SERIES 1, 2 & 3 (Each series = 26 x 26 minute episodes)
SERIES BACKGROUND
No one really knows how they met. Yet it happened in our time. Were they introduced? Was it fate? What were the circumstances that brought together some of this Century’s most well-known couples - in love, in friendship, and sometimes in scandal.
The 30s, 40s, and 50s were a golden age of Romance - not just for the world’s greatest movie stars but for some of the greatest names who have shaped our Century.
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh lived the roles they played. Onassis and Jackie Kennedy played the roles they lived as the world watched - but what was behind their public relationship?
Should an English King have given up his throne for the American lady he loved? Who was the inspiration behind Ernest Hemmingway? How did Grace Kelly become a fairy tale princess - and did the loves in her life include Cary Grant?
The secret romances, the clandestine affairs and the women who inspired some of the Century’s most dynamic characters are all found - in candid and hitherto unseen archive film - in this new series on the world’s greatest love stories.
PLEASE CONTACT:
BBC WORLDWIDE
WOODLANDS
80 WOOD LANE
LONDON
W12 0TT
TEL: 020 8433 2261
FAX: 020 8433 3944
PLEASE CONTACT:
STUART SNAITH
MANAGING DIRECTOR
2 ENTERTAIN
33 FOLEY STREET
LONDON
W1W 7TL
TEL: 44 (0) 20 7612 3100
FAX: 44 (0) 20 7612 3053
E-MAIL: stuart.snaith@2entertain.co.uk
26 x 26 minute episodes
The fascinating 1950s jet-set life style story of how Hollywood’s most sought after star captured the heart of a young but determined Prince.
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Jackie Bouvier’s marriage to JFK sealed a high profile political relationship but there was far more to Jackie than a dutiful wife coping with her husband’s philanderings.
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Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas
In his search for happiness, an all powerful Greek shipping tycoon would be held enthralled until his death, by the finest opera singer of her time.
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The matinee idol and the funny lady made a devoted couple, but a tragic accident killed Carole Lombard and destroyed Gable’s life.
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Was it simply love for Juan Peron or burning ambition that set Evita on the road from rags to riches and corruption to become Argentina’s First Lady?
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An enduring love match between two intelligent, forceful personalities gave great strength to one of Britains finest leaders.
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When the enigmatic actress was swept off her feet by the charming silent star, John Gilbert, both their careers were almost destroyed when he took on Hollywood’s mightiest moguls.
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Rare archive film taken at his Bavarian idyll at Berchtesgarten exposes Hitler’s highly secret romance with Eva Braun whose photograph album has been recently discovered.
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They were Hollywood’s greatest match; a couple that could live neither with nor without each other.
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In a scandal that could have brought down the British Monarchy, a King gave up his throne… but what was the hold Mrs Simpson had over Edward VIII?
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In what became one of Hollywood’s most fascinating and stormiest affairs, two personal and public lives were ultimately broken by the pressure of their own success.
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In newly discovered archive film, the private moments of a remote royal family are revealed, but did Alexandra remain faithful to Nicholas until the end?
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A fascinating insight into the life of America’s greatest female hero whose marriage was as intriguing as her public life.
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Groomed to be king by the dictator Franco, Juan Carlos played a crucial role in restoring democracy to Spain, and was ably supported by his Greek-born wife.
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Greeted by an uncertain British public following his brother’s abdication, George VI and his beautiful young wife went on to become an inspiration to the nation during WWII.
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The beautiful Swedish actress won the hearts of Hollywood, but at the height of her career her illicit affair with Roberto Rossellini shocked the world.
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Of all the beautiful women in the world, only one woman ever succeeded in capturing the heart of this strange and reclusive billionaire.
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From their years as sweethearts to their years in exile, the enduring love of De Gaulle’s wife was an inspiration to France’s greatest political leader.
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Charlie and Oona Chaplin
Behind the façade of the cinema’s greatest clown, he could be insecure and moody. But he achieved true happiness towards the end of his life with his fourth wife.
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The enigmatic American writer competed with his feisty wife as rival war correspondents. Once the excitement ceased so did the Romance.
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Following a magical first meeting, she was the woman who defined the role of America’s First Lady as she supported and cared for her husband through his political career and long illness.
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It was almost love at first sight when the moody tough guy played opposite a young, beautiful actress called Lauren Bacall.
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His influence changed American history but Randolf Hearst may have been manipulated by his mistress Marion Davies, the woman who loved the real ‘Citizen Kane’.
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When the most famous film star in the world fell for the greatest baseball player ever, it was a match made in heaven. But the pressures of fame would eventually bring havoc to Marilyn’s private life.
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When two of early Hollywood’s most successful stars married and created their own studio, few could have imagined the scandal that would follow.
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He was Hollywood’s ‘Boy Wonder’, who seemed to succeed at everything he tried. She was one of its most voluptuous stars. Together for a brief period they seemed the perfect couple.
