She is of austrian jewish and russian jewish descent. Turkel was born in new york city, new york, to a jewish family. Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created. May 17, 2019 this also damages the films attempt to be a modesty blaise filmwhatever its many failures, the 1966 film looked like a big, bold blaise adventure. Born and raised in manhattan, ann always had a gift for entertaining. Ann took acting, dance and voice lessons from an early age. The modesty blaise fandom owes a huge debt of gratitude to titan books which has put into easytoread large paperback volumes the blaise stories at an affordable price. A spy spoof in the 1960s tradition, featuring the comic book heroine modesty blaise monica vitti set. Ann turkel as modesty blaise and lewis van bergen as willie. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Nov 28, 2008 but not even vittis cheekbones could capture the precisiontooled magic of modesty. Cooler than the pretentious james bond, tougher than the braindead mike hammer. Modesty blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her fingers is being used by the british government as a decoy in an effort to thwart a.
The first artist for the strip was jim holdaway, then romero and a. The music was composed by johnny dankworth and the theme song, modesty, was sung by david and jonathan. Modesty blaise is a comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by peter odonnell writer and jim holdaway art in 1963. Ann turkel as modesty blaise, lewis van bergen as willie garvin, keene curtis as sir gerald, sab shimono as weng, carolyn seymour as debbie defarge. Modesty blaise is a female action hero who has been featured in comic strips, novels, short story collections, graphic novels and three films. Ann turkel receives an impressive amount from her profession. In 1982, a onehour pilot was made for a proposed modesty blaise television series, starring ann turkel as modesty blaise and lewis. Despite their divorce she and harris remained good friends and when harris died in 2002 turkel was so saddened and called him a mentor and good friend. Blaise of no glory modesty blaise and my name is modesty.
Modesty blaise was a comedic spyfi motion picture produced in the united kingdom and released worldwide in 1966. In addition to the strips which are worth the price alone, the books contain terrrific articles, some by the author before his death. Modesty blaise was my secret self the year i was 15, the subject of ardent daydreams and the first female character i encountered who was truly in charge of something other than a hospital ward. Ann turkel biography filter and browse options 1 result page 1.
Although both modesty and willies back stories are given as described by odonnell, no explanation is provided. A spy spoof in the 1960s tradition, featuring the comic book heroine modesty blaise monica vitti set in the italian mediterranean. Modesty, of course, had appeared even earlier, as her adventures in book form were preceded by those in the daily comic strips, debuting in the london evening standard in 1963. The title of the first modesty blaise novel was exactly that, modesty blaise, published by souvenir press in 1965. Read, borrow, and discover more than 3m books for free.
Feb 17, 2007 the title of the first modesty blaise novel was exactly that, modesty blaise, published by souvenir press in 1965. Lesser known tv babes part 2 the knight rider edition. British writer peter odonnell created the modesty blaise comic strip in 1963. For some, it may come from the illustrated book covers american ones by. A second attempt to bring modesty blaise to the screen came in 1982, when a madefortv movie was produced for american television by barney rosenzweig, the man behind cagney and lacey.
Ann kathryn turkel is an american actress and was a model. Ann turkel also starred in the title role of a modesty blaise pilot that was made back in 1982. Aug 11, 2005 i learned of modesty blaise when reading the psychology of the girl with the dragon tatoo by robin s. Blaise of no glory modesty blaise and my name is modesty tor. She was photographed for american vogue in the late 1960s. It stars monica vitti as modesty blaise, terence stamp as willie garvin, and dirk bogarde as the villain, gabriel. In 1994, dc comics released a graphic novel adaptation of modesty blaise the novel. The strip led to a series of novels about modesty and her faithful. She portrayed comic strip heroine modesty blaise in a 1982 tv pilot. Modesty blaise is a 1966 british comic spyfi film directed by joseph losey, produced by joseph janni, and loosely based on the popular comic strip modesty blaise by peter odonnell, who cowrote the original story upon which evan jones and harold pinter based their screenplay. The gist of the dialogue is that modesty and willie plan to unearth a treasure the one left buried at the end of the book a taste for death and anonymously donate it to the salvation army, and to take a break from adventuring. Willie garvin also appears in every volume of the modesty blaise book series. It stars monica vitti as modesty blaise, terence stamp as willie garvin, and dirk bogarde as the villain, gabriel the film is loosely based on the modesty blaise comic strip created and written by peter odonnell.
Modesty blaise was a 1982 americanproduced onehour television pilot produced for the abc. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards eleven novels and two. With monica vitti, terence stamp, dirk bogarde, harry andrews. When modesty accidentally blows the cover of an old friend, the life of the cia agent was put in peril. The program featured ann turkel as modesty blaise, lewis van bergen as willie garvin, keene curtis as. Description above from the wikipedia article ann kathryn turkel, licensed under ccbysa, full list of contributors on wikipedia. With ann turkel, lewis van bergen, keene curtis, sab shimono. Odonnell wrote the scenario for the movie, but the screenplay went through multiple rewrites and. Modesty is a tough, brilliant and beautiful woman along the lines of the avengers mrs. Patrick lichfield captured images of her on location in england, the bahamas, and sardinia during the early 1970s, and included them in his 1981 book, the most beautiful women after a brief appearance in the film paper lion 1968, her first major role.
