Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 4,858
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Quirky, inventive and handsome American actor Michael Keaton first achieved major fame with his door-busting performance as fast-talking ideas man Bill Blazejowski, alongside a nerdish morgue attendant (Henry Winkler), in Night Shift (1982). He played further comedic roles in Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984), and Beetlejuice (1988), earned further acclaim for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne / Batman in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), and since then, has moved easily between film genres, ranging from drama and romantic comedy to thriller and action.
Keaton was born Michael John Douglas on September 5, 1951 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, to Leona Elizabeth (Loftus), a homemaker, and George A. Douglas, a civil engineer and surveyor. He is of Irish, as well as English, Scottish, and German, descent. Michael studied speech for two years at Kent State, before dropping out and moving to Pittsburgh. An unsuccessful attempt at stand-up comedy led Keaton to working as a TV cameraman in a cable station, and he came to realize he wanted to work in front of the cameras. Keaton first appeared on TV in several episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968).
He left Pittsburgh and moved to Los Angeles to begin auditioning for TV. He began cropping up in popular TV shows including Maude (1972) and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour (1979). Around this time, Keaton decided to use an alternative surname to remove confusion with better-known actor Michael Douglas. He looked into the "K"'s for surnames and thought it was inoffensive to chose 'Keaton'. His next break was scoring a co-starring role alongside Jim Belushi in the short-lived comedy series
Working Stiffs (1979), which showcased his comedic talent and led to his co-starring role in Night Shift (1982). Keaton next
scored the lead in the comedy hits Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny Dangerously (1984) , Gung Ho (1986), the Tim Burton horror-comedy Beetlejuice (1988), and The Dream Team (1989).
Keaton's career was given another major boost when he was again cast by Tim Burton, this time as the title comic book superhero, millionaire playboy/crime-fighter Bruce Wayne, in Batman (1989). Burton cast him because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands. To say there were howls of protest by fans of the caped crusader comic strip is an understatement! Warner Bros. was deluged with thousands of letters of complaint commenting that comedian Keaton was the wrong choice for the Caped Crusader, given his prior work and the fact that he lacked the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books. However, their fears were proven wrong when Keaton turned in a sensational performance, and he held his own on screen with opponent Jack Nicholson, playing the lunatic villain, "The Joker". Keaton's dramatic work earned widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and Batman (1989) became one of the most successful films of the year.
Keaton remained active during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films. Keen to diversify his work, Keaton starred as a psychotic tenant in Pacific Heights (1990), as a hard-working cop in One Good Cop (1991), and then donned the black cape and cowl once more for Batman Returns (1992). He remained in demand during the 1990s, appearing in a wide range of films, including the star-studded Shakespearian Much Ado About Nothing (1993), the drama My Life (1993), another Ron Howard comedy The Paper (1994), with sexy Andie MacDowell in Multiplicity (1996), twice in the same role, dogged Elmore Leonard character Agent Ray Nicolette, in Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). He also played a killer in the mediocre thriller Desperate Measures (1998).
In the 2000s, Keaton appeared in several productions with mixed success, including Live from Baghdad (2002), First Daughter (2004), and Herbie Fully Loaded (2005). He also provided voices for characters in the animated films Cars (2006), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Minions (2015).
He returned to major film roles in the 2010s, co-starring in The Other Guys (2010), RoboCop (2014) and Need for Speed (2014). Also that year, Keaton starred alongside Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), a film by 21 Grams (2003) and Biutiful (2010) director Alejandro G. Iñárritu. In the film, Keaton plays Riggan Thomson, a screen actor, famous for playing the iconic titular superhero, who puts on a Broadway play based on a Raymond Carver short story, to regain his former glory. Keaton's critically praised lead performance earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy, and nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award, British Academy Film Award, and Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 2015, he played a journalist in Spotlight (2015), which, like Birdman, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2016, he starred as Ray Kroc, the developer of McDonald's, in the drama The Founder (2016).
He is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon University.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951 in Springfield, Massachusetts and raised in Thousand Oaks, California to Louise Julia Russell (née Crone), a dancer & Bing Russell, an actor. He is of English, German, Scottish and Irish descent. His first roles were as a child on television series, including a lead role on the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (1963). Russell landed a role in the Elvis Presley movie, It Happened at the World's Fair (1963), when he was eleven years old. Walt Disney himself signed Russell to a 10-year contract, and, according to Robert Osborne, he became the studio's top star of the 1970s. Having voiced adult Copper in the animated Disney film The Fox and the Hound (1981), Russell is one of the few famous child stars in Hollywood who has been able to continue his acting career past his teen years.
Kurt spent the early 1970s playing minor league baseball. In 1979, he gave a classic performance as Elvis Presley in John Carpenter's ABC TV movie Elvis (1979), and married the actress who portrayed Priscilla Presley in the film, Season Hubley. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role. He followed with roles in a string of well-received films, including Used Cars (1980) and Silkwood (1983), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. During the 1980s, he starred in several films by director Carpenter; they created some of his best-known roles, including the infamous anti-hero Snake Plissken in the futuristic action film Escape from New York (1981) (and later in its sequel Escape from L.A. (1996)), Antarctic helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady in the horror film The Thing (1982), and Jack Burton in the fantasy film Big Trouble in Little China (1986), all of which have since become cult classics.
In 1983, he became reacquainted with Goldie Hawn (who appeared with him in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)) when they worked together on Swing Shift (1984). The two have lived together ever since. They made another film together, Garry Marshall's comedy Overboard (1987). His other 1980s titles include The Best of Times (1986), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Winter People (1989) and Tango & Cash (1989).
In 1991, he headlined the firefighter drama Backdraft (1991), he starred as Wyatt Earp in the Western film Tombstone (1993), and had a starring role as Colonel Jack O'Neil in the science fiction film Stargate (1994). In the mid-2000s, his portrayal of U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks in Miracle (2004) won the praise of critics. In 2006, he appeared in the disaster-thriller Poseidon (2006), and in 2007, in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007) segment from the film Grindhouse (2007). Russell appeared in The Battered Bastards of Baseball (2014), a documentary about his father and the Portland Mavericks, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014. Russell starred in the Western films Bone Tomahawk (2015) and The Hateful Eight (2015), and had a leading role in the dramatization Deepwater Horizon (2016). He also co-starred in the action sequels Furious 7 (2015) and The Fate of the Furious (2017).
