Taina Elg dead at 95: Double Golden Globe-winning actress who starred next to Gene Kelly in Hollywood's golden age dies
Taina Elg, a Finland-born actress and dancer who starred alongside Gene Kelly in the 1957 musical Les Girls, sadly passed away on May 15.
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Her family confirmed she died in an assisted care facility in Helsinki, as reported by the Helsinki Times.
The iconic star also appeared opposite Kenneth More in the 1959 remake of spy film The 39 Steps.
On Broadway, Taina earned a Tony nomination for best featured actress in a musical for her work alongside Raul Julia in the 1974 to 75 revival of Frank Loesser's Where's Charley?
She was nomination again for the same award after her role in the 1982 to 84 original production of Tommy Tune's Nine.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Terence Stamp, a close friend of Diana and lover of Julie Christie and The Shrimp: How the most beautiful man in the world would try anything 'except incest and Morris dancing'
When he first hit cinema screens, an unknown actor nominated for an Oscar in his debut role, Terence Stamp was acclaimed as the most beautiful man in the world. His perfectly symmetrical features and dazzling blue eyes, topped with a boyish mop of tousled blond hair, were angelic. But when he grinned, his face radiated a sparkle of raffish mischief. The girls he took back to meet his adored mother, at the East End home where he grew up, numbered actresses such as Julie Christie and Brigitte Bardot, and supermodels Celia Hammond and Jean Shrimpton. Later confidantes included Princess Diana, who met him at a movie premiere in 1987 and was soon invited back to his decadently elegant rooms at the Albany in Piccadilly. She shared his obsession with health foods, and he wooed her by cooking a risotto of mushrooms and brown rice – with the letters HRH picked out cheekily in truffle paste. 'We'd just meet up for a cup of tea, or sometimes we'd have a long chat for an hour. Sometimes it would be very quick,' he said. Despite his charm and looks, Stamp never fully achieved the success predicted for him as an actor. His self-destructive tendencies were summed up by one wit who called him, 'The man who threw himself off the edge of a decade.' 'I have a lot of rage inside me,' he said. 'My acting is a kind of outlet for that. If I wasn't an actor, I'd probably be a psychopath.' When his career first began to falter at the end of the 1960s, Stamp fled the film business and, though he made periodic returns, he was never again an A-lister. Nor did he find happiness in love. He had no children and married only once, in his 60s, to a woman 35 years his junior. They divorced five years later, and he spent his last years living in self-imposed exile. 'I'd love to come back to England,' he said, 'but my taste has developed in excess of my earning capacity. Whenever I see a place that I like, I'm about a million or two short. 'When I'm in London, I live in hotels or friends put me up.' This rootless lifestyle was part of his appeal when actor and director Peter Ustinov first cast him in 1962 for the title role in Billy Budd, a young sailor unjustly accused of murder. The job brought him £600, a Golden Globe for most promising male newcomer, and an Academy Award nomination for supporting actor. Stamp was living in a shared house on Harley Street with a crowd of other actors, among them Michael Caine. The pair met during a tour of the provinces in a wartime play, The Long And The Short And The Tall. Caine took Stamp, who was five years his junior, under his wing, teaching him survival techniques – such as where to go to pick up girls. Chorus line dancers in end-of-the-pier shows were a favourite: 'Maidens at a loose end, sometimes very loose,' Caine joked. Their friendship became strained when Stamp found fame while Caine was still struggling. 'He had a goal: perfection and the top,' Caine wrote in his autobiography. 'I had a panic: survival and existence.' They quarrelled about petty things, such as who had the bigger room. Stamp claimed Caine cancelled his morning papers. But the real break came after Stamp was offered the lead in Alfie, a movie about a Swinging Sixties lothario whose soul is hollowed out by his pursuit of casual sex. Stamp had doubts about the role and whether it was right for his career. Caine spent three hours urging him to take it – and then, in exasperation, auditioned for the part himself. Alfie made him a star. 'I still wake up screaming,' Caine jokes today, 'after nightmares that Terry listened to my advice and played Alfie himself.' This hesitancy became the bane of Stamp's career. He turned down the role of King Arthur in the musical Camelot, with Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere, because he feared his singing voice wasn't good enough. For the rest of his life, he regretted it: 'When the movie came out and I saw Richard Harris do it, I thought, 'Well, I could have sung it as well as that!'' And he originally rejected another role, as the timid obsessive who kidnaps a beautiful young woman, in The Collector. 