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- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
William Shockley is an American actor, writer, producer (p.g.a.) and director.
Shockley is a partner in Tiki Tane Pictures along with Allen Gilmer and Tom Brady, a film production company based in Los Angeles and Austin, TX. Tiki Tane is represented by UTA Independent Film Group. They are in post-production on Long Shadows, an American period piece directed by Shockley, starring Blaine Maye, Sarah Cortez, Jacqueline Bisset, Dominic Monaghan and Dermot Mulroney.
As an actor, Shockley will next be seen in Haunting of the Queen Mary, starring Alice Eve, directed by Gary Shore; Natty Knocks with Robert England and Bill Mosley, directed by Dwight Little; Far Haven with Bailey Chase, directed by Gary Wheeler; and Martingale with Kelly Sullivan, directed by Jeremy Berg.
Shockley made his directorial debut with the short film, Common Threads, starring Nancy Stafford, a period western set in Tucson, Arizona, 1887. Common Threads won 8 Film Festival Awards, including 'Best Short Film - Family' at the 2017 'IFS Film Festival' in Los Angeles. At the 2017 'Best Shorts Awards Competition' in La Jolla, CA, Common Threads won 6 Awards of Excellence, including Short Film, Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Family Programming and Ensemble Cast. And at the 2017 Lady's First International Film Festival in Cork, Ireland, Common Threads won Best Production Design.
In 1986, while doing theatre in Dallas, Texas, Shockley had his first audition, and was cast by Paul Verhoeven in Robocop. His next decision was easy. Sell everything and move to Los Angeles.
After just a few months of living in LA, Shockley landed a slew of episodic and movie-of-the-week roles. He was then cast in the feature films Howling: Rebirth with Phil Davis, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay, and The Joyriders with Martin Landau and Kris Kristofferson. Paul Verhoeven cast Shockley again in the cult classic, Showgirls.
Shockley has also worked in numerous television projects. He won over audiences for six years as 'Hank Lawson', the saloon-keeper in CBS' highly regarded drama, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", starring Jane Seymour. Shockley was given a development deal by CBS and starred in his own series, "California", a Dr. Quinn spin-off. Shockley also starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the CBS sitcom, "Bagdad Cafe", and opposite Teri Garr in the critically acclaimed ABC series, "Good & Evil ".
Shockley has co-written 12 feature scripts that have been produced, and has also produced 10 feature films and 3 TV movies.
Aside from acting, Shockley does extensive voice over work in television and radio advertising. He has voiced campaigns for AT&T, Enterprise, Sony, Sprint, Bausch & Lomb, Toyota, Siemens, Cisco Systems, Isuzu, Fruit of the Loom and XM Satellite Radio, to name a few.
In the world of on air radio, Shockley hosted 52 weeks of "The Road", a syndicated country music program airing in 200 cities. The program featured live country music concert tracks mixed with interviews with the artists. "The Road" was nominated by Billboard Magazine as Best Syndicated Radio Program.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Robert Gerard Goulet was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to a family of French-Canadian origin. He was the son of Jeanette (Gauthier) and Joseph Georges André Goulet. After hearing his son sing "Lead Kindly Light", in their church hall, his father told him, "I'm proud of you, son". A few weeks later, his father, lying on his death bed, called Robert to his side and told him the Lord had given him a beautiful voice and he must go and sing. His father died when Robert was 13 and he moved to Edmonton, Canada, a year later. Goulet won a singing scholarship to the Royal Conservatory of music in Toronto and, in 1951, made his concert debut at Edmonton in George Frideric Handel's "Messiah". Goulet was also a DJ on Canada's CKUA in Edmonton for two years. In 1960, he landed one of his biggest roles as "Lancelot" in Broadway's "Camelot", opposite Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. He received a Tony award in 1968 for his role in "Happy Time". He and his first wife, Louise Longmore, had one daughter, Nicolette Goulet (aka Nikki). His second wife, actress and singer Carol Lawrence, produced two sons, Christopher and Michael. In 1982, with Glenn Ford giving the bride away, he was married in Las Vegas to Vera Goulet (aka Vera Novak), a Yugoslavian-born writer, photographer and artist. When not living at their home in Las Vegas, they reside on their yacht, "Rogo", in Los Angeles. Goulet has performed at the White House for three presidents, as well as a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II.
On September 30, 2007, he was hospitalized in Las Vegas, where he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, "a rare but rapidly progressive and potentially fatal condition". On October 13, he was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after it was determined that he "would not survive without an emergency lung transplant".
Goulet died on October 30, 2007 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, while awaiting a transplant.
He is survived by his wife, Vera Goulet, and three children, sons Christopher and Michael, and daughter Nicolette Goulet, who is the mother of his grandchildren, Jordan Gerard and Solange.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Beaumont began his career in show business by perfoming in theatres, nightclubs, and on the radio in 1931. He attended the University of Chattanooga, but left when his position on the football team was changed. He later attended the University of Southern California, and graduated with a Master of Theology degree in 1946. He was visiting his son Hunter, a Psychology Professor in Munich, at the time of his sudden death.- Actor
- Special Effects
- Art Department
Jeff Yagher was born on 18 January 1961 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. He is an actor, known for My Fellow Americans (1996), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) and Æon Flux (2005). He has been married to Megan Gallagher since 2001. They have two children. He was previously married to Karen.- Actor
- Writer
Ilia Isorelýs Paulino was born on 26 March 1995 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Me Time (2022), One Piece (2023) and Queenpins (2021).- Producer
- Writer
- Actress
Erin Brockovich-Ellis was born on 22 June 1960 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Erin Brockovich (2000), Rebel (2021) and Creature Features (2016). She has been married to Eric L. Ellis since 20 March 1999. She was previously married to Steven Michael Brockovich and Shawn Brown.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Thelma Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, an industrial city near the New Hampshire state line. She was a lovely child with good academic tendencies, so much so that she decided early on to become a schoolteacher. After high school she went on to college but at her mother's insistence entered several beauty contests (apparently her mother wanted her to be more than just a "schoolmarm"). Thelma was so successful in these endeavors that she entered on the state level and won the title of "Miss Massachusetts" in 1925 and went on to the "Miss America" pageant; though she didn't win, the pageant let her be seen by talent scouts looking for fresh new faces to showcase in films. She began to appear in one- and two-reel shorts, mostly comedy, which showcased her keen comic timing and aptitude for physical comedy--unusual in such a beautiful woman.
She had been making shorts for Hal Roach when she was signed to Paramount Pictures. Her first role--at age 21--was as Lorraine Lane in 1927's Fascinating Youth (1926), a romantic comedy that was Paramount's showcase vehicle for its new stars. Thelma received minor billing in another film that year, God Gave Me Twenty Cents (1926). The next year she starred with Gary Cooper and William Powell in the western Nevada (1927). That year also saw her in three more films, with The Gay Defender (1927) being the most notable. It starred Richard Dix as a man falsely accused of murder.