Russell and Goldie Hawn live on a 72-acre retreat, Home Run Ranch, outside of Aspen. He has two sons, Boston Russell (from his marriage to Hubley) and Wyatt Russell (with Hawn). He also raised Hawn's children, actors Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson, who consider him their father. Russell is also an avid gun enthusiast, a hunter and a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. He is also an FAA-licensed private pilot holding single/multi-engine and instrument ratings, and is an Honorary Board Member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope.- Actress
- Soundtrack
October 2018 her book Bad Auditions is released online and in stores. In it she tells stories of her own 'bad' auditions, in an irreverent manner, in order to help prepare young actors for the real world of auditioning. It features a foreword by director Michael Lehmann and a cover blurb by Danny Strong.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from
Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford Motor Company executive from Indiana. Williams had English, German, French, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.
Robin briefly studied political science at Claremont Men's College and theater at College of Marin before enrolling at The Juilliard School to focus on theater. After leaving Juilliard, he performed in nightclubs where he was discovered for the role of "Mork, from Ork", in an episode of Happy Days (1974). The episode, My Favorite Orkan (1978), led to his famous spin-off weekly TV series,
Mork & Mindy (1978). He made his feature starring debut playing the title role in Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman.
Williams' continuous comedies and wild comic talents involved a great deal of improvisation, following in the footsteps of his idol Jonathan Winters. Williams also proved to be an effective dramatic actor, receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), and The Fisher King (1991), before winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in
Good Will Hunting (1997).
During the 1990s, Williams became a beloved hero to children the world over for his roles in a string of hit family-oriented films, including Hook (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), Flubber (1997), and Bicentennial Man (1999). He continued entertaining children and families into the 21st century with his work in Robots (2005), Happy Feet (2006), Night at the Museum (2006), Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Happy Feet Two (2011), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). Other more adult-oriented films for which Williams received acclaim include The World According to Garp (1982), Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Awakenings (1990), The Birdcage (1996), Insomnia (2002), One Hour Photo (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and Boulevard (2014).
On Monday, August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams was found dead at his home in Tiburon, California USA, the victim of an apparent suicide, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. A 911 call was received at 11:55 a.m. PDT, firefighters and paramedics arrived at his home at 12:00 p.m. PDT, and he was pronounced dead at 12:02 p.m. PDT.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jane Seymour was born as Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in 1951 in Middlesex, England, to a nurse mother and gynaecologist/obstetrician father. She is of Polish Jewish (father) and Dutch (mother) descent. She adopted the acting name of "Jane Seymour" when she entered show business as it was easier for people to remember (and the name of one of King Henry VIII's wives). She attracted the attention of the James Bond film producers when they saw her on British television. She was cast as the main Bond girl, "Solitaire", in Live and Let Die (1973). The role gained her international recognition but she was in danger of losing it all like the previous Bond girls, so she came to the U.S.
A casting director advised her to lose her English accent and acquire an American accent to land roles on American television. She did and started getting roles, earning five Emmy nominations, resulting in one win for Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988) for playing Maria Callas. She won Golden Globe awards for both East of Eden (1981) and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993), where she played the title role for 5 years. She occasionally appeared in feature films, memorably in Somewhere in Time (1980) and in Wedding Crashers (2005).
Married and divorced four times, she gave birth to four children and is a stepmother to two. They have children of their own, making her a grandmother. As of 2018, she has been acting in television movies and making guest-appearances.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Thomas Mark Harmon was born on September 2, 1951, in Burbank, California, to football player and broadcaster Tom Harmon and actress and artist Elyse Knox (née Kornbrath). Harmon played college football and found success as one of TV's hunkiest actors. While many of his roles have relied on good looks, Harmon was impressive on St. Elsewhere (1982) as the suave doctor who contracted AIDS.
His sisters are Kelly Harmon, the Tic Tac model; and Kristin Harmon, a painter and ex-wife of musician Ricky Nelson. He is the uncle of musicians Matthew Nelson and Gunnar Nelson of the band Nelson, and actress Tracy Nelson. In 1987, Harmon and his wife, actress Pam Dawber, sued his sister Kristin Harmon, for custody of her youngest son, Sam.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
With more than 100 film, television and stage credits to his name,
Joseph Peter Pantoliano is a prolific American character actor who has
played many diverse and memorable roles, from Guido in
Risky Business (1983) to Eddie
Moscone in Midnight Run (1988),
Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive (1993),
Cypher in The Matrix (1999) and Teddy
in Memento (2000).
Pantoliano was born September 12,
1951 in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Mary (Centrella) and
Dominic Pantoliano, first-generation Italian Americans who split when Joe was
twelve years old (though they never officially divorced). His mother
was a seamstress and bookie, and his father was a hearse driver and
foreman at a factory. Despite suffering from severe dyslexia that made
studies difficult for him, Pantoliano displayed acting talent from an
early age and moved to Manhattan after high school to pursue an acting
career.
After four years in Manhattan that included auditions, acting classes,
waiting tables and a role as Billy Bibbit in the touring production of
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Joe Pantoliano moved to California
to pursue television and film acting. Joe was successful in landing a
number of television roles before getting his feature film debut in
The Idolmaker (1980), but his true
Hollywood breakthrough came with his turn opposite a 21-year-old
Tom Cruise as ruthless pimp Guido in 1983's
Risky Business (1983). A wide
array of TV and film roles followed that have led Joe to work with many
of Hollywood's brightest talents, both on-screen and off, including
Richard Donner,
Steven Spielberg,
Lilly Wachowski &
Lana Wachowski,
Harrison Ford,
Tommy Lee Jones,
Wesley Snipes,
Christopher Nolan and many
others.
Winner of a primetime Emmy for his work on
The Sopranos (1999), for which
he also received two SAG Award nominations, Joe Pantoliano is married
to former model Nancy Sheppard,
with whom he has two daughters, Daniella and Isabella. Pantoliano also
has a son, Marco, from a previous marriage, and a step-daughter,
Melody.- Actress
- Director
- Soundtrack
Karen Jane Allen was born in Carrollton, rural southern Illinois, to Patricia (Howell), a teacher, and Carroll Thompson Allen, an FBI agent.
She spent her first 10 years traveling around the country with her parents and two sisters. She was always "the new girl in school." Acting did not really cross Allen's mind until she was in her early 20s, when she saw a Jerzy Grotowski theater production that impressed her so much, she instantly decided to give it a shot. She trained as a classical actress and enrolled at the Actors Studio and with Lee Strasberg in New York City. During this period, she made several student films and directed and acted in several plays. In 1976, she made her first film appearance in the award-winning small film The Whidjitmaker (1976).
