John Fortune

John Fortune

Born: June 30, 1939
Died: December 31, 2013
in Bristol, England, UK
John Fortune was an English satirist, comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John Bird.

Movies for John Fortune...

Title: The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Released: October 1, 2010
Type: TV
Comedy about an inept American placed in charge of sales at his company's London branch. He has no experience with British culture, knows nothing about sales, and has only one employee, Dave. Each episode begins with a scene of Margaret appearing in dire circumstances.
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Title: Bremner, Bird and Fortune: Silly Money
Character: Various
Released: November 2, 2008
Type: TV
Rory Bremner takes a satirical look at the 2008 'credit crunch'. He spoofs politicians and other public figures to tell the story of the US and UK financial markets.
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Title: Comedy Showcase
Character: Magistrate
Released: October 5, 2007
Type: TV
Comedy Showcase is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier Comedy Playhouse. The format was replaced in 2012 by 4Funnies.
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Match Point
Title: Match Point
Character: John the Chauffeur
Released: October 26, 2005
Type: Movie
Chris, a former tennis player, looks for work as an instructor. He meets Tom Hewett, a wealthy young man whose sister Chloe fall in love with Chris. But Chris has his eye on Tom's fiancee Nola.
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Title: Love Soup
Released: September 27, 2005
Type: TV
Bittersweet comedy drama about the eternal search for the perfect partner.
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Title: New Tricks
Character: Mel Simons
Released: January 1, 2004
Type: TV
New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.
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Calendar Girls
Title: Calendar Girls
Character: Frank
Released: September 2, 2003
Type: Movie
Members of a Yorkshire branch of the Women's Institute cause controversy when they pose nude for a charity calendar.
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Title: Spine Chillers
Character: Frank
Released: June 23, 2003
Type: TV
Anthology series of black comedies, which sets out to deliver excellent stories with a darkly comic twist.
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Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Title: Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Released: January 5, 2003
Type: Movie
The impressionist Rory Bremner and comedians Bird and Fortune take a look at the history of Iraq through a series of sketches, monologues and jokes. They begin with the formation of Iraq by the British in the early 20th Century, through the bombing of villages to control the tribes, the establishment of a king in the area through to the modern day trade meetings with Saddam Hussein.
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The Tailor of Panama
Title: The Tailor of Panama
Character: Maltby
Released: March 30, 2001
Type: Movie
A British spy is banished to Panama after having an affair with an ambassador's mistress. Once there he makes connection with a local tailor with a nefarious past and connections to all of the top political and gangster figures in Panama. The tailor also has a wife, who works for the Panamanian president and a huge debt. The mission is to learn what the President intends to do with the Canal.
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Maybe Baby
Title: Maybe Baby
Character: Acupuncturist
Released: June 2, 2000
Type: Movie
Sam and Lucie Bell are a married couple who seem to have it all: good looks, successful careers, matching motorbikes, and an enthusiastic love life. The only thing they lack is the one thing they want more—a baby.
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Saving Grace
Title: Saving Grace
Character: Melvyn
Released: January 24, 2000
Type: Movie
Unexpectedly widowed, prim and proper housewife Grace Trevethyn finds herself in dire financial straits when she inherits massive debts her late husband had been accruing for years. Faced with losing her house, she decides to use her talent for horticulture and hatches a plan to grow potent marijuana which can be sold at an astronomical price, thus solving her financial crisis.
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Title: Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Released: October 17, 1999
Type: TV
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner, and to date has 16 series.
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The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
Title: The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
Character: 2nd Official
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: Movie
In 1945, the new Polish government asked for the heart of Chopin previously buried in Paris. A woman called Paulina Czernika approached the government claiming to have some love letters from the composer to her great-grandmother, the Countess Delfina Potocka.
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Giving Tongue
Title: Giving Tongue
Character: Chief Executive
Released: September 1, 1996
Type: Movie
Jessie Fielding is a young MP who is trying to get an anti-hunting bill through the two Houses of Parliament, which is a little surprising as she hunted as a teenager with friend Barb Gale. Matters are complicated when she rekindles her friendship with Barb, who still works for a hunt. The plot thickens further when it becomes aparent that the House of Lords is likely break with convention and block the bill, an event which the Prime Minister hopes to use for his own ends.
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Giving Tongue
Title: Giving Tongue
Released: September 1, 1996
Type: Movie
Jessie Fielding is a young MP who is trying to get an anti-hunting bill through the two Houses of Parliament, which is a little surprising as she hunted as a teenager with friend Barb Gale. Matters are complicated when she rekindles her friendship with Barb, who still works for a hunt. The plot thickens further when it becomes aparent that the House of Lords is likely break with convention and block the bill, an event which the Prime Minister hopes to use for his own ends.
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A Very Open Prison
Title: A Very Open Prison
Character: Prime Minister
Released: December 9, 1995
Type: Movie
The Home Secretary has his eye on the Prime Minister's job. But an experiment in the way the prisons are run leads to embarrassment - and escaped murderers! The fore runner of Crossing The Floor
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England, My England
Title: England, My England
Character: Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon
Released: January 1, 1995
Type: Movie
The story of Henry Purcell.
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Title: Rory Bremner...Who Else?
Released: October 9, 1993
Type: TV
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Don't Leave Me This Way
Title: Don't Leave Me This Way
Character: George Saunders
Released: May 30, 1993
Type: Movie
British academics Loretta and Bridget run into Sandra, an old school friend at a book launch. Although Sandra appears to be gay and carefree, Loretta notices an undercurrent of tension while Sandra stays with her for a few days. Loretta is saddened to learn her friend was killed in a car accident, and comforts Sandra's estranged husband Tom, her daughter Lizzie, and emotionally disturbed son Felix. While doing so she becomes to believe the accident may not be what it seems, spurred on by the information a local policeman provides her.