As the 1920s closed, Thelma began to get parts in more and more films. In 1928 and 1929 alone she was featured in 20 pictures, and not just comedies--she also did dramas and gothic horror films. Unlike many silent-era stars whose voices didn't fit their image or screen persona, Thelma's did. She had a bright, breezy, clear voice with a pleasant trace of a somewhat-aristocratic but unsnobbish New England accent and easily made the transition to sound films. In 1930 she added 14 more pictures to her resume, with Dollar Dizzy (1930) and Follow Thru (1930) being the most notable. The latter was a musical with Thelma playing a rival to Nancy Carroll for the affections of Buddy Rogers. It was a box-office hit, as was the stage production on which it was based. The following year Thelma appeared in 14 more films, among them Let's Do Things (1931), Speak Easily (1932), The Old Bull (1932), and On the Loose (1931). Her most successful film that year, however, was the Marx Brothers farce Monkey Business (1931). While critics gave the film mixed reviews, the public loved it. In 1932 Thelma appeared in another Marx Brothers film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, Horse Feathers (1932). She also starred in This Is the Night (1932), a profitable film which featured Cary Grant in his first major role. In 1934 Thelma made 16 features, but her career would soon soon come to a grinding halt. In 1935 she appeared in such films as Twin Triplets (1935) and The Misses Stooge (1935), showcasing her considerable comic talents. She also proved to be a savvy businesswoman with the opening of "Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café", a nightclub/restaurant that catered to show-business people. Unfortunately, it also attracted some shady underworld types as well, and there were rumors that they were trying to take over her club and use it as a gambling establishment to fleece the wealthy Hollywood crowd. According to these tales, Thelma and her boyfriend, director Roland West, wouldn't sell their establishment once they found out what the gangsters had in mind, which incurred the enmity of the wrong people with whom to have differences of opinion. Whether or not the stories were true, on December 16, 1935, 29-year-old Thelma was found dead in her car in her garage in Los Angeles. Her death was ruled suicide-by-carbon-monoxide-poisoning. At the time, as today, many felt that her death was actually a murder connected to the goings-on at her club, a theory that was lent credence by the fact that no one who knew her had ever seen her depressed or morose enough to worry about her committing suicide. Another factor that aroused suspicion was that her death was given a cursory investigation by the--at the time--notoriously corrupt Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the case was quickly and unceremoniously closed. Her death has remained controversial to this day.
Three films she made before her death weren't released until the following year: Hot Money (1936), An All American Toothache (1936), and The Bohemian Girl (1936). The latter saw her quite substantial role cut down so much that she was barely glimpsed in the picture. Thelma had made an amazing 115 films in such a short career, and her beauty and talent would no doubt have taken her right to the top if not for her untimely demise.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Lee Child was born in the exact geographic centre of England, in the heart of the industrial badlands. Never saw a tree until he was 12. It was the sort of place where if you fell in the river, you had to go to the hospital for a mandatory stomach pump. The sort of place where minor disputes were settled with box cutters and bicycle chains. He's got the scars to prove it.
He survived, though, got an education and went to law school, but only because he didn't want to be a lawyer. Without the pressure of aiming for a job in the field, he figured it would be a relaxing subject to study. He spent most of his time in the university theatre - to the extent that he had to repeat several courses, because he failed the exams - and then went to work for Granada Television in Manchester. Back then, Granada was a world-famous production company, known for shows like _"Brideshead Revisited" (1981) (mini)_, The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Prime Suspect (1982) and Cracker (1993). Lee worked on the broadcast side of the company, so his involvement with the good stuff was limited. But he remembers waiting in the canteen line with people like Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Natalie Wood and Michael Apted. He says that being involved with more than 40,000 hours of the company's programme output over an 18-year stay taught him a thing or two about telling a story. He also wrote thousands of links, trailers, commercials and news stories, most of them on deadlines that ranged from 15 minutes to 14 seconds. So the thought of a novel a year didn't worry him too much in his next career.
Why a next career? He was fired, back in 1995, that's why. It was the usual 1990s downsizing thing. After 18 years he was an expensive veteran, and he was also the union organizer, and neither thing fit the company's plan for the future. Because of his union involvement, he wasn't on too many alternative employers' wish lists, either. So he became a writer, because he couldn't think of anything else to do. He had an idea for a character who had suffered the same downsizing experience but who was taking it completely in his stride. He figured if he brought the same total commitment to his audience that he'd seen his television peers develop, he could get something going. He named the character Jack Reacher and wrote "Killing Floor" as fast as he could (he needed to sell it before his redundancy pay ran out). He made it with seven weeks to spare, and luckily the book was an instant hit, selling strongly all around the world and winning both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel. It led to contracts for at least nine more Reacher books, which currently extend to 2006.
Lee moved from the UK to the US in the summer of 1998. He lives just outside New York City, with his American wife, Jane. They have a grown-up daughter, Ruth, and a small dog called Jenny. Lee fills his spare time with music, reading, and the New York Yankees. He likes to travel, for vacations, but especially on promotion tours so he can meet his readers, to whom he is eternally grateful.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Leo Penn was born on 27 August 1921 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Ben Casey (1961), Remington Steele (1982) and The Mississippi (1982). He was married to Eileen Ryan and Olive Deering. He died on 5 September 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Bottrell is probably best known for playing the creepy "Lincoln Meyer" on season three of Boston Legal. Other memorable work includes recurring and guest star work on such shows as Frasier (2023 reboot), Modern Family, FBI: Most Wanted, Law and Order (2022), The Blacklist, Rectify, Law and Order: SVU, Longmire, Mad Men, Justified, True Blood, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Castle, iCarly, and Days of Our Lives. A former off-Broadway actor & playwright, his critically-acclaimed one-man shows, "David Dean Bottrell Makes Love: A One-Man Show" and "The Death of Me Yet" consistently play to sold out audiences on both coasts. Bottrell co-wrote the off-Broadway play, "Dearly Departed" as well as the film adaptation entitled "Kingdom Come" starring Whoopi Goldberg, L.L. Cool J., Anthony Anderson and Jada Pinkett-Smith. He's also the author of the critically acclaimed how-to book, Working Actor: Breaking In, Making a Living and Making a Life in the Fabulous Trenches of Show Business published by Random House (Ten Speed Press) in February 2019. Bottrell divides his time between Los Angeles and New York.- Actor
- Soundtrack
James Greene has been a successful working actor for over seventy years. He appeared on Broadway in 1951 in Romeo and Juliet starring Olivia de Havilland. His most recent television appearances were in Parks and Recreation (2009) as Councilman Milton, Modern Family (2009), Cold Case (2003), and Las Vegas (2003). James enjoyed a four-year stint on TV's The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987) with writer and director Jay Tarses. His films include Road to Perdition (2002), Patch Adams (1998), The Missouri Breaks (1976), and Philadelphia Experiment II (1993). He resides in LA with his wife of thirty-three years, Els Collins.- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Delbert Mann, the Oscar-winning film director, was born Delbert Martin Mann Jr. in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1920. His father moved the family to Nashville, Tennesse, after taking a teaching position at Scarritt College. The young Mann graduated from Vanderbilt University, where he met his future wife, Ann Caroline Gillespie. He developed a lifelong friendship with Fred Coe, whom he met at the Nashville Community Playhouse, that would prove critical in his professional life.
After his 1941 graduation from Vanderbilt, Mann joined the Army and was assigned to the Air Corps, eventually becoming a pilot with the 8th Air Force. As a B-24 pilot with the "Mighty Eighth," Mann flew 35 bombing missions in the European Theater of Operations. After being demobilized at the end of the war, his interest changed to another type of theater, and he attended the Yale Drama School. From Yale he moved on to a directing job with the Town Theatre of Columbia, South Carolina.