Her first major film role came as Katy in 1978's National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which became one of the biggest hits of the year, obtained "classic" status, and launched a whole host of young "hot" stars. However, shortly after National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) opened, Allen was struck by a rare and dangerous eyesight condition called keratoconjunctivitis. Luckily, the condition subsided and Allen could continue her dramatic rise to the top. Lead roles in cult favorites like The Wanderers (1979) and the controversial thriller Cruising (1980) followed, as did smaller parts as in
Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979). However, it was her performance in Rob Cohen's A Small Circle of Friends (1980), as well as her previously mentioned turn in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), that caught the eye of a certain Steven Spielberg. He then cast her as the feisty heroine and co-star of Harrison Ford in his big-budget blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which became a huge hit in 1981-82 and is regarded by many film buffs as the greatest action-adventure film ever made.
Following the huge success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Allen chose to spend more than two years out of the limelight, concentrating on smaller, more personal projects. She won a major award for her performances on Broadway, won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Abra in the hugely successful ABC production of East of Eden (1981), and had parts in two smaller films: Alan Parker's Shoot the Moon (1982) and Split Image (1982), co-starring James Woods and Peter Fonda. She returned to the mainstream in 1984 with Until September (1984) and Starman (1984), co-starring Jeff Bridges and directed by John Carpenter (of Halloween (1978) fame), but once again decided to leave the limelight for a couple of years to do more stage work and some troubled indie films. While Allen has worked almost constantly since then, giving notable performances in Paul Newman's screen adaptation of The Glass Menagerie (1987), the Christmas hit Scrooged (1988), and Steven Soderbergh's underrated King of the Hill (1993), she has not been able to scale the same dizzy heights as the early 1980s hits. Most of her lead roles in feature films since Starman (1984) have not been that well-received (Animal Behavior (1989), Ghost in the Machine (1993), and The Turning (1992) among them). However, she has been seen to good effect on TV in such films as Challenger (1990), in which she portrayed tragic schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, and All the Winters That Have Been (1997), co-starring Richard Chamberlain.
She has also made special guest star appearances on such shows as Law & Order (1990), Knots Landing (1979), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), and in several TV movies, including Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story (1996) and Secret Weapon (1990). She also played the lead in the CBS series The Road Home (1994). Karen Allen was married to soap star Kale Browne (with whom she co-starred in 'Til There Was You (1997)) in 1988 and they have a son, Nicholas. Apart from acting, Allen is also an accomplished singer, songwriter, and musician. She played in a band with Kathleen Turner, and recorded a duet with Jeff Bridges for the Starman (1984) soundtrack album.
She also writes plays, screenplays, and poetry; owns her own Ashtanga yoga enterprise; and spends time at her Berkshire Mountains farm or
Upper West Side Manhattan townhouse. The classically trained actress also has a screenplay called "The Second Coming," which is about to be
made into a movie. Most recently she has starred opposite Peter Coyote in The Basket (1999), and appeared in the blockbuster The Perfect Storm (2000), in which she co-starred with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Diane Lane. In addition to these, she is working on Shaka Zulu: The Citadel (2001) and recently made an independent film, In the Bedroom (2001). Karen Allen is undoubtedly one of the most talented, ambitious, and versatile actresses of the last 20 years. In many ways, her own choices to "go back to theater and smaller projects" are the only things that have really stopped her being a major, major star. Allen was voted one of the most beautiful women in the world in 1983, and is a naturally attractive lady - who often plays characters significantly younger than herself. She also often plays unglamorous types - and there is no one better at portraying real, human, and wholly believable people.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tall (5'10"), lovely, statuesque Seattle native Jean Elizabeth Smart was born on September 13, 1951. The second of four children born to a teacher and his wife, she developed an early interest in acting and attended the University of Washington following her graduation from Seattle's Ballard High School. She attained a BA degree in fine arts there.
Jean's first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she went on to perform in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," among others. During the late 1970's she built up a strong resume in regional theater with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre ("Equus," "Fallen Angels"), ACT ("A Christmas Carol"), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (as Lady Macbeth), Alaska Repertory Theatre ("Terra Nova"), and Alliance Theatre ("A History of the American Film"). Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast.
Jean made a highly auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf" starring Jane Lapotaire, and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show, Piaf (1984), that brought about major Hollywood interest. A regular on the short-lived sitcoms Teachers Only (1982), Reggie (1983) and Maximum Security (1984), Jean hit pure gold in her fourth attempt as the delightfully ditzy Charlene Frazier on Designing Women (1986). The show was an instant hit and it was here that she would meet future husband Richard Gilliland, who played the recurring role of co-player Annie Potts' boyfriend J.D. for several seasons.
Feeling confined and fearing typecasting, Jean left the show in 1991 to find more challenging work. She drew major acclaim, giving a chilling portrayal of a true-to-life serial killer in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), long before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her equally chilling cinematic version. In other TV movies, Jean earned strong applause for her roles as a mentally challenged woman in The Yarn Princess (1994); as a concerned rural mother in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic The Yearling (1994); as an attorney involved in a high-profile murder case in Undue Influence (1996); as a wife who discovers her longtime husband is gay in A Change of Heart (1998); co-starring with real-life husband Richard Gilliland in Audrey's Rain (2003) as new parents after her sister commits suicide; and as an FBI profiler in Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong (2003).
On stage, Jean she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman classic comedy farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane. The Broadway show was later made as a TV movie, The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), with both Lane and Smart.
Having made her debut with a small role in the crimer Hoodlums (1980), films would never be as strong a venue for Jean as the stage or TV. She did, however, show off her versatility in both comedy and drama with secondary roles with such films as Flashpoint (1984), the Goldie Hawn vehicle Protocol (1984), Fire with Fire (1986), Project X (1987), Mistress (1992), Edie & Pen (1996) and The Odd Couple II (1998). Jean topped the decade off well with two independent films -- earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as Sarah Polley's ill-natured mother in Guinevere (1999), and first-billed in the mother/daughter road trip dramedy Forever Fabulous (1999) co-starring Jennifer Elise Cox.
Remaining extremely busy into the millennium, Jean went on to win bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier (1993) and earned two more Emmy nominations for her potent perms in the crime drama 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. She also graced a host of other series with regular/recurring roles on the romantic comedy In-Laws (2002); the crimer The District (2000); the family comedy Center of the Universe (2004) (co-starring John Goodman); the animated program Kim Possible (2002) (as the voice of Dr. Ann Possible); the mystery comedy Samantha Who? (2007) starring Christina Applegate; the revamped crimer Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (as the governor); the crime dramedy Harry's Law (2011); the dark thriller Fargo (2014); the action sci-fi drama Legion (2017); and the detective series Mare of Easttown (2021).
More recent films include Youth in Revolt (2009), Barry Munday (2010), Hope Springs (2012), Waking (2013), Warren (2014), Miss Meadows (2014), The Accountant (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Brampton's Own (2018).