'I didn't want to be a spotty invisible bank clerk with a snotty nose,' he said. He eventually relented and the movie, released in 1965 with Samantha Eggar as his victim, is regarded as a cult classic. Other successes followed, including the spy caper Modesty Blaise, and Far From The Madding Crowd, opposite Christie. Their love affair was immortalised by The Kinks in a line from their hit Waterloo Sunset: 'Terry meets Julie, Waterloo station, every Friday night.' Despite this, he spent most of the late 1960s in an on-off relationship with a girl known as 'the Shrimp'. Jean Shrimpton was bewitched when she first met him. But though he professed to adore her, he often treated her with offhand cruelty. On one trip to London, he asked friends to give her bed and board while he was away for a couple of days then failed to return for weeks, leaving her in limbo. Terence Stamp and Gemma Arterton at the Marrakech Film Festival on December 6, 2012 Shrimpton was the most photographed woman in the world, with her face on hundreds of magazine covers. But when she suggested she might try acting, he retorted she had more chance of becoming a brain surgeon. He met her while filming The Collector, when she was on the rebound after breaking up with photographer David Bailey. 'She's not like the usual model girl,' he told the Daily Mail columnist David Lewin. 'She can talk and she is bright. She is really my first girlfriend – steady, that is.' Shrimpton was sitting next to him throughout the interview, mostly in silence, though she did chip in: 'Terence says all models are freaks and I suppose he is right. After all, fashion is not all that important.' Four years later, fed up with waiting for a marriage proposal that never came, she dumped him. 'I'm a realistic sort of person,' she later said. 'I put up with quite a lot, but then I just walk away. I don't think he was in love with me at all, and if he was, he had a funny way of showing it. 'He was incredibly beautiful, and I was in love with his looks. I was infatuated and in awe of him, but I wasn't in love with him.' Stamp was devastated by her rejection. It came as his career was on the skids, his hopes of replacing Sean Connery as James Bond dashed when the role of 007 went to George Lazenby – with cosmic irony, a former model turned actor. He refused to move to Hollywood: 'There would have been Doris Day films for a lot of money, but then I'd have been trapped.' Instead, he drifted into the drugs scene, dabbling with cocaine and LSD. He and his younger brother Christopher were arrested in California in 1968 for smoking marijuana while driving in the Malibu mountains with a girlfriend. A few months later, Stamp was fined £15 for driving his Rolls-Royce down Pall Mall at 65mph. Reeling after Shrimpton ended their relationship, he left the country. 'I bought a round-the-world ticket, which was kind of epic, and I just thought, if I like anywhere I'll stay there.' On the morning he was due to leave London, he came out of his apartment at the Albany, Piccadilly, and heard music echoing from a nearby rooftop. The Beatles were on top of the Apple building, giving an impromptu concert. He talked his way up and spoke to John Lennon, teasing him that his long hair looked camp. Lennon insisted long hair symbolised strength, 'like Samson,' and for the next six years Stamp refused to cut his own hair, until it reached halfway down his back. Exploring India and the Middle East, he became fascinated with different types of spirituality. 'Tai chi, I was a whirling dervish, there wasn't anything I wouldn't try, except incest or Morris dancing,' he said. He settled in Pune, 100 miles west of Mumbai, at a hotel called the Blue Diamond, with other English expats. Dressing in a dhoti or white robe, he sat literally at the feet of his guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, every day. Some of the lessons involved tantric sex techniques. 'There was a rumour around the ashram that he was preparing me to teach the tantric group,' he said. 'There was a lot of action going on.' Terence Stamp during the filming of 'The Mind of Mr Soames' at Shepperton Studios in 1969 After a year, a telegram from his agent arrived. Stamp always swore it was addressed to, 'Clarence Stamp, the Rough Diamond, Pune – it was like a miracle it was in my hand'. The cable brought two job offers. One was a film about the mystic and spiritual teacher GI Gurdjieff. The other was Superman with Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve. He took both roles. In Superman, he played the villainous General Zod. For the rest of his life, if he was in a benign mood, he would greet fans with a cry of, 'Kneel before Zod, you bastards.' Thrilled to have him back, his agent announced, 'He knows who he is at last. It's taken him a long time, but he's grown up. He's learned about himself.' Part of that change meant abstaining from drugs and alcohol, and becoming a vegetarian. For the rest of his life he was an advocate of whole foods, and wrote recipe books on healthy eating. But it also meant coming to terms with a difficult childhood, and decades dogged by a conviction that he was a disappointment to his father, Tom, a tug boat pilot. 