Manchester Television & Media Celebrities

Manchester Celebrities
Television, Film, Media & Broadcasting (24)

Maxine Peake

Maxine Peake was born on the 14 July 1974 in Bolton. A celebrated stage, film and television actress best known for her role as and Twinkle in Victoria Wood's situation comedy "Dinnerladies", as well as Veronica in Channel 4's Manchester-based drama series "Shameless".
She had attended Westhoughton High School, and at the age of 13 joined the Bolton Octagon Youth Theatre and later the youth theatre of the Royal Exchange in Manchester. At the age of 21, after a time at Salford College of Technology, she went to London to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Other appearances have included "Early Doors" and then the role of Moors Murder Myra Hindley in "See No Evil: the Moors Murders" in 2006. Also in that year she appeared in Channel 4's "The Third Day", "Confessions of a Diary Secretary" in 2007; the role of Cinderella in BBC TV's "Fairy Tales" in 2008 as well as "Hancock and Joan" for BBC 4 in that same year. Her first major feature film role came as Angela in the film "Clubbed". The appeared in the Channel 4 series "Red Riding" and the leading role in "Criminal Justice" both in 2009. Maxine has appeared extensively in stage productions for the Royal Exchange Theatre, the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Court and at Bolton Octogan Theatre, as well as television roles in "Little Dorrit", "Coronation Street", "Hetty Wainthrop Investigates", "Dialzel & Pascoe" and "Jonathan Creek" among many others.. Recently she moved back to live in Salford to be near to her family.

Keith Macklin

(1931-2009)
Keith Macklin was a popular sports broadcaster and one-time North-West Evening Mail journalist, who commentated on football and rugby league for Yorkshire Television, as well as presenting regional television shows in the 1960s. He did his first Rugby League Challenge Cup Final commentary from Wembley in 1955, when Barrow beat Workington Town, though his media career really took off when, in 1956, he was asked to commentate on a rugby league game between Leeds and Oldham for the BBC, which was so well received that he was given the job on a permanent basis.
He worked in Barrow in the 1950s as a reporter but also covered Barrow Rugby League Club affairs. In 1962, he wrote “The History of Rugby League Football”. Later, he was a reporter on the ITV sports programme, "Football First", which, when ITV took over the Premiership Highlights contract, was later renamed"The Goalrush".
Macklin was a presenter on the forerunner to 'Look North' from 1960 until 1965. He was also a commentator on the Indoor League in the 1970s. With Border TV he was a presenter on "Lookaround", and host of their local quiz series "Brain of the Border".
In 1982, he was instrumental in the setting up of Red Rose Radio (now "Rock FM") and became its first Programme Controller.
Macklin was also Methodist lay preacher, who started the Layman Church Notes column in the Daily Mail.
Keith's autobiography 'A Two Horse Town' was published in December 2007.

Following a long illness, Keith Macklin died in hospital in Blackburn on Saturday 1st August 2009 at the age of 78.

Vince Powell

(1928-2009)
British comedy scriptwriter Vincent Powell was born Vince Smith on the 6th of August 1928 to a working class Catholic family in the Manchester suburb of Miles Platting. Vince exhibited an early interest in comedy and the stage, to the extent that he was actually expelled from St Bede's Catholic College after playing truant in order to visit a local theatre to enjoy comedy and variety acts - Jewell & Warriss, George Formby and Gracie Fields numbered among them. After leaving full-time education, he worked for a time at a gentleman's tailors in Albert Square in Manchester city centre, while still writing and submitting scripts to ITV and the BBC.
He went on to form a very successful partnership with Harry Driver, and the two wrote many popular television comedy series in the 1960s and 1970s including scripts for the hitherto unknown comedian Harry Worth. However, when Harry Driver died in 1973, Vince continued his solo writing career with equal success and he was able to buy a villa in the South of France where he lived for many years. His solo work included "The Wackers", "Mind Your Language", "Bottle Boys", "A Sharp Intake of Breath", as well as collaborating on scripts in John Mortimer's sitcom "Never The Twain", which ran successfully until 1991.
A prolific creator of situation comedies from the early days of mass-audience television right through to the early 1990s, Vince Powell's extensive career saw an impressive list of comedy credits including controversial shows like "Love Thy Neighbour", which, though branded by many as promoting racism, drew a regular audience of some 18 million viewers. Powell always denied that the show was racist. Rather, he maintained, it showed up racial bigotry as pathetic and somewhat stupid, and was actually anti-racist, (though by today's standards it would be thought distinctly politically incorrect).
As well as writing many scripts for "Coronation Street", he had other hits with shows like "Bless This House" and "Nearest & Dearest", "Pardon The Expression", "Adam Adamant Lives!", "George and the Dragon", "Two In Clover", "For the Love Of Ada" and "Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width", drawing extensively on his own early experience working as a tailor.

After a short illness, Vince Powell died on Monday 13th July 2009 at the Royal Surrey Hospital at the age of 80.