Make-up designer on Nurse, Teacher, Constable, Regardless and Cruising
George Blackler began working as a make-up artist in the 1940s with such classics as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale and A Matter of Life and Death. He remained busy throughout the ’50s and ’60s, notching up a host of credits, ranging from The Long Memory, Above Us the Waves and A Town Like Alice to Follow A Star, Raising the Wind and A Pair of Briefs. His television work, meanwhile, included various episodes of The Avengers and The Saint.
He was still working in the industry during the 1970s on such films as Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil, The Satanic Rites of Dracula and Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers.
BLACKSMITH
Played by Tom Clegg
When the incompetent Marshall P. Knutt locks himself in his own cell in Cowboy, the blacksmith uses a crowbar to break open the door.
BLAIN, JOSEPHINE
Role: Hospitality Girl in Up The Khyber.
BLAKE, DENIS
Role: Rubbatiti in Screaming!
The late Denis Blake worked on various film and television productions during his career, including Casino Royale.
BLASTED OAK, THE
A local landmark on the London Road in the parish of Upper Dencher, it’s where Harriett tells Captain Fancey and Sergeant Strapp, of the Bow Street Runners, to meet Dick Turpin. Seen in Dick.
BLEZARD, JOHN
Art Director on Again Doctor
Born in Kendal in 1927, John Blezard graduated from the Old Vic Theatre School and initially worked in television. During the 1960s he started in films as art director on such pictures as The City of the Dead, Mary Had A Little, Reach for Glory, That Riviera Touch, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth and Hoffman.
As a production designer his films include Firepower, The Wicked Lady and Bullseye!. Among the television productions he worked on in this capacity are The Adventures of Black Beauty, Peter the Great, Heidi and The Whipping Boy.
Most recently, he was assistant producer on Michael Winner’s 1999 production, Parting Shots.
BLISS, SIDNEY
Played by Sidney James
Co-owns the Wedded Bliss Agency with Sophie Bliss. Seen in Loving, Sidney and Sophie claim they’ve been happily married ten years but it’s all a front; their lies are for the benefit of the company – how can they run a successful marriage agency having never tied the knot themselves? The trouble is, Sidney Bliss is one for the girls and continually dismisses talk of getting married when Sophie raises the subject. The love of his life is Esme Crowfoot but she drops out of circulation when she becomes engaged to Gripper Burke. It’s only when a frustrated Sophie plans to leave the Wedded Bliss Agency for good that Sidney comes to his senses and realises he can’t manage without his long-term partner.
BLISS, SOPHIE
Played by Hattie Jacques
One half of the Wedded Bliss Agency, a marriage bureau run with her partner of ten years, Sidney Bliss. Seen in Loving, Sophie – whose real name is Sophie Plummet – and Sidney claim they’ve been happily married for a decade but it’s all a lie for the benefit of the company. The neglected Sophie Bliss ends up doing most of the donkey work around the office whilst Sidney goes off vetting all the attractive females who happen to walk through the door of their fourth-floor office.
When she can’t take any more, Sophie tries her luck with Mr Snooper, a bachelor working as a marriage guidance counsellor who’s told by his boss to find a wife if he wants to save his job, but it doesn’t work out; fortunately for her, Sidney realises how much he actually needs her in his business and personal life and they tie the knot in front of all the happy – or not so happy in most cases – couples they’ve united over the years.
BLOGGS, MURIEL
Played by Barbara Windsor
For Muriel Bloggs in Girls, see ‘Springs, Hope’.
BLONDE IN PUB
Played by Claire Davenport
Known as the Closet Queen of Camden Town because she can only make love standing up inside a closet, the corpulent blonde is seen in Emmannuelle during Leyland’s flashback sequence. She takes the chauffeur back to her flat in Mayfair and it isn’t long before they’re undressed and heading for the closet; even the return of the blonde’s drunk husband doesn’t deter them.
BLOOMER, SERGEANT MAJOR ‘TIGER’
Played by Windsor Davies
The loud-mouthed sergeant major, christened Tiger by his admirer, Private Ffoukes-Sharpe, shouts his way through England in a vain attempt to inject some order and discipline into experimental 1313 anti-aircraft battery.
BLUNT, EVELYN
Played by June Whitfield
Evelyn, who’s seen in Abroad, is a member of the party which travels to the Mediterranean resort of Elsbels with Wundatours Limited. It’s certainly a holiday to remember because she goes through a complete transformation, thanks to Georgio, the hotel barman, who makes her realise what she’s been missing over the years in her sexless marriage. Her constant henpecking and whinging disappear, much to the delight of her sexually frustrated hubby, Stanley. The Blunts have one daughter, though we learn nothing about her other than that she has many of her mother’s traits.
BLUNT, STANLEY
Played by Kenneth Connor
A member of the party which travels to Elsbels with Wundatours Limited in Abroad, Mr Blunt is henpecked and denied the carnal pleasures he expects from his marriage by a wife who thinks even the word ‘sex’ is vulgar let alone the actual activity. While away, he sees in Cora Flange everything he’d like his wife to be, but by the time the holiday comes to an end, he finds his own wife, Evelyn, is a changed woman, thanks to a little help from Georgio, the hotel barman.
BLUTHAL, JOHN
Roles: The Headwaiter in Spying, Corporal Clotski in Follow That Camel and the Royal Tailor in Henry
John Bluthal, born in Galicja, southeast Poland, in 1929, emigrated to Australia with his family in 1938, where he later studied at Melbourne University. He came to England in the mid-1950s, worked initially in theatre before television and film offers came his way.
Since the 1960s he’s been a regular on the screen. His film credits include The Mouse on the Moon; Doctor in Distress; Father Came Too!; Help!; Casino Royale; Doctor in Trouble; Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World; The Return of the Pink Panther; Superman III and, most recently, Love’s Brother.
On television, Bluthal, who frequently works in Australia, has been seen in, among others, Sykes, The Saint, The Goodies, Bergerac, Inspector Morse, It’s A Square World, Q5, The Pathfinders and Vicar of Dibley, playing Frank Pickle.
BOA, BRUCE
Role: US Ambassador in Emmannuelle
Forever remembered as Mr Hamilton, the American guest in classic sitcom Fawlty Towers, Bruce Boa was born in England in 1930 but raised in Calgary, Canada, where he later played professional football.
After moving to England in the 1950s he was soon appearing on television and screen, with television credits including Out of this World, The Avengers, Special Branch, The Champions, Dempsey and Makepeace and Kavanagh QC. In 1969 he had a running part in The Troubleshooters, playing Bill Douglas.
He appeared in various films, such as