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The Herald Scotland
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
How in the name of the Pink Ladies can a rugby star play Danny Zuko?
But how in the name of the Pink Ladies can someone go from being a rugby internationalist to a charted engineer, and then end up starring in not only in Grease but in two other autumn theatre productions, The 39 Steps and Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith? 'My dream was of becoming a rugby player from a very early age,' Service recalls. 'My dad played rugby, and I wanted to follow him. But the problem was that at five feet ten I was relatively small. And as I progressed into the Scotland Under 18&19 team, I found the injuries were arriving hard and often. And every time I was sidelined with injury – a torn hamstring or whatever – I would lose even more weight during the recovery time. It was a vicious circle. So, just as a back-up, I talked it over with my parents and decided to go to university and study Mechanical Engineering.' Service at the Melrose 7s (Image: Sandy Service) Having finished his degree at Glasgow University, Service hadn't kicked the rugby dream into touch. He took off to New Zealand. 'I still wanted to play, and reckoned I would learn so much from being in the country where rugby is a religion.' To support himself, Service worked in cafes and bars in North Island. And he joined a band, singing and playing guitar. Meantime, he played and coached rugby, then a teammate suggested his chum for a job as a consultant engineer. Yet, it was the night-time work on stage that brought about a massive life change. 'I took a call at work one day from a theatre director called Heather Harrison who'd seen me perform with the band – we were doing stuff like Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and John Farnham covers, that sort of thing – and wondered would I be interested in appearing in a play and come in for a reading? 'It's just a small role,' she added. And I was flattered and thought 'What have I got to lose?' and said yes straight off. I'd never actually acted before, except some small stuff at school, but I liked the idea of discovering if I could pull this off.' The theatre director however hadn't been entirely honest. It wasn't a small part. It was the lead role in My Boy Jack, the story of Rudyard Kipling's grief for his son (played in the TV movie by Daniel Radcliffe.) 'I was to be Jack,' he says, beaming in recall. 'I only had two weeks rehearsals. It was scary. And exciting.' Read more The virgin actor's reviews however were very good. He laughs. 'I began to think 'Maybe I'm not terrible at this.' And it wasn't too long before other Kiwi theatre producers came calling. The Scot was offered the role of Robbie in the Wedding Singer. 'I still hadn't thought of a career in acting. However, the likes of director Warren Bates sat me down and said, 'You should think about doing this full time.'' Service went on to land key parts in major productions of The Producers and Phantom of the Opera and this validation prompted him into thinking that perhaps, just perhaps, acting was worth a real shot. Yet, Alex realised that if he were to even consider a career in showbiz, he had to make the leap from New Zealand to London. Relocated, he took a weekend masterclass course with director/performer Michael Xavier, who was also hugely encouraging. Was this the planets again telling him his natural world was a spotlit hall showing off in front of an audience? 'Maybe it was, but I still didn't know for sure. Meantime, I needed to earn money and landed engineering work, having since become a Chartered Engineer, now working on some really big projects. And then I was asked to join West End Live, a showcase event and take over the role of Emmet (the male lead) in Legally Blonde.' Again, it went well, and Xavier pushed for his student to 'get real training'. Service was accepted into the London School of Musical Theatre and now determined to become a professional actor. He admits in sad voice however that he now had to let the rugby dream die. 'One director said to me, 'Alex, you are one kick in the face away from ever acting again.'' Service at work (Image: unknown) Service listened to the advice. He worked hard in shows such as Heathers. He worked on cruise ships, where he met his future wife, the Canadian actor Olivia Kustermans and the couple married in 2023. He smiles. 'Because of the work, we've spent more time apart since we married than we have been together.' But has rugby – or indeed mechanical engineering – played into his acting career. 'I think it has,' he says, pausing for thought. 'I've learned how to break things down technically. I can see where I'm supposed to be on stage. I'm a problem solver.' Yet, the life lesson Alex Service has learned is that it's a great idea to listen when others collectively say great things about you. And then be brave and run with your instincts. Even when they are taking you in an unimaginable direction. 'I guess that's it,' he says, grinning. Pitlochry Festival Theatre presents Grease, June 18 – September 27, The 39 Steps, July 11- September 26, Sunshine on Leith, July 25 – September 27.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HBO's ‘Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione
HBO's Harry Potter TV series has found its Harry, Ron and Hermione. The trio of Hogwarts freshmen are newcomers to Hollywood. This time, Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton is Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout is the new Ron Weasley. In the films, those roles were played by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, respectively. There were eight Harry Potter films and a series of three Fantastic Beasts movies — a spinoff of the original IP. Author J.K. Rowling wrote seven Harry Potter books; the eighth book in the series was split into two movies. More from The Hollywood Reporter Taina Elg, Actress in 'Les Girls' and 'The 39 Steps,' Dies at 95 'Awards Chatter' Pod: Sissy Spacek on Her Collab 'Die My Love,' the 'New Hollywood' of the '70s and the Penises in 'Dying for Sex' Paris Gaming Studio Amplitude, Newly Independent From Sega, Raises $13.5 Million 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron,' showrunner and executive producer Francesca Gardiner and executive producer and director (of multiple episodes) Mark Mylod said in a joint statement. 'The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.' HBO very publicly hosted an open casting call to find this next installment's new kids. Previously-announced cast can be found here. The Harry Potter series, not (yet?) officially titled 'Harry Potter,' to be clear, will be 'a faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter books,' HBO says. The series will stream on HBO Max (fka Max, ffka HBO Max — it's a whole thing). The HBO series is produced in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. It is executive produced by Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films. Harry Potter the series will begin production this summer for a 2026 rollout. See the new kids below; you can probably figure out who is who. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Taina Elg, Actress in ‘Les Girls' and ‘The 39 Steps,' Dies at 95
Taina Elg, the Finland-born actress and dancer who starred opposite Gene Kelly in the colorful 1957 George Cukor musical Les Girls and with Kenneth More in the 1959 remake of the spy thriller The 39 Steps, has died. She was 95. Elg died May 15 in an assisted care facility in her native Helsinki, her family told the Helsinki Times. More from The Hollywood Reporter Paris Gaming Studio Amplitude, Newly Independent From Sega, Raises $13.5 Million HBO's 'Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Harry, Ron and Hermione James McEachin, Star of 'Tenafly' and Perry Mason Telefilms, Dies at 94 On Broadway, Elg worked alongside Raul Julia in the 1974-75 revival of Frank Loesser's Where's Charley? — she earned a Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical for that — and in the 1982-84 original production of Tommy Tune's Nine, where she played the mother of his character, Guido. Her breakthrough in Hollywood came with her turn as cabaret dancer Angèle Ducros in MGM's Les Girls, which also starred Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall and featured music from Cole Porter. She and Kendall shared the Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy for their work. In the Rank Organisation's remake of The 39 Steps, Elg portrayed the schoolteacher Miss Fisher, who inadvertently gets involved with a British diplomat (More's Richard Hannay) out to decipher and break up a sinister plot against England. (The 1935 original, of course, was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.) The daughter of pianists, Taina Elisabeth Elg was born in Helsinki on March 9, 1930. She appeared in her first film at age 10, danced with the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki and went on to study ballet in Sweden in Stockholm and Gothenburg and in London with the Royal Ballet. She was discovered in London by American film producer Edwin H. Knopf and, in the wake of the Hollywood success enjoyed by fellow Scandinavian Anita Ekberg, signed to a seven-year contract by MGM. Elg appeared alongside Lana Turner in The Prodigal (1955) and Diane (1956), then received a Golden Globe for best female foreign newcomer for her performance in Gaby (1956), starring Leslie Caron. In her follow-up to Les Girls, she starred as a Frenchwoman who owns a farm in the war comedy Imitation General (1958), starring Glenn Ford and Red Buttons. Her last movie under contract at MGM was the African adventure Watusi (1959), starring George Montgomery. With her film career waning, Elg moved to the stage and starred as the title character in a touring production of Irma La Douce in 1962. In 1970, she made the first of her seven Broadway appearances, portraying a nun in Josh Logan's Look to the Lillies, based on the 1963 Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field. Later, she toured with Gigi in 1984-85 and with Titanic in 1999-2000. In 1980-81, Elg stood out as Olympia Buchanan, the banished first wife of Texas tycoon Asa Buchanan (Philip Carey), on the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live. Her character memorably falls over a balcony at a costume party to her death. Her résumé included the films The Bacchantes (1961), Hercules in New York (1970), Liebestraum (1991) and Barbra Streisand's The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996) and the soap operas The Doctors, Guiding Light, The Edge of Night and Loving. Her son is jazz guitarist Raoul Björkenheim. Elg was married to economist and importer Carl 'Poku' Björkenheim from 1953 until their 1958 divorce and to educator Rocco Caporale from 1982 until his death in 2008, when she left New York after more than three decades to return to her home country. Four years earlier, she received the prestigious Order of the Lion from Finland. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Marilyn Howard Ellman, Daughter of The Three Stooges' Curly Howard, Dies at 86
