Brits always add a Touch Of Class to Award Ceremonies

After the 'big yawn' of the latest around of Award Shows which were so predictable, totally unfunny (except for Chris Rock) and full of tedious speeches thanking  countless executives who none of us have ever heard off (and hardly care about) comes a perfect example of how to really accept an Award properly.

It's British (of course) and from 1994 when actor/comedian/playwright and something of a National Treasure, Spike Milligan was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Comedy Awards.  Milligan was best known for  being the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of The Goon Show the most successful radio show in the UK in the 1950's and in many ways a precursor to the Monty Python gang who also specialized in absurdist and eccentric British humor.

As Milligan accepted the Award he refused to thank anyone as he said he achieved it all on his own, and then Jonathan Ross the Presenter went on to read a special note of congratulations from a very important fan who couldn't attend the festivities.  Halfway through listening to all this praise being heaped on him, Milligan butted in and called the writer 'the little groveling bastard' which immediately brought the house down.   The letter had been written by none other than HRH The Prince of Wales, who we sure would have loved this response too.  (Milligan later faxed the prince, saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question now?")

Of course we Brits always know how to make people remember that we are real 'old-school' stars at Award Ceremonies, even when we may have had a little (!) too much to drink before we come on to the stage to announce the winner.  And who could possibly be annoyed with Elizabeth Taylor the very epitome of Hollywood Royalty when she got confused.  After all, as she reminded us, she was more used to winning Awards than handing them out to others.

S.A.G. recognizes diversity.

With all the media chatter about how the Academy of Motion Pictures becoming an all-white affair, it was good to see that when it is left to the actors themselves,, then diversity is the name of the game. At last nights S.A.G. (Screen Actors Guild) Awards there was not just a fair share of African/Americans and people of color who ended up as winners, but also the LGBT Community was recognized for a fine body of work.

The multi-award winning 'Orange Is The New Black'  from Netflix collected yet another accolade when it picked up the Best Ensemble Award – with an extensive 35 cast members name-checked, including Laverne Cox, Ruby Rose, and Lea DeLaria who all squeezed on to the stage.

One of the show's stars Uzo Abuda picked up her second award for Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role as Suzanne ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren.

Queen Latifah deservedly picked up the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries – for her stunning turn as bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s Bessie.  As she did bicep curls she gave a very moving and inspirational acceptance speech "I hope that anyone out there who does not come in the package people say you should, keep fighting for it," she said. "Flip those rocks over. Keep pushing. Keep turning, you can do it! You build your own boxes, not people. So knock that thing away and do you!"

Alicia Vikander was the recipient of one of two Awards that recognized the transgender community. She picked up Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Award, for her turn as Gerda Wegener in the Eddie Redmayne drama "The Danish Girl".

Jeffrey Tambor took home the award for Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of trans woman Maura Pfefferman in Amazon TV show "Transparent". This is 6th major award for his sublime performance, and typical of Tambor he was very generous in his very touching acceptance speech  "I play Maura Pfefferman, she's very entitled and she has a lot of money, and I would just like to dedicate this award to the non-Maura Pfeffermans who don't have a lot of cash for their operations, for their medicines, for their freedom."

British actor Idris Elba was the big winner of the night picking up two SAG Awards. He won the Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture prize for "Beasts of No Nation" and the Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries Award for "Luther". Whilst neither of these are gay roles, Elba scored big with the LGBT community recently when making a speech to the UK Parliament on diversity in the film industry.  “I’m not here to talk about black people, I’m here to talk about diversity. Diversity in the modern world is more than just skin color– it’s gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, social background, and – most important of all, as far as I’m concerned- diversity of thought.”

Let's hope all the Members of the Academy were watching and taking notes.

There Is Nothing Like A Dame

Explaining the British Honours System where twice a year H.M. The Queen (advised by a Political Appointed Committee) hands out fancy Titles and Awards for allegedly the "good and the great" of the Country, to a non-Brit is far from easy.  In theory any member of the public can be nominated to receive one of these accolades, but in reality the Lists (the latest one being today's New Years Honours) are so littered with cronies of the present Conservative Government, that there has been quite an outcry in the UK media that once again the system has been hijacked to reward the Party's big donors and supporters in particular.

This claim is hardly new, and in fact many of the country's landed gentry and aristocracy owe their present title and position in society to the fact that their forefathers greased the palms of the ruling monarch centuries ago.  It is because, like many things in the UK, it is all so steeped in tradition which none of us ever really see fit to question. For example, why are all the awards given on behalf of the British Empire still (as in O.B.E. : Order of....), and equally important, why is the highest honor given to a woman is when they are made into Dames, which sounds positively like something from a Pantomime or Musical Theater?

Nevertheless despite all the absurdity (or because of ?) it is still something of a British national sport to check the list and see who has made it this time, and try to fathom out why.   It's quite a game trying to work out what was the criteria for deciding who got the best 'honours' whilst similar people ones for the 'runner-ups'!   Here are today's 'winners' that caught our attention.

Matthew Bourne: the out gay award-winning choreographer of the all-male ballet Swan Lake was made a Knight. He is the very first person in the dance world outside of a national ballet company to be so honoured.  

Barbara Windsor:  the 78 year-old 'cockney' actress known for being in all those 'Carry On' Films in the 1960's and now lately in Britain's long running TV soap "Eastenders" and who is something of a gay icon, was made a Dame. 

Siân Phillips : the 82 year-old Welsh classical actress who first caught the public's eye in "I Claudius" and became a favorite star after appearing in the West End as Marlene Dietrich,  and who also was once married to the late Peter O'Toole, was made a Dame. 

Imelda Staunton: has being wowing London's audiences this year for her performance as Momma Rose in "Gypsy" ( a role that she will repeat in Broadway this year) gets a C.B.E. (Commander of British Empire) to add to her O.B.E.  Ms Staunton is married to actor Jim Carter who plays Mr Carson the Butler in "Downton Abbey".

Daman Albarn : the lead singer of Blur gets an O.B.E. 

Peter Morgan : screenwriter of "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon" gets a C.B.E.

So after they celebrate today what can these people expect?  Well apart from adding the initials of their awards after their name, and some now start being addressed as Dame (instead of Mrs), they'll get to put on a smart frock one anointed day this summer when they will be invited to go to Buckingham Palace for their Investiture where the Queen will hand out their awards (also known as gongs).  However it is getting a tad more relaxed thses days for when leading artist Grayson Perry went to collect his C.B.E. from Prince Charles (who was standing in for the Queen) he also wore a dress too.

Now not everyone approves of the whole system, and there have been several well-known people who have declined 'the offer' of an Award  (such as actress Vanessa Redgrave who was on the List to be a Dame).  Others later change their minds, like John Lennon who returned his MBE to the Palace as a protest against the country's support of the Vietnam War.  And then there are those to turn out to be not so 'good and great' after all, and like Anthony Blunt the Queen's own Art Custodian and later spy and traitor, you can get stripped of your title too.

P.S. There is always a need to read between the lines when it comes to the Brit Honour List as in the case today of the C.B.E awarded to Ms Jacqueline Gold with the citation "For services to Entrepreneurship".  Ms Gold, the 16th richest woman in the UK, is the C.E.O. of the Ann Summers Sex Shops and is best known for introducing the 'Rampant Rabbit' sex toy to Britain, where it remains a bestseller among such intriguing products as the 'Orgasmatron', the 'Shagasaurus' and the 'Vibrating O Ring'.   Just saying...