His old friend Fred Coe, a producer at NBC, offered Mann the opportunity to direct live television drama on the network's The Philco Television Playhouse (1948). Mann accepted the job offer and moved to New York in 1949. For NBC he directed many dramas for the "Philco Playhouse," which later alternated its broadcasting weeks on the network with the Goodyear Playhouse (1951) and Producers' Showcase (1954) (television programs in the early days typically had one major commercial sponsor; thus, many programs from the early days bore the name of that primary sponsor). Mann directed episodes for all three showcases, including "October Story" with Julie Harris and Leslie Nielsen, "Middle of the Night" with Eva Marie Saint and E.G. Marshall, a remake of The Petrified Forest (1936) with the inevitable Humphrey Bogart (who created the role of Duke Mantee on the Broadway stage and played it in the classic 1935 film), and even two productions of William Shakespeare's "Othello" (one of which featured the unlikely Walter Matthau as Iago!).
Mann was one of the best-known graduates of "The Golden Age of Television," when live original drama was a staple of network TV. Other showcases he worked for included NBC Repertory Theatre (1949), Ford Star Jubilee (1955) and Playwrights '56 (1955). In 1953 he directed a live teleplay written by another WWII vet, Paddy Chayefsky. The episode of "Goodyear Television Playhouse" starring another vet, the up-and-coming Method actor Rod Steiger, as a lonely butcher named "Marty."
Delbert Mann's name will always be linked to the extraordinary cultural phenomenon that was "Marty," but it was as a film, not as television program, that Chayevsky's 1953 script became legendary, the first blockbuster hit of independent cinema. However, Mann's first recognition from the culture industry didn't come from Chayevsky's "Marty," either on television or film, but from Thornton Wilder's theatrical warhorse about a small burg in New Hampshire, "Our Town."
In 1954, Mann won a Best Director Emmy nomination for the "Producers' Showcase" episode "Our Town," a musical adaptation featuring the young Paul Newman and the singing talents of swinging Frank Sinatra. Ironically, the TV play of "Marty," considered the summit of TV's Golden Age in retrospect, went unrecognized during the nascent industry's awards season, though it did receive an excellent buzz via word of mouth. (The live "Marty" was captured via kinescope, a method of reproduction that involved shooting a 16-mm copy of the broadcast off of a TV monitor for rebroadcast to the West Coast in the days before coast-to-coast TV hookups, let along videotape; such programs were seldom rebroadcast after the initial showing due to the poor quality of the 'scope.) That situation would change once "Marty" moved from New York to Hollywood.
It's said that superstar Burt Lancaster and his producing partner Ben Hecht were looking for a property to generate a tax write-off for their successful indie production company, Hecht-Lancaster. That property was Marty, shot in B+W in the standard Academy ratio of 4:3 in an era when the blockbuster, like Cecil B. DeMIlle's epic remake of "The Ten Commandments," shot in color in the wide-screen processes of CinemaScope, Cinerama and VistaVision, were all the rage. (The box office gross of the 1956 "Ten Commandments," if adjusted for inflation, would rival the grosses generated by the top block busters of the present era.) Color, widescreens and spectacle were considered to be the necessary ingredients to get people out of the house where they were planted in front of the TV and back into the theaters. And here was a low-budget, B+W film with no production values and no stars based on a TV play that had appeared free on TV (Hollywood's great enemy) just two years before!
Remaking "Marty" seemed an honorable way to generate a tax-write off, so the story goes, while associating the company with quality, but Hecht-Lancaster refused to spend much money on it. The budget was limited to just under $350,000. (It's said that "Marty" was the first Oscar-winning film in which the advertising costs exceeded the budget.) Rod Steiger, who did not want to be bound contractually to Hecht-Lancaster, refused to reprise the eponymous title role, so it was turned over to Burt Lancaster's "From Here to Eternity" co-star, 'Ernest Borginine' . Having assayed Fatso Judson and other screen heavies in his brief cinema career, Borgnine had never played a sympathetic supporting character, let alone a lead, on film before.
Possibly due to its unpromising prospects, Burt Lancaster didn't bother putting his name on the picture as a producer, leaving that honor (and the Oscar that lay in "Marty's future) to Hecht. No wonder the success of "Marty" caught everyone flat-footed! It's perhaps the supreme case in Hollywood's checkered flirtation with "quality" cinema that quality not only won out, but more importantly, paid off (and paid off handsomely at that!).
The movie "Marty" was a critical success before it was a commercial success. Shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, it was the first American film to win the Golden Palm (an award which, in the French manner, is shared by its director). In release, the film returned $3 million in rentals ($21 million in 2005 dollars), which was a considerable amount in the mid-1950s. More importantly for Hecht-Lancaster, its low-budget made "Marty" one of the most profitable movies ever made.
The critical recognition and boffo box office made "Marty" a sleeper at the 1956 Academy Awards, at which Mann won the Oscar as Best Director of 1955 and Chayevsky copped the Best Adapted Screenplay trophy. In addition to the original "auteurs," Ernest Borgnine won the Best Actor Oscar and Harold Hecht picked up the gong for Best Picture. Betsy Blair and Joe Mantell also received nominations in Best Supporting Acting categories, and on the technical side, "Marty" was nominated for Best B+W Cinematography (Joseph LaShelle) and Best B+W Art Direction-Set Decoration ( Ted Haworth, Walter M. Simonds, Robert Priestley). Until Sam Mendes duplicated the feat in 2000, Mann was the only director to win an Oscar for his first film.
Though he could not know it then, "Marty" was the highpoint of Mann's career. While Chayevsky went on to win two more Oscars, Mann never won another Oscar nomination, though he did pick up two more Emmy nominations in 1972 and 1980 during his productive career. More significantly, Delbert Mann had the respect of his peers: in addition to his three subsequent Directors Guild of America nominations to go along with his win for "Marty," the DGA honored him with its Robert B. Aldrich Achievement Award in 1997 and an Honorary Life Membership in 2002.- Writer
- Music Department
- Composer
Renowned composer ("West Side Story", "Candide", "On The Town"), conductor, arranger, pianist, educator, author, TV/radio host, educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University (BA) with Walter Piston. Edward Burlingame Hill and A. Tillman Merritt. He studied piano with Helen Coates, Heinrich Gebhard and Isabelle Vengerova, at the Curtis Institute with Fritz Reiner, and at the Berkshire Music Center with Serge Koussevitzky (and became an assistant to Koussevitzky). He was assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1943-1944, and conductor of the New York Symphony, 1945-1948.