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She has two children with her late husband Richard, son Connor and adopted son (from China) Forrest.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Richard Treat Williams was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to Marian (Andrew), who dealt in antiques, and Richard Norman Williams, a
corporate executive. At the age of three, his family moved to Rowayton, Connecticut. Educated at prep-school, he first made a serious
commitment to his craft during his days at Pennsylvania's Franklin and Marshall College. Working summers with the nearby Fulton Repertory
Theatre at Lancaster in the heart of Amish country, Williams performed the classics as well as contemporary dramas and musicals. After graduating, Williams--whose first name, incidentally, is a family surname on his mother's side--headed for Manhattan where he understudied the Danny Zuko role in "Grease." After working in the The Andrews Sisters musical "Over Here," he made his film debut as a cop in
Deadly Hero (1975), then returned to "Grease," this time in the starring role. While he took leaves for two small film roles, in The Ritz (1976) and
The Eagle Has Landed (1976), it was his stage work in "Grease" that led to his cinematic breakthrough in Hair (1979). Spotted by director Milos Forman, Williams was asked to read for the role of Berger, the hippie. It took 13 auditions to land the part, but the film's release catapulted Williams into stardom. He then portrayed a GI on the make in Steven Spielberg's 1941 (1979) and starred in the romantic
comedy Why Would I Lie? (1980) before tackling the role of Danny Ciello, the disillusioned New York City cop who blew the whistle on his corrupt colleagues in Sidney Lumet's Prince of the City (1981). He followed that with The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981), in which he played the legendary plane hijacker who successfully eluded capture (by Robert Duvall); Flashpoint (1984), in which he and Kris Kristofferson starred as a pair of maverick border patrolmen who come upon a large cache of stolen money; Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984), in which he played a Jimmy Hoffa-like labor organizer; and Smooth Talk (1985), a screen adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' short story, "Where Are You Going?" Television viewers have seen Williams in a prestigious pair of dramas, Dempsey (1983), a three-hour story of the hard-living heavyweight champ, and John Erman's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' classic "A Streetcar Named Desire," which pitted Williams' Stanley Kowalski against Ann-Margret's Blanche Dubois. Williams has also returned to Broadway sporadically -- first to appear in "Once in a Lifetime" while filming "Hair," and in 1981 to play the role of the pirate king in "The Pirates of Penzance."- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Geoffrey Roy Rush was born on July 6, 1951, in Toowoomba, Queensland,
Australia, to Merle (Bischof), a department store sales assistant, and
Roy Baden Rush, an accountant for the Royal Australian Air Force. His
mother was of German descent and his father had English, Irish, and
Scottish ancestry. He was raised in Brisbane, Queensland, after his
parents split up.
Rush attended Everton Park State High School during his formative
years. His early interest in the theatre led to his 1971 stage debut at
age 20 in "Wrong Side of the Moon" with the Queensland Theatre Company.
Known for his classical repertory work over the years, he scored an
unexpected hit with his Queensland role as Snoopy in the musical
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". A few years later he moved to
France to study but subsequently returned to his homeland within a
short time and continued work as both actor and director with the
Queensland company ("June and the Paycock," "Aladdin," "Godspell,"
"Present Laughter," "The Rivals"). In the 1980s Rush became a vital
member of the State Theatre Company of South Australia and showed an
equally strong range there in such productions as "Revenger's Tragedy,"
"A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Mother Courage...and Her Children,"
"Blood Wedding," "Pal Joey," "Twelfth Night" and as The Fool in "King
Lear".
Rush made an inauspicious debut in films with the feature
Hoodwink (1981), having little more than
a bit part, and didn't carry off his first major role until playing Sir
Andrew Aguecheek in a movie production of
Twelfth Night (1986). Yet, he
remained a durable presence on stage with acclaimed productions in "The
Diary of a Madman" in 1989 and "The Government Inspector" in 1991.
Rush suffered a temporary nervous breakdown in 1992 due to overwork and
anguish over his lack of career advancement. Resting for a time, he
eventually returned to the stage. Within a few years film-goers finally
began taking notice of Geoffrey after his performance in
Children of the Revolution (1996).
This led to THE role of a lifetime as the highly dysfunctional piano
prodigy David Helfgott in Shine (1996).
Rush's astonishing tour-de-force performance won him every conceivable
award imaginable, including the Oscar, Golden Globe, British Film Award
and Australian Film Institute Award.
"Shine" not only put Rush on the international film map, but atypically
on the Hollywood "A" list as well. His rather homely mug was made
fascinating by a completely charming, confident and captivating
demeanor; better yet, it allowed him to more easily dissolve into a
number of transfixing historical portrayals, notably his Walsingham in
Elizabeth (1998) and Leon Trotsky in
Frida (2002). He's also allowed himself to
have a bit of hammy fun in such box office escapism as
Mystery Men (1999),
House on Haunted Hill (1999),
The Banger Sisters (2002),
Finding Nemo (2003) and
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
More than validating his early film success, two more Oscar nominations
came his way in the same year for
Quills (2000) (best actor) and
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
(support actor) in 2000. Geoffrey's amazing versatility continued into the millennium with his portrayal of the manic, volatile comedy genius Peter Sellers in the biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). He also merited attention as Lionel Logue in The King's Speech (2010), Basil Hunter in The Eye of the Storm (2011), Hans Hubermann in The Book Thief (2013), artist/sculptor Alberto Giocometti in Final Portrait (2017) and Michael Kingley Storm Boy (2019).
Rush's intermittent returns to the stage have included productions of
"Marat-Sade," "Uncle Vanya," "Oleanna," "Hamlet" and "The Small
Poppies". In 2009 he made his Broadway debut in "Exit the King"
co-starring Susan Sarandon. His marriage
(since 1988) to Aussie classical actress
Jane Menelaus produced daughter Angelica
(1992) and son James (1995). Menelaus, who has also performed with the
State Theatre of South Australia, has co-starred on stage with Rush in
"The Winter's Tale" (1987), "Troilus and Cressida" (1989) and "The
Importance of Being Earnest" (as Gwendolyn to his Jack Worthing). She
also had featured roles in a few of his films, including Quills (2000) and The Eye of the Storm (2011).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Kirstie Louise Alley was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987-1993), receiving an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991 for the role. From 1997 to 2000, she starred in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Season Hubley was born on 14 March 1951 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Escape from New York (1981), Hardcore (1979) and Vice Squad (1982). She was previously married to David Hayball and Kurt Russell.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Anjelica Huston was born on July 8, 1951 to director and actor John Huston and Russian prima ballerina Enrica 'Ricki' Soma. Huston spent most of her childhood overseas, in Ireland and England, and in 1968 first dipped her toe into the world of show business, taking on the lead role of her father's movie A Walk with Love and Death (1969). However, before it was released, her mother died in a car accident, at 39, and Huston relocated to the United States, where the very tall, exotically-beautiful young woman modeled for several years.