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PLEASE CONTACT:
BBC WORLDWIDE
WOODLANDS
80 WOOD LANE
LONDON
W12 0TT
TEL: 020 8433 2261
FAX: 020 8433 3944
FOR WORLDWIDE VIDEO SALES
PLEASE CONTACT:
STUART SNAITH
MANAGING DIRECTOR
2 ENTERTAIN
33 FOLEY STREET
LONDON
W1W 7TL
TEL: 44 (0) 20 7612 3100
FAX: 44 (0) 20 7612 3053
E-MAIL: stuart.snaith@2entertain.co.uk
SERIES 2 - THE STORIES
(each programme = 26 minutes)
The Blonde Bombshell meets The Thin Man, a movie partnership which set the screen alight. But was Harlow’s tragic early death related to their romance?
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Theirs was one of the greatest Hollywood romances, a remarkable meeting of opposites. The deep feeling Hepburn and Tracy had for each other is preserved in a series of classic movies in which they co-starred.
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From the B-hive to the White House. Behind Ronnie’s easy charm lay Nancy’s steely determination. It pushed the future President every step of the way to the most important job in the world.
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The clash of huge personalities sent shockwaves through Wall Street and Hollywood. Their torrid romance led to the filming of one of Hollywood’s most extraordinary epics - ‘Queen Kelly’.
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She was one of MGM’s most luminous stars. He was one of its most brilliant directors. The union of two flamboyant talents produced a third. Liza Minnelli.
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One of the legendary love matches in Hollywood history. Stewart was the all-American boy - movie star and war hero - whose marriage reflected the title of one of his best-loved films, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.
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Beneath the suavely handsome exterior of one of Hollywood’s most desirable leading man lay a deeply troubled soul. The dark side of Cary Grant was to doom a marriage which seemed to have been made in heaven.
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James Dean lived fast and died young. The fate of the unhappy Pier Angeli was to live on, but she was never the same after her romance with the ‘Rebel Without a Cause’.
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Amiable range warbler Roy Rogers lived by the cowboy code - he never took advantage or slugged anyone smaller than himself. Dale Evans was the B-movie consort who joined noble steed Trigger to make a sagebrush trio.
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He was the Great Lover of the Silent Screen, she was the self-created exotic who fashioned his career. Neither partner in this remarkable marriage was quite what he or she seemed.
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Programme 2.11
George and Gracie were two of America’s best loved vaudevillians and movie stars who capped dazzling careers by making it big in television. After Gracie’s death, the laconic cigar-chomping George becomes an American showbiz institution.
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Like Desi, all of America loved Lucy, the RKO contract player who eventually gained the TV clout to buy the studio where she had started her movie career.
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Known to his legion of female fans as ‘Sexy Rexy’, Harrison married many times, but was rarely happier than during his wartime link up with a beautiful refugee.
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Hepburn was a bewitching elfin spirit in Fifties Hollywood, Ferrer the handsome leading man she married and with whom she co-starred in ‘War and Peace’.
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The Dust Bowl bandits whose blood-splattered spree of robbery and murder became a Depression legend and the basis for Arthur Penn’s Oscar-winning movie.
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He was the Panamanian diplomat crippled by a would-be assassin, she was the world’s best loved prima-ballerina who formed a legendary partnership with Rudolf Nureyev.
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From the feted young Royal couple of the forties to the guardians of today’s monarchy, Elizabeth and Philip have travelled a long road which is by no means over.
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One of the greatest survivors in the turbulent politics of the Middle East, received the support he needed from his beautiful third wife.
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Two of Europe’s most charismatic cinema icons whose affair was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the 1970s.
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One of the most glamorous couples of the Golden Era of Hollywood - the greatest of studio directors and his shrewd fashion editor wife who brought Lauren Bacall to the attention of her husband Humphrey Bogart.
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He was the most celebrated aviator of the age and she was the daughter of a wealthy diplomat. Their marriage saw flying triumphs and personal tragedy when the kidnapping of their baby led to one of the most sensational murder trials in American legal history.
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One of Hollywood’s unlikeliest star couples - the Ringo Kid meets Lola - who had a passionate affair in the star-spangled Forties.
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After the unrepeatable triumph of ‘Gone With The Wind’, master-producer David O. Selznick spent much of his later days in Hollywood promoting the career of his beautiful but neurotic wife.
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He was the MGM’s longest-serving leading man, she was one of Hollywood’s finest actresses and the ultimate film noir icon in ‘Double Indemnity’. Together they were dynamic.
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From the Chequers speech to Richard Nixon’s traumatic resignation from the office of President, Pat travelled with her husband every step of the way. Inevitably , there was a price to pay for such loyalty.
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Reviled by many Americans when Jimmy Carter stepped down from the Presidency, the Carters have become one of the most affectionately regarded couples in American Life.