He was music advisor to the Israel Philharmonic from 1948-1949, and a member of the faculty at the Berkshire Music Center from 1948 (though he did take leaves of absence), and head of the conducting department there in 1951. He was Professor of Music at Brandeis University, 1951-1956; and co-conductor of the New York Philharmonic, 1957-1958, and music director there after 1958. He won an Emmy award for his televised Young People's Concerts. He was guest conductor of symphony orchestras in the USA and Europe, and conducted the Israel Philharmonic seven times between 1947 and 1957. He toured the US with Koussevitzky in 1951, and was the first American to conduct at the La Scala Opera House in Milan, in 1953. He was awarded the Sonning Prize in Denmark, and was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
He joined ASCAP in 1944, and his chief musical collaborators included Betty Comden, Adolph Green, John Latouche, and Stephen Sondheim. His song compositions include "New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "Some Other Time", "I Can Cook, Too", "I Get Carried Away", "Lucky to Be Me", "Ohio", "A Quiet Girl", "It's Love", "A Little Bit in Love", "Wrong Note Rag", "Glitter and Be Gay", "El Dorado", "The Best of All Possible Worlds", "Maria", "Tonight", "Something's Coming", "I Feel Pretty", "Cool", "America", and "Gee, Officer Krupke".- Annie grew up in Kansas and performed with the Lawrence School of Ballet. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in Psychology and an emphasis in Cognitive Neuroscience. Her father is a Professor of Theater and her mother has a PhD in Film. She has done a great deal of voice-over work.
- Writer
- Actress
- Producer
Ziwe was born on 27 February 1992 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. She is a writer and actress, known for Dickinson (2019), Shell and Baited with Ziwe (2017).- Actress
- Producer
Paige Ellen Peterson was born May 2nd, 1980, in Lawrence, Kansas. At an early age she developed a love for the spotlight. First performing in dance competitions and later in community theater productions. By her mid teen years Paige convinced her mother to allow her to leave Kansas and head for the hills of Hollywood. After intense acting lessons she soon landed an agent and then began life as a professional actress. Paige currently resides in the San Fernando Valley but makes plenty of trips home to the midwest each year.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sully Erna, best known as singer and main songwriter of acclaimed rock band Godsmack was born and raised in the suburbs of Boston Massachusetts. He has been a musician since the tender age of 3 years old, where he began his musical journey as a drummer. Already a proven commodity as the frontman of one of today's most powerful rock bands, Erna is also a successful producer, actor, and multi-instrumentalist, and has reaped a myriad of accolades, including several industry records such as:
. 20 Million Albums World Wide . 3 consecutive #1 debut albums on the Billboard 200 charts o Faceless (2003) o Godsmack IV (2006) o The Oracle (2010) . 27-Top 10 singles - More than any other band in Active Rock history!! . Thirteen #1 Songs, including the smash hit "I Stand Alone" that stood at #1 for 17 weeks straight. . Billboard Music Award. "Rock Artist of the Year" . EMMY in 2005 for Best Sports Show on NESN . Four Grammy Nominations. . Soundtracks - The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone) , Any Given Sunday (Al Pacino), Scorpion King (Dwane Johnson), The One (Jet Li), and many many more.
2022 - Cast for Kevin Price, 2nd in command to Tom Sizemore in the feature "Damon's Revenge"
2018 - Cast for Co-lead Brett Bayton, a southern guest at "The Manor" starring Christina Robinson
2007 - Cast for "Mark" a small town junkie on the FX series "Dirt" starring Cortney Cox.
2013 - Cast for Paul "sunny" Wade, a prison assassin in the Eric Bross short film "Goliath"
2014 - Cast for Sherriff Bridge in the Indy horror "Army Of The Damned" starring Tony Todd & Michael Berryman
2016 - Cast for the Feature "Bleed For This", Executive Producer, Martin Scorsese. Starring Miles Teller, Katie Segal and Aaron Eckheart,- Michael Cohen was born on 25 August 1966 in Lawrence, New York, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Watergate: Blueprint for a Scandal (2022), ABC World News Tonight with David Muir (1953) and Trumpland (2020). He has been married to Laura Shusterman since 1994. They have two children.
- Actress
- Casting Department
- Producer
Shannon Collis was born in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Tender Bar (2021), Snapshots (2018) and Inherent Vice (2014).- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
As co-founding member, principal co-songwriter, electrifying lead guitarist and co-producer of Aerosmith--America's Greatest Rock & Roll Band--Joe has achieved permanent iconic stature in the pantheon of rock. He has helped to drive his band, over the course of three decades, to sales of more than 150 million albums, critical acclaim, four Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The world's true Guitar Hero was immortalized in 2008, when Aerosmith made history and created a cultural firestorm with the Activision released Guitar Hero®: Aerosmith®, an epic collaboration that marked the first music-based game to feature one band. The groundbreaking partnership united "America's greatest hard rock act" (as described by Mojo editor Phil Alexander in a May '07 cover story) with the massively successful video game franchise; sales exploded and broke records, with Aerosmith reaching yet again a younger generation of fans.
In 2009, Joe Perry released his fifth solo CD- Have Guitar Will Travel, entirely written and produced by Perry. The hard driving, ten-song, in your face, collection features Perry's trademark rock and blue ferocity. In his 2005 Grammy-nominated fourth solo album Joe Perry--recorded at the BoneYard, Perry's basement home studio in Boston-- he provided an exciting glimpse of another side of himself. Still as scorching hot on guitar as he is preternaturally cool in his persona, Perry created a collection of songs reflecting his deepest personal concerns, from his passion for rock and love of the blues to his keen social conscience and devotion to friends and family.
His previous solo works--as the "Joe Perry Project"--include the self-produced Let The Music Do The Talking (1980) and Once A Rocker, Always A Rocker (1983), along with I've Got The Rock 'N' Rolls Again (1981), all of which were recorded at a time when Joe was on hiatus from Aerosmith.
As a producer, JOE has received a producing credit (solo or included as AEROSMITH) for the band's following albums: Rocks, Draw The Line, Night In The Ruts (Partial), Greatest Hits, Classics Live Ii, Just Push Play, and their last studio album Honkin' On Bobo.
PERRY has expanded his musical outreach to include composing for film and television. He composed the theme song for the "Spiderman" animated TV series as well as instrumental music for the independent movie This Thing of Ours, starring James Caan. His other instrumental credits include Aerosmith's Grammy-nominated track, "Boogie Man," a guitar tour de force from 1994's Get A Grip album, as well as "Mercy"--from Joe Perry, his last solo album--which earned him a Grammy nomination in the "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" category (2005).
Perry's guitar prowess was documented in a version of James Moore's "I'm A King Bee," performed with Aerosmith bandmate Steven Tyler heard on the album and film, Lightning In A Bottle, the 2005 Martin Scorsese-produced concert documentary on the blues shot at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
In September, 2009 Joe Perry met the nation's Top Scientists and Leaders on Capitol Hill for a panel discussion focusing on promoting cures and improving therapies for Cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, HIV/AIDS and PTSD, followed by a performance with JOE and a back up band consisting of NIH Director Francis Collins, MD PhD, Rudy Tanzi, PhD Professor of Neurology at Harvard University and others. A few months later JOE and other iconic celebrities including will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Seal and Josh Groban, appeared alongside the Top Scientists and Leaders for a feature called Rock Stars of Science in GQ's Men of the Year issue.
At the Lollapalooza Festival in 2009, JOE took the stage with Janes Addiction to play "Jane Says", for what would be the band's first major performance together at Lollapalooza since 1991. The night before PERRY joined Jimmy Buffett at Toyota Park in Chicago and performed on "Margaritaville" to roughly 30,000 fans.
On July 1, 2007, PERRY joined Tom Jones and his band at the historic "Concert For Diana" at Wembley Stadium on the classic "Ain't That A Lot of Love" (with Joss Stone on guest vocals) and covers of Prince's "Kiss" and the Arctic Monkeys' "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor." Between this appearance, viewed by more than 500 million worldwide, and his special guest performance with Kelly Clarkson on the 2007 season finale of "American Idol," Perry and his fiery signature guitar sound (not to mention his cool, mysterious aura) were a part of two of the year's biggest TV events.
