on the infamous 1981 underarm bowling incident (where Australia rolled the ball along the deck to prevent New Zealand scoring a six of the final ball...)

A guru to Ian Chappell and Shane Warne among others, he is perhaps the most influential cricketer/cricketing personality since the 2nd World War.


Mike Norrish of The Telegraph is also a fan:

"There was - is - a warmth to Benaud that cannot really be described to those who didn't grow up spending summer days watching cricket on the sofa.


It's partly the humour - Benaud has impeccable comic timing and is the master of the understatement - and it's partly the gentleness and civility - who else could make 'Morning Everyone' a catchphrase?


Personally, I love the fact that Benaud - almost uniquely for such a decorated sportsman - doesn't cling to the past. Everything wasn't better in his day. He just loves great cricket and great cricketers - wherever and whenever he sees them."



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Brian Douglas Wilson.

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Start by clicking here, if you so desire...

He is maybe one of popular music's most deeply revered figures. The main creative force behind some of the most cherished recordings in rock history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most influential composers of the last century.

Wilson's remarkable journey began in a modest Californian home that was filled with music. His mum & dad both played piano, and as a young 'boy soprano', Brian's vocal gift was immediately evident as he began singing harmonies with his two younger brothers, Dennis & Carl. As a teen in the 1950s he became obsessed with the harmonic blends of groups like The Four Freshmen, and then, in the early 1960s, as he combined multi-part vocal harmony with the rock rhythms of Chuck Berry, Brian found his place in the musical sun.

He was barely out of his teens when he began to create some of the decade's most memorable pop music. Nine consecutive 'gold' albums followed, featuring such hits as "Surfin' USA", "In My Room", "I Get Around", "Don't Worry Baby", and "California Girls" ...to name just a handful of over two dozen 'Top 40' hits that Brian co-wrote, arranged, produced and performed with his band - The Beach Boys.

The Beach Boys (circa 1962)

By 1966, glorious harmonies, ingenious hooks and four years of virtually uninterrupted commercial success was no longer enough to satisfy Brian, and as his artistic horizons expanded dramatically, he produced three records in that landmark year that forever changed the course of popular music.

The first was 'Pet Sounds'; effectively an emotional autobiography of the 23-year old Wilson, it is considered by most right-minded individuals to be one of the greatest albums ever made. In the process of bringing it to life, Brian, as composer, arranger and producer, rewrote all the rules of what a record could be; as one observer noted, its release was 'Independence Day' for rock 'n' roll. Primarily working with a new collaborator, in lyricist and songwriter Tony Asher, Pet Sounds was a musical canvas as boundless as his own heart.

In the American charts the album reached No.10, and featured four hit singles: 'Sloop John B', 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', 'Caroline No' - a mournful ode to lost love, which was actually released as a solo single under the name 'Brian Wilson', and 'God Only Knows' - featuring an inspired vocal from his brother Carl, surely one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

Brian's second studio masterpiece in 1966 was a track that he first cut during the Pet Sounds session, but it was not included on the album as it was deemed 'unfinished'. As spring turned to summer, and as Brian spent months on end repeatedly tracking different arrangements and pieces of it, he began to close in on completing what he once called 'the biggest production of our lives'. 

Over more than a dozen sessions, the Pet Sounds outtake began to take shape as the next Beach Boys single, and when it was released on the world in the autumn of 1966, it stunned everybody. It was not just the Beach Boys' first million-selling, worldwide No.1 but an absolute milestone in recording history. 'Good Vibrations' was a record that legendary publicist Derek Taylor called a 'pocket symphony'; given its kaleidoscopic movements, it was an apt description. Wilson demonstrated the breadth of his musical vision whilst showing how the recording studio could be a key instrument in creating his art.

Everybody in the industry was asking 'How did he do it?' and 'What is he going to do next?' The answer would take shape through a new collaboration, this time with an inspired poet and burgeoning songwriter, Van Dyke Parks. And so, as 'Good Vibrations' headed from final mix to master to pressing plant, Brian and Van Dyke began work on his third major production of 1966, an album that Wilson believed would be a 'teenage symphony to God'.

