30-493: National Velvet is a novel by Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), first published in 1935. It was illustrated by Laurian Jones , Bagnold's daughter, who was born in 1921. The novel tells the story of a teenaged girl who wins a horse racing competition. It was a best-seller, and adapted into a highly successful 1944 film and a 1960-62 television series . National Velvet is the story of a 14-year-old girl named Velvet Brown, who trains and rides her horse, named The Piebald, to victory in
60-598: A South American tribal native whose tribe is enslaved by the Spanish. Her feature film debut, as a teenager, was in Personal Affair (1953). There followed a number of period roles, including the heroine in The Wrong Box (1966); The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969); The Raging Moon (1971), as a young woman in a wheelchair; and International Velvet (1978). In addition to her screen roles, she made
90-674: A Wet Afternoon (1964), The Whisperers (1967), Deadfall (1968), The Stepford Wives (1975) and International Velvet (1978), for which she won the Evening Standard Film Award for Best Actress . She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for another Forbes-directed film, The Raging Moon (1971). Newman was born in Northampton , Northamptonshire , England. Her parents were in show business, with her father being
120-465: A Wet Afternoon (1964), The Wrong Box (1966), The Whisperers (1967), Deadfall (1968), The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969), The Raging Moon (1971), The Stepford Wives (1975) and International Velvet (1978). In his 1983 book Adventures in the Screen Trade , scriptwriter William Goldman was critical of the fact that Forbes cast his wife (then in her early forties) as Carol, one of
150-488: A driver in her first novel, The Happy Foreigner . On 8 July 1920, she married Sir Roderick Jones , chairman of Reuters , but continued to use her maiden name for her writing. They lived at North End House, Rottingdean , near Brighton (previously the home of Sir Edward Burne-Jones ), enjoying a glamorous social life. The garden of North End House inspired her play The Chalk Garden . The Joneses' London house from 1928 until 1969, seven years after Sir Roderick's death,
180-482: A good actress and attractive, she clearly did not fit his conception of the part ("a sex bomb she isn't"), and he objected to Forbes's decision to change the appearance of the 'wives' (making them older, more demure and much more conservatively dressed), expressing the view that Newman's casting "destroyed the reality of a story that was only precariously real to begin with". Goldman also recounted his misgivings about casting an Englishwoman to play an American – although, in
210-472: A guest appearance as the female lead, Geraldine McCloud, in an episode of The Saint (TV series) (Series 3-01, "The Miracle Tea Party"). Newman married actor-writer-director Bryan Forbes in 1955. She acted with Forbes in The League of Gentlemen (1960), which Forbes also scripted, and went on to appear in most of the feature films that Forbes directed, including The L-Shaped Room (1962), Seance on
240-416: A mother and the instincts of children leads The Squire close to the realms of documentary." The feminist weekly Time and Tide described it as "a mark in feminist history as well as a fine literary feat." The Loved and Envied (1951), is a study of approaching old age in which the protagonist, Lady Ruby MacLean, is thought to have been based on Lady Diana Cooper . An adaptation of National Velvet for
270-800: A reputed circus strongman. In the 1940s, she lived in Pullman Court , Streatham Hill . Newman was educated at Sternhold College, the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Newman made her first screen appearance at age 11 in the 1945 short Here We Come Gathering: A Story of the Kentish Orchards . She appears in 1962 in the TV series Sir Francis Drake as Yana,
300-554: A star vehicle for Katharine Hepburn in 1976. These three plays, along with The Last Joke - a notable flop at the Phoenix Theatre in 1960 despite its star cast of John Gielgud , Ralph Richardson and Anna Massey - were collected together by Heinemann as Four Plays by Enid Bagnold in 1970. Nanette Newman Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934) is an English actress and author. She appeared in nine films directed by her husband Bryan Forbes , including Séance on
330-400: Is a person to whom great things happen. The novel was made into a more or less faithful, highly successful film version in 1944, starring twelve-year-old Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney , with Donald Crisp , Anne Revere and a young Angela Lansbury . The screenplay was written by Helen Deutsch . In 2008 the film was voted the ninth best American film in the sports genre. In the film