In late 2006, at the personal invitation of Chuck Berry, JOE jammed with Mr. Berry and his band at his 80th birthday celebration at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis. JOE also played guitar on Mick Jagger's last solo album, Goddess in the Doorway; appeared in the video for Nelly's "#1" hit single; and played guitar on Les Paul & Friends: A Tribute To A Legend.
In June 2006, PERRY and his wife Billie hosted a concert for the town of Woodstock, Vermont (where his family occasionally live in the landmark "Sleepy Hollow Farm") for the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars. Later that year, PERRY went to see the All Stars and joined them on stage for a medley of Bob Marley's "War" and "Get Up Stand Up." JOE also ensured that the band could continue to pursue their music by providing them with instruments (guitars, basses and strings) along with a MAC computer for the youngest member.
Beyond his music career, JOE made his acting debut guest-starring as DEA agent "Joe Landrewsky" in an October 1998 episode of the critically hailed NBC drama "Homicide: Life On The Street." Perry also had a cameo in Wayne's World 2 and the 2005 film MGM/UA movie Be Cool, a sequel to Get Shorty, which also features an Aerosmith performance of the group's smash "Cryin'." In 2005, fashion designer John Varvatos, a fan of JOE's, asked him to be in one of his major fashion campaigns with his son Tony. He appeared on billboards and high fashion magazines around the US.
Perry and his wife Billie have four sons (Tony, Roman, Adrian and Aaron); The legendary guitarist frequently sits in with TAB THE BAND which is led by sons Adrian and Tony.
In 2003, PERRY launched his own food company "Joe Perry's Rock Your World". With the first products being BoneYard Brew Table Sauce, later followed by Mango Peach Tango; JOE is planning to release his Mac and Cheese "Joe Perry's Rockin' Roni" soon. It will have two flavors: White Cheddar and Shells and Spicy Buffalo Cheddar and Elbows.
PERRY and his family are well-known animal lovers and helped to fund the building of a new animal shelter in their community. PERRY was also instrumental in bringing awareness to the Friesian Horse. Twenty years ago, Joe and Billie were the first in the New England area to own a pair of the once endangered breed, a cause Billie is very involved with. In that time, the Friesian Horse has gone from the endangered list to rare breeds list and now numbers in the tens of thousands in America alone. In addition, he also supports the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society whose members undertake campaigns to protect marine species and environments.
Joe's work with Aerosmith has resulted in an unending array of accolades and honors. Beyond their Grammy Awards and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, other key milestones over the past 35 years include: 12 MTV Video Awards; two People's Choice Awards; six Billboard Music Awards; eight American Music Awards; 23 Boston Music Awards; and an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (from the soundtrack to Armageddon).
Recent Aerosmith releases include: 2011's Tough Love: Best Of The Ballads; the 2004 blues-influenced CD Honkin' On Bobo (which received a four-star review in Rolling Stone); 2004's live DVD You Gotta Move; 2005's Rockin' The Joint, a live CD recorded at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas; and 2006's career retrospective Devil's Got A New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith that featured two unreleased songs. Aerosmith are recording a new album this summer with Producer Jack Douglas. They've maintained their high profile through an array of key television, commercial and film appearances and have had their music featured in numerous films, commercials and TV shows. In 2001, Aerosmith performed at the prestigious NFL Superbowl XXXV Halftime Show along with Britney Spears and 'N Sync--in front of approximately 84.3 million viewers--and they were a headliner at Woodstock '94. Other highlights include the CBS-TV 4th of July concert in 2006 with the Boston Pops Orchestra and an alliance with NASCAR racing: their newly-recorded live version of their classic "Back In The Saddle," with new racing-themed lyrics, was an integral part of the ABC-TV/ESPN's NASCAR telecasts in 2007.
In 2007, Aerosmith's World Tour broke attendance records with sold out stadium shows in numerous countries including Dubai, Russia, India, Finland, France, England Italy, Germany, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, Belgium etc. In November 2009, the band played at the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi to 50,000 fans. On the 2010 Cocked Locked, Ready to Rock tour, Aerosmith felt "Aero-mania", as thousands of frenzied fans in Latin America mobbed the band everywhere they went. In October 2011, the band returned to Latin America where they played to fans in Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Brazil, Columbia and Ecuador. In November, 2011, Aerosmith performed in Japan for the first time in 7 years and really enjoyed playing for their fans who were struck with the recent tragedies there.- Victor Caroli was born on 11 May 1942 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for The Transformers: The Movie (1986), The Exorcist Chronicles (2015) and Police Story (1973).
- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Art Department
Philip Messina was born on 19 February 1965 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He is a production designer and art director, known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and Ocean's Eleven (2001). He is married to Kristen Toscano Messina.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Petrea Burchard was born on 23 March 1955 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She is an actress, known for Death Becomes Her (1992), Fracture (2007) and Tenchi Muyo! (1992). She has been married to John Sandel since 3 November 2001.- Brady Rubin was born on 31 October 1936 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She is an actress, known for Larry Crowne (2011), The Master (2012) and The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977). She has been married to Ira Brady Rubin since 4 February 1979.
- Cassius Hackforth was born on 16 August 2001 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Untitled Noah Baumbach Picture and Move on Up (2023).
- Danny has been a successful entrepreneur since 1979, after he attended Boston University. He founded Contemporary Courier, which he sold for over $500,000 in 1984. In 1983 he founded Sure Ride Ambulette inc, and in 1985 he started Select Courier inc., which he sold in 1988 to become a licensed stock broker. In 1989 he founded his own firm, Stratton Oakmont. By 1993 Danny was Chairman and C.E.O of Stratton, owning over 90%, until he resigned in 1997. Danny moved to Florida in 1998 and started the firm Noble & Perrault Collectibles Inc.
He has personally started or financed over one hundred companies worth several billion dollars, employing thousands of individuals. Danny married his wife Lisa in 2000. He has four children and four step children. Danny and Lisa live in Boca Raton Florida, where they are involved with several successful businesses including the medical supply business and management consulting. They are active members in the South Florida Philanthropic and Business Community. - Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Leo Grillo is an American film actor, producer and animal welfare activist. He is best remembered for founding Dedication and Everlasting Love to Animals Rescue (D.E.L.T.A. Rescue), a not-for-profit animal welfare organization based in Acton, California, USA. The refuge has grown to become the largest care-for-life animal sanctuary of its type in the world.
Grillo was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to Carmela de Lucia and Leo Francis Grillo, Sr., both Italian-Americans. As a child actor, Grillo appeared in the 1972 Television series "Banacek." He majored in theatre at Emerson College in Boston, MA, and later formed his own theatre company.
Grillo's theatre work includes three years with the repertory Rosalie Troupe and two years with the legendary summer stock theatre at The Hampton Playhouse.
In his early years, Grillo appeared in the Emmy Award-winning television movie "The Defection of Simas Kudirka," starring Alan Arkin and in multiple episodes of George Peppard's hit television series, "Banacek."
