Cast and Crew
Producer David Castro
Principal Cast
Co-Producers
Supporting Cast
Key Crew
Interviews Available
Press interviews can be arranged with key cast and crew members.
To arrange contact Paradise Grove on
tel: +44 20 7435 1330
fax: +44 20 7813 4436
email: info@paradisegrove.co.uk
Stills photographer:
Toby Russell-Stoneham
It stars Ron Moody (Oscar-nominated for Oliver!) as Izzie Goldberg. Rula Lenska as Dee Perry. Lee Blakemore as Kim, and introduces Leyland O'Brien as Keith Perry.
Charles Harris has come to directing features after a varied early career which ranged from freelance photographer to fourth level black belt in Aikido. Starting in the film industry as a projectionist in a dubbing theatre, where he learned about film-making by watching the very end of the process, he moved to TV cutting-room assistant before becoming an editor for BBC and LWT and then finally director of TV documentaries and video.
The
time he spent as a photographer early in his career can be seen in his
strongly visual style, and his very first documentary as director, Marc
Chagall, The Colours of Passion, won awards at Melbourne and Hemisfilm.
He wrote and directed the TV series Religion and Civilisation, and the
BBC2 award-winning Post Impressions. A long commercial for the Euroroute
Channel crossing consortium won a silver award at Chicago. Downburst,
the part-dramatisation of a tense air-crash investigation won gold at
Chicago, and his satirical BBC documentary Sex, Drugs and Dinner won
Best Network Programme in the One World Awards. He always loved drama - in particular comedy - and even while directing documentaries found time to direct fringe theatre. Overall, his credits include work with such diverse names as James Stewart, Alexei Sayle, Spike Milligan and Melvyn Bragg.
His drama short On the 8 Ball (written by Charles Harris and co-directed with Philip Chavannes) was made by his own production company - Footloose Films - and screened as part of UK Channel 4's prestigious Gangsters season. It was selected for showing in the British Pavilion in Cannes 2000 in a showcase of "the best in contemporary UK independent film and video". Since shooting Paradise Grove he directed the award-winning stage play Our Father, and the ground-breaking "talking heads" docudrama Silent Voices which aired on British TV in 2005.
He is currently in development on his new feature, the Anglo-Belgian action-comedy true story King of the Docks.
David Castro (Producer)
David Castro has had twenty years' management experience, inside and outside the film and television industry.
Production credits include opera, theatre and film, working as Production Manager, Ist Assistant Director, Location Manager, lighting designer and Assistant Director with (amongst others) the Barbican, the Garsington Festival, opera director Michael MacCaffery, Channel 4, Twenty Twenty TV, on the short On The Eight Ball (with Charles Harris) and on the feature film Let's Stick Together ( Dir: Viv Fongenie)
Previously an actor, and a current Equity card holder, with an honours degree in Drama and Theatre Studies, he has acted for cinema as well as for Channel 4 and the BBC, working with such acclaimed actors as Michael Maloney, Frances Barber and Con O'Neill.
Prior to this he held a number of sales-management positions as well as credit control in such high profile companies as WH Smith & Son Ltd, Booker plc and Direct Connection.
At Whole Earth & Organic Farm Foods he was involved with the development and creation of new product lines for the then evolving organic fresh food industry. With supplier and client links at the highest level throughout Europe, the USA and Japan, and the integration of distribution throughout the UK in both health food shops and supermarkets.
He is currently Chief Executive of the New Producers Alliance, a Charity which trains and supports emerging filmmakers with over 800 members. David also creates and delivers film-training programs for the New Producers Alliance, Screenwriters Workshop and London University.
Ron Moody (Izzie Goldberg)
Ron Moody has had a long and immensely varied career, encompassing the cinema, television, straight theatre, musicals, one-man shows and even four books - though he'll always be best known for playing Fagin in Oliver!, both in its original London stage run and later in Carol Reed's blockbuster film, which won him five major Best Actor awards (including a Golden Globe) and an Oscar nomination.
He has also worked with Mel Brooks (The Twelve Chairs), Dudley Moore (Arthur), Peter Cushing (Legend of the Werewolf) and Cliff Richard (Summer Holiday) and has appeared in a wide range of British and American TV programmes including The Edwardians, Starsky and Hutch, Hart to Hart and Murder She Wrote.
His most recent television appearance was opposite Jessye Norman in The People's Passion, shown on BBC2. Recent stage work includes the title roles in The Miser, The Canterville Ghost and Leslie Bricusse's Sherlock Holmes - The Musical, plus Captain Hook in a national touring production of Peter Pan - as well as a highly-acclaimed one-man show, Move Along Sideways.
Rula Lenska (Dee Perry)
Rula Lenska has had an extensive television career, making a memorable debut in Howard Schuman's Rock Follies and going on to appear in such series as Boon, Minder, Stay Lucky, The Detectives and One Foot in The Grave. Her stage career includes plays by J.B.Priestley (Dangerous Corner), Václav Havel (Temptation), Alan Ayckbourn (Confusions) and Anton Chekhov (The Cherry Orchard).
