She was done as a movie again in 1982, this time with ann turkel, lewis van bergen and keene curtis as modesty, willie and sir. This was a slightly more serious version of the stories than the campy 1966 comedy version. She is being set up by the feds but is wise to the plot and calls in. Below is a list of peter odonnells modesty blaise books in order of when they were originally published which is also their chronological order. Ann turkels bio, age, height, net worth, married, husband. 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. Atmospheric original music by john dankworth including a catching leitmotif. Ann kathryn turkel is an american actress and was a model. Ann turkel, lewis van bergen, kenne curtis banter ying yang dsj in trouble. Lesser known tv babes part 2 the knight rider edition. More books followed, the last being cobra trap, which came out in 1996.
This comic strip follows the life of modesty blaise, whos a remarkable young woman whos very talented but has a criminal history. Ann turkel receives an impressive amount from her profession. Tonight show ann turkel richard harris takes over duration. 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. 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.
It was produced for and broadcast on the abc television network. Modesty blaise, as originally conceived by peter odonnell for a longrunning comic strip and series of novels, was the feminine reply to james bond, and in many ways a superior character. 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. 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. Modesty blaise monica vitti, 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. Turkel was born in new york city, new york, to a jewish family. This is the third production that brings peter odonnells character modesty blaise to the screen, following the feature film modesty blaise with monica vitti in 1966 and the tv pilot modesty blaise with ann turkel in 1982. Ann turkel was a popular model who tested the waters in acting with tepid results. The becoming doctor transforms from a polite and boring phd student into modesty blaise.
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. I learned of modesty blaise when reading the psychology of the girl with the dragon tatoo by robin s. She is expert in martial arts and a variety of weapons. This short movie is based upon the british comic strip modesty blaise by peter odonnell. The motion picture was middling directed by joseph losey.
Modesty is a tough, brilliant and beautiful woman along the lines of the avengers mrs. Rosenberg who mentions stieg larson was a big fan of the modesty books. Modesty blaise 1982 by reza badiyi with ann turkel as modesty blaise and lewis van bergen as willie garvin. Modesty also has a willie garvin, who himself has a shady past. 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. In 1982, a wellreceived television pilot for modesty blaise was filmed starring ann turkel, but was never picked up.
The modesty blaise collection the movie database tmdb. Two more serious attempts at adapting the comic strip for the screen occurred in 1982 with a modesty blaise starring ann turkel as blaise, and again in 2003 with my name is modesty, a prequel starring alexandra staden in the title role and omitting the willie garvin character entirely. The program featured ann turkel as modesty blaise, lewis van bergen as willie garvin, keene curtis as gerald tarrant, sab shimono as weng and douglas dirkson as jack fraser, with carolyn seymour as villainess debbie defarge. Odonnell wrote the scenario for the movie, but the screenplay went through multiple rewrites and. With ann turkel, lewis van bergen, keene curtis, sab shimono. Modesty blaise modesty blaise 1982 the fall guy shawna ives 1982. It took a rare potential and twentyodd years of hard conditioning to do that.
Not the newspaper strips, comics, or graphic novels. Alexandra staden starred as a young modesty blaise prior to her days in the. 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. Modesty blaise is a 1966 comedy actionspy fiction film directed by joseph losey. She also was notable for starring in two films with jack palance, a popular star in westerns at the time. Ann kathryn turkel was born in 1946, and raised in manhattan, the daughter of thelma l. Ann turkel also starred in the title role of a modesty blaise pilot that was made back in 1982. 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. 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. Quentin tarantino was always a big modesty blaise fanjohn travoltas vincent vega in pulp fiction can be seen reading one of odonnells blaise books and he served as executive producer.
Gliimmer as well as glamorous cinematography by jack hildyard. Blaise of no glory modesty blaise and my name is modesty. There was talk of a tv series in the early 1970s, but it was never produced. Peter odonnell, modesty blaise it was a lesson for me of, literally, not judging a book by its cover.
A spy spoof in the 1960s tradition, featuring the comic book heroine modesty blaise monica vitti set in the italian mediterranean. Willie garvin also appears in every volume of the modesty blaise book series. There is some continuity between the books and they are best read in the order below. In the pilot episode, modesty attempts to stop debbie defarge and her evil plan to pull off a computerized heist of wall street. Description above from the wikipedia article ann kathryn turkel, licensed under ccbysa, full list of contributors on wikipedia. A tv movie followed in 82 featuring former mrs richard harris and model, ann turkel without a followup series, and the portuguese added my name is modesty in 2004. Her other acting credits included portrait of a hitman, humanoids from the deep, deep space, highlander. With monica vitti, terence stamp, dirk bogarde, harry andrews. The film is based on the early years of the character modesty blaise, a former crime boss turned secret agent. She was photographed for american vogue in the late 1960s. Thats not all, she even played comic strip heroine modesty blaise in a 1982 tv pilot. Willies flat from modesty blaise artist johnny dankworth. Turkel studied acting at the musical theatre academy. First up, in 1966 was a wretchedly camp adaptation, so bad i cant bring myself to watch it again, starring monica vitti and terence stamp.
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