Latest news with #Rolf
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Meet actor who returned to Mission Impossible franchise after three decades because Tom Cruise insisted
The final film in the Mission Impossible franchise released in the US on May 23. Ardent fans of the Tom Cruise-led franchise were in for a delightful surprise because they also saw the return of veteran character actor Rolf Saxon in it. This was a major moment because Rolf returned to the big screen to play William Donloe, the same character many might remember as CIA analyst William Donloe in the 1996 film. (Also read: Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning earns $24 million, scores biggest opening day for franchise) Rolf appears for a brief time in the 1996 film, but this time in The Final Reckoning, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie gifted the actor with a major supporting role. The actor shared that when he first heard of the call that he was being considered for a part in the film, he did not take it seriously because he thought it might be a prank. Speaking to People, he said, 'I got a phone call in January of '22 saying a European film company was interested in seeing you for a part. I said, 'Okay, they legit?' They said, 'Yeah, we think so.' So we set up a meeting and then they said it was Skydance, Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible, and I thought, it's a buddy of mine. He's winding me up, he's playing the game.' But soon the actor realized that this was no game at all, and that Tom Cruise insisted that he come onboard for the film. Talking about working with Tom on the film, he said, 'I was on that for about three weeks. So you know, we weren't bosom buddies, but he's very good on set. He gives a hundred percent. To be back, I got a big hug and a cheer as soon as I walked on the set. So it's great. It was wonderful.' In The Final Reckoning, Ethan Hunt and his team meet Donloe when they travel to St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea. Rolf is a gold medalist from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Known for his work in theatre and Television, he made his film debut in 1980 with Little Lord Fauntleroy, which was an adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. He also appeared on the TV show Capital City which ran from 1989-90 where he essayed the role of attorney Hudson J. Talbot III. Some of his other notable roles were in films like Tomorrow Never Dies, Saving Private Ryan, Woman in Gold, and August Falls. Rolf is mostly known for his theatre work, in productions like The Seven Year Itch, Dinner with Friends, Chicago, Death and the Maiden, and The Floating Light Bulb among others.
Daily Mirror
28-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
Paedophile Rolf Harris' Berkshire mansion put up for sale two years after death
EXCLUSIVE: The riverside property, in Bray, Berkshire, is being quietly marketed by Mayfair-based estate agents Benson International, with an asking price of £4million Rolf Harris' mansion home has been put up for sale, two years after his death. The riverside property, in Bray, Berkshire, is being quietly marketed by Mayfair-based estate agents Benson International, with an asking price of £4million. Rolf's only child Bindi inherited it and most of his £16million estate. A source told the Mirror: 'Bindi was seen emptying the property about a month ago. She wants to sell it, but she doesn't desperately need the money and is in no rush, so she's determined to hold out for a good price. Potential buyers have already begun viewings.' Rolf died of neck cancer at the house aged 93 in May 2023. His wife Alwen, who had been suffering from Alzheimer's, died in August last year. He was jailed for five years and nine months in July 2014 after being found guilty of a dozen indecent assaults against four young girls. His crimes, some of which occurred inside the house, took place between 1968 and 1986. In one instance Harris reportedly sexually assaulted one of his daughter Bindi's friends, who was between the ages of 13 and 19 at the time. He was accused of performing a sex act on her there while his daughter slept in another room. Rolf, who was born in Australia, had been living there for more than six decades after rising to fame in his early 20's when he began performing a regular ten-minute cartoon drawing section in children's show Jigsaw. The house was designed in line with his childhood house on the banks of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, where he learned to swim before becoming a national junior backstroke champion aged 15. It was renovated ahead of his release from jail in 2017, with workmen seen replacing a large patio at a cost of more than £10,000. And the front drive, which is overlooked by a horsehead, was also dug up and the back garden was revamped. Speaking about the property, our source said: 'It's a massive plot in a very desirable area on the banks of the Thames, so there's bound to be interest. 'But it remains to be seen if its past and notoriety may put some people off. 'Anyone who can afford the asking price clearly has plenty of money, so it's very likely they'll knock the current house down and build a new modern property on the land.' Benson International describe themselves as a 'premium property specialist operating in the heart of London advising clients internationally with assets in the UK'. Their website adds: 'We are a private office who have worked alongside clients with discretion for many years.' They were contacted for comment.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Yahoo
What happened to Michael Schumacher? Nightclub bouncer jailed over blackmail plot