While modeling, Huston made sporadic cameo appearances in a couple films, but decided to pursue it as a career in the early '80s. She prepared herself by reaching out to acting coach Peggy Feury and began to get roles. The first notable part was in Bob Rafelson's remake of the classic noir movie The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) (in which Jack Nicholson, with whom Huston had been living since 1973, was the star). After a few more years of on-again, off-again supporting work, her father perfectly cast her as calculating, imperious Maerose, the daughter of a Mafia don whose love is scorned by a hit man (Nicholson again) in his film adaptation of Richard Condon's Mafia-satire novel Prizzi's Honor (1985). Huston won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance, making her the first person in Academy Award history to win an Oscar when a parent and a grandparent (her father and grandfather Walter Huston) had also won one.
Huston thereafter worked prolifically, including notable roles in Francis Ford Coppola's Gardens of Stone (1987), Barry Sonnenfeld's film versions of the Charles Addams cartoons The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), in which she portrayed Addams matriarch Morticia, Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Probably her finest performance on-screen, however, was as Lilly, the veteran, iron-willed con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters (1990), for which she received another Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress. A sentimental favorite is her performance as the lead in her father's final film, an adaptation of James Joyce's The Dead (1987) -- with her many years of residence in Ireland, Huston's Irish accent in the film is authentic.
Endowed with her father's great height and personal boldness, and her mother's beauty and aristocratic nose, Huston certainly cuts an imposing figure, and brings great confidence and authority to her performances. She clearly takes her craft seriously and has come into her own as a strong actress, emerging from under the shadow of her father, who passed away in 1987. Huston married the sculptor Robert Graham in 1992. The couple lived in Venice Beach until Graham's death in 2008.- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Lynda Jean Cordova Carter is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. Carter is best known as the star of the live-action television series Wonder Woman, in the role of Diana Prince / Wonder Woman. The role was based on the DC comic book fictional superhero character of the same name, and aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979.- Actress
- Soundtrack
At age 15, when most young women are nurturing dreams of romance, Olivia Hussey was giving life to Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968). Her performance in one of the most celebrated roles ever written in the English language won her the Golden Globe and two successive Best Actor Donatello Awards (Italy's Oscar equivalent), an incredible achievement for an actress in only her third film.
Olivia, a seasoned veteran of the London stage where she debuted opposite Vanessa Redgrave in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", has appeared in over two dozen films, including Death on the Nile (1978) with Bette Davis and Peter Ustinov, Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (united again with the great Zeffirelli), Last Days of Pompeii (1975) opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, Lost Horizon (1973), The Bastard (1978), Hallmark's Hall of Fame Ivanhoe (1982) with James Mason, Showtime's Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) and It (1990). She has also guest-starred in numerous television series.
Considered by many to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, Olivia may owe this "title" to her "exotic" blend; her father was Argentinian and her mother was of English and Scottish ancestry. She spent her early youth in Buenos Aires, her father being Andreas Osuna, aka Isvaldo Ribo, renowned Argentine opera and tango singer, and her English mother encouraging her early inclinations for the performing arts. At the age of seven, she moved with her mother and younger brother to England, where she spent the next five years attending drama school. From there, she landed the role of "Jenny" in "Jean Brodie". It was in that theater production that Zeffirelli spotted her. After auditioning over 500 other young actresses for the part of Juliet, he awarded the part to Olivia, and the rest, as they say, is history.
She then moved to Los Angeles, where she met and married Dean Paul Martin, son of the late and great entertainer Dean Martin. They had a son, Alexander Martin, who is now an actor. She and Martin eventually divorced, and Olivia later married Akira Fuse, one of Japan's premier singers. That marriage produced a second son, Max, born in 1983. Two years later, she signed on to star with Burt Lancaster and Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire (1981)) in The Jeweller's Shop (1988), a screen adaptation of a story written by Pope John Paul II (at the time he wrote it he was called Karol Wotyla). Following the filming, Olivia was invited to view the film at the Vatican as a guest of His Holiness.
Never seeming to be able to stop the constant work schedule and travel, Olivia finally decided she needed a break. After taking some much deserved time off for herself and to raise her young daughter, India Joy, she returned to work starring in two back-to-back features. The first, El grito (2000) (known as "Bloody Proof" in America), was shot in Mexico City and required her to deliver the role bilingually, applying her native command of Spanish. The second was Tortilla Heaven (2007), a comedy written and directed by Sundance Film Festival winner Judy Hecht Dumontet, in which Olivia plays the town nudist(!).
Most recently, Olivia has completed her life's dream, portraying Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a movie shot entirely on location in Sri Lanka and Italy. Her performance was received with open arms by the Sisters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity when it was screened for them in Italy. Also present at the screening, and pleased with her portrayal, was Agi Bojaxhiu, a wonderful lady and the niece and only direct living relative of Mother herself.
Olivia lives outside of Los Angeles with her family, as well as her menagerie of animals.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Compact, feisty and fierce character actor David
Patrick Kelly was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Margaret Elizabeth
(Murphy) and Robert Corby Kelly, Sr., an accountant. He burst onto the
acting scene in 1979, playing the devious leader of the
leather-clad gang "The Rogues" in
Walter Hill's controversial New York
City gang film The Warriors (1979).
Kelly's tight-lipped expressions and attitude that made him appear like
a grenade with the pin pulled, got him plenty of roles playing defiant
young men, often in trouble with authority. He locked horns with
Eddie Murphy and
Nick Nolte in
Walter Hill's fast-paced
48 Hrs. (1982), was dropped over a cliff
by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the
violent Commando (1985), was a member of
a trio of killers after
Harry Dean Stanton in
David Lynch's'
Wild at Heart (1990), and
played, T Bird, the leader of a gang of arsonist murderers in
The Crow (1994). His range of roles in a wide variety of genres has earned him great respect in Hollywood as he is a wonderfully
captivating actor. One of his most popular and influential performances came with the
unsettling screeching cries of "Warriors, come out to plaaayyy",
from his debut on-screen role!- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Nigel Havers is one of Britain's best known actors, mainly for his many roles on television since the 1970s. He was born as the younger son of Michael Havers, QC, a Conservative MP for Wimbledon, Attorney General (1979-1987) and Lord High Chancellor of England (1987).
After a private education, Havers attended a drama school attached to the Oxford Playhouse and at the same time worked in university productions, always in revues and comedies. He appeared in Twelfth Night in a revue at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which transferred to London where it was seen by an American director who took the show to the States.
