#RIP Michael Jayston

[mycroftholmesian]

RIP Michael Jayston 😔 💔

[edeschmedie]

What an interesting week. I was going through a Romanov period which proved a very short one because after watching Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) I found out that Michael Jayston had recently passed away.

I remember him from my absolute favourite BBC miniseries, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979). His Guillam left quite an impression on me and I remember thinking Benedict Cumberbatch coming short in the film version. (There are so many things I am not happy with in the film version but I don't think I should start). I know many people rave about Alec Guinness as Smiley but I have always thought Jayston's Guillam is meant to be the character the audience identifies with. Knows enough to know that something big is happening, but not enough to still be amused/annoyed at Smiley's seemingly random exploration. Jaded enough to feel put off by Tarr's general annoyingness but still cares enough to pick up on Tarr's genuine fear for his life. Excellently played by Jayston.

But then, upon further digging, I found out that he was also the Rochester in my favourite BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre in 1973. I watched it on TV so many years ago that I never knew who the actors were. Whenever I read Jane Eyre again since then his has always been the face I see for Rochester. Watching other Rochesters in the other adaptations has not dislodged that face. The 1973 version is the definitive Rochester for me. And yet, I never even suspected it's the same actor who played Guillam! I honestly cannot believe that 2 of the best TV characters I have loved for years were played by the same actor. What are the odds!

So when I came down with the flu on Monday I took the chance to spend my days off rewatching Jane Eyre (1973) and Tinker Tailor (1979). To nobody's surprise (my partner simply asked if he could put all my Romanov books back on the shelves!) I immediately got myself on a Jayston binge, devouring everything I could find online. Thanks to a small but very dedicated Jayston fan community, I discovered so many old gems but my favourite is an obscure little family drama, Flesh & Blood (1980). Only series 1 is available online and even though Jayston apparently didn't return for series 2 I still want to know what happened to the Brassingtons. I am so invested and I can't live not knowing what happened next! Oh well, for now I will just spend this unfulfilled energy screenshotting Jayston as Ross Brassington, adding to my growing Jayston folder.

RIP Michael Jayston. Thank you especially for your Peter Guillam, Mr Rochester, Tsar Nicholas II and Ross Brassington.

[mariocki]

RIP Michael Jayston (29.10.1935 - 5.2.2024)

"Well, I played a lot of interesting people. I was Siegfried Sassoon in ‘Mad Jack’, and played Beethoven and Rochester in Jane Eyre amongst others. When I did Equus in 1976, a critic described my work on television as ‘odd bits of TV’, but these are no small parts for an actor."

[pers-books]

Only Fools And Horses actor Michael Jayston dies aged 88

Michael Jayston, who appeared in Only Fools And Horses, has died aged 88 after “a short illness”, his agent said on Monday.

A statement from his agent M&M Famous Faces said: “It is with great sadness that I have been asked by his family to share the news Michael Jayston sadly passed away this morning after a short illness.

“Those who knew Michael will know he was full of love, laughs and happiness. He adored meeting his fans all over the world.

“His family and friends would appreciate privacy at this time.”

The British actor played the father of Rachel “Raquel” Turner (Tessa Peake-Jones), love interest of Derek “Del Boy” Trotter (Sir David Jason) in the BBC sitcom.

In the episode Time On Our Hands, antiques dealer James tells Del Boy and his brother Rodney (Nicholas Lyndhurst) that a watch in their garage was made by clockmaker John Harrison and is worth a fortune - leading to an auction where they become millionaires.

Tagging @thisbluespirit

[ludojudoposts]

RIP Michael Jayston 🖤

29th Oct 1935 - 5th Feb 2024

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

RIP Michael Jayston.

[iconuk01]

RIP Michael Jayston, whose intensity and fantastic voice made the Valeyard so memorable (despite the character being one of the weirdest and least explicable in Doctor Who history)

[anotheruserwithnoname]

RIP to the Valeyard.

[pertweefan1970]

RIP the lovely Michael Jayston

Sad to learn we've lost another Doctor Who star - and a Doctor, no less.

[idlesuperstar]

For @cinemaocd - the happiest of birthdays, dear heart! 

