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Herbie the Love Bug is a beloved 1963 Volkswagen Beetle appearing in several Disney & non-Disney projects, both as itself & as several minor roles.
Herbie received his first on-screen credit in the 1969 hit 'The Love Bug'. Set against the backdrop of San Francisco, 'The Love Bug' featured Herbie saving the day as he fueled a down-on-his-luck race car driver's quest for victory and romance. Initially unmarked and all white, Herbie was emblazoned with his famous number '53' to compete in the races. 'The Love Bug' was one of the top-grossing films of 1969.
Herbie then took the title role in 'Herbie Rides Again' (1974), 'Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo' (1977) and 'Herbie Goes Bananas' (1980). He also had a television career, with the short-lived TV series 'Herbie The Love Bug' (1982), the 1997 made-for-TV film 'The Love Bug' (1997), and "Herbie: Fully Loaded" (2005). Along the way, he inspired many imitators and collected die-hard fans.
Herbie got his name from a Buddy Hackett comedy routine. In his Las Vegas stage show, Hackett joked about a snow bunny who only dates guys named Herbie. Herbie's number 53 came from baseball player Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Producer Bill Walsh was a fan, and used his jersey number on Herbie. Herbie's official factory color is Pearlweiss (pearl white) which is a creamy, non-metallic white.
Oddly, Herbie is never referred to as a Volkswagen or a Beetle in the first film. He is called 'the Douglas Special' or 'the little car'. All of the Volkswagen branding was removed from the car as well. However, Volkswagen was on board for the second film and beyond, and the name and branding returned.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Thomas Grant Gustin, better known as Grant Gustin, is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles as Barry Allen / Flash on the CW series The Flash and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series Glee.
Gustin was born on January 14, 1990 in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the son of Dr. Tina Lynne (Sweeney) Haney, a pediatric nurse, and Thomas Avery Gustin. During his high school years, Grant attended the Governor's School for the Arts program in Norfolk, Virginia for Musical Theatre. He also went to Hurrah Players Incorporated which is a theatre organization in Virginia. In 2008, he graduated from Granby High School and went on to attend the BFA Music Theatre Program at Elon University in North Carolina for two years. He left school to take the role of Baby John in the Broadway Revival Tour of West Side Story, and performed with the tour from its opening on September 30, 2010 through September 23, 2011.
On November 8, 2011, he debuted on the television series Glee as Sebastian Smythe, an openly gay member of the Dalton Academy Warblers. Gustin won the recurring role of Sebastian, a promiscuous and scheming character, after "an exhaustive, weeks-long casting search". He originally auditioned for a role as a tap dancer, but did not get the part. However, Ryan Murphy kept him in mind. He began filming the role early on Monday, September 26, 2011, after having finished his final West Side Story performance the Friday night before. Gustin began filming A Mother's Nightmare (2012), an original film for the Lifetime network, in late May 2012. The project also stars actresses Annabeth Gish and Jessica Lowndes, and was shot in Canada. On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gustin had landed a major role in the independent film Affluenza. On September 13, 2013, it was announced that Gustin would play Barry Allen in the second season of Arrow. He was initially supposed to appear in three episodes, the last one serving as the backdoor pilot for a potential spin-off Flash series. However, the backdoor pilot plan was dropped in favor of a stand-alone pilot, titled The Flash. The pilot was picked up with an initial order of thirteen episodes, and the series premiered on October 7, 2014, with 4.8 million viewers, the most for a premiere on The CW in five years. Two weeks later, the network increased the episode order to a full season of twenty-three in all. On January 11, 2015, the show was renewed for a second season. On March 11, 2016, it was renewed for a third season. Gustin also reprised his role in an episode of CBS series Supergirl.
In 2017, he co-starred with Nick Robinson in William H. Macy's film Krystal (2017).
In 2018, he married Andrea Thoma.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
David Hasselhoff has become one of the most recognizable faces on television and throughout the world. Aside from starring in Knight Rider (1982) and Baywatch (1989), he is also an accomplished singer and popular recording artist.
David Michael Hasselhoff was born on July 17, 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Dolores Therese (Mullinex) and Joe Hasselhoff (Joseph Vincent Hasselhoff), a business executive. He is of German (from his paternal grandfather), English, and Irish descent. The acting bug first hit when David was seven and so he took acting, singing and dancing lessons. He was very shy off stage in front of girls because he was tall and thin, but when he was on stage he was in his element. Due to his father's work, his family (he has four sisters) moved around frequently. He initially thought his career was going to go in the direction of musicals and Broadway.