'When I was a boy,' he said, 'we were a bit hard up. 'After we got a television set, I'd watch plays, and I was always saying, 'I'm sure I could do better.' My father said: 'I don't want you to talk about it any more. People like us don't do things like that.' 'He never said very much and I knew how deeply he must be feeling inside to have spoken like that. We never talked about it again, but inside my head, it was just a pressure cooker building up steam. I loved the East End, but I felt it was my destiny to get out.' He signed up to acting classes in secret, left home and spent two years at theatre school – and did not dare tell his parents until Billy Budd was about to be released. Tom Stamp, a heavy drinker, died from cirrhosis, but not before Stamp was able to buy his parents a home in Kent, close to the fields where they had met as hop-pickers. For the latter decades of his career, Stamp took work when he needed it, unconcerned by the quality. Sometimes it was good, such as his role in drag for Priscilla Queen Of the Desert. 'I thought I'd resemble Candice Bergen,' he joked, 'but I look more like an old boot.' But he never lost an air of regret that the promise of the 1960s, both for him and for the world, was not fulfilled.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Georgia Toffolo looks carefree as she shares sizzling bikini-clad snaps during sunny Marbella getaway with husband James Watt amid BrewDog founder's business woes
Georgia Toffolo flaunted her toned figure in a skimpy bikini as she relaxed at the beach while on holiday in Marbella with husband James Watt. The Made In Chelsea star, 30, took to her Instagram on Sunday to share a slew of sizzling snaps of her soaking up the sun in a tiny navy blue two-piece. Displaying her chiselled midriff and long legs, she stretched out on a deckchair with her feet in the surf to top up her bronzed glow. Georgia also slipped into a semi-sheer maxi skirt and grabbed a hand-held fan to pose for a string of stunning photos on the luxury getaway. Taking to the caption, she raved about her relaxation day and offered tips to her followers, writing: 'This and not knowing what day it is! P.S. take this as a sign to buy a beach chair like the locals have. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!!' Georgia looked utterly carefree in the snaps, despite her husband James' company being hit by another major blow. It has been revealed that BrewDog's beers have been axed by almost 2,000 pubs across Britain, as the embattled brewers' popularity continues to wane. James founded the company in 2007 by with Martin Dickie, with firm rising to prominence in the 2010s amid a surge in demand for independent beers and hoppy IPAs. However in recent years, the company's fortunes have started to turn, with their range of draught beers having disappeared entirely from around 1,860 pubs in the last two years, according to private industry data. The blow means BrewDog's UK distribution has been cut by more than a third. It also shows that its best-known beer, Punk IPA, has suffered the worst loss after being removed from 1,980 pubs – a 52 per cent decline in distribution. Pubs are now reducing their offerings or opting for rival beers such as Camden Town and Beavertown instead. The data, which was seen by the Telegraph, revealed most of the pubs scrapping BrewDog beers are part of large chains, removing a key source of revenue for the brewer at the same time as it struggles to revive its fortunes. BrewDog recorded losses of £59m in 2023 and £30.5m in 2022, with its CEO admitting in a recent interview that the company would be making another loss this year. It has been revealed that BrewDog's beers have been axed by almost 2,000 pubs across Britain, as the embattled brewers' popularity continues to wane (James pictured in BrewDog's) Last month, the company announced the closure of 10 of its own branded bars across the UK, including its flagship site in Aberdeen, after deciding they were not 'commercially viable'. And the chain had started the year by closing six pubs across the world, including two in England, three in Europe and one in England. The firm is continuing to weather accusations of an image problem after ditching its claim to be 'carbon negative' after it ditched offsetting schemes that it claimed were both too expensive and not efficient enough to justify the label. It had already been criticised for using the label by advertising watchdogs, and was slammed by environmentalists for its claim of creating a carbon-negative forest in Scotland after it was revealed that half of the 500,000 saplings had already died. BrewDog's reputation has taken a hammering in recent years after being embroiled in a number of publicity storms. The firm was accused by former workers in an open letter in 2021 of having a 'culture of fear' within the business, with 'toxic attitudes' towards junior staff, with