'Smile' was to feature such Wilson/Parks songs as 'Heroes & Villains', 'Surf's Up', 'Cabin Essence' and the wordless a cappella marvel, 'Our Prayer'. Those who heard the 'work in progress' were hailing it as the cutting edge of a new sound. A suite of songs that combined classical composition, multi-part harmonies, rock rhythms, wondrous wordplay and an avant-garde sensibility - it was somehow going to be both ahead of its time and timeless. 'Smile' quickly became one of the most anticipated works of the rock era.

Unfortunately, Brian was nearing its completion when a combination of circumstances forced him to shelve it. He suffered from record industry pressure, technical challenges, personal problems and internal group dynamics (band member Mike Love had already dismissed the exceptional 'Good Vibrations' as 'avant-garde shit' and objected to the way Wilson, Parks and a group of highly skilled session musicians were creating music way beyond his understanding).

Everybody, especially the Beatles, who developed a friendly creative rivalry with the Beach Boys, had been watching and waiting to hear how Brian would follow-up 'Good Vibrations'. As their producer Sir George Martin regretfully noted, 'We waited in vain'. During the subsequent 37 years, 'Smile' became the most famous unfinished, unreleased album ever.

Following the cancellation, the Beach Boys relocated to a recording studio within the confines of Brian's mansion, where the hastily compiled 'Smiley Smile' album was assembled, along with a number of future Beach Boys records. This marked the end of his leadership within the band, and has been seen to be 'the moment when the Beach Boys first started slipping from the vanguard to nostalgia'. Psychologically overwhelmed by the cancellation of his album, the release of The Beatles' album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', and the birth of his first child Carnie Wilson, Brian began having a diminished creative role within the Beach Boys. 

Until about 1970 he remained the group's principal songwriter, but increasingly production reins were handed to younger brother Carl, who mostly oversaw the albums 'Smiley Smile', 'Wild Honey', and 'Friends' (a personal favourite of Brian's). After that, he all but stopped writing songs and was frequently seen partying in the company of singer/songwriters Tandyn Almer and Danny Hutton.

It was during this period that he was introduced to cocaine. Brian spent the majority of the following three years in his bedroom - sleeping, taking drugs and overeating. During this time, his voice deteriorated significantly as a result of chain smoking, drug ingestion and neglect. Many of his 'new' contributions to Beach Boys albums were remnants of 'Smile', and those that were genuinely new reflected his depression and growing detachment from the world (most memorably the painfully brilliant 'Til I die').

In 1975, Wilson's wife and family enlisted the services of controversial therapist Dr Eugene Landy in a bid to help Wilson, and hopefully revive the group's ailing profile. Wilson did not initially stay under Landy's care for long, but during this short period, the doctor managed to help him into a more productive, social frame of mind. The new album '15 Big Ones', consisting of oldies and some new songs was released in 1976 and Wilson gradually began to appear live on stage with the band again. He was also deemed to be well enough to do a solo performance on Saturday Night Live in 1976. In 1977, the cult favourite 'Love You' was released, consisting entirely of new material written and performed by Wilson.

The Beach Boys (circa 1979)

By 1982, however, Dr Landy was once more called into action, and a more radical program was undertaken to try and restore Brian to health. This involved firing him from the Beach Boys, isolating him from his family in Hawaii, holding long counseling sessions and putting him on a rigorous diet and health regime. As a result, he lost a tremendous amount of weight, was undeniably healthier and more conversant than previously, but was also under an increasingly strict level of control by Landy. Despite all this, Wilson joined the band on stage for 'Live Aid' in 1985.

Dr Landy provided a Svengali-like environment, controlling every movement in Brian's life (including his musical direction). His general misconduct would eventually lead to the loss of his psychologist license, as well as a court-ordered removal and restraining order from Wilson.

Sadly, for a long while music took a back seat as he struggled, in the words of the Pet Sounds song 'I Just Wasn't Made For These Times', to find a place to fit in, to survive. Some years later, during his second marriage, Brian was diagnosed with 'Schizoaffective disorder', which supposedly caused him to hear voices in his head. Rumours had been rife that he had either had a stroke or had abused too many drugs and was permanently 'fried'. The actual problem was that Brian, who had been prescribed anti-psychotic medicine by Dr Landy since 1983, had developed 'Tardive Dyskinesia' - a neurological condition marked by involuntary, repetitive movements. 

Having been moved on to a reduced, mild combination of antidepressants, he resumed recording and released his long-awaited debut solo album in 1988, which featured 'Love and Mercy' (see below or click post title to hear) - a beautiful song that often ends his concerts.

