Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Entertainment & Celebrity

Wilfrid Brambell was one of Britain's most loved and complex character actors. As Albert Ladysmith Steptoe, the unscrupulous rag-and-bone man with questionable habits in Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's long-running Steptoe & Son, he quickly became a household name with co-star Harry H. Corbett. But despite scores of other successes in roles on stage, TV and film, Brambell died a sad and lonely man.

John Caudwell is one of Britain's wealthiest, most successful–and most colourful–businessmen. Love, Pain & Money: The Making of a Billionaire retraces the inspirational journey, from the very shaky beginnings of his phone empire to owning yachts, private planes, a fleet of top flight cars, a Jacobean mansion in the Midlands and London's most expensive home (featured in a Channel 4 documentary). It's a fascinating insight into the drive, ambition, focus and vision required to become a billionaire.

Roald Dahl was one of the world's greatest storytellers. He conceived his vocation as one as intrepid as that of any explorer and, in his writing for children, he was able to tap into a child's viewpoint throughout his life. He crafted tales that were exotic in scenario, frequently invested with a moral, and filled with vibrant characters that endure in public imagination to the present day.

Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In Autumn 2021, Robin Ince's stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided instead to go on a tour of over a hundred bookshops in the UK, from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate. Packed with witty anecdotes and tall tales, Bibliomaniac takes the listener on a journey across Britain as Robin explores his lifelong love of bookshops and books—and also tries to find out just why he can never have enough of them.

The tale of an ordinary boy whose career takes him on a most extraordinary journey, this audiobook begins with Brendan messing about in boats in a sleepy coastal Australian town, and ends with him becoming one of the most successful and respected superyacht captains in the World—the consummate 'Billionaire's Captain'. Spanning two decades and circling the globe, his story intimately draws listeners into the real world of superyachts, their crew and their owners. It is Brendan's love letter to an industry he respects and holds so dear to his heart.

When children’s TV programme Teletubbies first aired in 1997, no one expected the cult status it would achieve. Propelled by a unique blend of educational theory, child psychology and linguistics, the show went on to air in 45 languages in 120 countries, win multiple BAFTA Awards, and achieve viewing figures of three billion a year. In a memoir as lively and funny as the programme itself, Nikky Smedley lifts the curtain on what it was like to be a Teletubby and takes us behind the magical scenes of a global phenomenon.

Bernard Cribbins's life has been an eventful one. In 1943, he left school aged fourteen and joined Oldham Repertory Company where he earned fifteen bob for a seventy-hour week. After being called up for National Service in 1946 he became a paratrooper and spent several months in Palestine being shot at. On returning home, and to the theatre, Bernard was eventually approached by George Martin, then an A&R man for Parlophone Records, who suggested he made a record.

She is the woman who clinched the 2019 interview with Prince Andrew described as ‘a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion'. Sam McAlister is many things beside: the first in her family to go to university; a trained barrister; a single mum; a master of persuasion. In her former BBC colleagues' words, she was the ‘booker extraordinaire', responsible for many of Newsnight's exclusives over the past decade, including Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Hoss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig and Julian Assange.

Nellie Melba is remembered as a squarish, late middle-aged woman dressed in furs and large hats, an imperious Dame whose voice ruled the world for three decades and inspired a peach and raspberry dessert. But to succeed she had to battle social expectations and misogyny that would have preferred she stay a housewife in outback Queensland rather than parade herself on stage. She endured the violence of a bad marriage, was denied by scandal a true love with the would-be king of France and suffered the loss for more than decade of her only son, stolen by his angry, vengeful father.

After 22 years, spent across four continents, with two children - Louis and Marcel - in 1990, Anne and Paul Theroux decided to separate. For that year, Anne - later a professional relationship therapist herself - kept a diary, noting not only her day-to day experiences as a busy freelance journalist and broadcaster but the contrasts in her feelings between despairing grief and hope for a new future.

British television has hosted some celebrated double acts over the years. But none of these acclaimed duos come within a million miles of challenging the cherished place in television's golden age occupied by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, whose partnership lasted from 1941 to Morecambe's death in 1984. Icons of British television in the 1970s, Eric and Ernie were, in the words of one commentator, 'the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced'.

Sarfraz Manzoor was two years old when his family emigrated from Pakistan to join his father in Bury Park, Luton. His teenage years were a constant battle to reconcile being both British and Muslim. But when his best friend introduced him to Bruce Springsteen, his life changed for ever. In this affectionate and timely memoir, Manzoor retraces his journey from the frustrations of his childhood to his reaction to the tragedies of 9/11 and 7/7. 

The First World War is over, and in a quiet Hampshire village, artist Stanley Spencer is working on the commission of a lifetime, painting an entire chapel in memory of a life lost in the war to end all wars. Combining his own traumatic experiences with moments of everyday redemption, the chapel will become his masterpiece. When Elsie Munday arrives to take up position as housemaid to the Spencer family, her life quickly becomes entwined with the charming and irascible Stanley, his artist wife, Hilda, and their tiny daughter, Shirin.

Philip Norman’s acclaimed biography paints a frank but sympathetic portrait, from Elton’s rise to success to the attempted suicides, from football club chairman to flamboyant Versace shopaholic, and the extraordinary moment in Westminster Abbey when ‘Candle in the Wind’ turned into a requiem for his friend Diana, Princess of Wales.                                                                                         

Zuzana Ruzickova grew up in 1930s Czechoslovakia dreaming of two things: Johann Sebastian Bach and the piano. But her peaceful, melodic childhood was torn apart when the Nazis invaded. Uprooted from her home, the teenage Zuzana faced a series of devastating defeats. A small slip of paper printed with her favourite piece of Bach’s music became her talisman.

When Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night, stepped onto the stage of Britain's Got Talent, no one expected the phenomenal voice that would emerge. Paul went on to win Britain's Got Talent and the hearts of millions. This memoir will tell Potts’ remarkable underdog story, revealing his experiences as he seized his biggest dreams and wowed audiences around the world.

When Anna Hunt takes a break from her job to live in Peru, none of her friends take her seriously. With a love of stilettos, chocolate, and Sauvignon Blanc, how will she manage in a developing country? Anna's quest takes her from the wilderness of the Amazon jungle, to a passionate affair with Maximo Morales, a seductive and charismatic shaman who offers her the opportunity to become his apprentice…

This extraordinary biography of the legendary screen star Marilyn Monroe was originally published in 1973 by Norman Mailer, one of America's most important writers of the second half of the Twentieth Century. Mailer, the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, was the first writer to explore the relationship between Monroe and Bobby Kennedy.

In a career that spans over seven decades, Roger Moore has been at the very heart of the show business scene. In this fabulous collection of true stories from his stellar career, Roger lifts the lid on the movie business, from Hollywood to Pinewood. It features outrageous tales from his own life and career as well as those told to him by a host of stars and filmmakers, including Tony Curtis, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Frank Sinatra, and many more.

The year 2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the longest continually running film series in movie history. To celebrate the most renowned 007, Roger Moore, KBE, has written a book that features all the Bond movies, along with a wonderfully witty account of his own involvement in them. From girls to the villains, from the cars to the cocktails, from the gadgets to the locations; this is the ultimate James Bond book, written by the ultimate James Bond.