Marilyn Howard Ellman, the youngest daughter of The Three Stooges star Curly Howard, died May 6 in Simi Valley of heart failure, her son Bradley Server told The Hollywood Reporter. She was her parents divorced and her father often on the road at the height of his career in the early 1940s, Ellman only got to visit him maybe two weekends a month, her son noted. Later, she would spend time with him in the hospital after he had suffered a series of strokes, one of which forced him to leave The Three Stooges in 1946. 'My mom vividly remembers how much he loved animals,' Server said in a 2020 interview. 'She would always play with a dog he had. And he absolutely adored this dog that stood by him until the end. You know, despite my grandfather's big personality onscreen, I learned he was actually a shy, quiet man in private.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Taina Elg, Actress in 'Les Girls' and 'The 39 Steps,' Dies at 95 James McEachin, Star of 'Tenafly' and Perry Mason Telefilms, Dies at 94 Marcel Ophuls, 'Sorrow and the Pity' Documentarian, Dies at 97 Ellman was just 13 when her dad died at age 48 on Jan. 18, 1952, in San Gabriel, California. Curly had been replaced in the act by brother Shemp Howard, who joined another brother, Moe Howard, and Larry Fine. Marilyn Howard was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 18, 1938. Her dad — birth name Jerome Lester Horwitz — and mom, Elaine Julia Ackerman, were married for three years before they divorced in 1940. (Curly would have a second daughter named Janie with his fourth wife.) After Curly's death, she was adopted by her mother's second husband, Moe Diamond, when she was 14. Ellman graduated from North Hollywood High School and attended USC for two years before she worked as a procurement buyer in the electronics business. She would marry twice, and her survivors include her older son, Darren; daughter Andrea; granddaughter Elizabeth; and half-brother Michael. Bradley Server performs slapstick comedy on social media under the stage name Curly G, short for 'Curly's Grandson.' 'Our mother will be deeply missed, and she will never be replaced as the matriarch of our family,' Bradley said. 'Her love, compassion and wisdom has shaped all of us.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rick Derringer, Singer-Songwriter Known for ‘Hang on Sloopy' and ‘Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo,' Dies at 77
Rick Derringer, the classic rock guitarist-songwriter best known for performing the garage rock hit 'Hang on Sloopy' and for writing 'Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo,' has died, his rep confirmed. He was 77. 'With a career spanning six decades, the legendary Rick Derringer left an indelible mark on the music industry as a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer,' Wilson said in a statement on Facebook. He didn't disclose a cause of death but said Derringer died in Ormond Beach, Florida. 'Derringer's legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent. His passing leaves a void in the music world, and he will be deeply missed by fans, colleagues and loved ones.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Shaboozey Responds to Viral AMAs Side Eye Moment With Megan Maroney Marilyn Howard Ellman, Daughter of The Three Stooges' Curly Howard, Dies at 86 Taina Elg, Actress in 'Les Girls' and 'The 39 Steps,' Dies at 95 Wilson wrote that 'out of respect for Rick Derringer's family and loved ones, details regarding funeral arrangements and memorial services will be announced' at a later date. Derringer was born in Celina, Ohio, in 1947. He first broke through with his band The McCoys in the '60s, with 'Hang on Sloopy' topping the Hot 100 in 1965. Their next single, a cover of the song 'Fever,' peaked at No. 7 on the chart. By the '70s, Derringer found further success with his song 'Rock and Roll, Hoochie Coo.' Johnny Winter first released a version of the song in 1970 on the album Johnny Winter And, which featured Derringer and fellow McCoys members Randy Jo Hobbs and Randy Zehringer. Derringer released his own version in 1973, with that one hitting No. 23 on the Hot 100. Derringer worked with Johnny's brother Edgar Winter as well, producing his songs 'Frankenstein' and 'Free Ride.' He also wrote and performed 'Real American,' which appeared on the WWF's Wrestling Album that he produced. That song would become Hulk Hogan's theme. Derringer was prolific, working with a range of major acts including Cyndi Lauper, Kiss, Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Tyler and Ringo Starr. He produced 'Weird Al' Yankovic's first six albums, winning a Grammy for 'Eat It' (a parody of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It') in 1984 for best comedy recording. 'I'm very sad to say that my friend, rock guitar legend Rick Derringer, has passed,' Yankovic wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. 'He had an enormous impact on my life and will be missed greatly.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