She has played in feature films opposite Peter Sellers (Soft Beds Hard Battles) and Joan Collins (Alfie Darling).
Lee Blakemore (Kim Wright)
Lee has been acting since the age of nine, when she starred in the BBC production of David Copperfield. After several major UK television commercials for Coca-Cola, Asda, Pepsi, Guinness and Soft and Gentle, her reputation grew and commercials gave way to television appearances in dramas such as The Bill and in comedies such as Lust for Glorious with Eddie Izzard.
Most recently she has moved into short films such as Sound Track for the Weekend and the award-winning I Just Want To Kiss You for BBC Films - plus the lead in the feature film Blood.
Leyland O'Brien (Keith Perry)
Manchester-born Leyland O'Brien has performed on stage, radio and television, including such parts as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and Danny in Grease. His other talents include martial arts, kickboxing and debating, not necessarily at the same time.
Paradise Grove is his first feature film, and we'll all be hearing a great deal more about him over the next few years...
James Murphy (Co-Producer/First Assistant Director)
A First Assistant Director for many years, James Murphy has had nearly ten years' experience of the film production process. These include credits as a production manager, floor manager, camera assistant, electrician, sound assistant, set decorator, props buyer and special effects runner. Feature film credits include Fierce Creatures (John Cleese's sequel to A Fish Called Wanda), Lost in Space, Captain Jack (written by Jack Rosenthal) and the highly-acclaimed Miss Monday (which won a prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival).
TV work includes Business Daily, GMTV'S holiday children's programme it's Not, System 93, The Big Story, World in Action, Crime Monthly, Police Camera Action!, Secret History, Room 101, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Games World, The Geeks and many more. He has also worked on corporate videos and short films (including Charles Harris' On the 8 Ball), together with ads for such diverse organisations as Sony, the Samaritans and Amnesty International (amongst others).
Michael Brooke (Co-Producer/Marketing)
The holder of a first-class honours degree in Marketing with Arts Management, Michael Brooke spent six years as the film booker and marketing officer at Hampstead's Everyman Cinema, where he was involved in promoting the British premieres of numerous films.
He has also promoted numerous films and seasons of specifically Jewish interest, among them London's first Israeli Film Festival, a season of Hollywood Jewish comedies, Woody Allen retrospectives and the British premieres of Jewish comedies The Plot Against Harry and Leon the Pig Farmer. More recently, he has promoted independent films and film-makers in a wide range of media, including large-scale web sites.
John Cunningham (Dr Norman) John Cunningham's stage career ranges from Shakespeare through to modern drama such as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Loot. Television appearances include Shelley, Countdown to War, Master of Marionettes and Victorian Values, while his film work ranges from Michael Winner's The Wicked Lady to the forthcoming features Anxiety and Summer Tales.
Dorothea Alexander (Mrs Wallenstein) Dorothea sadly passed away shortly after filming. She had a long and challenging life, fighting Hitler Youth classmates at the age of 8 in her native Germany, before escaping to Britain before the start of the war. In England, she trained at RADA and the London Theatre School before starting her acting career. She worked as an actress, ran a touring theatre company and taught acting for many years. Big-screen appearances included roles in Keep The Aspidistra Flying and The Young Poisoner's Handbook, while television work included Touching Evil, Inspector Morse, Between the Lines, Big City, Bergerac and Alas Smith and Jones. She also played Miss Marple in the radio play Portrait of Agatha Christie.
Leelo Ross (Annie Libowitz) Leelo Ross has performed her one-woman shows Leelo Solo and Leelo Ross Presents in Britain, the US and Australia. Other stage appearances include the traditional Jewish drama The Dybbuk, while her television appearances include Last of The Summer Wine, Hale and Pace and a regular slot on The Best of Pebble Mill. She also appeared in the British feature Still Crazy.
Georgette Pallard (Carolina) After training in London and New York. Georgette Pallard appeared In Canadian television productions 21 Jump Street and MacGyver, while her feature film work includes Lost in Space, The Stephen Lawrence Story and Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.
Andy Lucas (Garrison Moss) Andy Lucas' career has ranged over stage, television, radio and the cinema. Television credits include Bugs, The Professionals, Lovejoy, Soldier Soldier, Birds of a Feather, Eldorado, The Detectives, Minder and The Bill, while on the big screen he has appeared in John Schlesinger's Yanks, Quadrophenia, Hussy, Half Moon Street and Warren Beatty's Reds.