American audiences first came to know Hasselhoff when he portrayed the popular "Dr. Snapper Foster" for six seasons on CBS's soap opera, The Young and the Restless (1973). Lured by NBC's Brandon Tartikoff to move from daytime to prime time, Hasselhoff went on to star as "Michael Knight" in NBC's hit series Knight Rider (1982). The role garnered him a "People's Choice Award" for most popular actor and the show became a huge success overseas. The success of Knight Rider (1982) resulted in Hasselhoff's first major international following. When the show ended, Hasselhoff launched a successful recording career in Europe. In 1989, "Looking for Freedom" remained in the number one spot on the German charts for eight consecutive weeks. He has continued to perform regularly in concert and has released nine albums to date.
Hasselhoff returned to episodic television as Mitch Buchannon on Baywatch (1989) when the show debuted on NBC in 1989. Though it enjoyed good ratings, the network canceled the series after only one season. Undeterred, Hasselhoff and his partners acquired the rights to the show and, based on Hasselhoff's popularity overseas, they were able to secure financing and revive "Baywatch" in 1991. Now a piece of American pop culture and an international television phenomenon, Baywatch (1989) was at its peak seen in 140 countries by over one billion viewers each week. During his lengthy career, Hasselhoff has flexed his acting muscles in numerous other projects. He starred in the epic miniseries Shaka Zulu (1986), shot on-location in Morocco.
Hasselhoff is an outdoor sports enthusiast whose interests include scuba diving, hiking, white water rafting, tennis, and jogging. In addition, he has parachuted with the US Army Parachute Demonstration Team, The Golden Knights, and flown with the US Navy's Blue Angels. He is an avid sports fan, and has attended the World Cup Soccer Finals, the NBA Finals, the Olympics, the Indy 500, and the Kentucky Derby. Hasselhoff has traveled throughout Australia, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. He spends many hours visiting children's hospitals throughout the world. His charity, "Race For Life", works with the terminally ill and handicapped children in America.
He was married to the beautiful actress Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff, with whom he has two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley Amber.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Born in Decatur, Alabama and christened Dean Carroll Jones, the actor's father worked for a railroad company and the family moved often, living in Washington, DC, Nashville, and New Orleans. "It was in New Orleans I really learned how to sing", Jones told the Pittsburgh Press in 1969. Dropping out of school at 15, he worked for a short time singing in a club in that city, but when the club closed, he returned to Decatur and got his degree but Jones had gotten the show business bug.
After serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, Jones got a job acting in a melodrama at Knott's Berry Farm. He was spotted by veteran composer Vernon Duke, who was planning a musical. The musical project fell through, but Duke enabled Jones an audition with Arthur Freed, the famous producer of MGM feature film musicals such as "Singin' In the Rain". It did not go as planned. "He's an actor, not singer!", Freed exclaimed as related by Jones in a 1966 L.A. Times interview.
Still, the studio signed Jones, and in his first credited role, he found himself acting opposite James Cagney in the 1956 drama "These Wilder Years." The veteran actor helped him through their scene. "There I was, just out of the U.S. Navy without an acting lesson to my name," Jones told the Christianity Today. "In walks Cagney and says, 'Walk to your mark and remember your lines.' That's all I've been doing for 50 years."
Jones had mostly small roles of a far grittier nature than his later Disney fare. "I played drug addicts, pimps, hard-cased killers, ex-cons and angry young men," he told The Times in 1995. And he reveled in the movie life. In a 2007 interview with the Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington, Illinois, he recalled being on the MGM Culver City studio back-lot, with "Liz Taylor yelling, 'Hey Dean-O, let's go down to Stage 22 and watch Bing and Frank sing!'" Jones would appear with Elvis Presley in 1957 in "Jailhouse Rock".
He made his debut on Broadway in 1960 opposite Jane Fonda in "There Was a Little Girl", which flopped. Jones went on to the more successful "Under the Yum-Yum Tree" later that same year. He appeared in the title role of the Disney television series "Ensign O'Toole", a military comedy, which debuted in 1962 on NBC on Sunday evenings. The show was followed by Disney's anthology television show, so Disney caught the end of some episodes of Jones series, and liked what he saw.