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#1732772086535360-586: Is selected to represent Britain in the equine three-day Olympic event. While working with the horse with trainer Captain Johnson ( Anthony Hopkins ), she falls for an American competitor, Scott Saunders ( Jeffrey Byron ). Though distracted by him, she wins the event. Later, after getting engaged to Scott, Sarah returns to England and presents the medal to her aunt Velvet as a keepsake and introduces her and John to Scott. Enid Bagnold Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones , CBE (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981)
390-480: Is the story of a young girl who wins the Grand National steeplechase. A highly successful film version came out in 1944, starring the young Elizabeth Taylor . However, Bagnold's work includes a broad range of subject matter and style. The Squire is a novel about having a baby. Bagnold's biographer Anne Sebba says that "although always described as a novel, the serious effort to discover the motivations of
420-472: The English Channel ; her father is a butcher. Velvet's best friend is her father's assistant, Mi (Michael) Taylor, whose father – as Mrs. Brown's swimming coach – helped her cross the channel. Mi formerly worked in stables and is familiar with the horse racing world. One day they both watch The Piebald jump over a five-foot-high cobbled fence to escape a field. Mi remarks that "a horse like that'd win
450-462: The Grand National steeplechase . The novel focuses on the ability of ordinary people, particularly women, to accomplish great things. Velvet is a teenager in the late 1920s, living in a small English coastal village in Sussex , dreaming of one day owning many horses. She is a high-strung, shy, nervous child with a delicate stomach. Her mother is a wise, taciturn woman who was once famous for swimming
480-579: The English Channel), complete with merchandising. Velvet strongly objects to the publicity, saying The Piebald is a creature of glory who should not be cheapened in tabloid trash and newsreels. She insists that she did not win the race, the horse did, and she simply wanted to see him go down in history. The National Hunt Committee finds no evidence of fraud, exonerates all involved, and Velvet and her family return to their ordinary lives; or rather, Velvet goes on "to her next adventures", for clearly she
510-608: The National". Velvet becomes obsessed with winning the horse in an upcoming raffle and riding him to greatness. In addition to inheriting several horses from one of her father's customers, Velvet also wins The Pie, her dream horse. After riding him in a local gymkhana , she and Mi seriously consider entering the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree racecourse and train the Piebald accordingly. Mi uses his connections to
540-568: The event, Newman delivered a perfect accent, and few viewers would have realised she was not American. Newman is from a variety background, acting on stage and also appearing in television advertisements, including for Fairy Liquid . She was also a popular regular panellist on a revival of the BBC panel game show What's My Line? (1973–74). She also starred in the ITV sitcom Let There Be Love , which ran for two seasons, in 1982 and 1983. In 1990, she
570-549: The horse training/racing world and obtains a fake clearance document for Velvet in the name of James Tasky, a Russian jockey. Velvet wins the race, but is disqualified for dismounting too soon after she slides off the saddle due to exhaustion. Her gender is discovered in the first-aid station. The racing world is both dismayed and fascinated by a young girl's winning its toughest race. Velvet and The Piebald become instant celebrities, with Velvet and her family nearly drowning in notoriety (echoing her mother's unsought fame after swimming
600-521: The horse, who was solid coloured, hence not a piebald (British English) or pinto (American English), was renamed The Pie. National Velvet was presented on Hallmark Playhouse on the CBS radio network on 6 October 1949. The half-hour adaptation starred Roddy McDowell and Anne Whitfield . From 1960 to 1962, the novel was adapted into a thirty-minute American television series , with Lori Martin , Ann Doran and James McCallion. In this version her horse