In 1990, Pet Sounds received its debut release on CD, earning the album the recognition that had often eluded it. Further retrospective releases, including 'The Pet Sounds Sessions' box set and the 5-CD collection 'Good Vibrations' (which included the first official release of outtakes from the Smile sessions) fueled a major reassessment of Wilson's musical contribution.

As the 20th Century came to a close, one of its most beloved composers began one of the most improbable artistic reinventions ever - Brian became a concert performer. Conquering his legendary stage-fright, he went on his first solo tour in 1999, taking centre stage at a series of concerts which finally gave his fans the opportunity to return the love they'd received from his music.

In the summer of 2000, Wilson kicked off his acclaimed 'Pet Sounds Tour', taking his mesmerising studio creation to concert halls around the world (from the Hollywood Bowl to London's Royal Festival Hall to the Sydney Opera House) giving audiences the opportunity to experience the original production masterpiece as a living, breathing work of art. 

It had become clear that Brian had also never lost sight of the music that had become the 'holy grail' of pop - 'Smile'. Inspired by the Radio City gig, where he performed 'Heroes & Villains' for the first time in decades, he started to add 'Smile' songs to his live sets. Then, in 2003, the day after receiving the UK's prestigious Ivor Novello Award for 'Lifetime Achievement', Wilson announced the impossible. 

Against all odds and in the face of enormous expectation, he and Van Dyke Parks reunited and set out to do a version of the lost album.

Adding a new layer of surprise to the Smile story, which had been conceived as a revolutionary studio record, it would also come to life 'live on stage'. In February 2004, Brian Wilson's version of Smile was revealed to the world in a week of dramatic concerts in London (one of which I had the privilege of being at) where it was rightly greeted with an ecstatic response from fans, rock royalty and the assembled media from around the globe.

After an extended tour of the UK and Europe, Brian and his band recorded an all-new studio version of the album, and 'Brian Wilson presents SMiLE' was released in September 2004. Like the concerts, the album exceeded expectations and was received with unbridled joy and thrilling reviews. It topped many 'Album of the Year' polls, went 'gold' in the UK and earned Wilson his first Grammy Award.

Brian Douglas Wilson (1942  -   )

In 2005, Brian was among the headliners at the legendary Glastonbury Festival, and also played at 'Live 8', making him one of the very few artists to appear at that event and 'Live Aid'.

It has been said that if music is mathematics, then Wilson might just be Einstein. But no comparisons are really necessary; he's just Brian Wilson - a performer, composer, arranger, producer and musical visionary whose work more than entitles him to be genuinely classed as (that commonly overused but seldomly deserved term) 'GENIUS'.

1976 Interview (Part 1)

1976 Interview (Part 2)


1988 Interview (Part 1)
1988 Interview (Part 2)


1991 Eugene Landy Review (Part 1)
1991 Eugene Landy Review (Part 2)

1998 Interview (Part 1)

1998 Interview (Part 2)

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Sir David Frederick Attenborough.

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Sir David Attenborough, born 8th May 1926 in London, is Britain's best-known natural history film-maker. 

His career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly seven decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited.

Sir David's first job - after Cambridge University and two years in the Royal Navy - was at the London publishing house Hodder & Stoughton. Then in 1952 he joined the BBC as a trainee producer and it was while working on the Zoo Quest series (1954-64) that he had his first opportunity to undertake expeditions to remote parts of the globe to capture intimate footage of rare wildlife in its natural habitat.

He was Controller of BBC2 (1965-68), during which time he introduced colour television to Britain, then Director of Programmes for the BBC (1969-1972). However in 1973 he abandoned administration altogether to return to documentary-making and writing.

Over the last 30 years or so he has established himself as the world's leading natural history programme maker with several landmark BBC series, including Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), The Private Life of Plants (1995), Life of Birds (1998), Life of Mammals (2002) and Life in the Undergrowth (2005). 

Sir David is a Trustee of the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; an Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge; a Fellow of the Royal Society and was knighted in 1985.


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James Grover Thurber.

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James Thurber 1894 - 1961

"I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness".

"Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation". 


"Sixty minutes of thinking of any kind is bound to lead to confusion and unhappiness".  


"The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people - that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature". 




James Thurber was an author, cartoonist and celebrated wit, born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 8th 1894. 