Here is a smorgasbord of 19th century SHIRTSLEEVES SWOONSTERS (in varying levels of historical accuracy) for you in celebration <3

Also here are all the past birthday gifsets because I’m very modest and humble: 2014 - double drink! // 2015 - fave swoonsters // 2016 - domestic swoonsters // 2017 - FUR! // 2018 - handsy Roger // 2019 - bicorn beauties

[hepclassic]

Glenda Jackson: The Meticulous Intellectual

*Written in 2011- but seeing how she’s back acting, I felt now it was time to share.* 

I hope that people did not think my blog on Shelley Winters was in bad taste regarding recent tragedies in Japan, and I hope the blog I am about to write is not in bad taste today either. Movies have to power to console and well as help us recover, and remind us no matter where we are and what has happened, we can and we do move forward for the better. Besides watching movies, reading plays, and other active things I do to help me cope with loss, writing seems one of the ways that helps me. My only hope that it can help you too.

I am a feminist. I believe that genders should be social equals to each other in all definitions and constructions. I do not believe that one gender is better than another nor superior to another. In movies and other entertainments, I am drawn to men and women who strive for and contribute to fighting for the end of social inequalities through the work they do on screen and off screen. When it comes to classic movies, often I have found great actors who plant, challenge, and explore through their performances ideas of social equality in their work. But, amidst the seeds, plants spring forth from them and create an impact in modern film because of their contributions. One of the plants that have sprouted from the seeds of the previous generation is an actor of whom I am going to pay tribute to today. The actor is Glenda Jackson.

Born in Birkenhead in the Wirral Chesire of England in May of 1936 to a bricklayer and charlady, Glenda was used to hard work at an early age. When she was very young, her father was recruited by the British Naval Fleet and worked abroad a minesweeper. She was educated at the West Kirby Grammar School for Girls where she graduated at sixteen. She then found work at a local pharmacy. Bored to death, she took interest in acting and auditioned to get in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was accepted. At the Royal Academy, she made her professional stage debut in Separate Tables in 1957, having previous appeared as a uncredited Extra in the 1956 film The Extra Day with Richard Baseheart and Simone Simon.She also appeared on the television shows "ITV Play of the Week" and  "Z Cars." She studied with Peter Brook for four years and appeared in several productions. In 1963, she made her second venture into film as an uncredited Singer at Party in This Sporting Life with Richard Harris. The film did not fair well outside of a small audience, but Jackson continued her theatre work and appeared in the plays The Jew of Malta, The Persecution and Assassination of Marat As Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade, Hamlet, and The Investigation. The play, Marat/Sade, was an original and controversial work and was really drawing appeal, carrying the play to London and to Broadway.She also appeared on the television shows "The Wednesday Play," "Armchairs," and "ITV Saturday Theatre." Peter Brook decided to make it a movie, and keeping the theatricality of the piece. In 1967, Jackson reprised her role as Charlotte Corday in the film Marat/Sade with Patrick Magee, Ian Richardson, Michael Williams, Clifford Rose, Freddie Jones, and William Morgan Sheppard. Her performance managed to steal the show away from the leads and elevated her star status in England. In 1968, she made her first credited performance as Guest in Tell Me Lies with Stokey Carmichael, Paul Scofield, Peggy Ashcroft, and her first lead role as Vivien in Negatives with Peter McEvery and Diane Cilente. In 1969, she appeared on the "BBC Play of the Month," and then she was cast in a movie that forever changed her career and helped change the course of film history. The role was Gudrun Brangwen in Women In Love.

With Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Jennie Linden, Eleanor Bron, and Michael Gough, Jackson shone through above an amazing ensemble playing an unconvetional woman who wanted to be sexually and artistically free and not limited by her gender role, no matter how society wanted to limit her. The film was controversial in that it was one of the first films after the Hays Code was abolished to show what new freedoms were available, and while American films were gradually beginning to strip down its restrictive layers, the bravery of this European film went ahead with it. The film would not be released in the United States until 1970, and when it was released, it captured America's attention as both feminism penetrated the national consciousness and the idea of sexual freedom was being discussed left and right. Her character was both emancipated and equal to her male peers. The following year, Jackson was awarded the Best Actress Oscar distinction of the previous year. She also became the first actress to win an Oscar for a performance that had a couple nude scenes.She officially was recognized internationally as an intense and versatile actress. But, recognition and fame was not something she wanted to put a lot of value in. Having enjoyed working with Ken Russell, she worked for him again, appearing as Nina (Antonia Milyukova) in 1970's The Music Lovers with Richard Chamberlain. In 1971, she started the year appearing in the miniseries "Elizabeth R," and then appeared in a string of movies, starting off playing Alex Greville in Sunday Bloody Sunday with Peter Finch and Murray Head, an uncredited performance as Rita in  The Boyfriend with Christopher Guest, Max Adrian, and Tommy Tune, then finished off the year as Queen Elizabeth in Mary, Queen of Scots with Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick McCoohan, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Davenport, Trevor Howard, and Ian Holm. Also that year, she appeared on the British comedy television program "The Morecambe & Wise Show" in what is called one of the funniest skits in British television. She was nominated for Best Actress for her work in Sunday Bloody Sunday, but did not care to attend the Oscars and she lost to Jane Fonda in Klute. In 1972, she played Alice in The Triple Echo with Brian Deacon. In 1973, she started off the year playing Lady Hamiliton in The Nelson Affair with Michael Jayston and Anthony Quayle. She then did the play The Collaborators at the Duchess Theatre. Her next film would be another memorable performance of hers that would seal her international fame and prove her versatility.

