The Women Of The Avengers - FENELLA FIELDING as Kim Lawrence -VARIANT #2 - Autograph Card WAFF. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Fenella Fielding (born 17 November 1927) — "England's first lady of the double entendre" — is an English actress, popular in the 1950s and 1960s. She is known for her seductive image and distinctively husky and curiously captivating voice. Fenella would probably be quite content to be remembered as "Mistress of the Double Entendre". Fielding appeared in two Carry On films, Carry on Regardless (1961) and Carry on Screaming! in 1966. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** She was born in 1927 as Fenella M. Feldman in London, of Romanian/Russian Jewish descent, the daughter of Tilly (née Katz; 1902–1977) and Philip Feldman. She is the younger sister of Basil Feldman, Baron Feldman. She grew up in Lower Clapton and later Edgware where she attended North London Collegiate School. Her father at one time owned a cinema in Silvertown, east London. She was NOT related to the late actor Marty Feldman, as has been misreported. Fenella Fielding has never married (not yet, anyhow). ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Fielding began her acting career in 1954, concentrating on stage theatrical productions. She was given her first break by the actor Ron Moody, who had met her in an amateur production at the London School of Economics. Her performance in Sandy Wilson's musical version of Valmouth made her a star in the late 1950s. By 1959 she was appearing with Kenneth Williams in the comedy revue Pieces of Eight, written by Harold Pinter and Peter Cook. She had occasional guest appearances in television programmes such as The Avengers (after being passed over as Patrick Macnee's regular partner in favour of Honor Blackman) and in Danger Man. She appeared in two of the Carry On films, most famously as the vampirish Valeria in Carry On Screaming! (1966), and three of the Doctor films (including Doctor in Clover). She interspersed these with performances in plays by Ibsen, Shakespeare and Henry James, reputedly keeping an edition of Plato's writings by her bed. Fielding was the uncredited Village announcer in The Prisoner (1967–68), and co-starred with Tom Poston and Robert Morley in the remake of The Old Dark House (1963). In Dougal and the Blue Cat, based on The Magic Roundabout, she voiced the character of the Blue Voice—referred to as "Madam" by both Buxton (the blue cat of the title) and Dougal at various stages throughout the film. In the late 1960s, she was approached by Fellini to work on one of his films, but turned it down because she was already booked to perform on stage at the Chichester Festival Theatre. She was, memorably, a guest on The Morecambe and Wise Show on four occasions between 1969 and 1972. In the theatre, she was in, among other things, Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular at the Criterion Theatre, London, directed by Sam Walters, in 1974, and Fallen Angels at Watford, directed by Kim Grant. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Fielding appeared from 14 to 19 February 2011 at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London in an English Chamber Theatre presentation of Jane McCulloch's Dearest Nancy, Darling Evelyn, the dramatised letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh. Fielding worked with writer-performer Graham Roos performing the role of Sandalphon in Roos' verse cabaret Apocalypse Calypso at King's Place. She is a patron of the theatre charity The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America. In 2011 she also appeared in the third series of the CBBC children's sitcom The Legend of Dick and Dom, in an episode called "Land of the Luvvies", where she played Lotte Lawoo, the head of the Luvvies.[citation needed] Fielding wrote the foreword to Carry On Actors (The Complete Who's Who of the Carry On Film Series) by Andrew Ross in 2011. In 2012, Fielding returned to television as Alex Henley's grandmother Miriam, in the sixth series of the Channel 4 teen drama Skins. In November 2012, Fielding narrated Channel 4's Kookyville. She voiced 'MOOD', the quirky supercomputer in the video game Martian Gothic in a script written by science fiction author Stephen Marley. Since 2000 she has been recording with Savoy, a book publishing and recording company. Her work with them includes readings of Colette, J.G. Ballard's Crash and T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. She made an album of cover songs including Robbie Williams's "Angels", Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", New Order's "Blue Monday" and the White Stripes' "Passive Manipulation". In 2006, she toured Ireland in The Vagina Monologues. She provided the voice to two tracks on the Graham Roos album Quest.Fielding is the subject of a contemporary public artwork by artist Martin Firrell. Metafenella (2014) is an interactive video portrait offering advice for living well inspired by the life and work of Fielding. As the word 'meta' implies, Metafenella provides a platform for Fielding to reflect on the cultural meaning and significance of herself and the roles she has played. Metafenella examines some of Fielding's best known roles in popular culture looking for 'deeper' or more 'serious' meaning than is customarily associated with mass culture. The project explores the existential truths that can be inferred from her performances in works like Carry On Screaming!, The Morecambe and Wise Show, and The Prisoner. The artwork takes a broad view of Fielding's comedic career placing works like Sandy Wilson's musical Valmouth in context with theatrical anecdotes, childhood memories, reflections on the rise of feminism, and the potential meaning and significance of less well known roles like Yvette in the British World War II spy thriller Foxhole in Cairo. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Metafenella captures Fielding's views on the meaning and role of criticism, the end of censorship on the English stage, and provides valuable insights into human nature derived from characters including vamps and vampires, desperate housewives, ballerinas and thrill-seeking aristocrats. Accordingly, Fielding is quoted as saying: "That's as deep as I can go - that would be to plunge into the depths of these characters who are paper thin." ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** A 2007 article in The Independent remarked that it was "one of the mysteries of British life that Fenella Fielding, whose wit and distinctive stage presence captivated figures such as Kenneth Tynan, Noël Coward and Federico Fellini, should have drifted into obscurity rather than being celebrated", and the same article quotes The Times as saying that Fielding's performance as Hedda Gabler was "one of the experiences of a lifetime". ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Please see my other listings for other AVENGERS CARDS, including AUTOGRAPH CARDS and CHASE CARDS. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series created in 1961. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel (Ian Hendry) and his assistant John Steed (Patrick Macnee). Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. Steed's most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson). Later episodes increasingly incorporated elements of science fiction and fantasy, parody and British eccentricity. The Avengers ran from 1961 until 1969, screening as one-hour episodes its entire run. The pilot episode, "Hot Snow," aired on 7 January 1961. The final episode, "Bizarre," aired on 21 May 1969. The Avengers was produced by Associated British Corporation, a contractor within the ITV network. After a merger in July 1968 ABC Television became Thames Television, which continued production of the series although it was still broadcast under the ABC name. By 1969 The Avengers was shown in more than 90 countries. ITV produced a sequel series The New Avengers (1976–1977) with Patrick Macnee returning as John Steed, and two new partners. In 2007 The Avengers was ranked #20 on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Fictional biography of Cathy Gale: ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Dr. Cathy Gale is a fictional character, played by Honor Blackman, on the 1960s British series The Avengers. She was the first regular female partner of John Steed following the departure of Steed's original male co-star, Dr David Keel (played by Ian Hendry). She made her first appearance at the start of the series' second season in 1962.Initially, Gale was one of several rotating partners who worked with Steed (the others being medical man Dr Martin King and nightclub singer Venus Smith). By the third season, however, she was Steed's only partner. Gale was born 5 October 1932. She was an anthropologist who married a farmer in Africa and there learned to hunt, fight and take care of herself. When her husband was killed, Gale returned to London to earn a Ph.D. in anthropology. She was the curator of a museum when she first encountered John Steed and agreed to work alongside him from 1962-1964. She is engaged in charities. The relationship between Steed and Gale was marked by sexual tension of a type absent from later partners, plus Gale and Steed also had a rocky working relationship, with Gale not always appreciative of Steed's methods nor his habit of "volunteering" her for missions. Still, the two appear to have become quite close as the episode "The Golden Eggs" has her actually living in Steed's apartment as she searches for a new home of her own (the reason for her displacement is not revealed). In keeping with The Avengers' policy of avoiding direct references to romance between the two leads, however, it's quickly stated that Steed is actually sleeping at a nearby hotel. Cathy Gale was considered a trail-blazing female character for British television, displaying a level of self-assurance and physical prowess rarely seen in women on television before that time. Her personality is quite rare, she can be smiling and seducive as dark, cold and mysterious. In the episode The White Dwarf, we can see she's not troubled with the evocation of an imminent end of the world. Her later mode of dress - a leather outfit designed to make it easier for Gale to fight - started a fashion trend, as did her wearing of what were dubbed "kinky boots". (The term became a catch phrase and Honor Blackman and her co-star Patrick Macnee even recorded a moderately popular single entitled "Kinky Boots".) The influence of Cathy Gale could be felt in productions on both sides of the Atlantic; characters considered to have been influenced by her in some way include the TV version of Honey West and the Doctor Who character Sara Kingdom, as well as the character that succeeded her in The Avengers, Emma Peel. Blackman left the series after its third season in order to co-star in the James Bond film Goldfinger. She was replaced by actress Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, who continued Gale's habit of wearing leather during action sequences until she was given her own unique costuming when series production switched to colour. The Emma Peel episode "Too Many Christmas Trees" sees Steed receive a Christmas card from Mrs Gale and he wonders what she can be doing in Fort Knox, a cheeky reference to Blackman's appearance in Goldfinger. Another reference was made to Catherine Gale in the Tara King episode "Pandora", where the names Cathy Gale and Emma Peel are seen on two envelope folders. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Other appearances by Cathy Gale: ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Cathy Gale left the series before it reached the popular heights it would under Emma Peel. As such, the character only appears in one contemporary spin-off novel, Douglas Enefer's The Avengers published in 1963. Years later, however, Gale would appear in Too Many Targets, a 1990 novel by John Peel and Dave Rogers, in which she meets Emma Peel and Tara King, Steed's later partners, and is teamed up with David Keel. The book (which is set in the late 1960s and is not considered "canonical") introduces a romantic attraction between Gale and Dr. Keel. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Casting of Emma Peel: Emma Peel is a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers, by Diane Appleby in the South African radio series of The Avengers (1971–73), and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version of the show. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight. The partner of John Steed, Mrs. Peel was introduced as a replacement for the popular Cathy Gale, played by actress Honor Blackman, who left the series at the end of the programme's third season to co-star in the James Bond film Goldfinger. Elizabeth Shepherd was cast as Emma Peel and production on the fourth season began. After filming all of one episode and part of a second, however, the producers decided that Shepherd was not right for the part, and she was dismissed. No footage of Shepherd as Peel is known to have survived. The producers scrambled to replace her and gave the job to Diana Rigg; the Shepherd episodes were subsequently re-filmed. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Character of Emma Peel: ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** The character was notable for a number of characteristics. She is a heroine; she is rarely defeated in fights and is capable of rescuing Steed if he is in trouble. She is a master of martial arts and a formidable fencer. A certified genius, she specializes in chemistry and other sciences. She is often seen in episodes engaging in artistic hobbies and had success in industry at the helm of the company of her late father, Sir John Knight. Her husband, Peter Peel, was a pilot whose plane disappeared over the Amazonian forest. He was presumed dead for many years, and Peel went on to work with Steed. She drove a convertible Lotus Elan at high speeds, and convincingly portrayed any series of undercover roles, from nurse to nanny. Her favourite guise was that of a women's magazine reporter, trying to interview big business tycoons and rich playboys. The name "Emma Peel" is a play on the phrase "Man Appeal" or "M. Appeal", which the production team stated was one of the required elements of the character. Peel's verbal interactions with Steed range from witty banter to thinly disguised innuendo. Regarding the question of whether they had a sexual relationship at any time, Patrick Macnee thought they went to bed on a very regular basis (just not in view of the camera), Rigg thought they were engaged in a very enjoyable extended flirtation that ultimately went nowhere, and Brian Clemens said he wrote them with the idea they had an affair before Emma's first appearance in the series. Her style of dress typified the period, and the character is still a fashion icon. John Bates was brought in as the costume designer for Emma Peel in the second half of the fourth series. He created a wardrobe of black and white op-art mod clothing and mini skirts. Before this, people had believed that lines, circles and other bold patterns would not work on the television cameras of the day. It was also filmed before the mini skirt had become mainstream. Bates even had to stop leaving hems on the mini skirts because the production team kept lowering them again. He also licensed his designs to several manufacturers under the Avengerswear label and these pieces were sold in various shops throughout the country. Diana Rigg is often remembered for the leather catsuit she wore early on in her first season. She in fact disliked wearing leather, so Bates designed softer stretch jersey and PVC catsuits for her instead. For the colour season, the designer was Alun Hughes, who used bold colours and lurid, psychedelic patterns. Hughes also created the Emmapeeler catsuit, which was made of stretch jersey in bright block colours. The Emmapeelers and several other pieces from this season's wardrobe were also licensed and sold in the shops. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Departure of Emma Peel: ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** When Peter Peel surprisingly reappears, at the end of "The Forget-Me-Knot", Emma leaves Steed and her spy career behind. In the distant shot in which he appears, Peter Peel looks suspiciously like Steed (and was played by Patrick Macnee's stunt double, Peter Weston), and like him drives a two-door convertible Bentley, albeit a contemporary model. Emma meets her replacement, Tara King, who enters the building as she herself is leaving, and tells her that Steed likes his tea stirred "anti-clockwise". In real life, Diana Rigg had chosen to leave the series for a number of reasons, one of which was to accept a role in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. (Her predecessor on the series Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale) had also left The Avengers to be in a Bond movie Goldfinger). During her first series, as she eventually learned, she was making less than the cameraman: afterwards her salary was tripled, and that, combined with her loyalty to Macnee persuaded her to come back for 25 additional episodes (including her farewell episode, which was actually shot well into the Tara King season). Eventually the arduous shooting schedules, conflicts with the producers, the lure of film and stage roles, and a desire to challenge herself as an actress all combined in her decision to leave the show for good. She was the last in a string of "talented amateurs" with whom John Steed was teamed: her successor was a neophyte professional agent named Tara King, played by actress Linda Thorson. After leaving the series, Rigg played Emma Peel in two unofficial German short films produced for the 8mm market: The Diadem and The Mini-Killers. Little information has survived regarding these films, though the films themselves survive.[6][7] Other appearances by Emma Peel: In the South African radio series adaptation of The Avengers (1971–73), Emma Peel was played by Diane Appleby. Although Emma Peel appeared on-screen only in The New Avengers in flashback clips from the original series, she features in the episode entitled "K is for Kill". She speaks briefly with Steed over the phone and mentions in passing that her last name isn't Peel anymore; Steed replies, "You'll always be Mrs. Peel to me." For this scene, Sue Lloyd provided her voice.The character of Tara King: Tara King is a fictional character of British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers, played by Canadian actress Linda Thorson. Sixth partner of agent John Steed (and fourth female partner), she appeared in season 6 (in color) of the series (1968-1969), playing in 33 episodes. She is Emma Peel's successor. She is also the first of John Steed's partners to be a real spy. Unlike Steed's other partners, we know few things about her. She enlisted at an early age in the Intelligence Service as a trainee, under the number 69. Her first contact with the bowler-hatted agent is described in the first episode of season 6: The Forget-me-Knot. This was a rather spectacular meeting: thinking Steed is the "enemy" of her training, she pounces on him before she realizes she has made a mistake. Shortly after, she makes Steed's acquaintance. During their talk, we learn John Steed is considered as an idol by all agents, Tara included. She then helps him to resolve the episode's investigation. Episode ending: Emma Peel leaves Steed and her life as a "talented amateur" to go back to her husband, Peter Peel, who has been miraculously found in the Amazonian jungle, two years after his plane crashed. This means Steed needs a new partner: he phones his boss Mother, who "knows his tastes". Mother appoints Tara King to replace Emma. Tara comes to Steed's flat just in time to pass Mrs Peel on the stairs. Emma (whom she has never met before) gives her a piece of advice: how to stir Steed's tea (anticlockwise). This scene, where Emma passes the torch to Tara, is one of the best-known sequences of the series. Tara arrives at Steed's flat and, although he is saddened by Emma's departure, he is delighted to see his new partner, greeting her with the words "Tara - Ra-boom-di-ay". The clear implication is that she will not only replace Mrs. Peel in Steed's professional career, but also in his personal life. For the remainder of the series, his relationship with her was more flirtatious and physical than with Mrs. Peel. Just before he meets Tara, Steed looks out of his window to see Mrs Peel picked up by Peter Peel in his car. We only see Peter from behind, but he clearly has a Steed-like style and image, with dark suit, bowler hat and umbrella. Steed looks at the scene, appearing to be puzzled/intrigued. ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Other notable female stars of The Avengers (in no particular order):Gabrielle Drake (Angora, see card #52); Fenella Fielding (Kim Lawrence, see card #49); Julie Stevens (Venus Smith, see card #3); Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson); Judy Parfitt (Brenda Paterson); Liz Fraser (Georgie Price-Jones, see card #50), Eunice Gayson (Lucille Banks), Charlotte Rampling (Hana Wild, see card #51), Yootha Joyce (Miss Lister), Nicola Pagett (Lady Adriana Beardsley), Jennie Linden (Karie), Isla Blair (Bride), Doris Hare (Mrs Briggs), Wanda Ventham (Nurse Spray), Jacqueline Pearce (Marianne), Valerie Leon (Betty), Angharad Rees (Redhead), Nyree Dawn Porter (Liz Wells), Anneke Wills (Pussycat, see card #47), Barbara Shelley (as "Susan Summers" in "Mission...Highly Improbable", see card #48, and as "Venus Browne" in "From Venus With Love") and even Susan Hampshire (Smoker 2, uncredited). Apologies to all those not included in this brief list!!