Categories Band of Brothers Life Richard Winters Stolen

Richard Winters Leadership Project update

  • Cast members from Band of Brothers will be be reuniting to

    jump out of planes (!) later this year in aid of the Richard Winters

    Leadership Project, a campaign to raise money for a monument in

    Normandy in honor of the late Major Winters. Over 20 cast members

    have committed to the event. To learn more, visit

    the Jumping for Heroes blog.

    Click here at the Tim Gray Media website

    to learn more about the Richard Winters Leadership Project.

  • Damian Lewis was interviewed at the BBC TV Centre on Friday, most likley promotional work for the upcoming BBC television film Stolen. Journalist Ian Wylie tweeted about it on his blog. Thanks to Chantal and Ann for the headsup.
  • Life: Season 1 wil begin airing weekly on the German

    channel Vox beginning February 28th at 10:05pm. Thanks to Manuela for the info.

Categories Band of Brothers Homeland News Richard Winters

‘Homeland’ begins filming in Charlotte, NC


  • Homeland began filming in Charlotte

    this week and will continue filming through the end of the month:

    Hollywood has come to town, and south Charlotte’s Mountainbrook

    neighborhood is front and center.

    Film giant 20th Century Fox is shooting a pilot episode of a TV show,

    “Homeland,” for Showtime and they’re filming much of it in Charlotte.

    The show is about U.S. Marine Sgt. Scott Brody (played by British actor

    Damian Lewis) who spent eight years as a prisoner of war in Baghdad and was

    presumed dead. Recently rescued, Brody has returned to his wife and kids and

    is lauded as a hero.

    But CIA agent Carrie Anderson (played by Emmy award-winning actress

    Claire Danes) suspects that he’s plotting an attack on America.

    “The questions is, ‘Is he the hero he appears to be?’ ” said producer

    Michael Click, who used to work with Fox’s hit action drama “24.” “It’s a

    little bit of a whodunit.”

    Click said he thinks viewers will tune in because of the modern issues it

    delves into.

    “It has a lot of timely aspects to it, in terms of fears of terrorism,

    prisoners of war, internal threats to the government,” said Click. “There

    are a lot of threats explored in a family-drama situation.”

    When deciding where to film, Fox chose North Carolina because the state

    offered tax breaks. They picked Charlotte and the South Park area, in

    particular, because the homes’ architecture resembles that of suburban

    Virginia, where the show is set.

    Charlotte’s uptown area could resemble Washington, D.C.

    “It was a good match,” said Click. “It’s a very nice downtown – modern, a

    lot of good looks to it. It doesn’t have the broad boulevards that D.C. has

    but it will make a good double. There are a number of governmental buildings

    we could use in terms of walk-and-talk conversations. And if you need to go

    to Washington, it’s a two-hour flight up the road.”

    Read the rest at The Charlotte Observer.

    ‘Oziegirl17’, a member at the Yahoo! Group, has learned that the pilot will also film in Washington, DC and Tel Aviv and if the if the pilot is picked up, Damian Lewis will return to Charlotte in June for 5 months. Read her post here.

    More on the start of production:

    WSJ – From Producer Howard Gordon: “We started on Monday [in Charlotte, North Carolina] and there was

    the blizzard of the century, so they shut us down for two days. But we are

    in production.”

    FOX Charlotte – Details on the casting call in

    Charlotte. Find more info at the Homeland Casting Facebook page.

  • BlackSkyRadio.com broadcast their 3-hour tribute to Major Richard Winters on Wednesday that can be

    listened to here on their Band of Brothers blog. They

    added more tributes from cast members including this one from Damian

    Lewis:

    I was honoured to have played, no, represent Major Winters on the screen. He

    was unstinting in his support of the project and of me. He welcomed me to

    his house in Hershey, introduced me to his loving wife, Ethel, and

    constantly exhorted me to “Hang Tough!” He has died quietly, in private,

    without fanfare, with the same modesty that he lived his life as one of the

    most celebrated soldiers of his generation. I will miss him and I thank him.

    Currahee!

    Click here at PennLive.com for details on the memorial service to be held Saturday, March 19th.

Categories Band of Brothers News Richard Winters

Damian Lewis comments on Winters


  • More on Major Richard Winters’ passing. CNN has this quote from Damian Lewis:

    Actor Damian Lewis, who portrayed Winters in the series, told CNN that Winters’ support for him during the production was “generous and unstinting. I’ll never forget his rallying cry to me to ‘hang tough!’

