Trivia: British actor Jon Finch's splendid reputation in Shakespearean repertory led to his being cast in the 1970 Roman Polanski film version of MacBeth. Finch's ability to convey "cross purposes" by having his voice say one thing and his eyes another, served him well in Hitchcock's 1972 Frenzy. In the opening scene, we are meant to assume that Finch is a serial killer--and once we find out he isn't, we can still understand why everyone around him thinks he is. Finch remained active as a thespian up through his final years, but demonstrated little interest in stardom, turning down opportunities to play James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973) and Aramis in Richard Lester's Three Musketeers (1973). He made one of his final appearances in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and died at age 71 in late 2012.

Trivia: A glamorous actress whose beauty and sophistication has only increased as the years pass, London-born screen star Francesca Annis is well known to cinema lovers for her roles in such films as Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971) and David Lynch's Dune (1984). Though she would later become better known to gossip column readers for her May-September romance with actor Ralph Fiennes following an appearance opposite the intense actor in the Broadway version of Hamlet, Annis has continued to impress both on stage and screen thanks to numerous challenging roles.Though a convent education initially steered her toward life as a nun, studies in acting and dance gradually led her into the entertainment industry until she was cast in the lead of the 1958 film The Cat Gang at age 14. The featured child actor in the tale of a group of children who stumble across a smuggling ring while spending long days on the local harbor, Annis made a distinct impression on audiences and was soon advancing in such films as No Kidding (1960) and His and Hers (1961). A role in the 1963 film Cleopatra gained the young starlet international attention, and shortly after the family film Flipper's New Adventure, Annis was cast as Estella in the 1967 U.K. television series Great Expectations. If audiences had not previously recognized her talent by this point, her remarkably powerful performance in Roman Polanski's 1971 feature film Macbeth would be hard to deny. After continuing to gain credit on stage and screen throughout the 1970s, roles in the following decade's Dune, Krull (1983), and Under the Cherry Moon (1986) culminated with an impressive performance as Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1988 made-for-television feature Onassis: The Richest Man in the World.Perhaps her most well-known performance to date due to the romantic scandal that resulted from it, her part in the 1995 Broadway production of Hamlet found both her and co-star Ralph Fiennes abandoning their longtime partners to embark on a heated romance (after playing mother and son Gertrude and Hamlet in the play). Though the scandal caused quite a stir, her memorable (and BAFTA-nominated) performance in 1998's Reckless steered gossip hounds back toward recognizing her remarkable skills as an actress. In 1999 Annis would once again remind the public of her affairs, though, when she appeared opposite Fiennes in the film Onegin, a cinematic adaptation of a 19th century Russian novel. In addition to appearing in such efforts as Deceit (2000) and Copenhagen (2002) in the new millennium, Annis continued her many impressive on-stage performances with an appearance in the West End production of Noël Coward's The Vortex.

Trivia: British lead actor, onscreen from the '70s.

Trivia: Entering films with 1960's Sink the Bismarck, British actor John Stride joined the ranks of reliable "authority" character players. He was kept busy in such productions as Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) (as Dad), Roman Polanski's MacBeth (1971) (as Ross), Juggernaut (1974), A Bridge too Far (1977) John Wayne's Brannigan (1975), Flash Gordon (1980) (as Zogi) and Chevy Chase's Oh Heavenly Dog (1984). In The Omen (1976), Stride enjoyed a few of that horror film's least harrowing moments in the role of a psychiatrist, while in the 1978 cartoon feature Lord of the Rings, Stride was heard but not seen as Treddan. John Stride's film roles were usually unstressed, but he was shown to better effect on the British TV series The Main Chance and The Wilde Alliance.

Trivia: British character actor, onscreen from the '50s.

Trivia: A slim, intellectual-looking British character actor, Archard was onscreen from the early '60s.

Trivia: British character actor Sydney Bromley was especially known for his theatrical appearances and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also appeared on television and in a few films where he usually portrayed small character roles as old men and toothless vagabonds.

Trivia: British leading lady Diane Fletcher appeared in films during the 1970s and then switched to television.

Trivia: Hefty New Zealand actor Bruce Purchase has appeared in numerous British plays, television series, and in films of the '70s, '80s, and '90s.

Trivia: Was approached by June Collins, Phil Collins' mother, to attend her stage school while performing on Junior Show Time on Yorkshire TV; claims to have sung the first song that Phil Collins ever wrote. Was hired to present Swap Shop at 18 when he pitched a different kid's show to the BBC; lied when asked if he had presenting experience. Surprised the presenters of This Morning when he suddenly revealed his alcoholism during an light-hearted interview in 1992. Presented the game show Naked Jungle in 2000, where Keith and all the contestants appeared nude; the show was criticised in the House of Commons. Played the part of Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker on Ice at the London Palladium in 2013.

Trivia: While his name and his participation in British films would suggest some relationship to popular British comedienne Betty Balfour, actor Michael Balfour was actually from the United States, no relation to his more popular namesake. Like Ben Welden and Bernard Nedell before him, Balfour was cast as a "typical" American gangster or tough guy in most of his films -- notably his first, the notorious No Orchids For Miss Blandish (1948). The actor's busiest period was 1950-1960, when he showed up in such films as Obsession (1956) and The Steel Key (1958). Balfour was also a regular on the London-filmed TV detective drama Mark Saber, playing Saber's assistant Barney O'Keefe. The name Michael Balfour might ring a bell with fans of 1950s horror films; he played the unfortunate Sgt. Kasper, whose brains are sucked out by the "Fiend Without a Face" in the 1958 chiller of the same name.