In 1977, Grillo moved from Boston to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a film career. He co-starred in the 1977 John Heard film "Between the Lines," opposite John Heard and Jeff Goldblum. Grillo studied under the tutelage of Charles E. Conrad, an acting coach credited with launching the film careers of Dee Wallace Stone and Diana Ross, both Academy-award winners.
Grillo was the lead actor in "Dierdre's Party," a feature film he produced in 1998. Grillo played lead actor, opposite Katherine Heigl and Tom Sizemore, in the 2006 independent film "Zyzzyx Rd." In 2009, Grillo co-wrote, produced and starred in "Magic," opposite Sammi Hanratty, Lori Heuring, Christopher Lloyd and Robert Davi, who directed the movie.
As an executive producer, Grillo has six projects in development, including the action-thriller, "All the King's Horses."
Recognized as a world-renowned humanitarian and animal welfare expert, Grillo and his staff of seventy care for more than 1,500 previously abandoned animals on a daily basis at the D.E.L.T.A. Rescue sanctuary located northeast of Los Angeles. Grillo founded Horse Rescue of America in 1988.
In 2008, Grillo created "Animals on the Edge," a global project that allows animals from other nations to benefit from Grillo's initiatives. Grillo co-conceived with wildlife photographer and author Chris Weston a book by the same name, which was published in 2009. The book identifies those animals currently living on the front line of extinction.
A passionate and dedicated animal rescuer and maverick animal welfare advocate, Grillo is the subject of several documentaries, including "Pets on Your Plate."
In 2009, Grillo was credited with calling for and receiving a federal probe into circumstances that led to the Station Fire, the largest blaze in the history of Los Angeles County.
Also in 2009, Grillo initiated H.R. 3501 (The Happy Act), a tax-exemption bill that allows consumers to deduct pet-related expenses from their tax returns. The bill was introduced to Congress by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) and co-sponsored by Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).
Grillo is the father of two daughters, Erica Lee and Meguire Elizabeth.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Mark Sinacori was born on August 16th, 1982 in Lawrence, Mass. He attended the Rollins School, Holy Trinity School, and Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Merrimack College in North Andover where he majored in English, and moved to Los Angeles in 2005 to attend UCLA's Professional Screenwriting Program. He is a writer, producer, actor, singer and voice actor.
Mark's early years and educational path in Massachusetts began at the John R. Rollins School in Lawrence, Mass from 1987 to 1993. After that point, he attended his middle school years at Holy Trinity School, also in Lawrence, from 1993 to 1996. It was here Mark had the dream to someday work in Television and Film as he'd enjoyed it more than anything over the years. For high school, Mark attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass, from 1996 to 2000, worked part time at his first job at McDonald's in Methuen by the Methuen Mall/Methuen Loop where he was promoted to a Crew Chief in March of 2000 and then Shift Manager that September, then went to Merrimack College in North Andover where he graduated in 2005 with a BA in English. Shortly before he graduated, Mark was invited to interview in New York City for the MFA in Screenwriting at UCLA. Though he was not admitted, over the summer of 2005, Mark applied and was accepted into UCLA's Professional Screenwriting Program and on September 2, 2005, made his way to Los Angeles.
Mark was always a heavy kid and teenager growing up. At the age of 8, he weighed 100 pounds, by age 13, he was at 200 pounds, and by age 20, he reached 300 pounds. In 2003, halfway through college, Mark finally began to lose weight after getting hypnotized by hypnotist Jerry Valley. His goal was to lose 100 pounds in 1 year, and by June of 2004, he reached that goal. Now at 200 pounds at 6 feet tall, Mark began to add more to his weight loss routine in 2004, which consisted of Saunas, Steam Rooms, body wraps and any type of sweating. By August of 2004, he had dropped 50 more pounds, for a total of 150 pounds shed in just over a year and three months total.
At UCLA, Mark studied with 1980s TV Screenwriters Paul Chitlik and Fred Rubin, both who saw potential in Mark as both a Screenwriter and Actor/Voice Actor. Paul told Mark that when he voiced characters each week when students brought in their script pages, that he had a lot of energy and to be an actor who wrote.
In 2007, Mark became a CBS Page in the CBS Page Program at CBS Television City in Hollywood, and worked on many shows that filmed there on the lot such as Dancing With The Stars, American Idol, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, and The Price Is Right. At The Price Is Right, he always entertained the audience members outside in line, got them to sing to pass the time, and pepped them up both outside and inside the studio. Working at The Price Is Right was Mark's most memorable time out of everything he has worked in Los Angeles in Television and Film. Working there, he was asked to be at the show for many behind the scenes events and special occasions during Bob Barker's final season, including practice run throughs with the potential hosts who auditioned to replace Bob Barker such as Mario Lopez and George Hamilton. Mark had a lot of fun as a mock contestant several different times, working alongside these celebrities as they learned the games. Mark even got to work Bob Barker's final taped show, and while outside getting the audience ready and pepped up, the former producer at the time, Roger Dobkowitz, who was outside visiting the audience in line, commended Mark for always getting the audience energetic and to always cheer for Bob each time he worked the show.
Since 2007, Mark's focused on acting, and was not only featured on shows such as Glee, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives, but also had starring and supporting parts in several independent films and decided to start making films of his own. Since 2010, Mark has taken an extensive amount of classes for acting, including on camera classes, cold reading classes, and commercial classes.
In 2014, Mark got back into working with audiences when he became an audience page again with the company A Page Enterprises "Audiences Unlimited", the first audience company that started in the early 1980's and assisted audiences at many sitcoms since then that filmed in Los Angeles. Mark has worked in many studios all over Los Angeles including Warner Bros., Sony, Manhattan Beach Studios, and Los Angeles Center Studios, greeting and processing audiences for many different sitcoms and television shows including Mike & Molly, Mom, Two Broke Girls, America's Funniest Home Videos, Girl Meets World, The Ranch, The Big Bang Theory, The Conners, and Fuller House. In 2015 at Fuller House, Mark would create Full House trivia for the audience before the taping, getting them familiar with the original series and ready for the taping of the revival series.
Ever since Mark did his Full House trivia at Fuller House with the shows audience waiting in line in 2015, he also did classic TV trivia and other trivia for other shows he's worked on with the audiences in line who attended them. Shows Mark has done TV trivia out in line with their audiences as they waited to enter the studio have included not only Fuller House, but also Undateable, The Ranch, 2 Broke Girls, and Girl Meets World, where he got audiences familiar with the series by doing trivia from both that series and its preceding series, Boy Meets World. In 2018, when The Conners began filming their series at Warner Bros, Mark also began doing trivia for that audience as well based on the Conner family from its preceding series Roseanne. Mark, as a page, always goes the extra mile outside in line, remembering that from his days at The Price Is Right, whenever he or any pages would interact with the audience in any way, it made their experience more fun by them being unique and hospitable.
On July 3, 2019, after living in Los Angeles since fall of 2005 and going about every goal the right, honest way, without brown-nosing, bragging, or hand holding his way into work like the select others he watched do so and those who would lie to him and wouldn't help him, despite Mark always being there for them in any way if they needed him to be, Mark decided that he could act, write and produce anywhere as he had enough experience to do so after all the years living in Los Angeles and decided to move back home to Massachusetts.- As an aspiring entrepreneur, Scott Herman constantly finds himself surrounded by not only success but new opportunities.