Beginning in 1965 with "That Darn Cat!", Jones became closely identified with Disney family fare. In addition to the "Love Bug" and "The Ugly Dachshund", he was the leading man in "Monkeys, Go Home", "The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit", "The Million Dollar Duck", "The Shaggy D.A.", "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo", and other Disney feature films.
But in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was leading an off-screen life contrary to his wholesome image. He had numerous affairs and was drinking heavily. "I had thought if I became a star I'd be happy," he said in a 1976 L.A. Times interview. "I had thought if I had a fairly large amount of money I'd be happy. I thought if I had a house on a hill I'd be happy. I thought if I had a Ferrari I'd be happy. One goal after another was accomplished. And with no fulfillment." Jones was able to keep his torment largely separated from his work life. Even the head of the studio was fooled. "I remember having lunch with Walt one day, and he told me, 'Dean, you're a perfect fit for these pictures. You're such a good family man!'" Jones told the Pantagraph. "I wasn't a good family man", Jones acknowledged. "I was showing up at home smelling of perfume that wasn't my wife's".
Jones' first marriage to Mae Inez Entwisle ended in divorce in 1970. They had two daughters. He was married to actress Lory Patrick from 1973 until his death in 2015. Lory had a son, Michael Patrick, whom Jones adopted.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University (graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991) by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. During his freshman year, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show (1984). While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was "discovered" by Dennis Miller, who recommended him to Saturday Night Live (1975) producer Lorne Michaels and told him that Sandler had a big talent. This led to his being cast in the show in 1990, which he also wrote for in addition to performing. After Saturday Night Live (1975), Sandler went on to the movies, starring in such hit comedies as Airheads (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), Billy Madison (1995) and Big Daddy (1999). He has also starred in Mr. Deeds (2002) alongside Winona Ryder; Eight Crazy Nights (2002), an animated movie about the Jewish festival of Chanukah; and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including The Wedding Singer (1998). Sandler has had several of his songs placed on the "Billboard" charts, including the classic "The Chanukah Song".- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
William Daniels is an American actor, born in Brooklyn, New York City. He was born in 1927, to bricklayer David Daniels and his wife Irene.
Daniels was a member of the singing Daniels family in Brooklyn. He made his television debut in 1943 at the age of 16, as part of a variety act. That same year, Daniels made his Broadway debut in the comedy play "Life With Father" (1939) by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Until the 1960s, Daniels was primarily a theatrical actor, with a few guest star roles in television. For his role in the play "The Zoo Story" (1958) by Edward Albee, Daniels received an Obie Award.
Daniels made his film debut in 1963, at the age of 36. He debuted in the Cold War-themed thriller "Ladybug Ladybug" (1963), where he played school principal Mr. Calkins. His next film role was the comedy-drama film "A Thousand Clowns" (1965), where he played child welfare worker Albert Amundson. Daniels had a supporting role in "The Graduate" (1967), playing the father of protagonist Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman).
Daniels found his first major television role in the superhero comedy "Captain Nice" (1967). He played police chemist Carter Nash, who could transform into the superhero Captain Nice by drinking a super serum. In both identities, Nash was a mild-mannered mama's boy, who was pressured into a crime-fighting career by his mother (played by Alice Ghostley). He was clumsy as a hero, and had a crippling fear of heights. The series lasted only 15 episodes
In the 1970s, Daniel's most prominent role was that of John Adams in the film adaptation of "1776" (1972). He also played John Quincy Adams in the historical television series "The Adams Chronicles" (1976). He had a regular role in the sitcom "The Nancy Walker Show" (1976) as Lt. Commander Kenneth Kitteridge of the United States Navy. Kenneth was the loving husband of protagonist Nancy Kitteridge (played by Nancy Walker). The series lasted for 13 episodes.
In the crime drama series "Knight Rider" (1982-1986), Daniels voiced KITT, an artificially intelligent electronic computer module in the body of a robotic automobile. The series lasted for 90 episodes. The series was very popular in its time, and has had a large number of sequels and spin-offs.
Daniels also played surgeon Dr. Mark Craig in the medical drama "St. Elsewhere" (1982-1988). The setting was St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston. The series lasted for 137 episodes and garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Daniels played KITT again in the television film "Knight Rider 2000" (1991). He had a prominent role in the sitcom "Boy Meets World" (1993-2000) as teacher George Feeny, a strict but loving mentor to protagonist Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage). The series lasted for 158 episodes, and Feeny was one of Daniel's most recognizable roles.
