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Fame was hard earned by Ed Asner. Born in Kansas City in 1929, he didn't really become a recognisable face until his forties - thanks to the breakthrough role of Lou Grant in 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. But he would go on to make his mark as a left of centre political voice as well as appearing in films like Oliver Stone's 'JFK,' Jon Favreau's 'Elf' and Pete Docter's Disney Pixar classic 'Up'. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish immigrant household, Asner's Russian mother was a housewife as her Lithuanian husband ran a second-hand shop and junkyard. His birth name was Yitzhak Asner and he attended Wyandotte High School before studying journalism at the University of Chicago. A star pupil in Hebrew school, his first taste of acting came on a radio station as a teenager, performing in 15 minute dramas created with his classmates and teacher Florence Moore. Asner's interest in journalism waned after a Professor told him there was no money

  Craig Gillespie's '101 Dalmatians' origin tale 'Cruella' is bursting full of ideas and movie influences. Not only is it packed full of references to the original 1961 Disney animated '101 Damatians' feature but it also pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock ('Psycho' and 'Lifeboat'), 'The Devil Wears Prada,' 'All About Eve,''Matilda' and ' Phantom Thread '. However the film it bears its strongest resemblance to is Todd Philips'  'Joker' . Like 'Joker,' Gillespie's film is an origin story about a villain who has been terribly treated in life. As in Philips' film, the anti-hero adopts a new persona to exact revenge, only for that persona to consume her. And when she exacts revenge, it is executed in a hugely theatrical way - just like Arthur Fleck's transformation from an introverted, struggling standup comic to flamboyant Batman villain. With Emma Stone's Estella/Cruella narrating,

  If you were to pick one drama at the start of this year that would turn out to be the critical darling of 2021, 'The White Lotus' probably wouldn't have been tipped. 'Mare of Easttown'  looked like a pretty good bet to take that honour and it didn't disappoint. 'Your Honor ,'  'Time,'  series four of  'Unforgotten'  and the Channel 4 AIDS drama  'It's A Sin'  have also proven to be strong contenders. The sixth series of ' Line of Duty'  in the UK was also going to be a huge ratings grabber but it fell at the final hurdle. Yet here's Mike White's HBO comedy drama 'The White Lotus,' which has gripped audiences on both sides of the Atlantic this summer and earned the kind of reviews most writers dream of. Set in a holiday resort on a Hawaiian island, it is a comedy and a mystery tale that tackles white privilege, wealth inequality and family dysfunction without even breaking a sweat. Following events ove