Tag: Shows

The Mystery of Paula Yates

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Do a search online for Paula Yates and you won’t find much that ties Paula Yates to Blackpool. Her Wikipedia page claims she was born on 24 April 1959 in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to English parents, and that she was brought up in a show business family. Her mother was Elaine Smith who was from Blackpool. Her stage name was Heller Toren, who later wrote under the pseudonym Helene Thornton. Up until 1997, Paula Yates believed her biological father was Jess Yates, who hosted the ITV religious programme Stars on Sunday. A DNA test in that year revealed that her… Read more »

Photo Exclusive: Joe McElderry’s First Live Performance in Blackpool

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On 14 November 2010, Blackpool BID put on the Christmas Lights Switch-On event in the town centre with Joe McElderry doing the honours. The video clip and photos featured in this post were taken at the event and are shown here for the first time as an exclusive on Blackpool Timeline. For more up-to-date information about Blackpool BID, please visit the website. BACK TO THE PRESENT Michael Harrison and the Really Useful Group are delighted to announce that South Shields-born X Factor winner, Joe McElderry, will return this year to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, where he is set… Read more »

Lilias Munro is Spotted in Blackpool by Dancer Miss Bluebell

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LILIAS MUNRO former Bluebell girl, head of make-up at BBC Television in the north of England and step mother of deceased Disney movie actress JANET MUNRO, died at 2am on 19 July 2004 at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool of cancer. Lilias (Lily) Smith was born in Wigan on 24 January 1917. She was spotted by Miss Bluebell (Margaret Kelly) on a visit to Blackpool in 1935 and brought to Paris to dance as one of the famous Bluebell Girls. Lilias returned to England on the outbreak of World War 11 and married Scots Comedian Alex Horsburgh (Munro) in Preston, Lancashire… Read more »

Feature Film AWAY Focuses on Blackpool

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Away is a 2016 British drama film directed by David Blair and starring Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. It premiered at the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival. It was released in the United Kingdom digitally on 8 May 2017 by 101 Films and on DVD on 15 May 2017 by Metrodome. The story takes place in Blackpool, where an unlikely friendship blossoms between a lonely, suicidal widower and a young woman trying to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend. In a nutshell, this is a grim drama set in Blackpool where the older of the two is Joseph (Timothy Spall), a boozy,… Read more »

Lynne Carol Becomes Martha Longhurst On Coronation Street

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Josephine Caroline Gertrude Mary Faith Harber, born on 29 June 1914 and known by the stage name Lynne Carol, was a Welsh actress primarily recognised for her roles in television series and telemovies. She is best remembered for portraying the gossiping Martha Longhurst in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street, a role she played from the second episode in 1960 until the character’s death in 1964. Carol married Herbert (Bert) Newell Palmer in 1934 in Bideford, Devon. Palmer, born 22 April 1900, was a character actor from Easingwold, Yorkshire, and had numerous television roles, including appearances in two episodes of… Read more »

Tarzan’s Johnny Weissmuller Swims in Derby Baths

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Johnny Weissmuller performed in “The Water Follies” at the Derby Baths in Blackpool in 1949. The Derby Baths was a swimming complex known for its Art Deco architecture and Olympic-sized seawater pool. It also had high diving boards and was popular for international competitions. Johnny Weissmuller was born Johann Peter Weißmüller on 2 June 1904. He was a Hungarian-born ethnic German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive-swimming records of the 20th century. He set world records alongside winning five gold medals in the Olympics. He won the 100m freestyle and… Read more »

King of Comedy DAN LENO at Pavilion Theatre and the Grand

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Dan Leno (1860-1904) was the greatest of all the music hall stars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He appeared at theatres and music halls across the United Kingdom filling their auditoriums with his particular brand of comic madness and pathos. Every year he was contracted to perform at the annual pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London’s West End; as well as annual residencies at the famous Pavilion Music Hall, Piccadilly Circus. He became the highest paid artist of his generation. His influence on other comic performers that followed him is well documented; the likes… Read more »

John Thomson Stars in Hairspray at The Winter Gardens

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John Patrick Thomson, born Patrick Francis McAleer on 2 April 1969 in Walkden, Worsley, is an English comedian, narrator, and actor known for his roles in The Fast Show, Men Behaving Badly, Cold Feet, 24 Hour Party People, The Brothers Grimsby, and Coronation Street. He also appeared in the 2004 TV mini-series Blackpool, playing Terry Corlette. In 2021, he joined the cast of Hairspray at Blackpool Winter Gardens, where he performed alongside Brenda Edwards, Alex Bourne, Katie Brace, and Akeem Ellis-Hyman. The production was directed by Paul Kerryson, with choreography by Drew McOnie. Thomson’s birth mother, Mary McAleer, placed him… Read more »

Desmond Bagley Novel Gets Made into a Paul Newman Movie

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Desmond Bagley was born on 29 October 1923 in Kendal, Westmorland (now Cumbria), to John and Hannah Bagley. In the summer of 1935, when he was 12, his family relocated to Blackpool. Soon after the move, he left school and took on various jobs, including working as a printer’s assistant and in a factory. During the Second World War, he was employed in the aircraft industry, though his lifelong stutter initially exempted him from military conscription. Bagley became widely known as both a journalist and a novelist, earning a reputation for his gripping thrillers. Alongside fellow British writers such as… Read more »

Cleveleys based Michael Davies Publishes his Debut Novel

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Michael Davies is a versatile writer whose work spans stage, screen, radio, online platforms, and print. In October 2024, he released Thin Ice, the latest instalment in the Bill Kemp series, following Outback, which was published by HarperCollins in May 2023. The series features the protagonist Bill Kemp—described by Jeffrey Deaver as “part James Bond, part Philip Marlowe, and all hero”. Kemp originally appeared in Desmond Bagley’s posthumously published thriller Domino Island, which Michael was commissioned to complete in 2019. Outback serves as a spiritual sequel, honouring Bagley’s legacy in the centenary year of his birth. Desmond Bagley himself had… Read more »