BrewDog apologising and promising to 'listen, learn and act' James later admitted to being 'too intense and demanding' amid a workplace culture row where he was accused of inappropriate behaviour and abusing his power. Speaking with on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast about his leadership, he admitted to previously pushing people 'too far' because of his 'high standards', but insisted that his actions were done with '100 per cent good intentions.' James then stepped back from the role of CEO in May 2024 amidst a flurry of accusations of improper conduct, being replaced by current CEO James Taylor. He left three months after Ofcom rejected a complaint he had lodged against the BBC after it made a documentary outlining misconduct allegations. The self-described BrewDog 'Captain' faced a number of improper conduct allegations in 2021 concerning female staff, and was revealed to have invested in Heineken, contrasting with his brewery's anti-establishment 'punk' image. James denied claims that he made female bartenders feel 'uncomfortable' and 'powerless' and that he would take intoxicated women on private late-night tours of the brewery. He went on to tie the knot with Georgia earlier this year, onboard a fishing boat just off the coast of the picturesque town of Gardenstown in Aberdeenshire. The pair got engaged in October after the millionaire proposed with an eight carat triple-diamond studded band estimated to be worth £200,000, while on holiday in Greece for Georgia's 30th birthday. In May, it was revealed the pair are worth a staggering £425 million, according to The Sunday Times, overtaking the likes of Ed Sheeran, Lord Sainsburys, Harry Styles and Lewis Hamilton.
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
We pay male escorts up to £300 an hour for mind-blowing sex – people think it's sleazy but there are so many benefits
SICK of disappointing dates or boring bedroom action? For countless women, the thought of another uninspired romp is enough to make them scream into their pillows. But what if the most extreme solution was also the smartest? Forget waiting for romance — increasing numbers of women are now taking matters (and pleasure) into their own hands, by paying for exactly what they want, when they want it. In fact, one in 20 married women over 50 are now so unhappy with their sex lives, they would consider turning to male escorts to spice things up. It's not just fed-up wives, either — younger women are also ditching dating apps, swapping swipes for guaranteed satisfaction with gigolos. Type 'male escort' into TikTok and thousands of videos pop up, with clean-cut hunks explaining why smart, successful women fork out for their services. And far from keeping it quiet, young women are now openly sharing their escort experiences. PA Laura Fox, 29, from Walsall, West Midlands, turned to escorts after her last relationship fizzled out. 'I've always been fascinated by escorts,' she says. 'When I was 19, I found out my friend's mum used to hire them to accompany her to events. 'Until that point, I'd assumed escorts were something men used — not women. 'But seeing how she carried herself changed my view.' Far from being sleazy or taboo, Laura suddenly saw escorts as 'the ultimate power move', with women in control. So when, aged 26, she was newly single after the end of a three-year relationship, using an escort seemed a no-brainer. 'I just wasn't ready for the faff of dating apps — the endless scrolling, the awkward messaging, the guys who want to sext but never meet,' she says. 'Then I remembered my friend's mum and had a real eureka moment.' Curious, Laura chatted to some pals who directed her to Gentlemen4hire, the UK's longest-running male escort company. From the hundreds of men on offer, she selected a well-groomed man in his thirties called James. 'NO GAME-PLAYING' 'Since I didn't have a work do or wedding to attend, I looked into 'boyfriend experiences' — basically male escorts who'll take you on dates and act the part, no questions asked,' she says. 'James was tall, dark and handsome and we had similar interests, such as good food and loving animals. 'We discussed fees — escorts typically cost from £220 per hour — and boundaries, such as what's included, what's not. 'It was strangely reassuring and James was clear, polite and respectful.' Laura arranged to meet her date in a local gastropub, but admits she was a bag of nerves beforehand. She says: 'I almost didn't go in. "But James instantly put me at ease, asking lots of questions and being friendly and kind. "It felt like a normal date — except I knew exactly how the night would go. 'There was no game-playing, no awkward 'will-he-won't-he?' tension. 'And the fee even covered the meal, so it was like I was out with a guy who'd paid for dinner, too.' Laura says her first escort experience was like a 'typical first date', with a kiss on the cheek at the end of the night, not red-hot passion. 'I didn't want to be worrying about sex the first time,' she explains. 'But after that I just booked what I fancied that day. 