Guernica: The bridge remained intact; 80% of the buildings had been destroyed. ibid.
It was not until July 1938 that the decisive battle took place … A river in south-west Catalonia … one of the most brutal of the entire war. ibid.
His reign of terror was only just beginning. ibid.
‘He says the most mindbogglingly stupid things you can imagine; and yet at the same time he’s quite cunning.’ The Truth About Franco: Spain’s Forgotten Dictator II: The New Regime, Paul Preston
April 1939: Three years of bloody civil war have claimed half a million lives and turned Spain into a different country. ibid.
Spain split into winners and losers … ‘We’re talking about total famine.’ ibid. historian
In return for that assistance, Franco was now supplying Germany with raw materials and food. ibid.
According to a secret protocol Franco only offered a vague prospect of Spain entering the War. ibid.
The Spanish troops left for Russia. The Blue Division took part on the attack on Leningrad. ibid.
In Spain the foundations of a new state Franco style were becoming clear: no constitution, just laws. ibid.
It reinforced the rights of entrepreneurs. Wages were dictated by the state. And striking was seen as a serious offence. ibid.
Many people exchanged their last possession for food just to survive. Traders became rich. ibid.
Retroactively, Franco had everyone punished who had as he put it disturbed the social peace. ibid.
Spain suffered from Franco’s dark legacy and still does today. The Truth About Franco: Spain’s Forgotten Dictator III: Zero Hour
More and more German Nazis had fled to Spain. And Franco had received them with open arms. ibid.
Guerrilla units were especially active in Spain’s mountainous regions but they also fought in some major cities like Barcelona. ibid.
Part of the population stood behind Franco and the opposition was brutally silenced. ibid.
It’s estimated that by the end of the Second World War Franco’s regime had executed 200,000 people. Often the victims were shot without trial. ibid.
Social inequality was part of everyday life. Nepotism and corruption ensured that the upper class retained its privileges. ibid.
After four years of [UN] isolation, Spain was brought in out of the cold. ibid.
Large scale child abduction: the disquieting end of a totalitarian system with the blessing of the Catholic church. ibid.
Dwight D Eisenhower even paid a visit to Franco’s dictatorship. ibid.
He then used every available means to retain power. The Truth About Franco: Spain’s Forgotten Dictator IV: The Leaden Age
The dictator ruled like a monarch. ibid.
Franco was convinced that the people stood behind him. Thanks to foreign aid, living conditions in Spain had improved. Surely that had to ensure loyalty? ibid.
In Spain Opus Dei were especially powerful. ibid.
Tourism especially bought in foreign exchange. ibid.
The old despot felt untouchable. ibid.
‘He never considered stepping down or making significant changes.’ ibid. Werner Herzog
Hospital de la Paz 14 November 1975: Franco suffered the first of several heart attacks. ibid.
This is a man who climbed the Hollywood ladder one rung at a time until he reached the top and became the most popular American actor of the time. This is the story of a star who embodied his country and who little by little became consumed with patriotic fervour. This is the story of an actor seemingly one and the same with his on-screen persona, the heroic, confident cowboy, a pillar of strength and virility. John Wayne: America at all Costs, Sky Arts 2019
He was 22, handsome, and Fox Studios put their bets on him as if he were a young racehorse. ibid.
With the exception of a trip to the Pacific to entertain the troops, John Wayne spent the entirety of the war years in Hollywood. ibid.
His golden age had begun. In a few short years he made one big picture after another. ibid.
He topped the box office and remained there for the next 25 years. ibid.
He embodied America. And yet Duke Morrison, his alter ego in real life, was a tormented man ever since the end of the Second World War. ibid.
In the post-war years while he was performing his greatest roles, John Wayne became to over-compensate and to devote himself to the cause of the American military. ibid.
John Wayne’s political convictions began to determine the roles he chose. ibid.
By the end of the 1960s, John Wayne appeared to be completely out of luck with the new generation. ibid.
‘She was a white girl who could sing that fabulous black R & B music. And it crossed over.’ Definitely Dusty ***** BBC 2020, Lulu
‘Dusty does sum up a kind of fabness of the 60s.’ ibid. Neil Tennant
Since the death of Dusty Springfield in March 1999, just short of her sixtieth birthday, fans and musicians continue to celebrate one of Britain’s greatest ever singers. ibid.
A gay icon. A diva. Over a career spanning four decades, Dusty’s glamorous image was to be as much her hallmark as her voice. But it masked the deeply private person. ibid.
Dusty the solo singer burst on to thee screen in 1963 and was an immediate success. But her rise to stardom was not without its difficulties. ibid.
Dusty would have a string of hits throughout the sixties and host her own television star. She seemed to be able to sing anything while remaining distinctly Dusty. ibid.
‘The look of love …’ [Dusty] … ‘It was smoky, it was sexy, it was restrained, it was held in check but underneath it was smouldering. It was just on fire.’ ibid. Burt Bacharach
‘She was a tireless promoter of black music.’ ibid.
Dusty was cast as a hero of the Apartheid movement when her 1964 tour of South Africa provoked a political storm. ibid.
Dusty left England at the start of the ’70s. He sales were dropping. She had a horror of ending up on the nostalgia circuit. And she wanted to escape the prying into her sexuality. ibid.
#2 in America: Dusty Springfield & the Pet Shop Boys. ibid.
‘He was very gentle and didn’t want to hurt a creature.’ Heath Ledger: Too Young to Die s1e1, father, Sky Arts 2020
By his mid-twenties Heath Ledger had established himself in Hollywood as one of the best actors of his generation. He was an actor who’d never sought stardom, who tried to preserve his naturalness in the spotlight. The news of his sudden death therefore came as all the more as a shock: he died on 22nd January 2008 as a result between prescription drugs that he’d taken in the wrong combination. Heath Ledger was 28 years old. ibid.
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (2000) dir Terry Gilliam … ‘The are forever young. They are gods.’ ibid.
Heath’s Ledger’s estate is currently being catalogued for an exhibition in the Western Australian museum. ibid.
Rome 4th March 1994: One of the world’s greatest rock-stars has tried to kill himself: Kurt Cobain. His wife, Courtney Love, gives the paparazzi the finger as she rushes to the hospital. News agencies prematurely announce his death. Too Young to Die s1e2: Kurt Cobain
The hero of a whole generation: the instigator of Grunge. ibid.
MTV Unplugged, recorded in 1993, was an artistic high point for Nirvana. ibid.
Aberdeen in the mid-80s: the town was in decline. Kurt Cobain was 17, had dropped out of various schools, and was picked up from time to time by the police for graffiti spraying. He was living from hand to mouth and was surviving on casual jobs. ibid.
‘Another myth is that people think Nirvana were an overnight success.’ ibid. biographer
‘You know John I don’t think he ever slept.’ Too Young to Die s1e3: John Belushi, friend
‘He always played at the top of his skill, at the top of his ingenuity, at the top of his personality.’ ibid.
He made just seven films but they immortalised him. ibid.
Belushi was arrogant and quick-tempered, funny and dramatic, insecure and beset by doubt. ibid.
An early death that was inevitable? John Belushi died in 1982 of a mixture of cocaine and heroin. ibid.
‘Absolutely brilliant parody of Joe Cocker.’ ibid. friend
Saturday Night Live: In four seasons of the show John played well over fifty characters and improvisations. ibid.