Actress Googie Withers dies at 94

16 July 2011 Last updated at 14:24 GMT Actress Googie Withers also appeared in the BBC's Northanger Abbey Actress Googie Withers, best known for appearing in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes and TV's Within These Walls, has died in Australia aged 94.

She was born Georgette Lizette Withers in what was then British India. She died at her home on Friday.

She was the first non-Australian to be awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Her last role was in the Oscar-nominated 1996 Australian movie Shine.

Withers's family moved back to Britain from India and she began acting at age 12.

She had been given her nickname Googie by her Indian nanny.

She was working as a dancer in a West End production in London when she was offered work in 1935 as a film extra in The Girl in the Crowd.

Withers, who had three children, appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 40s.

She played Blanche in 1938's The Lady Vanishes, opposite Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.

Later in her career she appeared in several television productions, including prison drama Within These Walls on ITV and the BBC's Hotel du Lac and Northanger Abbey.

In 1958, Withers moved to Australia with her husband, Australian actor John McCallum - he helped create the classic television series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.

The couple co-starred in 10 films, and they lived together in Sydney until McCallum died last year at the age of 91.

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India actress jailed over killing

1 July 2011 Last updated at 09:58 GMT An Indian court has sentenced an actress and her naval officer boyfriend in connection with the killing of TV executive Neeraj Grover in 2008.

Maria Susairaj was sentenced to three years in jail for destroying evidence. Emile Jerome got 10 years for "culpable homicide not amounting to murder".

Both had been charged with murder. But a judge in the Mumbai (Bombay) court ruled the killing was not planned.

Mr Grover was stabbed and his body hacked to pieces, the court heard.

Both defendants had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, common intent and causing disappearance of evidence.

Susairaj, a model who has had some small television parts, confessed to her role in covering up the killing. But she said that Jerome had been responsible for Mr Grover's death.

Her lawyers claimed that she was not party to the killing and that there had been no conspiracy. Her lawyer is quoted saying she was "a victim of circumstance".

According to the prosecution, Jerome, to whom Susairaj was engaged to be married, had a fight with Mr Grover when he found him at the actress's home.

The naval officer stabbed the producer to death, the court heard. Prosecutors said the couple then hacked Mr Grover's body to pieces and disposed of it in a nearby forest.

The judge held that Jerome had acted on the spur of the moment and that it had not been a pre-meditated killing, so he passed the lesser verdict of "culpable homicide".

"When he [Jerome] entered the room he was calm. This showed he did not have intention [to murder]. Obviously for a fiance, in a situation where he finds a stranger with his partner, would upset a prudent man and he would lose control," sessions court judge NW Chandwani is quoted as saying by the CNN-IBN news channel.

Correspondents expect Susairaj to be freed soon, as she has already been in jail for three years. Jerome faces seven more years in prison.

Both defendants have been ordered to pay compensation to the family of Neeraj Grover. Mr Grover's family have said they are unhappy with the verdict, saying they have not received justice.

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Suu Kyi actress barred from Burma

28 June 2011 Last updated at 05:57 GMT By Vaudine England BBC News, Bangkok Michelle Yeoh stars as pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a new film, The Lady The actress who plays the part of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a forthcoming film has been barred from entering Burma.

Michelle Yeoh, a former Bond girl, tried to enter the country on 22 June but was deported on the same day.

An official told reporters that Michelle Yeoh was now blacklisted and would not be able to enter Burma.

She has visited Burma before - in December, she met the Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

"She did not have the chance to enter Myanmar (Burma) again. She was deported straight away on the first flight after arriving at Yangon (Rangoon) International Airport," a Burmese official said.

Ms Yeoh has previously travelled to Burma with Aung San Suu Kyi's son, Kim Aris, who was allowed into the country earlier this month to mark his mother's 66th birthday.

'The Lady'

Ms Yeoh portrays Aung San Suu Kyi's life in a forthcoming film, The Lady.