As a child he lost an eye while playing a game of William Tell with his brother, William. This injury later caused him to be almost entirely blind. Unable to participate in sports, he instead developed a creative imagination, which he shared in his writings and drawings.


A neurologist suggested that his imagination may be partly explained by 'Charles Bonnet Syndrome', which causes complex visual hallucinations in otherwise mentally healthy people who have suffered a significant level of visual loss.

Having worked hard in the 1920's to establish himself as a professional writer, Thurber became equally well known for his simple, surrealistic drawings and cartoons. His failing eyesight later required him to draw them on unusually large sheets of paper using a thick black crayon, but regardless of his methods they became as notable as his writings; they possessed an eerie, wobbly feel that seemed to mirror his idiosyncratic view on life.


Many of his short stories are humorous fictional memoirs from his life, but he was also known to write much darker material involving madness and murder. In addition to his fictional writing, Thurber wrote over 75 fables, which were satirical in nature - the morals serving more as punchlines than advice to the reader.


He also wrote numerous humorous essays, biographical memoirs, fairytales, and pieces of investigative journalism, plus a hit Broadway comic drama.

He died in 1961, at the age of 66 due to complications from pneumonia, which followed upon a stroke suffered at his home. His last words, according to his 2nd wife, Helen, were: "God bless... God damn."


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Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (2 of 2).

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Earth Vs the Flying Saucers (1956)

In the mid-fifties there were a spat of flying saucer sightings.

It was thought this phenomenon would make a good feature, and so 'Earth Vs the Flying Saucers' was the result.

The various sizes of saucers (there are seven in total) were made from aluminium by Ray’s father and then anodised giving them a matt finish so they didn’t reflect light.

Ray never liked the latex alien suits used in the film although they were based on his design.

For all the aerial model work Ray used old recording wire on which to suspend the saucers.

The miniatures sets – The Capitol and the Supreme Court buildings cost $1,500 each and the Washington Monument cost just $500. Compare those costs with today’s budgets.

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

Because Ray wanted to see Italy he changed the location of a story, which he had written with Charlotte Knight, and was called 'The Cyclops', from Chicago to Italy. It was eventually titled '20 Million Miles to Earth'.

Charles Schneer wanted the picture to be shot in colour but Ray insisted it should be black and white, because Kodak had just brought out a 35mm stock that eliminated the problem of grain when the rear projection image is re-photographed. Ray got his wish but this was to be the last picture he made in black and white.

The Ymir figurine no longer exists, as it was cannabalised to make other subsequent creatures.

The live action was shot in Sperlonga on the Italian coast, and in Rome at the Borghese Gallery, the Coliseum, around the river Tiber and in the Roman Forum.

The hatching of the Ymir from the ‘egg’ was perhaps one of the most touching moments in any of Ray’s films. The young creature is at his most vulnerable at this point.

The ‘blood’ seen coming from the elephant at the end of the fight with the Ymir is made of theatrical blood, called Kensington Gore, and glycerine. The glycerine helps to slow the ‘blood’ down for animation purposes.

20 Million Miles to Earth was Ray’s tribute to Willis O’Brien and King Kong.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

As with '20 Million Miles to Earth' it was Ray who came up with the idea of using the Arabian Nights for a vehicle for dimensional stop-motion animation. He wrote an early step outline which he called 'Sinbad the Sailor'. He had also executed key drawings for it, including the skeleton fight on the spiral staircase, in 1953, four years before it went into production.

The final title, 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad' was Ray’s idea. The number seven has a mystical quality.

There was to have been five more sequences in the film but they were dropped. (1) Sinbad and the Princess Parisa are chased by giant rats conjured up by the evil Sokurah but because Charles didn’t like rats, nor snakes, it was taken out. (2) Sinbad and his men are attacked by bat-devils. (3) A fight between two Cyclops. (4) Sirens with mermaid tails. (5) A giant serpent attacks sailors in a tree. This again was dropped because Charles objected.

Charles had Ray’s hands insured for a million dollars - and it was Ray’s first feature in colour.

This was also Ray and Charles’ first feature using Spanish locations.

Sinbad’s ship was in fact a replica of Christopher Columbus’ Santa Maria.

The storm sequence was shot in Barcelona harbour and during the filming Kerwin Mathews, who played Sinbad, was taken very ill with a stomach bug after swallowing some of the water thrown at him during the storm sequence.

