Angus McBean; Coral Edith Browne

1 portrait of Angus McBean

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© estate of Angus McBean / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Angus McBean; Coral Edith Browne

by Angus McBean
bromide print, 1981
15 5/8 in. x 11 1/2 in. (397 mm x 292 mm)
Purchased, 2001
Primary Collection
NPG P940

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Angus McBean (1904-1990), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 283 portraits, Sitter in 79 portraits. Identify

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pepper, Terence, Angus McBean Portraits, 2006 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 July to 22 October 2006), p. 130 Read entry

    McBean’s comeback card was documented during the filming of Nigel Finch's BBC Arena programme and used various elements from previous cards. A miniature McBean on the right wearing his deerstalker hat comes from the 1955 card, and the far-left miniature derives from the 1953 card. He accompanies Coral Browne, dressed only in her slip, taken from his photograph of her in the first production of Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw. The arrangement of shells draws attention to the greeting 'love from Angus 81', spelt out in pipe cleaners.

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Events of 1981back to top

Current affairs

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral. A crowd of 600,000 spectators filled the streets to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple, and 750 million viewers watched the event on television. The iconic moment came when Charles and Diana appeased the crowds by breaking royal protocol and kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Art and science

Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical Cats, based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, opens in the West End. The show ran for 21 years.
Brideshead Revisited, the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, is adapted for television by John Mortimer. The lavish production featured an all-star cast of Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud, setting the bar high for future TV costume dramas.

International

Pope John Paul II is shot by a Turkish gunman in St Peter's Square in Rome. John Paul was rushed to hospital where he recovered, and Mehmet Ali Agca was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.
HIV AIDS is identified in five men in Los Angeles.

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