Directed by Luc Besson it will be released later this year.

Michelle Yeoh, a 48-year old Malaysian actress, played a Chinese spy alongside Pierce Brosnan in the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies.

She also starred in Ang Lee's martial arts movie, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Aung San Suu Kyi recently gave the BBC's annual Reith Lectures in which she explored what freedom means, and described the meaning that Buddhism has given to her lonely political struggle.

In 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the Burmese election by a landslide.

She then spent 15 of the next 20 years under house arrest, and was finally released last November, a week after military-controlled elections marked what the government says is a return to civilian rule.

Quite what is in the movie of her life remains a mystery - but blacklisting the actress portraying it seems clumsy - and an unlikely way to dim interest in its screening.

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Forsyte Saga actress Tyzack dies

28 June 2011 Last updated at 15:04 GMT Margaret Tyzack played Antonia in I, Claudius Actress Margaret Tyzack has died after a brief illness, her agent has said.

The 79-year-old made her name in the Forsyte Saga and recently appeared in BBC One soap opera EastEnders, but had to withdraw after a short stint.

Her agent said Tyzack, who is thought to have had cancer, "died peacefully at home" on Saturday with her family by her side.

A statement issued by her agent said the actress "will be greatly missed by her family and friends".

It said she will be remembered for "her outstanding contribution to the world of theatre, film and television and for the support and inspiration she gave to young actors".

"Maggie faced her illness with the strength, courage, dignity and even humour with which she lived her life," it said.

Margaret Tyzack was made a CBE in July 2010

Brian Blessed, who starred with Tyzack in I, Claudius, told the BBC: "She was one of the most natural and great actresses of our times and also one of the greatest actresses I've ever worked with.

"She completed a huge array of work over the years in TV, film and theatre and it's such a terrible loss. She should have been made a Dame 10 times over."

Michael Grandage directed her in The Chalk Garden three years ago.

"I was fortunate enough to work with Margaret Tyzack at the Donmar where, according to many critics, she gave one of the greatest performances of her career in The Chalk Garden," he told the BBC.

"She brought an extraordinary depth to the role as well as her impeccable comic timing. There was a lot of herself invested in Mrs St Maugham - a lack of sentimentality, a great pragmatism, incredible loyalty and a huge heart. We will all miss her."

Tyzack, who was awarded the CBE last year, was best-known for her classical stage roles and won numerous awards for her stage work including two Oliviers and a Tony.

The actress landed the role of Winifred, Soames's sister, in The Forsyte Saga in 1967.

The programme became so popular vicars complained it affected attendance at Sunday evening services.

Tyzack also played Sir Derek Jacobi's mother Antonia in Roman saga I, Claudius.

'An inspiration'

She won a Tony award in 1991 for her role opposite Dame Maggie Smith in Lettice and Lovage and was seen at the National Theatre in 2009 alongside Dame Helen Mirren in Phedre.

Tyzak appeared briefly in EastEnders as Janine's grandmother

In April, it was announced that Tyzack was to join EastEnders to play Lydia Simmonds, the maternal grandmother of Albert Square regular Janine Butcher.

Bryan Kirkwood, executive producer of EastEnders, said: "I'm so sad to hear the tragic news about Margaret.

"Even though we only worked together for a brief time, Margaret made a great impact with EastEnders. She was a fabulous actress and an inspiration to us all and she will be sorely missed.

Our thoughts are with her family."

Film roles

Tyzack won an Olivier award for best actress for her performance as Martha in the National Theatre's revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1981.

In 2008, she picked up another Olivier for her role as the eccentric Mrs St Maugham in Grandage's revival of Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse in London with Penelope Wilton.

After her Olivier win, she spoke out about the lack of roles for older women in theatre and television.

She also appeared in several films including Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange and Woody Allen's Match Point.

Her other TV credits include Midsomer Murders, Rosemary and Thyme, Doc Martin and Quatermass.

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