Only one complete model survives from the film, the skeleton, which was reused in Jason and the Argonauts. Ray doesn’t remember which one it is out of the seven.

The armature of the Cyclops still exists but missing the lower section of one of his legs.

It was for this film that Charles came up with the name Dynamation. Sitting in his Buick whilst waiting in traffic he noticed the word Dynaflow on the dashboard. He realised that Dyna was perfect for Ray’s style of animation and so the word became a merchandising term for Ray’s dimensional animation.

Composer Bernard Herrmann wrote the music for this film and the subsequent films 'The 3 Worlds of Gulliver', 'Mysterious Island' and 'Jason and the Argonauts'.

The film cost a total of $650,000.

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1959)

Originally The 3 Worlds of Gulliver was intended as a vehicle for Danny Kaye and was to have been a musical.

The script, loosely adapted from Jonathan Swift’s novel, had already been written so Ray and Charles adapted it to accommodate Dynamation sequences, which included a curious squirrel and a fight with a vicious alligator.

This was the first film to be made entirely in Europe with the effects being executed in the United Kingdom.

Mysterious Island (1960)

Next to H.G. Wells and of course Ray Bradbury, another of Ray’s favourite fantasy authors is Jules Verne.

Ray created a series of creatures that have been bred by Captain Nemo, the hero of Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. They include a giant crab, giant bees and two prehistoric creatures, the phororhacos (a prehistoric bird) and the nautiloid cephalopod (a prehistoric tentacled creature with a huge shell).

Originally there was to be a dog in the plot but because dogs or any real animals are unpredictable and the production budget was small, the dog was dropped from the script.

Missing scenes were the discovery of ruins of Atlantis, a man-eating plant and a mechanical digger operated by Nemo.

The crab was bought by Ray in Harrods Food Hall and sent to the Natural History Museum in London to be humanely killed. The armature was then designed to fit inside the shells of the crab. It was fixed to the animation table by wire and was supported on an aerial brace with wires.

Although there seemed to be three giant bees there was only one. Ray used mattes to make it seem as if there were three.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

This is generally seen as Ray’s best picture. ‘Everything seemed to fit and work so well’.

Ray began to think of adapting a story from Greek or Roman mythology in the early 1950s but he began to develop ideas for such a feature when he was shooting the live-action for Mysterious Island.

Whilst filing in Italy, where most of the live action was photographed, the production had problems with an olive grower who demanded that Charles pay him for the olives that the production vans had crushed by the side of the road. Also whilst filming the long shots of Jason’s ship, the Argo, they mistakenly photographed The Golden Hind that was being used for a television programmme. Charles shouted at the ship, ‘Get that ship out of here’.

The discus throwing competition between Hercules and Hylas was animated.

When Talos, the huge bronze statue, comes alive, Ray based the movement of the head turning to the camera on a Japanese film in which a woman’s head turns to the camera.

Talos was based on the Colossus of Rhodes.

Ray had to make the movements for Talos very laboured and slow to relay the sense of height of the statue. In reality the model is about sixteen inches high.

The actor chosen to play Triton, the sea god, was chosen because he had long arms which enabled him to hold the ‘clashing rocks’ apart for the Argo to pass.

The seven-headed hydra was based on classical vase paintings, which went through many changes. Ray takes up the story, ‘I finally came up with the idea of making it ‘serpent-like’ with a distinctive tail ending in a forked snake tongue. The seven heads were designed to resemble a dinosaur-like bird with curved beaks and two ear-like crests curving back, an image that would suggest a throwback to prehistoric times’.

The skeleton sequence in the film took four and a half months to photograph the animation scenes and the entire sequence runs for four minutes and thirty seven seconds. It is estimated that Ray executed a total of 184,800 movements.

The film was a box office failure when first released but has now become one of the great classic fantasy movies.

First Men in the Moon (1964)

At long last Ray got to make an H.G.Wells story.

Ray’s only film shot in widescreen, in this case Panavision, and which caused him many problems.

After much debate and rewrites, Nigel Kneale came up with the idea of topping and tailing the Victorian story with a modern expedition to the Moon.

Because Columbia thought that the story needed some female interest they insisted that the two men were accompanied by a woman, so the title should read ‘First Men and a Woman in the Moon’.

Everyone remembers the skeletons in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts but few remember the one skeleton (borrowed from Jason) of Martha Hyer in the x-ray chamber.