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Title: Murder Most Horrid
Character: Squire Thorpe
Released: November 14, 1991
Type: TV
A comedy that started in 1991 as a pilot, Murder Most Horrid stars Dawn French as various characters, as she embarks on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another she is involved with murder - either committing the crime herself or even getting bumped off herself!
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Life After Life
Title: Life After Life
Character: Detective Inspector Curtin
Released: December 30, 1990
Type: Movie
A 70 year old man gets shunned into a retirement home.
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Title: Have I Got News for You
Character: Self
Released: September 28, 1990
Type: TV
Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.
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Title: Rory Bremner
Released: May 31, 1989
Type: TV
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Title: Campion
Character: Dr. Brian Kingston
Released: January 22, 1989
Type: TV
Campion is a television show made by the BBC, adapting the Albert Campion mystery novels written by Margery Allingham. Two series were made, in 1989 and 1990, starring Peter Davison as Campion, Brian Glover as his manservant Magersfontein Lugg and Andrew Burt as his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates. A total of eight novels were adapted, four in each series, each of which was originally broadcast as two separate hour-long episodes. Peter Davison sang the title music for the first series himself; in the second series, it was replaced with an instrumental version.
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Title: The Bill
Released: October 16, 1984
Type: TV
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
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Bloodbath at the House of Death
Title: Bloodbath at the House of Death
Character: John Harrison
Released: March 29, 1984
Type: Movie
Six scientists arrive at the creepy Headstone Manor to investigate a strange phenomena which was the site of a mysterious massacre years earlier where 18 guests were killed in one night. It turns out that the house is the place of a satanic cult lead by a sinister monk who plans to kill the scientists who are inhabiting this house of Satan.
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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
Title: The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
Character: Himself - Various Roles
Released: March 1, 1982
Type: Movie
Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.
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Timon of Athens
Title: Timon of Athens
Character: Poet
Released: April 16, 1981
Type: Movie
Timon loves to give parties and objects to friends, but when he cannot pay his creditors, his "friends" refuse to help him, and he becomes a misanthropic hermit.
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Title: Hi-de-Hi!
Character: Max Tewkesbury
Released: February 19, 1981
Type: TV
Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom set in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, during 1959 and 1960, and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum amongst others. It aired on the BBC from 1980 to 1988. The series revolved around the lives of the camp's management and entertainers, most of them struggling actors or has-beens. The inspiration was the experience of writers Perry and Croft: after being demobilised from the army, Perry was a Redcoat at Butlin's, Pwllheli during the holiday season. The series gained large audiences and won a BAFTA as Best Comedy Series in 1984. In 2004, it came 40th in Britain's Best Sitcom and in a 2008 poll on Channel 4, 'Hi-de-Hi!" was voted the 35th most popular comedy catchphrase.
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Title: Yes Minister
Released: February 25, 1980
Type: TV
Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.
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The Light Princess
Title: The Light Princess
Character: Prince
Released: December 24, 1978
Type: Movie
Based on a short story by George MacDonald, a princess experiences constant weightlessness.
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Title: BBC Television Shakespeare
Released: December 3, 1978
Type: TV
The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusively to the dramatic works of Shakespeare. After encountering numerous problems trying to produce the series, Messina eventually pitched the idea to the BBC’s departmental heads and the series was greenlighted. The series as a whole received generally negative reviews from critics.
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Title: Well Anyway
Released: September 24, 1976
Type: TV
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Title: The Secret Policeman's Ball
Character: Self
Released: April 1, 1976
Type: TV
A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.
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The Cobblers of Umbridge
Title: The Cobblers of Umbridge
Character: Phil Cobbler
Released: January 1, 1973
Type: Movie
A parody of the long running radio show "The Archers", an everyday story of country-folk based in the fictional village of Umbridge.
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Take a Girl Like You
Title: Take a Girl Like You
Character: Sir Gerald
Released: December 16, 1970
Type: Movie
Young Jenny heads to the South of England to start a new career as a school teacher. Even before she has had a chance to settle in she meets Patrick, one of the local "lads". Within a short time she has her hands full when a number of the local boys take a liking to her. But who will be the lucky one who wins her affections?
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Title: A Series Of Bird's
Released: October 3, 1967
Type: TV
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The End of Arthur's Marriage
Title: The End of Arthur's Marriage
Character: Server
Released: November 17, 1965
Type: Movie
In this off-beat musical – a satire that combines fantasy, social observation and songs – a working class man goes to put a deposit on a new house only to find he prefers spending to saving and is happy to spend his money on a few hours of happiness rather than a lifetime's conventionality.
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The Drinking Party
Title: The Drinking Party
Character: Phaedrus
Released: November 14, 1965
Type: Movie
An interpretation of Plato's Symposium as a picnic organised by a University don for his students. Each guest is asked to explain the nature of love before the Don, through a series of questions, reaches a unifying conclusion.
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Title: Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
Released: November 13, 1964
Type: TV
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired during the winter of 1964–1965, in an attempt to continue and improve on the successful formula of his That Was The Week That Was, which had been taken off by the BBC because of the coming General Election. It too featured David Frost as compère, with two others, William Rushton and the poet P. J. Kavanagh joining him in the role. In addition to Saturdays, there were also editions on Fridays and Sundays. It saw the first appearances on television of John Bird, Eleanor Bron, Roy Hudd, Patrick Campbell and John Fortune. Michael Crawford also featured as 'Byron'. Whereas TWTWTW had had a dark nightclub atmosphere, the new programme used predominantly white sets. The programme lacked the impact of TW3 and lasted only one season before being replaced by the Robert Robinson-fronted BBC-3.