Today is
Anzac Day and numerous TV adverts are exhorting us to raise a glass to the remaining old soldiers. The last Gallipoli Anzac
Alec Campbell died in 2002 aged 101 and even WW2 veterans are now in their 80s while Vietnam Vets are in their late 60s.
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George Lambert's self portrait.
note the pre-Dame Edna Gladioli ! |
A few months ago
it was announced that a film was to be made about the life of
Kit Lambert, the rock impresario who discovered
The Who and
Jimi Hendrix amongst others. Lambert fell on hard times and died in 1981 aged only 41 but led a fascinating life while it lasted. His partner in his rock adventures,
Chris Stamp, younger brother of actor
Terrence Stamp died last year at age 70.
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| Kit Lambert & The Who |
News filters through to the
Shuttle that
Fox Studios may be involved in the Lambert film which is being directed by actor
Cary Elwes of
Princess Bride fame and being produced by
Orian Williams who also produced the brilliant bio-pic of rock singer
Ian Curtis, Control which won numerous BAFTA & Cannes Film awards in 2007.
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| Rupert Murdoch Cary Elwes Orian Williams Sir Keith Murdoch |
Will the Lambert film also feature his grandfather
George Washington Lambert Australia's first famous artist ?.
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| Lovers : Margot Fonteyn & Constant Lambert |
Kit Lambert's father was the English classical composer
Constant Lambert, George's son . In 1918 George Lambert was appointed as the official Gallipoli War Artist and traveled to Palestine with a young budding war correspondent
Sir Keith Murdoch,
Rupert Murdoch's much loved father and the founder of the
News Ltd empire.
George Washington Lambert outraged Australian and British generals when he arrived at the front on a horse in a tailor made uniform and wearing a flamboyant hat be-decked with some towering peacock feathers, looking oddly imperial and outlandish at the same time. He had been urged to shock the assembled generals by Sir Keith who regarded most as incompetent upper class twits who he hated, a trait he passed on to son Rupert.
As for Kit's father Constant Lambert , he died relatively young like his son, at the age of 46 but not before, as rumors go, he impregnated the famous ballet star,
Margot Fonteyn at the age of 17 and she was forced to have an abortion to avoid a scandal.
And today's slebs think they lead outrageous lives !
Here is
Joan Baez singing the anti-war song about Gallipoli :
"And the band played Walzing Matilda"
Kit Lambert was born into privilege and was privately educated and his classical education combined with a rock'n'roll lifestyle influenced The Who's music as exampled by the rock opera Tommy. Remaining Who members Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey are enthusiastically backing the film about Lambert and it's rumored will be composing music for the film. The Rolling Stones and The Who are the remaining 60's Supergroup and are still huge throughout the world. In 2010 The Who performed at the most watched event in TV history, the Superbowl and at the closing ceremony for the London Olympics last year in front of an estimated 750 million viewers worldwide. 