630-469: The robotic spouses in The Stepford Wives , and revealed that it led to a major rift between them. In Goldman's original script (of which, he claimed, about 75% was re-written by Forbes), the android replacement wives were meant to be like ( Playboy ) "Playmates come to life", the acme of youth and beauty, dressed in skimpy tennis shorts and T-shirts. Although Goldman conceded that Newman was both
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#1732772086535660-481: The theatre was produced and directed by Anthony Hawtrey for his Embassy Theatre at Swiss Cottage in 1946, and published in Volume 2 of his Embassy Successes (1946). But The Chalk Garden (1955), film version 1964, was Bagnold's greatest stage success. The Chinese Prime Minister was presented on Broadway in 1965 with Edith Evans . A Matter of Gravity , originally titled Call Me Jacky , played on Broadway as
690-626: Was No. 29 Hyde Park Gate , which meant that they were the neighbours for many of those years of Winston Churchill and Jacob Epstein . The couple had four children. The eldest was Laurian (born 1921, later the Comtesse d'Harcourt) who illustrated Alice & Thomas & Jane at the age of nine and National Velvet at 14. Their great-granddaughter is Samantha Cameron , wife of the former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron . Bagnold published her autobiography in 1969. She died on 31 March 1981 from bronchopneumonia and
720-410: Was OK – and that was it... So, at the age of 18, I did the cleverest thing I’ve ever done: said 'Yes' when Bryan asked me to marry him. I don’t think I’ve topped that. Newman and Forbes married on 27 August 1955, and had two daughters, Emma Forbes and Sarah Standing. They were married for 57 years, until Forbes's death in 2013. In her first interview after Forbes's death, Newman explained that one of
750-906: Was a British writer and playwright best known for the 1935 story National Velvet . Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent , daughter of Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold and his wife, Ethel (née Alger), and brought up mostly in Jamaica . Her younger brother was Ralph Bagnold . She attended art school in London , and then worked as assistant editor on one of the magazines run by Frank Harris , who became her lover. Harris and Bagnold are both portrayed in Hugh Kingsmill 's novel The Will to Love (1919). As an art student in Chelsea, Bagnold painted with Walter Sickert and
780-603: Was a contestant on Cluedo , facing off against Edward Hardwicke . Newnan is the author of thirty children's books and six cookery books; winning a Cookbook of the Year Award with The Summer Cookbook , and presented a children's television cookery programme, Fun Food Factory (1976), she appeared in the 1980s on TV-am , cooking during the show. Newman met actor-writer-director Bryan Forbes in February 1953 on location at Marylebone railway shunting yards, while Forbes
810-434: Was co-starring in the film Wheel of Fate . Newman, then still at RADA , had been sent along for a job: Bryan was committing suicide under a train. He came up on to the platform and introduced himself. I said: "How nice to meet you, Mr Forbes. There’s a chance I might be in your film." He said: "Well, I’m afraid this is the last day of shooting. They’ve brought you here under false pretences." He drove me home to make sure I
840-445: Was cremated at Golders Green . Her biography, by Anna Sebba and published in 1987, revealed some of the more problematic and contradictory aspects of her life: literary feuds, her marriage, her approach to motherhood, pre-war Nazi sympathies, her morphine addiction, and her contempt of the many leading actors who appeared in her plays. Cecil Beaton called it "a strange, remarkable, original and warped life." National Velvet (1935),
870-552: Was named King. This aired on NBC for 52 episodes. A 1978 film sequel, International Velvet , was made starring Tatum O'Neal as Sarah Brown, a young orphaned American teenager living in England with her aunt Velvet Brown ( Nanette Newman ) after Sarah's parents die in a car accident. Sarah and Velvet purchase the descendant of The Pie after Sarah earns the money by working for Velvet's boyfriend John. They name him Arizona Pie after Sarah's home state. Working with Arizona Pie, Sarah
900-517: Was sculpted by Gaudier Brzeska . During the First World War she became a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse ; she wrote critically of the hospital administration, which won her fame, and was dismissed as a result. After that she was a driver in France for the remainder of the war years. She wrote about her hospital experiences in her memoir A Diary Without Dates , and about her experiences as
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