Formula One great Michael Schumacher has still not been seen by the world for more than a decade, with his privacy having survived two recent scares. The German former racing driver, who won a record-setting seven world championships, has been living in private with his family since a life-changing skiing accident in 2013. Little is known about the true nature of his condition and no photo has been seen of Schumacher since the crash, with his wife and family working hard to ward off public curiosity. On February 12, it was reported that a former nightclub bouncer has been jailed for three years after being convicted of conspiring with others to obtain footage of Schumacher and blackmail the family for £12m. Yilmaz Tozturkan, 53, was given the sentence while his son, Daniel Lins, 30, was given a six-month suspended sentence. His former bodyguard, meanwhile, was given a two-year suspended sentence after hard drives containing confidential pictures, videos and medical records were stolen. Markus Fritsche, 53, was convicted after being found to have worked in conjunction with Tozturkan and Lins to try to leak the images. The family also faced reports that Schumacher had been present at the wedding of his daughter last year – but these were rubbished by a family friend. 'The most recent rumour was he attended his daughter's wedding,' said Schumacher's former rival, Johnny Herbert. 'Unfortunately, from what I understand, that was all AI fake news and no truth in it.' Here's what we know about the racing driver. Born in the West German town of Hürth on January 3, 1969, Schumacher came from a working-class family that nurtured his talent. His father, Rolf, was a bricklayer who later ran the local kart track, and modified his son's pedal kart at the age of four, adding a diesel engine. Schumacher promptly crashed it into a lamppost, after which his father enrolled him as the youngest member of the karting club in neighbouring Kerpen-Horrem. Rolf built him a kart from spare parts (as well as taking on two jobs to help hs son pursue his dreams), and at the age of six, Schumacher won his first club championship. His star soon stared to rise – and with it, his ambition. German regulations forbade kart drivers from getting their licence under the age of 14; to get around it, Schumacher went to Luxembourg and got his at the age of 12, then went onto win the German Junior Kart Championship. A year later, he got his German kart licence. By 1987, he was the German and European kart champion, and dropped out of school to work as a mechanic. Shortly after, he pivoted to racing cars: in 1989, he signed onto the WTS Formula Three team, before joining the Mercedes-Benz junior racing programme in 1990. On the track, Schumacher quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with. Racing for Jordan-Ford, Benetton and eventually Ferrari, he started racking up win after win from 1990 onwards. In 1992, he finished three points ahead of renowned racing driver Ayrton Senna, who told a friend he thought the German was "the next big threat, way ahead of all the other drivers around at the time.' He became known for his speed and ability to push his car to the very limit, often snatching victory at the last second through a daring fast lap. He was also committed to improving his racing by any means necessary, especially fitness. In 2004, Slate magazine called him "the most dominant athlete in the world", thanks to being "quicker, stronger, and fitter than the competition by outworking them in the weight room.' This even extended to training his neck muscles via a four-hour daily routine, in order withstand the G-forces he was subjected to in the cockpit. The flexibility and adaptability of the German's driving style paired with a cool head under pressure. Over the course of his career, he earned the nickname 'Regenkonig' or the Rain King, for winning 17 out of 30 races he contested in wet conditions. Giancarlo Fisichella told La Gazzetta dello Sport in 2023 that his former rival 'didn't even seem to have sweated' in races, adding that he 'rewrote the history of Formula One.' Fellow F1 drivers agreed: drivers who followed Schumacher onto the track, such as Sebastian Vettel, cite Schumacher as a key inspiration for them (Vettel, who retired in 2022, called him an 'idol'), while Austrian Niki Lauda called him 'the greatest. Nobody will ever beat him, as long as we are alive.' After a star-studded career, Schumacher eventually retired for good in 2012. He did so as the fifth-highest earning athlete of all time, winner of multiple awards – including a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Pelé – and a multiple record holder, some of which remain unbeaten to this day. In 2013, Schumacher was skiing in the French alps when he fell and hit his head on a rock. Schumacher was an experienced skier, but hit an exposed rock as he descended the mountain and flew through the air, hitting another rock 10 metres away and cracking his helmet. The right side of his head sustained severe damage – so severe that medics said he would have died had he not been wearing protective headgear. He was airlifted to hospital, where he underwent two operations and was put in a medically-induced coma for seven months. By April 2014, he was showing moments of consciousness, and was brought out of the coma. In November 2014, he was reportedly 'paralysed and in a wheelchair', and unable to speak, but Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm told press the following year that he was slowly improving: "I can only say again: There are signs that give us encouragement," she said. Not much else is known. In 2023, his former Ferrari manager, Jean Todt, told French daily L'Equipe that "Michael is here, so I don't miss him. "[But he] is simply not the Michael he used to be. He is different and is wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him. His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him. That's all there is to say. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago. He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula One." Since the accident, the German been living at his home in Lake Geneva, and his wife Corinna is fiercely protective of his privacy. Reportedly, only three family members and a team of medics are regularly in contact with Schumacher, who is said to require round-the-clock care. ''We're together. We live together at home. We do therapy,' she said in a 2021 Netflix documentary. 'We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make him comfortable. And to simply make him feel our family, our bond.' The family has been involved in legal battles around Schumacher's security, with his former bodyguard, Markus Fritsche, having been convicted alongside Yilmaz Tozturkan and Daniel Lins over a blackmail plot. The three were all sentenced in February: Tozturkan to three years in prison, Lins for six months suspended, and Fritsche for two years suspended. The Schumachers' lawyer has said his clients will appeal against the 'lenient' sentencing. Schumacher did not, according to reports, attend the wedding of his 27-year-old daughter Gina to Iain Bethke, at the family's villa in Majorca. Schumacher's 25-year-old son Mick recently became engaged to long-time girlfriend Laila Hasanovic. Mick talked in 2017 about his dad being an 'idol' and 'role model', and has followed in his footsteps by also pursuing a career in racing. Their relationship has changed but remains solid as the Schumacher family look to move forward in the face of public and press scrutiny.
