Gilbert Blythe
Gilbert Blythe is a fictional character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series of novels. In the CBC Television film adaptations of the 1980s, Gilbert Blythe is portrayed by Jonathan Crombie. For the 1934 film adaption, Gilbert is portrayed by Tom Brown. In the Japanese anime adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, he is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue. For the musical that has run for more than 40 years at the Charlottetown Festival which focuses on Anne and Gilbert's relationship, the CD recording features Andrew MacBean as Gilbert. Gilbert is described in the books as being very handsome, with dark, curly hair and hazel eyes. He is tall with a lean build. In his youth, he seems aware of his good looks and popularity with the girls; perhaps because of this, he sometimes tends to seem a bit smug and self-assured. Anne's dismissal of his affections, however, seems to ground him, and he matures and is well liked by many. Throughout the series, Gilbert is depicted as a fair, practical and reliable man, who is inclined to have a "common sense" view of things. Keenly intelligent, he has a strong wit and sense of humor. As Gilbert matures, he becomes less headstrong and demonstrates
Jonathan Crombie (born October 12, 1966 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing Gilbert Blythe in CBC Television's 1985 telefilm Anne of Green Gables and its two sequels. He was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his role in the Canadian Stage Company's 1997 production of Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia. More recently he appeared on stage in The Dishwashers by Morris Panych (Tarragon Theatre, 2005) and The Oxford Roof Climbers Rebellion by Stephen Massicotte (Tarragon Theatre/Great Canadian Stage Company, 2006). He was also featured in the second season of Slings & Arrows (2005), as playwright Lionel Train. Crombie's father, David Crombie, is a former mayor of Toronto and former Canadian federal Cabinet Minister. Crombie debuted on Broadway in the Canadian musical The Drowsy Chaperone as "Man in Chair," from March to April 2007. He returned to the production beginning August 21, and performed the role during the show's tour through the United States.
Shirley Anne
Shirley Anne Field (b. 27 June 1938, Bolton, Lancashire) is a British actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955. Shirley Anne Field was born Shirley Broomfield. She was the third of four children with two elder sisters and a younger brother. At the age of six she was placed in the National Children's Home at Edgeworth, near Bolton and four years later was moved to another children's home in Blackburn, where she attended Blakely Moor School for Girls. She subsequently returned to Edgeworth until she was 15 when she moved to a Children's Home hostel in London training as a typist while still attending school. After a course at the Lucy Clayton School and Model Agency she became a photographic model for pin-up magazines like Reveille and Titbits. She was subsequently spotted by Bill Watts, who ran a theatrical agency, who obtained a number of uncredited extra roles in various late fifties British films. Her first appearance in a film was as an extra in Simon and Laura (1955). Her movie breakthrough was when she was chosen by Laurence Olivier to play the prime female role in The Entertainer, 1960. The same year she appeared in probably her best known role as
Anne Shirley
Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Montgomery wrote in her journal that the idea for Anne's story came from relatives who, planning to adopt an orphaned boy, received a girl instead. Anne Shirley's appearance was inspired by a photograph which Montgomery clipped from the Metropolitan Magazine and kept, unaware of the model's identity as the notorious 1900s Gibson Girl Evelyn Nesbit. Anne was born in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia and spent the earliest years of her childhood there. She was orphaned as an infant of three months, when her parents, schoolteachers Walter and Bertha Shirley (née Willis), died of typhoid fever. Without any other relations, Anne was taken in by Mrs. Thomas, who had done housework for the Shirleys. After Mr. Thomas died, Anne went to live with the Hammond family for some years and was treated as little more than a servant until Mr. Hammond died, whereupon Mrs. Hammond divided her children amongst relatives and Anne was sent to the orphanage at Hopetown. She considered herself as "cursed" by twins — Mrs. Hammond had three sets of twins whom Anne helped raise. She is sent from the