'And every time we did 'do the deed', it certainly lived up to expectations.' Since that first date, Laura has paid for more than ten experiences — sometimes because she's wanted male company, other times because she's craved a night of satisfying sex. Escorts tend to be experienced, attentive and entirely focused on my pleasure — a rare combo these days Laura Fox 'Some nights end with a goodbye hug, others with fireworks,' she smiles. 'Honestly, sex with an escort is often better than a one-night stand. "Escorts tend to be experienced, attentive and entirely focused on my pleasure — a rare combo these days. 'And you skip all the usual emotional admin that comes with dating. 'There are no mixed signals, no awkward texts the next day, no-one nicking your duvet at 3am.' Given all the benefits, Laura says it's no wonder so many ordinary women are paying for pleasure. 'I totally get why more and more of them are doing this,' she says. 'It's not just a man's world any more — we're taking control of our pleasure, our time, and our expectations. It's win-win.' 'NO PRESSURE' Despite the considerable costs, Laura plans to continue using escorts until she meets Mr Right. And despite her glowing reviews of the men she's hired, she's never been in danger of getting emotionally attached. She says: 'I guess some people do, but I don't because one of the reasons I started paying for escorts was because I wasn't ready for a serious relationship.' Like Laura, Natasha Greenwood, 34, from London, says booking escorts has been a game-changer. The PR executive, whose last long-term relationship ended seven years ago, reveals: 'For me, engaging with male escorts has become a way to explore my sexuality and seek companionship on my own terms. 'I turned to escorts after growing tired of the dating scene — boring men, boring sex and endless swiping on apps. "So I thought: 'Why not?'' Despite feeling on edge in the build-up to her first encounter, Natasha says her jitters were short-lived. 'Surprisingly, I felt very relaxed and enjoyed the whole experience,' she says. 'I had to pay a ten per cent deposit up front, which felt a bit strange. "But this was to cover the dinner. 'Afterwards, we went to a hotel for sex. It wasn't cheap — £300 per hour — but it was worth every penny.' For Natasha, who says passion dwindled two years into her last relationship, getting her needs met between the sheets is a huge plus of using gigolos. 'When I'm with a male escort, I feel free to ask for exactly what I want in bed. "There's no shame, no second-guessing and no pressure to be anything but myself. I can be bolder, kinkier and more experimental. 'I get to enjoy sex with a hot, confident man, with no strings attached. It's like dating on steroids.' Natasha admits there is still a stigma around women 'and particularly black women' using escorts, but stresses there's nothing sleazy about the practice. 'I appreciate the professionalism and discretion these men bring,' she explains. 'It allows me to fully enjoy the moment without the emotional minefield that can come with relationships. 'I keep male escorts on rotation, too. It's like having a fun new plaything every couple of months.' Using escorts doesn't come cheap and Natasha is spending less on holidays and other luxuries. Her friends and family are well aware of her escort use, as she often hires them as a 'plus one' for events or dinners. But she prefers to enjoy her escort experiences away from her own home. 'SEXUAL FREEDOM' 'We always end the night at a hotel. I prefer it that way,' she says. 'My space is mine and the fun stays just where I want it.' While some may raise eyebrows at the idea of so many women enjoying escorting services, both Laura and Natasha say that when it comes to intimacy, paying for what they desire has opened up a new world of sexual freedom. 'Everyone has the right to seek pleasure, intimacy and connection in ways that feel right to them,' says Natasha. 'This isn't about being desperate or giving up on love — it's reclaiming my pleasure and prioritising fulfilling, joyful experiences, in and out of the bedroom.' Names have been changed BUT REMEMBER: STAY SAFE SAFETY should always come first, says Sun sexpert Georgie Culley. When booking an escort, stick to reputable agencies. Too-good-to-be-true prices are a red flag. Generally, escorts from legitimate agencies will cost £150-plus per hour. Before meeting, arrange a video call first, so you can verify who they are and set clear boundaries. Ask to see their ID, too. Always meet in a public place such as a restaurant or bar first. And let a trusted friend know where you'll be and who you're meeting. Avoid sharing personal details like your home address until you feel comfortable. Never transfer money in advance, unless it's through a trusted agency platform. If you do make it to the bedroom, always practise safe sex. Due to the nature of their job, escorts will likely be sleeping with lots of people, so always use condoms. Most importantly, trust your gut. If anything feels off, walk away. Your safety and comfort are key.
