Category: Band of Brothers

Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp

‘It’s very authentic, dripping in sincerity, there’s nothing sensational about it. It had a docu-drama feel to it which people responded to. –Damian Lewis on Band of Brothers

bandofbrothers

We blogged earlier about how a 29-year old British actor Damian Lewis got cast to play all-American WWII hero Dick Winters as well as the deft and the charisma with which Damian Lewis came to immortalize Dick Winters on small screen. However, we still have a black box between the casting and the shoot: How did Damian Lewis TRANSFORM into Dick Winters?

DLDW

Well… Once he gets the part, the two Hollywood giants Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks leave the room and Tony To, the executive producer, asks: “Hey Damian, how’d you like to go to boot camp in March?”

Ha! The boot camp… It is, in fact, what FILLS the black box I’ve been talking about… The Transformation, quoting Damian himself, from “a rice pudding” to a “celery stalk” 

Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Damian Lewis at Band of Brothers Boot Camp”

Throwback Thursday to Tom Hanks
Surprising Damian Lewis on his 30th Birthday

source: WWD.com

February 11 is a special day, well, at least for us: Damian’s 53rd Birthday. We will kick off the festivities soon so stay tuned and join us today for a fun trip back to Damian’s 30th Birthday!

We all know Tom Hanks played a major role in making Damian an internationally known actor. We blogged earlier about how Spielberg and Hanks cast Damian Lewis as Dick Winters in Band of Brothers.

source: tircuit.com
source: tircuit.com

Damian tells Independent that, once he was cast for the role, he had the opportunity to hang out with Steven Spielberg as well as Tom Hanks for a while, and in his own words, got to know, “what kids they are.” 🙂 Continue reading “Throwback Thursday to Tom Hanks Surprising Damian Lewis on his 30th Birthday”

In Memory of Major Dick Winters

Major Richard Winters passed away 13 years ago today. He is the real life hero that we all have come to know as the charismatic and compassionate commander of Easy Company in Band of Brothers. His obituary in Washington Post makes a note about his  leadership through a letter written by Floyd Talbert, one of his soldiers, to thank Major Winters for his loyalty and leadership in the war:

“You are loved and will never be forgotten by any soldier that ever served under you. I would follow you into hell.”

After the war, Major Winters led a quiet and peaceful life on his farm in Fredericksburg and in his home in Hershey, Pennsylvania until Band of Brothers — the book as well as the TV series — put him into the international spotlight. He was a true WWII hero who was never comfortable being called one. When asked if he was a hero, he liked to answer the way his WWII buddy Mike Ranney did to his grandson: “No, but I served in a company of heroes.” This became a major tagline in Band of Brothers.

Major Winters died like he lived. Quietly. And, upon his request, his funeral service was private and unannounced. We are honored to make a tribute to this real-life war hero on this day.  Continue reading “In Memory of Major Dick Winters”

The Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Holiday Gift Giving Guide 2023 Edition!

Holiday greetings to you all!  I am thrilled to return, once again, for an updated version of our annual gift giving guide. If you have a Damian Lewis fan in your life, this post is for YOU!

Your one true Queen Of Christmas., photo by Jordanalisa Photography

I am a burlesque performer, who specializes in holiday-themed acts.  Being known as the “Queen of Christmas”, I love merging my two worlds and bringing my love of the holiday season AND my love of all things Damian into one fun post.  The last few years have been unpredictable for the world of live performance, but it seems like things are holding steady! My schedule is full and my soul is happy.

And as always, here are some of our tried-and-true gift giving favorites, and some new picks-enjoy!! Continue reading “The Fan Fun with Damian Lewis Holiday Gift Giving Guide 2023 Edition!”

It’s Veterans Day! We Salute Major Dick Winters – The Rank and The Man

Today is Veterans Day – a day of honoring all men and women that served in the United States armed forces. And it gives us a great opportunity to salute all war heroes, and in particular Major Dick Winters and Easy Company.

I know a thing or two about war. My day job is to study and understand war. I have written academic articles on war, I have taught on war… and even though I can write about war for pages and talk about it for hours as a scholar, the human cost of war is still incomprehensible to me.

Let me take a moment and look at my own family. My maternal grandmother never knew her father because he was a soldier in WWI in the Eastern Front in Turkey, and he literally froze because of the cold as he fought against the Russians. My paternal grandmother never knew her father, either; because he was also a soldier in WWI and was killed by a shrapnel in Gallipoli as he fought against the Anzacs. Continue reading “It’s Veterans Day! We Salute Major Dick Winters – The Rank and The Man”