Barry Foster

Barry Foster

John Barry Foster's acting career began and ended on the stage. At the age of 20 he won a scholarship to the Central School of Speech and Drama where he befriended future playwright Harold Pinter. After two years training, Barry went on tour with Andrew McMaster and fellow actors Patrick Magee and Kenneth Haigh through the Republic of Ireland. Their repertoire included thirteen plays (mostly Shakespearean but also included J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'). Barry's first role was as Lorenzo in 'The Merchant of Venice'. In 1955, he hit the lights of London with 'The Night of the Ball' at the New Theatre and six years later had his first starring role as Cornelius Christian in 'Fairy Tales of New York'. During the remainder of the decade, Barry played through an immensely varied array of characters ranging from Adhemar in the French comedy 'Let's Get a Divorce' to King John and Macbeth at the Nottingham Playhouse. He appeared with Dame Wendy Hiller in 'Driving Miss Daisy' and with Lotte Lenya in 'Brecht on Brecht' at The Royal Court. His portfolio also included two Pinter plays, 'The Basement' and 'The Tea Party'. In 1963, he also acted on Broadway, San Francisco and Los Angeles in a double bill: 'The Private Ear' and 'The Public Eye' by Peter Shaffer. Time Magazine (October 18,1963) described his performance as Cristoforou as "a remarkable and indefinable creation" and "the most antic and mythic embodiment of Life Force since Zorba the Greek danced off the pages of Nikos Kazantzakis novel". While he had appeared in film roles since the mid-1950's, it was on the small screen where Barry Foster had his greatest success, specifically as the trench-coated Dutch detective Van der Valk (1972). Introduced by the catchy theme song 'Eye Level' (a British chart topper in 1973), this 1970s TV series was filmed on location in Amsterdam and featured a rather off-beat type of detective: introspective, often rash and moody, at times anti-establishmentarian, yet with great compassion, wit and intelligence. Barry Foster himself remarked about the popular Van der Valk: "He is understanding and does not disapprove. That isn't his job, anyway. He's a lovely guy to play, a thoughtful, unorthodox cop with a touch of the private eye" (The Independent, 13/2/2002). Other notable television roles followed. Among the best of them was as Kaiser Wilhelm in BBC's excellent miniseries Fall of Eagles (1974). He was again perfectly cast as eccentric spook Saul Enderby, one of Smiley's People (1982), played with typical aplomb and dry humour. In 1978, Barry lent his voice to an impersonation of the great detective Sherlock Holmes in a 13-part BBC radio series. In films, Barry will be best remembered as the serial killing grocer Bob Rusk in Hitchcock's thriller Frenzy (1972). From the 1980s, Barry Foster concentrated once again on the theatre. In 1995, he toured Australia with Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' (playing the part of Inspector Goole), directed by Stephen Daldry. Five years later, he starred as Prospero in 'The Tempest' and, just prior to his untimely death, appeared with Nigel Havers and Roger Lloyd Pack in the play 'Art' at the London Whitehall theatre. Barry Foster was a singularly accomplished and likeable actor who once explained his versatility thus: "I'm neither very tall nor very short. You can't look at my face and say 'he's the killer', or 'the guy next door' or 'the mad scientist'. All I've got is my curly hair - which everyone thinks is a wig anyway" (The Telegraph, 12/2/2002).
Barry Gibb

Barry Gibb

If you were to try and summarize Barry Gibb's forty-five year career in the music industry in a single phrase you would probably come up with something such as "versatile". Barry Gibb continues to remain an important, relevant figure in the music industry due to his willingness to adapt his music, his style and his image into whatever musical styling is at the fore. What makes the story of Barry Gibb so unique is that he has had a successful musical career of over forty years, continually restyling both the image and the music of the Bee Gees in order to remain relevant to the contemporary era. Barry has gone from being the front man of the soft rock/pop styling of the Bee Gees in the 1960s, to bringing the disco scene to the fore in the 70s, becoming a crooner in the 80s and reinventing his career yet again in the 1990s, as the Bee Gees enjoyed yet another reinvigoration, as their new albums and hit "One Night Only" tour proved that the music of the Bee Gees was timeless. Lasting over forty years, the Bee Gees are one of the longest running musical acts of all-time, and Barry's longevity can be attributed in part to the timelessness of his songs about unrequited love, soul-mates, people finding courage in times of dismay and above all, celebrating the short time we have on this earth. Barry's story begins on the 1st of September 1946, where he was born the second of five children to parents Barbara and Hugh Gibb. In the early 1960s Barry, and his twin brothers, Maurice and Robin, formed pop group The Bee Gees, named in tribute to two people who helped launch their career, racetrack promoter Bill Goode and a DJ named Bill Gates. It was later changed to an acronym for the Brothers Gibb. Barry and his family emigrated to Australia shortly after the birth of youngest sibling Andy, and the Gibbs performed anywhere and everywhere they could, in order to raise some pocket money. After securing a spot performing on local television shows, they were eventually signed for a record label in 1963. From the outset Barry was the primary creative force behind the music of the Bee Gees, penning the majority of their hit songs in the 1960s as well as countless other songs for other artists. In the 1970s the was a drastic change to the dynamics of the music industry, which saw singers from previous eras struggle to remain relevant. Barry helped pave the way for the Bee Gees most memorable decade, as he came up with the idea of performing in their now trademark falsetto's, as well as helping to launch the career of his youngest sibling, Andy Gibb. Barry became a mentor to the young Andy, guiding him in his initial foray into the music industry, by penning the majority of his hit singles. The 1980s saw Barry struggle to remain relevant to the music industry, as the onset of the electro-funk styling of bands such as INXS saw the Bee Gees labeled as "uncool". Barry refused to be swayed by the Bee Gees dwindling record sales, and continued to record as both part of the Bee Gees, while also making his mark as a songwriter for other artists, penning memorable hit songs for artists as diverse as Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross and Olivia Newton-John. In 1988 Barry was heartbroken when brother Andy Gibb succumbed to years of substance abuse, and died at the age of 30. Just months before in was decided that Andy would be joining the Bee Gees as the fourth member, and Andy's death took a toll on Barry for the remainder of that decade, and his musical creativity diminished. While Barry continues to record in the early 90s, it wasn't until 1997 that the Bee Gees returned to the fore, with the critically hailed "Still Waters" album. In late 1997 Barry, Robin and Maurice performed the legendary "One Night Only" concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, and the DVD recording of the concert has gone on to become the highest selling music DVD in Australian history, remaining on the ARIA DVD chart for over ten years. In 2003 Maurice Gibb died of a cardiac arrest because of a congenital birth defect, bringing to a close the forty year career of The Bee Gees. However, Barry continues to remain in the public eye, as he has become more politically active, as he has generated controversy for his staunch criticism of the Schappelle Corby trial and lack of copyright protection for sound recordings in the UK. Few singers can boast having a number one record in five consecutive decades as Barry can, and with artists such as Faith No More, Wyclef Jean and Ronan Keating covering Barry's songs, Barry's timeless lyrics continue to reach out to a new generation of listeners.

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