This was the last film for which Fred Harryhausen made the armatures. He died soon after sending them off to Ray.

Frank Wells visited the filming of his father’s story.

One Million Years BC (1966)

Mmmmmm...Raquel Welch...

This landmark film was the first since 1955 that was not made with Charles Schneer, but for the UK based 'Hammer Film Productions'.

It was based on a 1940 film entitled 'One Million BC or Man and His Mate' about a caveman battling against prehistoric creatures. The creatures in that first film were not animated but were lizards and baby crocodiles with fins stuck on their backs and even a man in a rubber suit playing the young allosaurus. Ray could only improve on it.

The dinosaurs in the film include an achelon (a giant turtle), a young allosaurus, the pterodactyls, a triceratops, a ceratosaurus and a brontosaurus, which unfortunately only appears in the film in one brief scene.

The brontosaurus had been planned to have its own sequence in which it attacks the cave people in their dwellings, but the scene was dropped when it was thought to make the film too long.

In the scene in which the achelon appears one of the shell people shouts ‘achelon’. Obviously the creatures wouldn’t have been known as an achelon then.

This was the only film in which Ray used real creatures (iguanas and a spider) to supplement the dinosaurs.

Ray once again used location photographs over which he sketched in the action for his storyboard.

The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

The story was based on an idea and artwork by Willis O’Brien, which began pre-production in 1941 but was never realised. Obie’s name does not appear on the credits because he was not credited on the original screenplay. An oversight that Ray regrets to this day.

The film was originally to have been called 'The Valley Where Time Stood Still', which Ray prefers.

Ray and Diana’s five-year old daughter Vanessa, loved the model of Gwangi and used it as a doll. One day when Diana was in Harrods with Vanessa in her pushcart, a little old lady wanted to see Vanessa’s doll and was shocked when she saw it was a hideous dinosaur and reprimanded Diana for her choice of doll.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

The Valley of Gwangi was not a commercial success so Ray and Charles decided to return to the security of Sinbad and the Arabian Nights.

Ray wrote the step outline for the principle scenes and made some key drawings some years before it was made. That first outline story would become The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Amongst the scenes that were never photographed was an introduction that was conceived by Ray. The homunculus, on the errand of the evil magician Koura, makes his way to the Visier bedroom in the palace and throws acid on the Visier’s face.

Another sequence that was never filmed was the Valley of the Vipers, which was again dropped because Charles really didn’t like snakes.

The glass painting of Marabia was painted by Emilio Ruiz del Rio.

The birth of the homunculus was a return to the birth of the Ymir in '20 Million Miles to Earth' except it was far more appealing and tender.

Sinbad’s ship was built at the Verona Studios in Spain and was miles from the sea.

Because of their beliefs, Muslim’s would never have had a figurehead on the prow of their ships, let alone a female one, but Ray wanted to have an animated figurehead to delay Sinbad on his quest like Talos had done in Jason and the Argonauts. There are two armatured models for the figurehead, one kneeling and one standing.

There were three golden masks made for Douglas Wilmer in the picture. Ray has all three of them.

Orson Welles was to have played the 'Oracle of All Knowledge' but because he had a difference of opinion about his fee with Charles Schneer, he was replaced by Robert Shaw.

Shaw had some difficulties with his false teeth. He found if very difficult to talk with them in because he kept spitting them out so the makeup people stuck them in. Sadly when they were removed out came part of his own dental work.

As with a great number of Ray’s creatures, the Cyclopean Centaur holds his arms back. This pose is a Harryhausen trait. When asked about it Ray has said, ‘It was the best way to keep the arms occupied, it made it easy and it had the result of making such a huge creature more dramatic’.

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

There were several scenes that were not included including a fight on board ship with a worm-creature and a fight between Trog and an arsinoitherium (a two horned dinosaur that Ray had first seen in the test made for 'Creation' (1930-31), an unmade O’Brien project, in which an arsinoiitherium attacks sailors). Also there was to have been a sequence that showed how the Minaton was assembled with Shadowmen (zombie-like creatures) working a Frankenstein-like laboratory.

The gateway into Hyperborea was a tribute to the gates in King Kong.

All the live action snow scenes were shot on the island of Malta in temperatures in excess of 85 Fahrenheit.

There are two different sized baboons and two cages made for the animation.