    “He has died quietly, in private, without fanfare and with the same modesty that he lived his life as one of the true heroes of his generation,” Lewis added.

    source

    You can read tributes from other Band of Brothers cast members at the BlackSkyRadio.com Band of Brothers blog here. Their show on Wednesday will pay tribute to Winters and will feature guests ‘Wild’ Bill Guarnere, Babe Heffron and Captain Dale Dye.

    A public memorial service for Major Richard Winters will be held at a later date.

    There are dozens of articles on Winters’ death online – here’s a small selection:

    Wgal.com – Susquehanna Valley Native Maj. Dick Winters Dies

    AP – `Band of Brothers’ inspiration Winters dies at 92

    Lebanon Daily News – A hero, at rest

    LancasterONline.com – SLIDESHOW: Richard “Dick” Winters, leader of ‘Band of Brothers’

    Mail Online – ‘He was one hell of a guy’: Band Of Brothers war hero Major Richard ‘Dick’ Winters, 92, dies

    Lebanon Daily News – ‘Band of Brothers’ hero dies

    LancasterONline.com – Remembering Dick Winters

    NYTimes – Richard Winters Dies at 92; Led ‘Band of Brothers’

Categories Band of Brothers News Richard Winters

Maj. Richard Winters Dies


  • RIP Major Winters.

    Hershey native, Major Dick Winters, the World War two hero has died.

    News 8 has learned about his passing through a close family friend.

    Winters passed away January 2. He was laid to rest on Saturday, January 8.

    He had requested a private, unannounced funeral service.

    Winters grew up in Lancaster, attending Boys’ High School and Franklin and Marshall College.

    After graduating, and a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Winters joined the army.

    Later, he commanded the group of World War II heroes known as “the band of brothers”.

    The family said a public memorial service will be held at a later date.

    In three weeks, Major Dick Winters would have turned 93-years-old.

    source

    More:

    PennLive.com – Dick Winters, of ‘Band of Brothers’ fame, dies

    PennLive.com – Dick Winters, who inspired ‘Band of Brothers,’ remembered as an American hero

    The Washington Post – Dick Winters dies; WWII hero commanded ‘Band of Brothers’

    Damian Lewis had this to say about the Major in the preface he wrote for Biggest Brother, a biography of Major Richard Winters:

    … At boot camp I called him for the first time, and through a series of

    phone calls I set about slowly trying to earn his trust. What emerged as I

    got to know him was a man not given to late night in bars, reminiscing, not

    given to romanticizing his past glories. He was a man whose recollections

    were analytical, pragmatically ordered, not emotional, a man who was much

    happier answering questions on technical maneuvers or what boot he wore his

    knife on (the left by the way), than what he felt, as he found himself

    isolated from his men, staring at a whole company of Germans, on top of that

    dyke in Holland, for example. “I was always just concentrating on getting

    the job done, ” would be his typical reply. It dawned on me what a happy

    coincidence it was that I had felt slightly removed from the “hype” at the

    beginning of the job, a little detached. For it was precisely his ability

    to distance himself from any hysteria and to remain calm and lucid in

    moments of danger that made Dick Winters a natural leader of men. But not

    only that. Once I had his trust, I found a warmth, a wickedly dry sense of

    humor and a willingness to listen that is not often found in men of

    power.

    After the series had filmed I went and visited Dick and Ethel at home in

    Hershey, Pennsylvania. We chatted and joked as he showed me some of his

    momentos and walked me around their beautiful farm (another major

    achievement in his life). He treated me like a son and told me that he

    thought I’d done a pretty good job portraying him, although he was unsure at first! I thought, yup, that’s him. Authoritative, nurturing and honest all at once. I felt immensely proud that I’d had the opportunity to portray this man, a decorated war hero whose story I’d been entrusted with. It had needed a precision and an unfailing commitment to the truth. It’s what Dick always demanded, of himself and others.

Categories Band of Brothers News Richard Winters Stolen

BBC Press release on ‘Stolen’


  • The BBC Press Office

    has more on the BBC One film Stolen:

    Damian Lewis plays Detective Inspector Anthony Carter in a fast-paced thriller about human trafficking in Britain today, where

    children are brought here for a better life but end up working illegally outside the system.

    It’s a story of modern child slavery that demonstrates the broadening scope of single dramas on BBC One.

    Stolen follows the story of one man, Anthony (Lewis), and three children.

    Anthony works in the Human Trafficking Unit, battling to make a difference to the plight of exploited children being smuggled

    into the UK and from there, to anywhere and to any fate.

    Anthony has a wall of snapshots in his office of unknown children, children without passports, without identity, without

    family, without hope, who have been smuggled into this country to be enslaved and exploited: Rosemary 11, is a terrorised young

    girl from West Africa, who thought she was coming to England to be educated. She is sold as a house servant; Kim Pak, 15, is a

    gardener in a Vietnamese cannabis house, imprisoned in a semi in suburbia; Georgie, 14, from the Ukraine, is put to work in the

    food industry, making sandwiches.