At the young age of fourteen, Scott applied for his first job at Gold's Gym in Methuen, Massachusetts. By the age of fifteen he was performing gym maintenance, running the front desk, and selling memberships. When Gold's Gym was relocated to a new 65,000 sq. ft. facility, Scott was promoted to a manager's position. At eighteen he became a personal trainer and has been training men and woman from the ages of twelve to eighty-three ever since.
Before moving to Brooklyn to appear on "The Real World", Scott not only managed the fitness department and sales department for "Answer Is Fitness" located in North Attleboro, MA, but he also developed and ran a highly successful DJ company called "Galaxy DJ's". In addition to this work, Scott attended and received his BA in Business from Merrimack College in North Andover, MA. Concurrently, he acquired his real estate and financial advising licenses.
Scott's acting/modeling career really started to take off his senior year of college after he entered and won the Men's Health "Iron Abs" contest in November 2007. He then began making a series of personal appearances and began traveling to New York City for castings and other events, and the more he became acquainted with the city, the more his interest in becoming a professional actor grew.
In December 2007, Scott sent his audition tape into The Real World: Brooklyn and was selected from a pool of approximately 50,000 to 70,000 applicants. He moved into the Real World house six months later and, now that filming is over, has decided to stay in Manhattan. He is excited to continue taking acting classes, go on auditions, and pursue his new career.
Scott is also an accomplished athlete and enjoys sports such as wresting, soccer, running cross country, boxing and kickboxing. He spends his days going to castings, the gym, and updating his fitness website. - Producer
- Writer
- Director
Mallory Weggemann was born on 26 March 1989 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Limitless, Together We Are Able (2022) and Watershed. She has been married to Jeremy Snyder since January 2017.- Jim Borrelli was born on 10 April 1948 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Miami Vice (1984), Kojak (1973) and Windy City (1984).
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of founder, frontman and songwriter Sully Erna, guitarist Tony Rombola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its formation, Godsmack has released seven studio albums and has had three consecutive number-one albums (Faceless, IV, and The Oracle) on the Billboard 200. The band also has 23 top ten rock radio hits, including 17 songs in the top five.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Make-Up Department
Kate Jurdi was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for The Finest Hours (2016), The Pink Panther 2 (2009) and Black Mass (2015).- Marguerite Marsh was born Marguerite Clarice Marsh on April 18, 1888 in Lawrence, Kansas. Marguerite was the oldest of seven children, After her father died her mother moved the family to Los Angeles, California. She briefly worked as a nurse before deciding to pursue a career on the stage. In 1907 she married Donald Loveridge and had a daughter named Leslie. Marguerite was signed by Biograph studios in 1911 and made her film debut in The Primal Call. The dark haired beauty had bit parts in numerous shorts including A Siren Of Impulse, The Leading Man, and Too Many Maids. For several years she used the stage name Marguerite Loveridge. Her marriage to Donald ended in 1913. Then she started dating comedian Fred Mace. Meanwhile her younger sister Mae Marsh had become a popular movie star. The two sisters worked together in the film Fields Of Honor.
Her romance with Fred ended in 1916 when she refused to marry him. Sadly he died just a few months later. Marguerite had leading roles in the dramas The Phantom Honeymoon and The Eternal Magdalene. She also appeared in the 1918 serial The Master Mystery with magician Harry Houdini. In her free time she enjoyed reading and studying astrology. Although she made more than eighty movies she never became as successful as her sister Mae. Her final film was the 1923 British drama The Lion's Mouse. She suffered a nervous breakdown during the Fall of 1925. Then she went to live with her mother in New York City. Tragically on December 8, 1925 she died from bronchial pneumonia. Marguerite was only thirty-seven years old. She was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. - Ray MacDonnell was born on 5 March 1928 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for All My Children (1970), Dick Tracy (1967) and All My Children (2013). He was married to Patricia Anne Broderick. He died on 10 June 2021 in New York, USA.
- Ferdinand Waldo Demara, more popularly known as Fred W. Demara was a colorful and very intelligent person who assumed the identities of others in order to shortcut through life and place himself in various positions or careers. Amongst others, over time, he was a Canadian Navy Surgeon, civil engineer designing a bridge, a sheriff's deputy, an assistant prison warden, a doctor of applied psychology, a hospital orderly, a lawyer, a child-care expert, a Benedictine monk, a Trappist monk, an editor, a cancer researcher, and a teacher - and at the end of his life a hospital chaplain in his own name.
Articles appeared about him in Time Magazine and Life magazine and other newspapers and publications. Robert Crichton wrote two books about him, one of which "The Great Imposter" 1959 was developed into a movie with Demara played by Tony Curtis - although the story became fictionally embellished around Curtis. This notoriety got Demara one acting role in the movie "The Hypnotic Eye". While he was a convincing actor in real life he did poorly on film.
In one of his "careers" he actually made news as a successful navy surgeon saving 13 soldiers, the publicity of which became his undoing by exposing his impersonation. In another career in 1951 he founded LaMennais College in Alfred Maine which continued to exist 8 years past his departure until 1959 when it became the current Walsh University in Canton Ohio.
[Editing Note: Demara did NOT write a book entitled "The Great Pretender" but rather the 1970's TV Series was inspired by Demara's impostor life. - Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Twaine was born on 1 November 1936 in Lawrence, New York, USA. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Wonder Woman (1975), Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1975) and Scenes from the Underground.- Producer
- Writer
Nathan Louis Jackson was a screenwriter and playwright. He grew up in Kansas City, Kansas where he attended Washington High School. He is also an alum of Kansas State University and did graduate studies at The Julliard School in New York City.
His plays include Broke-ology (Lincoln Center 2009, KC Rep 2010), When I Come to Die (Lincoln Center in 2011, KC Rep 2014), and Sticky Traps (KC Rep 2015). Television credits include _Southland (2009-2013)_, _Lights Out (2011)_, _Shameless (2011-)_, _Resurrection (2014-2015)_, _Luke Cage (2015)_ and _Thirteen Reasons Why (2016)_.- Ben Shields was raised in eastern Kansas, finally landing in suburban Kansas City - on the Kansas side. His mother is a critical care nurse, and his father is an attorney. He is a great, great grandson of an undertaker who created one of the first mortuaries in Kansas in 1890 and had a grandfather who was a decorated WWII pilot. He is a distant nephew of Betsy Ross. Shields began acting at the age of eleven, when he was cast as an understudy at Kansas City's Starlight Theatre. He went on to perform in every major production in school, then went to college at and received a theatre degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
After college Ben worked in theatre, television, film, and voice-over in Chicago. Training includes The Second City Training Center in Chicago, from seasoned actor, director, teacher, and writer, Allan Miller, and from acclaimed teacher and actress, Uta Hagen. While in Chicago, he was seen at the Royal George Theatre, Shakespeare Repertory, Organic Theater, Apple Tree Theatre, Victory Gardens, among many others. Ben was among the cast of two productions that received Jeff Awards for Best Production. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he has appeared on television series, including Perry Mason, House M.D., Eleventh Hour, The Unit, Jericho, among others, as well as appearing and voicing on commercials, video games, and L.A. theatre stages. - Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Timothy Patrick Cavanaugh is from a large Irish family. His debut film was Dirty Money (1994). He received stellar reviews from Variety, the New York Times, the New York Post and the Boston Globe. He has studied with acclaimed acting coach, Salvatore Danò, for fourteen years. He is the father of two sons.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robbie Merrill was born on 13 June 1963 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Destroyer (2018), WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (2006) and Godsmack: Whatever (1998). He is married to Heater. They have one child.- Lynn Browning was born in 1909 in Marionville, Lawrence, Missouri, United States. She is an actress, known for Side Streets (1934), Neighbor Trouble (1932) and Morocco Nights (1934).