Zenobia’s boat almost sank.

The latex on the model of the Walrus was so thick that it wouldn’t hold its position so Ray had to cut sections away to allow for animation.

The ice, which covers the tiger in the pyramid was made of cellophane.

Clash of the Titans (1981)

Ray’s original key drawing of Medusa in her temple has her sporting a bra, or as Ray puts it, a boob tube. This was thought to be too coy and for the film the Gorgon revealed all.

It was largely through the influence of the screenwriter, Beverley Cross that a great number of the leading players, including Maggie Smith, Laurence Olivier and Claire Bloom, agreed to take part in the production.

Ray always says, ‘Who else could have played Zeus but Olivier?’

The close shots of Medusa that show shadows across her face were influenced by shots of Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce (1945).

There was only one armatured model of Medusa that was used for close-ups as well as all other shots.

The movement that sees Medusa pulling herself along by her arms was influenced by a scene in Tod Browning’s 'Freaks' (1932).

Ray Bradbury called the Medusa sequence, ‘The best thing that Ray every photographed’.

For the first time since making Mighty Joe Young Ray had to commission the help of two other animators on the film. They were Jim Danforth who Ray had met whilst working on The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Steve Archer.

There are two main models of the Kraken. The small armatured one and the large armatured upper torso only used for one shot of Pegasus flying in front of him. There is a third, made from the original mould but only of hard rubber. This was used for publicity before the film was released.

In the original screenplay Perseus was to cut Medusa’s head off by throwing his shield, Frisbee fashion, but when it came to the shoot, Harry Hamlin who played Perseus pointed out that a sword would work much better than an oversized Frisbee.

Lost projects

There were many projects that followed 'Clash...' but none came to fruition. Amongst these were two Sinbad movies – 'Sinbad and the 7 Wonders of the World' (1981/2) and 'Sinbad on Mars' (1982). There was also a film that was to have been made with Michael Winner called 'People of the Mist' (1983) [not be confused with 'Valley of the Mist'], and another mythological adventure with Charles and Beverley Cross called 'Force of the Trojans' (1984).

Awards

Ray has been honoured with awards from around the world. His films were never nominated for an Oscar but due to friends and fans that included Ray Bradbury and Arnold Kunert, he did receive a special Oscar, the Gordon Sawyer Award, in 1992 presented to him by Tom Hanks. He has also been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993.

Retired or Not?

Ray ’retired’ from dimensional animation in 1984 although he has indulged himself occasionally, to keep his hand in, on such projects as the UK television documentary, produced by Tony Dalton, 'Walking With Dinosaurs' (1999) and the completion of 'The Tortoise and the Hare', now called 'The Story of the Tortoise and the Hare' (2001/2).

The 2001 Pixar film 'Monster's Inc.' pays homage to Harryhausen in a scene where characters Mike Wazowski and Celia Mae visit a restaurant named "Harryhausen's".

The 2005 film 'Corpse Bride' also pays homage to Harryhausen in a scene where character Victor Van Dort is playing the piano in the Everglott's home. The brand of the piano is "Harryhausen".


Tim Burton considers his satirical science fiction film 'Mars Attacks!' to be a tribute to Harryhausen, especially in a scene in which one of the hostile alien's flying saucers chops down the Washington Monument by crashing into it, just as Harryhausen had done in his movie 'Earth vs. The Flying Saucers' from 1956. Burton's film, and this scene, initially gathered mixed reviews from Ray, who has a habitually more subdued sense of humour. These differences were congenially resolved in subsequent meetings between the two film-makers.


'Clash of the Titans' has been re-made as a big budget all-CGI monster, and Harryhausen has expressed surprise as to why it was felt this was necessary.

As a ninetieth birthday tribute, he was featured on flagship BBC current affairs programme 'Newsnight' on June 24th 2010, talking about his life's work.

The father of stop-motion animation (he calls Willis O'Brien the grandfather) now lives in London with his wife Diana and takes an avid and enthusiastic interest in 'The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation' and how his extensive collection of models, artwork, stills and miniatures are preserved and exhibited into the future.

Harryhausen plans to continue his travels and lectures as time and health permits. His body of work will continue to be revered around the world by millions of film makers and viewers alike long after Ray has left the "mortal coils" of film making.

He is a brilliant, brilliant man.




And these are his creature creations...

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