Drawing: Sir Kenneth Branagh

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Lauded as one of the great Shakespearean interpreters on both stage and film, Sir Kenneth Branagh returned to Shakespeare after more than a decade in July 2013. He co-directed and headlined in Macbeth with Rob Ashford at the Manchester International Festival. Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth. Set in the intimate, deconsecrated St Peter’s Church to sell-out performances, the production will transfer to the Park Avenue Armoury in New York this June, marking Ken’s stage debut in the Big Apple.

A BAFTA and Emmy winner, he is the first man to be nominated for an Academy Award in five different categories, the most recent as Supporting Actor, playing Sir Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn.

He walked the red carpet at the Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit European premiere at the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square this week as both director and antagonist Russian Viktor Cherevin, and signed my quick black biro Macbeth portrait.

Drawing: Leonardo DiCaprio

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Leonardo DiCaprio once said;

“I have no connection with me during the whole Titanic phenomenon and what my face became around the world. I’ll never reach that state of popularity again.”

Let’s face it, Leo-mania may have passed, but the man can still pull a crowd and on face value, you don’t get much bigger. That face has taken on many guises, not only Jack Dawson, but also Romeo, Danny Archer, J. Edgar Hoover, Amsterdam Vallon, Billy Costigan, Jay Gatsby, Calvin Candie, Howard Hughes and Jordan Belfort.

The last two manifestations I chose to draw – the eccentric and obsessive film director and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes (The Aviator, 2004) and Jordan Belfort, the swindling stockbroker in Leo’s latest The Wolf of Wall Street, which had its UK premiere this week.

Anticipating facing a big crowd, I went to Leicester Square earlier than usual to join the Leo -maniacs. When the sun goes down, the stars come out and the Leonardo constellation is one of the brightest.

Like other famous faces Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp, Leo “does the line,” meaning he goes around the barriers signing for as many people as possible. He didn’t disappoint.

He saw the sketch and said “How cool,” signed his distinctive ‘premiere’ sig and in the hysteria, took time to dedicate it to me, smiled then quickly moved down the line. Very cool – face to face with the real Leo!

Drawing: Dudley Moore, The Sex Thimble

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dudley Moore was one of Britain’s best loved comedians, actors and musicians.

He became a household name in the 1960s for his partnership with the late Peter Cook, creating the classic comic characters Dud and Pete, becoming comic icons on both sides of the Atlantic. He was also an accomplished jazz pianist winning a scholarship to Oxford’s Magdalen College. He was nicknamed ‘The Sex Thimble” because of his 5’2″ stature.

Dud went on to a successful Hollywood career, starring in a number of hit screen comedies, including the Blake Edward’s film 10 (1979) with Bo Derek and Arthur (1981) with Liza Minnelli and Sir John Gielgud. In the latter he played Arthur Bach, a drunken New York millionaire collecting an Oscar nomination and winning the Golden Globe Award.

In the 1990’s he suffered from a rare, incurable brain condition, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Music became his main comfort… “But it’s difficult to know that all the keys are there to be played and I can’t play them. People started saying I was drunk on stage… it was dreadful,” he said. He played 2 concerts at the Aotea Centre in Auckland, New Zealand in November 1996 before he went public with his condition. He kindly signed my sketch at the venue. He sadly passed away in March 2002, aged 66.

Drawing: Henry Winkler as Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Richmond Theatre

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

How very cool… the Fonz – the coolest of the cool – signed my sketch. Henry Winkler AKA Arthur Fonzarelli from the hit TV series Happy Days is currently performing festive panto Peter Pan at the Richmond Theatre in Surrey.

The Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning actor reprises the role of Captain Hook. He appeared in his first pantomime at the New Wimbledon Theatre in 2005 replacing David Hasselhoff as J. M. Barries’ pirate antagonist.