Daniels guest starred as KITT in two episodes of the animated sitcom "The Simpsons" (1989-). The episodes were "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (1998) and "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Daniels also voiced a Hospital Ship in the episode "Critical Care" (2000) of the science fiction series "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001).
In the 2000s, Daniels provided voice roles for animated television series, such as "Kim Possible" and "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". His most prominent role in the 2010s was that of George Feeny again, who appeared in 5 episodes of the sitcom series "Girl Meets World" (2014-2017). It was a sequel series to "Boy Meets World" , featuring the life of Cory Matthews as a teacher and father.
By 2020, Daniels was 92 years old, one of the oldest living actors.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Known for his breakthrough starring role on Freaks and Geeks (1999), James Franco was born April 19, 1978 in Palo Alto, California, to Betsy Franco, a writer, artist, and actress, and Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco, who ran a Silicon Valley business. His mother is Jewish and his father was of Portuguese and Swedish descent.
Growing up with his two younger brothers, Dave Franco, also an actor, and Tom Franco, James graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996 and went on to attend UCLA, majoring in English. To overcome his shyness, he got into acting while studying there, which, much to his parents' dismay, he left after only one year. After fifteen months of intensive study at Robert Carnegie's Playhouse West, James began actively pursuing his dream of finding work as an actor in Hollywood. In that short time, he landed himself a starring role on Freaks and Geeks (1999). The show, however, was not a hit to its viewers at the time, and was canceled after its first year. Now, it has become a cult-hit. Prior to joining Freaks and Geeks (1999), Franco starred in the TV miniseries To Serve and Protect (1999). After that, he had a starring role in Whatever It Takes (2000).
Although he'd been working steadily, it wasn't until the TNT made-for-television movie, James Dean (2001) that James rose to fan-magazine fame and got to show off his talent. Since then, he has been working non-stop. After losing the lead role to Tobey Maguire, James settled for the part of "Harry Osborne", Spider-Man's best friend in the summer 2002 major hit Spider-Man (2002). He returned to the Osborne role for the next two films in the trilogy.
Next was Deuces Wild (2002) and City by the Sea (2002), in which Robert De Niro personally had him cast, after viewing his performance in James Dean (2001). He was seen in David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express (2008) opposite Seth Rogen, in George C. Wolfe's Nights in Rodanthe (2008), starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane and in Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah (2007), starring Tommy Lee Jones. Also starring opposite Sean Penn in Gus Van Sant's Milk (2008) in which his performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. Definitely growing out of his shyness, James Franco is turning into a legend of his own.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Ariana Grande was born Ariana Grande-Butera on June 26, 1993 in Boca Raton, Florida to Joan Grande, a chief executive officer for Hose-McCann Communications & Edward Butera, a graphic designer, photographer, artist and Ibi Designs Inc. owner/founder. She starred in the 2008 musical, 13 before becoming a household name through her roles on Nickelodeon. She appeared as Cat Valentine in the network's sitcoms Victorious (2010) and Sam & Cat (2013), lent her voice to the character Diaspro in Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club (2004), and was part of the main cast for the Nick TV movie "Swindle". She has since appeared in other theatre and television roles.
Ariana's music career began in 2011 with the soundtrack album "Music from Victorious". In 2013, she released her first studio album Yours Truly, which entered atop the US Billboard 200. The album's lead single, The Way, opened in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with critics comparing her wide vocal range to that of Mariah Carey.
Ariana's second studio album, My Everything (2014), entered at number one in the US and charted in the top 10 in 24 other countries. With the lead single, Problem and several other singles, she was continuously in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for 34 weeks and had the most top 10 singles of any artist in 2014. The next year, she gave her first world tour, The Honeymoon Tour, to promote My Everything. In 2016, she released her third studio album Dangerous Woman, which charted at number two on the Billboard 200. The title track debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first person in the history of that chart to have the lead singles from each of their first three albums debut within the top 10 in the US. In 2017, Ariana gave her international Dangerous Woman Tour.
As of June 2017, Ariana's music videos had been viewed a total of more than nine billion times online. Her accolades include three American Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and four Grammy Award nominations. All three of her albums have been certified platinum by the RIAA. She has supported a range of charities and has a large following on social media. In 2016, Time named Ariana one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list.