    If Anthony could save just one of those faces on his wall, it would be worth it.


  • According to the online magazine, Blast, Damian Lewis has signed a limited amount of special edition art prints of Brian Fox’s portrait of Major

    Richard Winters. The portrait is part of The Major Richard Winters Leadership Project, a campaign to raise money for a monument

    in Normandy and a documentary film that will focus on Major Winters’ leadership during WWII. Damian Lewis will narrate the film.

    For more information on the The Major Richard Winters Leadership Project, visit the Tim Gray Media website and the Majordickwinters.com

    board.

Categories Band of Brothers Events News Richard Winters The Baker Will

New project, ‘The Baker’ US DVD release, Richard Winters Leadership project

  • New project: According to IMDb, Damian Lewis has been cast as “Gareth” in the film Will. According to the film’s IMDB page, it is being directed by Ellen Perry who is also listed as co-writer along with Zack Anderson. The film also lists actors Kristian Kiehling and Perry Eggelton in the cast and is in pre-production. Click here for the film’s IMDb page.


  • Soccer Aid Reminder/ Update: Legendary French player Zinedine Zidane has signed on to play on the Rest Of The World team against England. More info here.

    Tickets for the match at Old Trafford on June 6th are now available. Call 0844 576 2010 or visit the official Soccer Aid site for tickets. All money raised from the event will go to Unicef.

  • The Baker will be renamed Assassin in Love when it’s released on DVD in the US by Screen Media Films at the end of the year. More info here at Home Media Magazine.

    The film is already available in North America in Region 1 format. Click here for links.


  • Click here at the Tim Gray Media website to learn more about the Richard Winters Leadership Monument and Film project which has full approval of the Winters family. Thanks to Linda in Belgium for the headsup.

Categories Band of Brothers Life Richard Winters The Escapist Your Highness


  • Congressman Holden of Pennsylvania has introduced a new resolution in the U.S. House of
    Representatives to award Major Richard Winters the Medal of Honor. If you’ve seen Damian Lewis’s portrayal of Major Winters in Band of Brothers then you understand why he deserves this recognition. U.S. citizens are asked to contact their Congressional Representatives to request support for H.R. 3121.

    Click here to read the text of H.R. 3121 and click here for letter-writing suggestions. Thanks to Connie and Linda from the MajorDickWinters site for the information!

    Click here to access the above composite image of Damian Lewis and Major Winters that was created by Ryoko.

  • Information posted on IMDb (click on the links below) suggests that Damian Lewis will play the “Evil Wizard Leezar” in his new film titled Your Highness. The production is currently filming on location in Northern Ireland.
    l 1 l
    2 l
    3 l

  • According to VideoETA the region 1 (US and Canada) DVD for The Escapist with Damian Lewis is estimated for release in September 2009.

  • Penne Hackforth-Jones’s review of The Escapist includes this comment:

    I loved Damian Lewis in another fantastic variation of himself…the first I have seen since the telly production of ‘Life’. A very loathsome reptile he can be too.

  • Kaz shared this Times Online article titled “Why Brits rule on US TV” that states:

    And why did Damian Lewis (Eton, RSC) win roles in two series of Life?

    So grim is this state of affairs that America’s National Public Radio interrogated the makers of Life, who confessed: “What we found out about English actors is that they’re funny. We had a hard time finding an American tough guy who will be the butt of the joke, whereas Damian has no problem doing it. He’s like half Stan Morrow and half Steve McQueen.” It turns out that slightly imperfect looks and even British bad teeth are more convincing. The Life producers added: “You could argue that in our system, if you’re a young actor who isn’t leading-man handsome, you’re probably not going to get nurtured the way that you would in England, just based on talent.

  • The HeyUGuys site is featuring photos from Cambridge Jones’s new book Inspired By Music including images of Damian Lewis that are available in the Warehouse.

    Damian Lewis is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust; profits from sales of the book will benefit this charitable organization. The volume can be purchased at Starbucks stores in the UK or it may be ordered online from Amazon (UK) and
    Tower Books (US).

  • Thanks to Linda for the news that Flemish channel 2BE will broadcast Stormbreaker with Damian Lewis in Belgium on Saturday July 18, 2009 at 20h40.




  • Click above to enjoy a new Life music video titled “Life – Charlie Crews – Mercy” by 07ransom.

  • Vote for Sarah Shahi, Damian’s Life co-star, in TV.com’s “Brunette vs Brunette” contest. Thanks to Katreniah for the link!