Pamela Cundell (Ella Bernstein) Pamela Cundell's lengthy CV takes in a vast range of stage appearances and popular British television programmes, including Goodnight Sweetheart, A Touch of Frost, The Borrowers, Minder, Love Hurts, Casualty, Boon, London's Burning and many more - though she's probably best known for her work in comedy, including appearances on The Paul Merton Show, Smith and Jones, The Detectives, Bread, In Sickness and In Health, French & Sanders, The Two Ronnies, Are You Being Served?, The Liver Birds and the immortal Mrs Fox, Corporal Jones' inamorata in Dad's Army. On the big screen she was most recently seen dancing with Bob Hoskins in TwentyFourSeven.
Hana Maria Pravda (Ruth Posnitch) Hana Maria has a long list of stage, screen and radio credits, including films such as The Human Factor, The Kremlin Letter,The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Leon The Pig Farmer. She has appeared in approximately 140 television productions including Poirot and Tales of The Unexpected, and her radio work includes numerous BBC productions including The Russia House, Smiley's People and the autobiographical Hana's Diary, based on her own dramatic childhood when she fled Nazi Germany.
Tara Ellis (Mystelle) Tara Ellis has appeared in numerous theatrical and television productions, including Underground Man, Cats Paw, The Grass is Greener, Beyond Ecstasy and The Bill, and the British feature film 24 Hours in London.
Charles Simon (Ralph Stein) Sadly, Charles Simon, at 90 the oldest member of the Paradise Grove cast, also died earlier this year. His career spanned several decades, and included numerous TV, film, stage and radio appearances.
Recent television included Midsomer Murders, Father Ted, The Bill, Far From The Madding Crowd, Two Point Four Children, A Touch of Frost, Kavanagh QC, Fist of Fun, Goodnight Sweetheart, Bramwell, Is It Legal?, Die Kinder, Hot Metal and The Singing Detective, while his film work included Erik the Viking, Shadowlands, Stiff Upper Lips and the Mike Leigh film Topsy Turvy (in which he played the father of W.S.Gilbert).
Toshie Ogura (Yoshiko) Toshie Ogura has worked extensively as an actress in her native Japan, and came to Europe as assistant director to Yoshie Oida in Paris. In Britain, she has worked with such acclaimed theatre directors as Tim Supple, Dominic Dromgoole and Mark Rylance - whose production of The Changeling gained her a Best Actress nomination in the Charrington London Fringe Awards.
Anita Reynolds (Rose) Cardiff-based Anita Reynolds trained at the Welsh College of Music and Drama and has already amassed an extensive body of stage and television work, including Great New Visionary Quest, Goats Don't Shave, The Slate and the part of Vicki in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm.
Brian Altman (Marcus Wolfson) Brian Altman trained as a musician, and spent twelve years as a feature singer with the Tony Evans band before becoming a drummer with a trio playing pubs, clubs and residencies. He turned to acting five years ago, appearing in television programmes including This Life, Mosley, The Broker's Man and the recently released feature film This Year's Love.
Jack Raymond (Rabbi) Jack Raymond's career includes stage appearances in Jolson and Cabaret, television roles in Love Hurts, The Brittas Empire and Bergerac, while his feature film work includes The Russia House, Loser Takes All and Leon the Pig Farmer.
Key Crew
Miles Cook (Director of Photography) Miles Cook's credits span feature films (Al Pacino's Looking for Richard, The Rachel Papers, Where Sleeping Dogs Lie with Sharon Stone), documentaries (from the Russia-Afghanistan conflict to wildlife photography for Oxford Scientific Films), commercials and music videos (including David Bowie, Deacon Blue, Françoise Hardy). His photography for the short Greasy Lake (starring James Spader and Tom Waits) won the Best Cinematography award at the 1990 Houston Film Festival.
Roddy Skeaping (Composer) A founder member of The Burning Bush, Britain's leading Jewish music ensemble who recorded the music for the film with guest pianist GéNIA. Roddy Skeaping has also performed with many of the UK's major ensembles and orchestras. He has released several CDs and composed scores for choirs, chamber groups and theatre (including the National Theatre). He makes frequent international tours with The Burning Bush, playing venues from Eastern Europe to Peru and opened the London Jewish Music Festival in front of a VIP audience.
Alice Herrick (Production Designer) A graduate of Chelsea College of Art and Design, Alice Herrick has worked as art director, set dresser and production designer on a wide range of short films (including award winners Hell For Leather, Toy Boys and Touch) commercials and pop promos and the feature film Bodywork.
John Hackney (Editor) John Hackney started as assistant editor on Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, and went on to cut feature films, television drama and documentaries, working alongside top Hollywood names William Friedkin, Robert Shaw, Donald Pleasance and Alan Arkin, as well as the Monty Python team for whom he cut Monty Python and the Holy Grail. More recently, he edited the Emmy award-winning Gulf War documentary Tides of War.
Jim Betteridge (Sound Designer) Jim Betteridge has worked as a sound engineer and composer for over 20 years. Feature film credits include the soundtrack for Alone, with John Shrapnel and Miriam Margolyes, music editing on Dogma, with Matt Damon, plus hundreds of TV and radio programmes and commercials. Jim is on the council of the Association of Motion Picture Sound.
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