Drawing: Sir Tony Robinson in The Wind in the Willows

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I had a cunning plan to get a ‘graph from Tony Robinson. Best known for his portrayal of the buffoonish Baldrick in the BBC comedy series Blackadder. Tony… *clears throat* Sir Tony last appeared on stage in Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On in 1997.

He was knighted in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours for public and political service. He joked, “I also pledge that from this day on I’ll slaughter all unruly dragons and rescue damsels in distress who request my help.”

Tony returned to the stage after an absence of 16 years as Kenneth Grahame, narrating his much loved children’s classic The Wind in the Willows at the Duchess Theatre. Sir Tony signed my sketch going in for Saturday’s matinee… my plan was so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel…. well, maybe not a weasel, but a toad, or ratty or mole or even a badger.

Drawing: Sadie Frost

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

English actress Sadie Frost has had a variety of film and TV roles from Casualty to a memorable vampire in Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

In 1999 she co-founded the fashion label Frost French, which won Elle Magazine’s Designer of the Year Award 2004. She was head of Natural Nylon Pictures with ex-husband Jude Law, and fellow actor Ewan McGregor and Johnny Lee Miller and now has set up Blonde to Black Pictures. In September 2006, aged 40, she posed nude for photographer Bryan Adams for a PETA anti-fur advert to coincide with London Fashion Week.

She made her West End debut in the one woman play Touched… For the very first time in 2009 and the following year starred in Fool for Love with Carl Barat, formerly of the Libertines at the Riverside Studios.

Drawing: Daniel Radcliffe in Equus and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

A couple of sketches of Daniel Radcliffe, from Equus on West End and Broadway, and also one from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which was Broadway only.

Daniel signed for me at the London premiere of The Woman in Black in 2012

My other Daniel Radcliffe sketch is here.

Drawing: Jeff Fahey in Twelve Angry Men at The Garrick Theatre

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Jeff Fahey has starred in many indie classics, including the title role in the cult sci-fi hit The Lawnmower Man opposite Pierce Brosnan and Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse. Other films include Clint Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart; Silveradd and Wyatt Earp, both with Kevin Costner.

Jeff’s extensive television career includes playing the title role in The Marshal and most recently, the hit series Lost playing helicopter pilot Frank Lapidus. His humanitarian work involves assisting the establishment of the American University of Afghanistan, projects to assist orphans in Kabul and is a Global Ambassador on the US Committee for refugees and immigrants.

Jeff is part of a stellar cast in the latest West End revival of the classic courtroom drama Twelve Angry Men. He plays the estranged third juror – the last one to vote not guilty (Lee Jacob’s role in the 1957 movie). He signed and dedicated my sketch before yesterday’s matinée at the Garrick Theatre.

Drawing: Lesley Manville in Six Degrees of Separation at The Old Vic

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

English actress Lesley Manville has an illustrious career in film, theatre and television. She frequently collaborates with director Mike Leigh, including Another Year (2010), Secrets and Lies (1996) and Vera Drake (2004).

For her role in Another Year she was nominated for a BAFTA, British Independent Film Award and Chicago Film Critic’s Award, and won her second London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Board of Review for Best Actress.

In theatre, Lesley was nominated for a 2012 Olivier Award for her role as the widowed Dorothy in Mike Leigh’s new play Grief at the National.

She is currently in Ghosts, which transferred to the Trafalgar Studios from the Almeida Theatre after winning director Richard Eyre an Evening Standard Theatre Award. Lesley was also nominated for Best Actress. She signed my sketch at the Old Vic in February 2010. while performing in Six Degrees of Separation.

Drawing: Sally Hawkins

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

One of the most delightful actresses I have met is Sally Hawkins. For her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film HAPPY-GO-ROUND she won several awards, including a Golden Globe. Her latest role as Ginger in Woody Allen’s BLUE JASMINE is also tipped for further honours and she will apopear in Gareth Edward’s GODZILLA next year. Sally happily signed my sketch at the Royal Court Theatre while she was performing in CONSTELLATIONS.