Havers' starring roles on British television have included series such as Nicholas Nickleby (1977), A Horseman Riding By (1978), Don't Wait Up (1983), The Charmer (1987) and Dangerfield (1995). He has also made notable guest appearances in cult series such as The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) and The Life of Rock with Brian Pern (2014), and played the regular role of Lewis Archer in the soap opera Coronation Street (1960).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. She worked in several Italian films, including Federico Fellini's Roma (1972) and performed throughout Europe as lead singer of an Italian rock band.
Upon returning to the United States, she toured the country as star of her own musical-comedy show, "Mama's Boys". She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four and a half years with L.A.'s foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the role of horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, Elvira's Movie Macabre (1981), and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation.
Cassandra has used Elvira's celebrity status to bring attention to many worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her well-known work for animal welfare and raising money and awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and performing in both the local L.A. and nationally syndicated television versions of "Movie Macabre", she co-wrote, produced and starred in two feature films, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001). In 2010, she returned to syndicated television in a reboot of her original series, Elvira's Movie Macabre (2010). She returned in 2014 in a similar show format for Hulu's 13 Nights of Elvira. Her latest endeavors include producing, writing and starring in Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special, Special - a 2021 four-hour special streaming on Shudder, and Dr. Elvira, a Halloween promotional mini-series for Netflix.
Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the Elvira brand that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre.- Director
- Producer
- Actress
A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco
Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's
Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack
Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art
and waited to be critiqued by people like Richard Serra, Robert
Rauschenberg and Susan Sontag. Later she earned a scholarship to study
film at Columbia University School of Arts, graduating in 1979. She was
also a member of the British avant garde cultural group, Art and
Language. Kathryn is the only child of the manager of a paint factory
and a librarian.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Intriguing, inspiring, and never less than interesting -- key adjectives in describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has well passed the four-decade mark. Perhaps deserving better movies than she generally found herself in, she nevertheless was always an object of fascination and the one to watch...whatever the role. Hardly the shrinking violet type, Hollywood counted on her for her colorful personality, down-to-earth demeanor and scene-stealing capabilities.
Beverly Heather D'Angelo was born on November 15, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of musicians Priscilla Ruth (Smith), a violinist, and Eugene Constantino "Gene" D'Angelo, a bass player who also managed a TV station. Her maternal grandfather, Howard Dwight Smith, was the architect who designed the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium at Ohio State University. Her mother had English, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry, and her father was of Italian descent. Beverly once attended an American school in Florence, Italy.
Initially drawn to art, Beverly worked as a animator/cartoonist at Hanna-Barbera Productions before moving to Canada to pursue a rock singing career, To make ends meet she worked as a session vocalist and sang anyplace she could -- from coffeehouses to topless bars. At one point the teenager was invited to join up with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting career started up when she left the Hawkins band and joined the Charlottetown Festival repertory company. She was touring Canada as Ophelia in "Kronborg: 1582", a rock musical version of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" when the renowned Colleen Dewhurst caught a performance and saw promise in both Beverly and the show. Eventually musical director Gower Champion got into the mix and the show was completely revamped, becoming the rock musical "Rockabye Hamlet", which made its way to Broadway in 1976. While the show itself was short-lived, Beverly's Ophelia attracted fine notices and she soon found herself on the West coast with film and TV opportunities. After this point, she seldom returned to the stage but did star alongside Ed Harris in the 1995 off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's "Simpatico", which earned her a Theatre World Award.
A role in the TV miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976) led to bit parts in The Sentinel (1977) and in the Woody Allen classic Annie Hall (1977). A string of co-starring roles followed with First Love (1977), the Clint Eastwood starrer Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and the film adaptation of the hit counterculture musical Hair (1979). Best of all for Beverly was her powerhouse featured performance as the one-and-only Patsy Cline in the acclaimed biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). Both she and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek (as fellow country singer Loretta Lynn) expertly supplied their own vocals.
Playing everything from tough-as-nails prostitutes, party girls and barflies to rich, prim widows and depressed, alcoholic moms, most of Beverly's output was solid during this time. Playing happening kind of gals, she customarily rose above much of the standard comedic or dramatic material given. An interesting gallery of offbeat characters came her way in a number of hit-or-miss features: Paternity (1981), Finders Keepers (1984), Big Trouble (1986), Maid to Order (1987), High Spirits (1988), Cold Front (1989), Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will? (1990), The Pope Must Diet (1991), Man Trouble (1992), Lightning Jack (1994), The Crazysitter (1994), Merchants of Venus (1998) and Sugar Town (1999). She also sang in a few of these films.
Beverly attracted mainstream notice as Chevy Chase's beleaguered wife in the comedy spoof Vacation (1983) and its three sequels. Stronger roles came with such films as the English/Irish production The Miracle (1991) and the Neo-Nazi film American History X (1998). She was also a favorite of director John Schlesinger who used her in Honky Tonk Freeway (1981) and Eye for an Eye (1996), among others. In the spoof Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills (1996), in which she served as associate producer, Beverly gamely starred as a chic Beverly Hills housewife who turns into a flying prehistoric reptile by night. Other offbeat independent filming includes Illuminata (1998), Merchants of Venus (1998), Weaver of Claybank (1915), Black Water Transit (2009), The House Bunny (2008), Episode #7.33 (2007), Bounty Killer (2013), Frat Pack (2018) and Dreamland (2016).
On TV, Beverly scored well as matricide victim Kitty Menendez in Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994) and earned an Emmy-nomination (and arguably gave the best performance) as Stella Kowalski opposite "Hair" co-star Treat Williams in the TV remake of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). Other topnotch TV mini-movies included Sweet Temptation (1996) and Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), in which she played Robert Blake's devout wife. On primetime she has been cast quite assertively in recurring parts -- she has been spotted on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) as a defense attorney; Entourage (2004) as a talent agent; Shooter (2016) as a national security advisor; and Insatiable (2018) as a scheming beauty contestant coach.
Beverly's off-camera romantic life has been just as interesting. Following her relationship with "Hair" director Milos Forman, she married Lorenzo Salviati, an economics student who also was an Italian duke. She left Hollywood and lived with him in Europe, but separated after two years and returned. A six-year relationship with Irish director Neil Jordan was followed by one with Oscar-winning production designer Anton Furst; this ended tragically when, just weeks after their breakup, he committed suicide. A former union with the volatile Al Pacino produced twins Olivia and Anton, who were born in 2001.
