Calendar Girls: A True Story.

Was the movie Calendar Girls based on real-life characters? Not really, even if the movie is actually based on a true story.  Intentional similarities do exist when comparing the close friendship of Annie (Julie Walters) and Chris (Helen Mirren) to that of Angela Baker and Tricia Stewart in real life. -BBC.

The women decided to do the calendar to raise money to help fight leukemia after Angela Baker's husband John died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in July 1998 at age 54. John, played in the movie by John Alderton, worked as a National Park Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and from the onset of his illness he grew sunflowers.  The image of the sunflower is present throughout the calendar.

Much of the film was fictionalized, including most of the characters and their names.  However, the basic storyline is true.  Women aged between 45 and 65 posed nude for a Women's Institute Calendar to raise money for charity.  Unlike in the movie, the women had the full support of the local and national WI for the calendar.  What was not mentioned in the movie was the additional support of Actress Glenda Jackson, one of the calendar's sponsors.  Glenda is the only member of the British Parliament to have actually won an Oscar!  Naturally, her support for the calendar drew attention.

In 2000, the calendar had raised more than £450,000. The money was used to fund cutting edge research into lymphoma and leukaemia at the University of Leeds. A plaque dedicated to John Baker was placed in new laboratories at Leeds. The plaque reads, "The work in this laboratory is dedicated to the memory of John Baker in recognition of the exceptional fundraising achievements of ‘The Calendar Girls’ of the Rylstone & District Women’s Institute."  -Leukaemia Research Fund

See: The Calendar Girls Official Site

Above are actress's Helen Mirren, born July 26th 1945 and Julie Walters born February 22nd 1950 (I was born one month later)!

In addition to the calendars, six of the original WI Calendar women posed for a postcard titled "Baker's Half Dozen" (shown above). The women include Lynda Logan, Beryl Bamforth, Tricia Stewart, Christine Clancy, Angela Baker and Ros Fawcett.

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