9 OF 24

Beyond the Fringe (Jonathan Miller; Peter Cook; Dudley Moore; Alan Bennett)

9 of 24 portraits of Peter Cook

Identify sitters

by Lewis Morley
bromide fibre print, 1961
11 3/8 in. x 11 1/4 in. (289 mm x 285 mm)
Given by Lewis Morley, 1989
Photographs Collection
NPG x38939

Sittersback to top

Alan Bennett (1934-), Playwright. Sitter in 25 portraits. Identify
Peter Edward Cook (1937-1995), Comedian. Sitter in 25 portraits. Identify
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller (1934-2019), Physician, theatre and opera director and television presenter. Sitter in 29 portraits. Identify
Dudley Stuart Moore (1935-2002), Comedian. Sitter in 23 portraits. Identify

Artistback to top

Lewis Morley (1925-2013), Photographer. Artist of 306 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Beyond the Fringe was a ground-breaking comedy sketch show that brought new life to British comedy, and led the satire boom of the 1960s. It began as a live show and was broadcast on BBC television in 1964. Beyond the Fringe brought together and showcased the extraordinarily creative talents of Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. They appear here in their spoof Shakespeare sketch, So That’s The Way You Like It, in which they satirised Shakespearean tropes, exemplified here by their exaggerated gestures, ironic use of dramatic dry-ice smoke and mix of modern clothing with caricatured historical headdresses, all combined for comic effect.

Linked publicationsback to top

Pepper, Terence, Lewis Morley: Photographer of the Sixties, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 15 September 1989 - 7 January 1990), p. 41

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Comedians: From the 1940s to now (17 September 2011 - 8 January 2012)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1961back to top

Current affairs

Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published internationally, inspiring the founding of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.
The philosopher and peace activist Bertrand Russell is imprisoned for inciting civil disobedience during a sit down demonstration at the Ministry of Defence and Hyde Park.
The farthing coin - used in Britain for the last 7 centuries - ceases to be legal tender.

Art and science

Rudolf Nureyev defects from the USSR fearing that the KGB would arrest him for being gay and for fraternising with foreigners. After seeking asylum in Paris he set up home in London at the Royal Ballet and began his famous partnership with Margot Fonteyn.
The satirical magazine, Private Eye is first published.

International

The East German government erects the Berlin Wall, ceasing free movement between East and West Berlin. The barrier prevented citizens of Soviet controlled East Germany from crossing the border into West Germany to work, or to defect.
Yuri Gagarin, the soviet cosmonaut, becomes the first man in space orbiting the earth on the 12th April.

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