A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
|
|
|
World of Westfahl |
Encyclopedia Introduction |
All Entries |
Acknowledgements
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
(Sylvia Thomas Anderson 1927–2016). British writer and producer.
After two failed marriages, the thirty-year-old Anderson, now with a
daughter to support, was surely pleased by the prospect of marriage to Gerry
Anderson—already well on his way to becoming a successful, wealthy producer
of television series—and as a bonus, he was willing to grant his lovely new
wife equal credit for what was surely mostly his own work in creating and
producing a series of television series featuring animated puppets. Charity
clearly demands, then, that the various series jointly credited to her and her
ex-husband should be properly eviscerated at length in Gerry Anderson's entry,
not this one, interpreting her co-equal billing, like other commentators,
essentially as a kind gesture from her husband—though one could question
whether crediting someone for the likes of Fireball XL-5 (1962-1963) and
Space: 1999 really represent acts of kindness. While one can doubt whether she actually did much work in creating and
producing series, she unquestionably did provide their animated characters with
voices, something she appeared to enjoy doing, and since it was always
necessary to create such jobs for the boss's wife, the Anderson series always
featured prominent, if sometimes prissy, female roles, which could be regarded
as enlightened in an era when the casts of science fiction series tended to be
predominantly or exclusively male. If she was otherwise doing anything to earn
her salary, it involved, by most reports, her habit of hovering over the shows'
creative personnel and doing her best to ensure that the results of their work
were as attractive as possible. If this is the case, then she indeed merits a
modest amount of praise, for despite their execrable scripts, these puppet
series did display a certain colorful style that may account for the fact that
so many youthful British viewers retain some affection for them. And when they
moved in life-action productions, the overall look of their best series, UFO
(1970-1973) seemed especially persuasive and authentic (indeed, she was
apparently given official credit as costume designer for one episode). Yet
among its other, innumerable flaws, the successor series Space: 1999
didn't even look particularly attractive—but perhaps, by that time, Sylvia
was already distancing herself from her soon-to-be ex-husband's endeavors. Fleeing from the ruins of that series, Sylvia Anderson, by some reports, was
involved in the production of the European television series Star Maidens
(1976), but perhaps this was only a rumor, inspired by the series' abysmally
low quality. To judge from her official credits, she was long content to relax
and live off the proceeds of a no doubt generous divorce settlement and a
steady stream of residual payments from old series. Still, she did appear in
documentaries to discuss her old series and occasionally provided the voice of
her most famous characters, Lady Penelope of Thunderbirds (1965-1966).
As late as 2015, a year before her death, she voiced a new, fittingly elderly
character, Great Aunt Sylvia, for the newest version of Thunderbirds Are Go
(2015- ). And, since British producers seem committed to endlessly reviving
that venerable atrocity, which she purportedly co-created, Sylvia Anderson's
filmography might continue expanding, improbably and inappropriately, for
decades and decades after her death.
|
|||||
To contact us about encyclopedia matters, send an email to Gary Westfahl. Hosted & Designed By:
If you find any Web site errors, typos or other stuff worth mentioning,
please send it to our Webmaster.
Copyright © 1999–2018 Gary Westfahl All Rights Reserved Worldwide