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PLEASE CONTACT:
BBC WORLDWIDE
WOODLANDS
80 WOOD LANE
LONDON
W12 0TT
TEL: 020 8433 2261
FAX: 020 8433 3944
FOR WORLDWIDE VIDEO SALES
PLEASE CONTACT:
STUART SNAITH
MANAGING DIRECTOR
2 ENTERTAIN
33 FOLEY STREET
LONDON
W1W 7TL
TEL: 44 (0) 20 7612 3100
FAX: 44 (0) 20 7612 3053
E-MAIL: stuart.snaith@2entertain.co.uk
SERIES 3 - THE STORIES
(each programme = 26 minutes)
Two of the most handsome stars of the 1950s who fell in, out and in love again. Their nine-year second marriage was tragically cut short by a boating accident.
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He was an icon of popular music; she was one of the most flamboyant performance artists of the Sixties. Behind the controversy they left in their wake, theirs was an extraordinary and enduring marriage.
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In the world of rock and showbiz, few marriages proved more happy and creative, until her premature death saddened millions of fans.
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The romance between the massively-cantilevered star and her champion muscleman was one of the most oddball stories of Hollywood.
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Claire Bloom shot to fame as a beautiful but paralysed young girl in ‘Limelight’. Her marriage to one of the greatest method actors of his generation lasted through a turbulent decade.
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When two of Hollywood’s zaniest comic talents were married, it seemed like the start of a great movie partnership, but cancer claimed Gilda after five short years.
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John Derek was one of the most handsome leading men of the Fifties but never became a major star, perhaps because he was always in the shadow of his first wife, Ursula Andress. But in the early 1980s, as a director and producer, he made a star of his third.
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The ill-starred Kennedy family suffered another in a long line of tragedies when an air crash ended the seemingly glamorous marriage between JFK’s heir and his beautiful PR girl wife.
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Their enduring marriage is an antidote to cynics who claim that genuine romance cannot flourish in Tinseltown.
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Since 1950, former child star and diplomat Shirley Temple has been married to businessman Charles Black. In contrast to most child stars who prove unable to grow up, her adult life has been crammed with achievements.
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He was one of cinema’s greatest action heroes, who waited thirty years to achieve stardom. He was happily married to British-born actress Jill Ireland until her death after a long battle with cancer.
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He was the ‘director from hell’ who turned the fiery nightclub entertainer into a star in ‘Carmen Jones’. Their romance was passionate, stormy - and doomed.
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Star director William Friedkin made more than one French connection, his romance with one of Europe’s greatest leading ladies was the talk of Tinseltown.
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Hollywood patriarch Henry Fonda was five times married and often at odds with his equally stellar children. But his romance with Shirlee proved in a rock in a stormy private life.
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In the early Fifties it was hard to decide who was prettier - dashing Tony Curtis, hero of countless Universal hokum adventures, or his beautiful wife. She loyally supported him by subordinating her career to his and providing him with a famous daughter.
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The romance between Latin lover Fernando and the million-dollar mermaid Esther Williams has recently been richly chronicled in her best-selling autobiography.
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She had the million-dollar legs and he was the man with the golden trumpet. Theirs was one of the most long-lived of Hollywood’s marriages.
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When one of the most beautiful leading ladies from Hollywood’s heyday married the doyen of New York fashion, a glittering future beckoned. But then their hopes of happiness were dashed by the birth of a severely retarded daughter.
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Her career began as ‘sister’ to the world’s most famous dummy, and blossomed as model, actress and photojournalist. Her marriage to one of France’s leading directors who also established himself in Hollywood was cut short by his premature death.
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Alfred Hitchcock remains an enduring figure of fascination for movie buffs and his marriage to fellow Briton Alma Reville gives an intriguing insight into the master director’s character.
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Theirs was one of the most touching and adult relationships in Hollywood, which survived the tortured emotional life of one of Britain’s greatest actors.
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The world was genuinely moved when the former Soviet first lady died of leukaemia. Raisa had stood by her husband’s side throughout an extraordinary career which changed the face of world politics.
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One of the most fascinating romances between two of America’s greatest literary rebels.
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He was a Hollywood prince; she was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who clawed her way to the top, like the heroine of so many of her movies.
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Huston was one of Hollywood’s greatest directors and libertines - but he met his match in feisty Evelyn Keyes.
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For a brief period, Gary Merrill basked in the shadow cast by one of Hollywood’s greatest divas. The tensions this caused inevitably doomed the marriage.
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FOR WORLDWIDE TV, PUBLISHING AND MERCHANDISING RIGHTS ON ALL THREE SERIES
PLEASE CONTACT:
BBC WORLDWIDE
WOODLANDS
80 WOOD LANE
LONDON
W12 0TT
TEL: 020 8433 2261
FAX: 020 8433 3944
FOR WORLDWIDE VIDEO SALES
PLEASE CONTACT:
STUART SNAITH
MANAGING DIRECTOR
2 ENTERTAIN
33 FOLEY STREET
LONDON
W1W 7TL
TEL: 44 (0) 20 7612 3100
FAX: 44 (0) 20 7612 3053
E-MAIL: stuart.snaith@2entertain.co.uk