These days, Beverly's career on camera has remained secondary to the raising of her children. Occasionally she has made use of her vocal talents performing at L.A. nightclubs and with a jazz band that included brother Jeff. From time to time she still lights up the screen as a brash professional or somebody's colorful mom; whatever time she has on screen, whether major or minor, it is always welcomed and never, ever less than...interesting.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Whiskey-voiced Patricia Richardson is best known as Jill Taylor on Home Improvement (1991). For her work, she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and four Emmy Awards. She also starred in two other comedies: Eisenhower & Lutz (1988) with Scott Bakula, and FM (1989) with Robert Hays. After pregnancy with twins and Home Improvement she took off a few years to be with her children. Offered a shorter contract that worked around her parenting, she joined Lifetime's Strong Medicine as Dr. Andy Campbell, introduced after Janine Turner's departure from the show. (2002-2004) She was nominated for her work twice by the Prism Awards. She was a recurring guest star on The West Wing during the show's last two years as Alan Alda's Chief of Staff. Patricia co-hosted The 46th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1994) with Ellen DeGeneres, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her first starring role in a movie opposite Peter Fonda in Ulee's Gold. (1997). Patricia has served 8 years on the National and Los Angeles Local Boards of SAGAFTRA, previously served as First Vice President, then 2019-2021 as President of the largest local in the union, the LA Local , or the "Los Angeles Local Union Performers" (on Facebook), which Membership First created for LA members in the pandemic along with popularly attended Town Halls. She's continuing to serve on both boards and remains a proud member of Membership First, which has been running the largest, ( 80,000 ), most employed ( members earn 57% of all earnings), and informed local in the union for some years.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Christopher Walton Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mary Ann (Walton), a homemaker, and Charles Sherwood Cooper, a cattleman and internist who served as a doctor in the US Air Force. His parents were from Texas, where Cooper was raised.
Educated at the University of Missouri school of drama, Cooper appeared on Broadway in "Of the Fields Lately (1980)", and off-Broadway in "The Ballad of Soapy Smith (1983)" and "A Different Moon (1983)". He debuted in films in the John Sayles movie Matewan (1987). Although his performance was well received, the picture was not successful. Other films he has appeared in include Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Money Train (1995) and A Time to Kill (1996). On television, Cooper has been featured in the mini-series Lonesome Dove (1989) and Return to Lonesome Dove (1993), as July Johnson. He has also appeared in a number of television movies. In 1996, he starred in his third John Sayles movie, Lone Star (1996), where he plays Sam Deeds, the sheriff whose lawman father becomes a posthumous suspect in a murder investigation.
Cooper married actress/producer/scriptwriter Marianne Leone on July 8, 1983. They have one child, a son Jesse, who died on January 3, 2005 at the age of 17, of natural causes related to cerebral palsy. Jesse Cooper inspired his mother to author the script for the film "Conquistadora." It relates the true story of Mary Somoza, the mother of twins with cerebral palsy, who fought the educational system to provide the best education possible for her children.- Margo Martindale was born July 18, 1951 in Jacksonville, Texas, to Margaret (Pruitt) and William Everett Martindale, a lumber company owner and dog handler. She is the youngest of three
children, and the only daughter. Margo attended Lon Marris College, and
later transferred to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and did a
summer study at Harvard University. She made her film debut appearance
in Days of Thunder (1990), she
played the minor role of Donna. Notable roles include: Sister Colleen,
Susan Sarandon's fellow nun in
Dead Man Walking (1995). She
played a brief but memorable role as the selfish mother to
Hilary Swank's character in
Million Dollar Baby (2004). - Actor
- Director
- Writer
William Katt was born in Los Angeles, California, USA as William Theodore Katt. He is the son of actress Barbara Hale and actor Bill Williams. He is an actor and director, known for Big Wednesday (1978), The Greatest American Hero (1981), Carrie (1976) and The Man from Earth (2007). He has been married to Danielle Hirsch since April 10, 1993. They have two children. He was previously married to Deborah Kahane.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Helen Shaver has built a lasting legacy, both behind and in front of the
camera. She has directed hundreds of hours of television ranging from
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) to Castle (2009), from The Unit (2006) to The Outer Limits (1995). Her film, Summer's End (1999), a Showtime feature starring James Earl Jones, won multiple Emmy awards for Outstanding Children's Special, Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special and Helen was
nominated for her direction. Her producing credits include Judging Amy (1999)
for CBS, Showtime's Due East (2002) starring Cybill Shepherd and Robert Forster and the independent feature We All Fall Down (2000), for which she also received a Best Supporting Actress award.
It was Martin Scorsese who first suggested Helen direct. Working with him and other such greats as Steven Spielberg, Robert Rodriguez, Sam Peckinpah, Brian De Palma, Helen amassed a wealth of knowledge and
experience in the collaborative world of cinematic storytelling.
Helen first appeared on the silver screen at 22 years old, starring in
a series of award-winning Canadian films; Best Supporting Actress for
Who Has Seen the Wind (1977) and Best Actress for In Praise of Older Women (1978). Hollywood took note and in 1977 she co-starred in The Amityville Horror (1979) directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Larry Gelbart's United States (1980), Martin Scorsese's, The Color of Money (1986), John Schlesinger's The Believers (1987), Donna Deitch's Desert Hearts (1985), Andrew Fleming's The Craft (1996),
and a trip to China with Donald Sutherland to realize Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990) broadened her education.
MAWD (Mother Actress Wife Director), Helen's production company, has
three theatrical features in development, as well as a feature-length
documentary. MAWD continues to expand becoming an umbrella for young
filmmakers who Helen has mentored.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Sting was born Gordon Matthew Sumner on 2 October, 1951 in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, the eldest of four children of Audrey (Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, an engineer and milkman. He received his name from a striped sweater he wore which looked like a bee. He grew up in the turmoil of the ship-building industry and wanted to become a musician very early. He played cruise ships, backing strippers in cabarets, and developed a love for the bass guitar. Having played in jazz/rock bands like "Last Exit" and other various groups, including a dixieland jazz group, he settled down with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers for a decade-long tenure with the smashing rock trio, The Police.
In 1984, he went on to record solo albums, and holds a reputation as one of the most literate songwriters and talented musicians in the world. He has also delved into acting, having starred in such films as Quadrophenia (1979), Radio On (1979), Plenty (1985), Julia and Julia (1987) (aka Julia and Julia), Dune (1984), Bring on the Night (1985) (a documentary about the formation of his Blue Turtles jazz group), most recently, Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets (1995), where he plays a bisexual, conniving butler.
He received an
honorary Doctorate of Music degree from Northumbria University in
October 1992, and from Berklee College of Music in May 1994. He plays
guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, harmonica, saxophone and
pan-flute, and he gave a name to his bass (Brian).