As Vicki Allessio in A Touch Of Class with George Segal, Paul Sorvino, and K Callan, Jackson showed that she could be as funny as she could be dramatic. Here, her technique of meticulous intellect shines through as her character navigates what resembles a perfect love affair with Steven Blackburn, played by George Segal. Not only is she his equal, but she brings such a force to her role in this as she does all her roles. Her character refuses to be treated like a card in a sexual game of poker, asserts her independence and does not compromise to satisfy her lover's ego. In the same year as the National Organization of Women was founded, Jackson brings the goals and nuances of feminism to the screen. It is said that comedies are more dramatic than a regular drama, and in this movie's case, as well as in the case of Jackson's performance, that proves it true. Jackson's Allessio is as sarcastic as she is smart, filling in the much needed tense air with moments of humor, but at the same time, giving it dramatic depth. The picture wouldn't carry at all if not buoyed by her strong performance. The following year she was nominated for Best Actress again at the Oscars, and won that year for Best Actress. She did not attend the ceremony as there was much work to be done on her next film, 1974's The Devil Is A Woman playing Sister Gertude with Claudio Casswell, Lisa Harrow, and Arnoldo Fod. In 1975, she returned to her stage roots as international fame was taking a toll on the hard work she was putting in in film. In 1975, she toured England and the United States in Hedda Gabler.Also that year, she played Solange in The Maids with Susannah York and Vivien Merchant, and Elizabeth in The Romantic Englishwoman with Michael Caine, Helmut Bager, and Kate Nelligan. In 1976, she started at the Old Vic in London in The White Devil, then reprised her stage role as Hedda Gabler in Hedda with Peter Eyre, Timothy West, and Patrick Stewart, and finished the year playing Sarah Bernhardt in The Incredible Sarah with Daniel Massey, Yvonne Mitchell, Simon Williams, and John Castle. Audiences were starting to lose touch with her, not that it mattered to Glenda, who was just glad to work continually as an actress. In 1977, she appeared as Sister Alexandria in Nasty Habits with Melina Mercouri, Geraldine Page, Sandy Dennis, Anne Jackson, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Edith Evans, Rip Torn, and Eli Wallach. She also did the play Stevie at the Vaudeville in London.  In 1978, she appeared as Ann Atkinson in House Calls with Walter Matthau and Art Carney and Steve Smith in Stevie with Mona Washbourne and Alec McCowen, then returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company where she acted in Anthony and Cleopatra where she tourned England fir the next year. Regarding her film work, she appeared as Conor MacMichael in The Class of Miss MacMichael with Michael Murphy, Rosalind Cash, and Phil Daniels and as Tricia in Lost and Found with Maureen Stapleton and John Candy.