- Charles Oldfather was the son of a high administrator at the University of Nebraska; Oldfather Hall at the University of Nebraska is named after his father. In 1950 he moved down to Lawrence, Kansas to become a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law. While at the University of Kansas School of Law he taught virtually every course. By 1972 he had risen to the position of University Attorney. He was active in the performing arts at the University of Kansas, and occasionally obtained roles in national productions set or filmed in and around Kansas City. He lived on a farm in west Lawrence with his large family until his death.
- Shirley Bernstein was born on 3 October 1923 in Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. She was a producer, known for The Third Secret (1964), The Big Surprise (1955) and Down You Go (1951). She died on 20 May 1998 in Manhattan, New York, USA.
- Animation Department
- Production Designer
- Art Department
Paul Coker Jr. was born on 5 March 1929 in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. He was a production designer, known for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972), The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show (1970) and Jack Frost (1979). He was married to Rosemary Smithson. He died on 23 July 2022 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert Shackleton was born in 1914 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Where's Charley? (1952), Wonder Boy (1951) and Not for Publication (1951). He died on 21 June 1956 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Anne M. Michaud was born on 8 March 1966 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. She is a production manager and producer, known for Graveyard Alive (2003), Family Guy (1999) and Madeline in Tahiti (2007).- Arva Holt was born on 5 August 1947 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for General Hospital (1963), There Goes the Neighborhood (1992) and Voices (1979).
- Paul Monette was born on 16 October 1945 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was a writer, known for Friday the 13th: The Series (1987), Hotel (1983) and Thirtysomething (1987). He died on 10 February 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- The Rev. Dr. A. Stephen Pieters is a long-term survivor of AIDS. Diagnosed with AIDS-related complex (ARC) in 1982, and AIDS/Kaposi's Sarcoma and stage four Lymphoma in 1984. His remarkable story of recovery serves as an inspiring example of healing and hope. He has been interviewed by the Los Angeles Sunday Times, Time magazine, Omni magazine, Life magazine, and numerous television talk and news shows including CNN, Headline News, Tammy's House Party with Tammy Faye Bakker, CBS This Morning, the Tom Snyder Show, America Talks Back, and Real Life with Jane Pauley. He is featured in "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" (2000).
In September, 1985, he was a featured speaker at the first entertainment industry dinner AIDS benefit, given by Elizabeth Taylor and honoring former First Lady Betty Ford. In November, 1987 he presented the Buddy of the Year Award to Whoopi Goldberg at APLA's third annual entertainment industry benefit. In the summer of 1990, he appeared as himself in the hit play, "AIDS US/II." His story also appears in the books, Surviving AIDS by Michael Callen, Voices That Care by Neal Hitchens, and Don't Be Afraid Anymore by Rev. Troy D. Perry.
Rev. Pieters was born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts, where his father chaired the Mathematics Department at Phillips Academy. Steve attended Phillips Andover in preparation for his theater studies at Northwestern University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Speech in 1974.
In 1976, he joined Good Shepherd Parish Metropolitan Community Church in Chicago, where he decided to pursue a calling to the professional ministry. He received his Master of Divinity Degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1979, at which time he accepted a call as Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Hartford, Connecticut.
In Hartford, he served on the Board of Directors of the Hill Center, Inc., and Center City Churches, and on the Executive Committee of the Sexual Minorities Task Force of the Capitol Region Conference of Churches. The Gay Switchboard for the region was kept in his home, and he was interviewed in the print media, as well as on many TV and radio shows as one of the few local gay activists.
In April, 1982, Steve began experiencing the first symptoms of what we now know as HIV infection, but then was called GRID: Gay Related Immunodeficiency. Steve resigned his position in Hartford, and moved to Los Angeles, where he experienced a series of illnesses, including hepatitis, cytomegalovirus, mononucleosis, and pneumonia. That led to his diagnosed with ARC: AIDS-related complex. In April, 1984, he was diagnosed with AIDS/Kaposi's Sarcoma and stage four lymphoma, and he was told by one health professional that he would not live to see 1985.
There were no treatments available, and his doctor, Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., told him, "You in the church have more to offer at this point than we do in medicine." She also challenged him to "do everything you can to create the conditions for medication to work when we find something," adding, "If 0.001% end up surviving AIDS, than why not believe that you will be among that 0.001%, and act accordingly?"
Not only did he live to see 1985, but during that year he became "patient number 1" on the first anti-viral drug trial to treat HIV. He took suramin for a total of 39 weeks. Within six weeks of treatment with suramin, both cancers went into complete remission. Due to toxic side effects, the drug was discontinued for use against AIDS. However, Rev. Pieters continues to enjoy a complete remission of his cancers, according to his physician, Alexandra M. Levine, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of City Of Hope.
Since his diagnosis, Rev. Pieters has served on the Boards of Directors of AIDS Project Los Angeles, the AIDS Interfaith Council of Southern California, the AIDS National Interfaith Network (USA), and the first Los Angeles City/County AIDS Task Force, and was Field Director for the AIDS Ministry of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches from 1987 to 1997. He has written a series of articles for Journey magazine about his experiences with AIDS, which have been collected with other writings of Rev. Pieters' in the book, I'm Still Dancing.
Rev. Pieters was one of twelve guests at the first AIDS Prayer Breakfast at the White House with U.S. President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, and National AIDS Policy Coordinator Kristine Gebbie on November 30, 1993. The President talked about Rev. Pieters in his World AIDS Day speech on December 1, 1993.
Rev. Pieters has received awards for his ministry in the AIDS crisis from the Board of Elders of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches; Evangelicals Together, Inc.; the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles; The Lazarus Project of the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church; and the West Hollywood City Council. In 1989 he received an Honorary Doctor of Ministry Degree from Samaritan College, the seminary of the Metropolitan Community Churches. In 1990, he received the prestigious Sheldon Andelson Award from the Stonewall Democratic Club, and the Sandra L. Robinson Award from Community Unity in Dayton, Ohio.
Rev. Pieters received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University in 2003, and subsequently worked as a psychotherapist for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center; Alternatives, Inc.; Teen Line; and the Westminster Counseling Center.
Reverend Pieters has been a singing member of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles since 1994. From 1994-99, he served on their Board of Directors, and as Chair of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles Board from 1997-99. With the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles, he has performed in some of the great concert halls of the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York (in 1994 and 2019), Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Reverend Pieters has served as Staff Clergy at Founders Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles. He has traveled the world, teaching, preaching, and sharing his belief in God's healing and sustaining power while living with HIV/AIDS. Everywhere he spoke, he carried a fairy wand to teach about the importance of believing in fairies when so many good fairies were dying, of believing in each other and in ourselves, enough to do the work of healing, whether that be healing into life, or healing into death.
In October, 2019, examples of his work in AIDS Ministry and of his life as a person with HIV/AIDS were placed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Included in that collection is his fairy wand.