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Article: Murder mortifies a nation.(ACTOR: JIM BROADBENT)(Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Francis Aungier Pakenham in HBO's "Longford")
- Article from:
- Daily Variety
- Article date:
- June 11, 2007
- Author:
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Jim Broadbent has no trouble remembering the murder trials of Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, two child killers whose exploits rocked Britain in the 1960s.
"It was like the O.J. trial or Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer," recalls Broadbent. "Myra Hindley's mug shot was an iconic British image back then, and it still is."
So it's understandable why Broadbent might have been reticent about playing the title character in HBO's "Longford," a telepic that explores the real-life relationship between Hindley (played by Samantha Morton) and Frank Pakenham, the seventh Earl of Longford, a controversial British politician who was a passionate advocate for prisoners' rights ...