The eighties continued the cycle of Glenda's acting career that the late seventies tapered off to. As feminism itself was fastly becoming demonized, audiences began to not connect easily with her work as before, but, as someone who knew the value of working hard, Jackson continued amidst the changing tide of audience views. She began the decade playing Isabella Garnell in HealtH with Carol Burnett, James Garner, Lauren Bacall, Paul Dooley, Donald Moffat, Henry Gibson, and Alfre Woodard, followed by Isobel in Hopscotch with Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty, and Herbert Lom. She also acted in Rose at the Duke of York Theatre and Macbeth on Broadway. She also made a return appearance on "The Morecambe & Wise Show." In 1981, she played Patricia Neal in "The Patricia Neal Story." In 1982, she appeared as Sophie in Giro City, then went back to the London stage in Summit Conference. In 1983, she was in The Return of the Soldier with Julie Christie and Ann-Margaret, and in the play Great and Small in London. In 1984, she toured England and America with Strange Interlude, and she also appeared in "Sakharov" which won her rave reviews and rose her stature a little bit more. In 1985, she appeared as Neaera Duncan in Turtle Diary with Ben Kingsley, Michael Gambon, Jeroen Krabbe, and Nigel Hawthorne.In 1986 she was in Across From the Garden of Allah at the Comedy Theatre in London. In 1987, she appeared as Charlotte in Beyond Therapy with Julie Hagerty, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Canti, and Genevieve Page, then returned to London to do The House of Bernado Alba at the Globe Theatre. In 1988, she reprised her role in the play she last toured inthe television version "Strange Interlude." She also appeared as Herodias/Lady Alice in Salome's Last Dance with Douglas Hodge and Ken Russell. She also revived Macbeth on Broadway. As her acting career continued to dwindle, so did her enthuisasm of her profession, but she still had to work in order to put food on the table. In 1989, she appeared as Miss in Doombeach, Anna Brangwen in The Rainbow with Sammi Davis, Amanda Donohoe, and David Hemmings, and as Babs Flynn in Business As Usual with Stephen Dillane. In 1990, she put an end to her film career, appearing in the short The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty as Glitch the Witch and as Queen Caroline in King of the Wind with Frank Finlay. That year was also the same year that she was on stage last, appearing in Mother Courage and Scenes From An Execution. Considering diving into politics, she had to put up so much money for herself in order to go through campaigning, so she finished her acting career on television, appearing in "T-Bag's Christmas Ding Dong," "A Murder of Quality," and "The Secret Life of Arnold Bax." In 1992, she ran for Parliament of the regions of Hampstead and Highgate, and became the first Labour Party member to get the seat since 1966 for her district. In 1994, she was appointed the Labour Transport Team Campaigns Co-ordinator. In 1997, with a high elective margin, she was made Parliamentary-Under Secretary of State for Transport, where she managed the ins and outs of transportation in the city of London and other important national responsibilities of that sort. In 1999, she resigned from her position so she could run as a candidate for the Mayor of London, but did not secure the nomination from her party. In the past decade between 2000 and 2004, she was a member of the Greater London Assembly advisory cabinet for homelessness, holding regular meetings for rough sleepers and working with the Mayor to promote measures to tackle problems faced by rough sleepers in the city of London. Currently, as of 2010, she is still the representative of the district of Hampstead and Highgate, even though her constituent boundary has expanded to include the region of Kilburn.In her position she was a tough critic of Tony Blair regarding introducing top-up fees to England, as regarding in-politics relating to the war in Iraq, being a stalking horse candidate to Tony Blair if he did not stand down in 2005, and backed inquiry of the war in Iraq in 2006. She currently lives in South London and remains politically active.

She is not well known for her contributions to film due to the fact that many films outside of the ones that have been recognized are not mainstream, but then again, neither has she ever been mainstream herself in how she worked in them. Most of her films are over twenty-five years old, and by that definition, they are classic, but I think what makes her a classic movie star is not only due to her meticulous intellect that shaped her performances, but her theatrical tenancity to meet them head-on and deliver her best. Nowadays, people frown at the idea of an actor or actress appearing naked in a movie, because they think it demeans the quality of their work. Glenda Jackson's career reminds us that so long as being naked in a movie does not deviate away from what characters are trying to accomplish in the roles they were given, not to mention having that artistic freedom at all, is important to consider. Also, the fact that her performances captured a time when society was changing its views on what a woman can do and her characters often reflected these changes and showed emancipation growing from those that planted the seeds for it in the movies, and the bravery that fueled her performances and letting that plant grow, is what makes her a classic movie star.

This blog is lovingly dedicated to Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away today. Her brazen attitude that reflected in her professional choices helped make women in film like the one I just paid tribute to possible. May she rest in peace.

*In 2016, she appeared at the Royal Shakespeare Co.’s production of King Lear, where she portrayed King Lear, and in 2017, won an Evening Standard Award of Excellence for her performance. In 2018, she returned to Broadway, portraying A in Three Tall Women with Alison Pill and Laurie Metcalf. She is nominated for a Tony.* 

[phireads]

What an incredible actor! RIP Michael Jayston