It was loosely based upon the popular comic strip modesty blaise by peter odonnell, who wrote the original story and scenario upon which evan jones based his screenplay. It stars monica vitti as modesty, opposite terence stamp as willie garvin and dirk bogarde as her nemesis gabriel. Unlike the printed version, the original art appears without the word balloons. Ann turkel was a popular model who tested the waters in acting with tepid results. Synopsis modesty blaise and willie garvin must foil a multi million pound diamond heist. Ann turkel original sexy glamour publicity photo 70s. Ann turkel was an actress who had a successful hollywood career. Modesty blaise is a 1966 comedy actionspy fiction film directed by joseph losey. Her other acting credits included portrait of a hitman, humanoids from the deep, deep space, highlander. This also damages the films attempt to be a modesty blaise filmwhatever its many failures, the 1966 film looked like a big, bold blaise adventure.
Feb 03, 2015 modesty blaise, a secret agent whose hair color, hair style, and mod clothing change at a snap of her fingers is being used by the british government as a decoy in an effort to thwart a diamond heist. In 1982, a onehour pilot was made for a proposed modesty blaise television series, starring ann turkel as modesty blaise and lewis van bergen as willie garvin. For almost 40 years, peter odonnells iconic heroine dropkicked her way through a swath of villains and into a unique place in. But not even vittis cheekbones could capture the precisiontooled magic of modesty. Ann turkel was bornon july 16, 1946 in new york city, new york, united states, is actress. Early on, turkel mostly landed roles in various films, including the dramatic adaptation paper lion 1969 with alan alda, the comedic adventure 99 and 44100% dead 1974 with richard harris and golden rendezvous 1977. Ann kathryn turkel born july 16, 1946 is an american actress and former model. Anne turkel, lewis van bergen, keene curtis, sarah rush, professor. Modesty blaise is a heroine for our time the atlantic. In this pilot the setting is moved from london to hollywood, and. Ann turkel as modesty blaise, lewis van bergen as willie garvin, keene curtis as sir gerald, sab shimono as weng, carolyn seymour as debbie defarge onehour pilot for a possible series that never came to be. Turkel studied acting at the musical theatre academy. Thats not all, she even played comic strip heroine modesty blaise in a 1982 tv pilot.
A former international vogue cover girl who stands six feet tall, ann is recognized around the world for her successes in motion pictures, television, modeling, and business. Willie garvin is a character in the longrunning british comic strip series modesty blaise, as well as a series of novels based upon the strip. Former crime boss modesty blaise monica vitti, a secret agent whose hair colour. Modesty blaise academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. Blaise and the cockney garvin as americans, played by ann turkel and. Modesty blaise was an warorphan who moved about and eventually, relying on strength of character and other factors, ended up running the network, a successful crime organization that operated in europe and other locations. Ann turkels bio, age, height, net worth, married, husband. This comic strip follows the life of modesty blaise, whos a remarkable young woman whos very talented but has a criminal history. Peter odonnell has 220 books on goodreads with 16430 ratings. Modesty blaise 1966 film the art and popular culture. The film is loosely based on the modesty blaise comic strip created and written by peter odonnell.
Modesty blaise is a british comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author peter odonnell and illustrator jim holdaway in 1963. Overview of modesty blaise, 1982, directed by raza badiyi, with ann turkel, lewis van bergen, sab shimono, at turner classic movies. It was adapted into films made in 1966, 1982, and 2003 and a series of thirteen novels and. Odonnells first novel about her, titled simply modesty blaise, came out in 1965. The plot has a few elements taken from odonnells first modesty blaise novel which in turn had been a novelization. Directed by reza badiyi, the hourlong movie starred ann turkel as modesty and lewis van bergen as willie, and changed the location from london to california. In 1982, a wellreceived television pilot for modesty blaise was filmed starring ann turkel, but was never picked up. This was a slightly more serious version of the stories than the campy 1966 comedy version. Ann turkel has one of the most interesting and diverse careers in the entertainment industry. Rosenberg who mentions stieg larson was a big fan of the modesty books. Alexandra staden starred as a young modesty blaise prior to her days in the.
Order of modesty blaise books modesty blaise is a fictional character created by british novelist and comic strip writer peter odonnell. The strip follows the adventures of modesty blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick willie garvin. Modesty blaise was merely a cartoon character turned into a bit of pulp fiction, but in the midst of my unhappy adolescence, she changed the way i thought about myself and my future. Monica vitti and terence stamp starred as modesty and willie, with harry andrews as sir gerald. The strip follows modesty blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick willie garvin. Modesty blaise project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Ann kathryn turkel was born in 1946, and raised in manhattan, the daughter of thelma l.
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