Sting is married to film producer Trudie Styler, and has six children with Trudie and ex-wife, actress Frances Tomelty. Sting owns a Jacobian castle in Wiltshire, which he calls "Lake House", where he records his albums, as well as a place in London, an apartment in New York, a place on the beach in Malibu, California, and a Renaissance Florentine Villa called "Palagio" in Figline Valdarno, Tuscany, Italy. Along with his wife Trudie and a Brazilian Indian, he started the Rainforest Foundation in 1989 to help save rainforests.- Actress
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Born on December 5, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, Morgan Brittany was like most little girls and wanted to be an actress. She began her acting career as a child under her real name Suzanne Cupito. Her big break came in the musical film Gypsy (1962), where played the sister of Natalie Wood's character. Morgan's career would continue to grow and would make a name for herself when she landed a role on the soap opera Dallas (1978). On the soap opera, she played Katherine Wentworth, the scheming half-sister of Pamela Ewing and Cliff Barnes. She continues acting but now loves the job of raising her children.
Since 2009, Morgan has been a conservative political commentator appearing on such shows as "Hannity" (FOX News), "The Rick Amato Show" (One America) and "The Kudrow Report" (CNBC). She is also the co-author of the best-selling book "What Women Really Want", released on September 2, 2014. She continues to make appearances all across the United States speaking for conservative values and issues concerning out veterans. She is also the co-owner and anchor for "PolitiChicks", an online news site with a conservative perspective. Morgan also writes a weekly column for "World Net Daily" (WND) and "Townhall Finance".- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in New York City and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Catherine Mary
Hicks was a cheerleader at Gerard Catholic High School in Phoenix,
Arizona, and graduated in 1969. Hicks attended Saint Mary's
College-Notre Dame University and studied English literature. Moving
east from South Bend, Indiana, she began her acting career at Cornell
University, where she won a two-year scholarship to the Actor's
Conservatory, where she received training in all aspects of the
theatre. Leaving Cornell, she went to New York and, within a week, had
landed a part on the ABC daytime drama, "Ryan's Hope" (1975). She
became a notable actress of the 1980s, in film and television. After
appearing on the soap opera,
Ryan's Hope (1975) from 1976-78,
she won a coveted role, starring with
Jack Lemmon, in the Broadway stage
production of "Tribute" for eight months. Catherine left Broadway to
Hollywood, where, after several television guest appearances, she
graduated to a leading role in the television movie
Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980),
playing Marilyn Monroe, which brought her
international attention and an Emmy nomination. She appeared in several
high profile films through the early 1980s, in leading and supporting
roles whilst also appearing on television. Films included:
Death Valley (1982),
Garbo Talks (1984),
The Razor's Edge (1984) and
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986).
She played "Dr. Gillian Taylor", opposite lead actor
William Shatner, in
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986),
a cult sequel to the popular Star Trek films. In the late 1980s, she
played the lead role of "Karen Barclay" in
Child's Play (1988), a film that
remains highly regarded in the horror genre. It was on the set of this
film that Catherine met her future husband,
Kevin Yagher, with whom she had a daughter
in 1992. Despite her obvious talent, big movie roles never seemed to
find their way to her in the early 1990s. In spite of this, she worked
consistently, appearing in
Liebestraum (1991),
Dillinger and Capone (1995),
the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie
Redwood Curtain (1995),
and a small role in the semi-high profile movie,
Turbulence (1997). In 1996, she landed
the lead role in the Warner Bros. television series,
7th Heaven (1996), playing "Annie
Jackson-Camden". From that point on, her career revolved around the
television series and her family, occasionally appearing in films. Her
last to-date film was the television movie,
For All Time (2000),
opposite Mark Harmon.
7th Heaven (1996) was canceled in
2007, after a successful eleven-year run, but it is likely that this
attractive and talented actress will remain in films and television for
a long time to come.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Richard Earl Thomas is an American actor. He is best known for his leading role as budding author John-Boy Walton in the CBS drama series The Waltons for which he won an Emmy Award from two nominations and received two Golden Globe Award nominations. He also starred in the 1990 television mini-series adaptation of Stephen King's epic horror novel It and played Special Agent Frank Gaad on FX's spy thriller series The Americans.- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Max Weinberg is the drummer of
E Street Band,
Bruce Springsteen's major band. His
snare drum from the "Born In The USA" tour, "The Big Beat", is on
display at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC. Max started up his own record
label and production company in 1990 called Hard Ticket Entertainment.
He produced the albums by Killer Joe on this label. He recently
released an album called "Let There Be Drums", a 3-CD collection of
Max's favorite drum tracks from the 50s to the 70s. Max is the band
leader for The Max Weinberg 7, on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993).
He took a 5-month break from late night to tour with
Bruce Springsteen &
E Street Band. Max now resides in
Middletown, New Jersey with his two kids and wife Becky.- Actress
- Producer
Best known as "Lacey Underall" in Caddyshack (1980), and "Yori" in Tron (1982),
Cindy Morgan was born Cynthia Ann Cichorski on September 29, 1954
in Chicago, Illinois, not far from Wrigley Field. The daughter of a Polish
factory worker and a German mother, Cindy attended 12 years of Catholic
school and was the first in her family to attend college.
While studying communications at Northern Illinois University, Cindy
spun records on the radio. A commercial station in town wanted her to
report the news for them as well, so a slight deception was needed. She
used the name Cindy Morgan, taken from a story she read about Morgan
le Fay when she was 12 years old.
After graduation, Cindy gave all the latest meteorological news on a TV
station in Rockford, Ill. She also kept her hand in radio by working the
graveyard shift at a local rock station. Then she returned to Chicago and
deejayed on WSDM (now WLUP). During a labor dispute at the station,
she literally quit on the air and walked out with a record still spinning on
the turntable.
Cindy found employment at auto shows for Fiat, which took her to both
coasts. She moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and became the Irish Spring
girl. While she did TV commercials, she studied acting, and was rewarded
with her first screen role in "Caddyshack", playing the role of "Lacey
Underall", an over-amorous ingénue.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
John McTiernan was born on 8 January 1951 in Albany, New York, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Die Hard (1988), Rollerball (2002) and Last Action Hero (1993). He has been married to Gail Sistrunk since 2012. He was previously married to Kate Harrington, Donna Dubrow and Carol Land.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Harry Robinson Hamlin is an American actor of stage, television and
films. He was born in 1951, in Pasadena, California, to Berniece
(Robinson), a socialite, and Chauncey Jerome Hamlin, Jr., an
aeronautical engineer. He graduated from Yale University in 1974 with
degrees in Drama and Psychology and was later awarded a Master of Fine
Arts in acting from The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.
Though awarded an ITT-Fullbright scholarship in acting in 1977 he opted
instead to make his feature film debut in Stanley Donen's comedy spoof
"Movie Movie" opposite George C. Scott for which he received his first
Golden Globe nomination. Best known for his roles a Perseus in "Clash
of the Titans" with Lawrence Olivier and Michael Kusac in the Emmy
winning TV series "LA Law", he is the son of Chauncey Jerome Hamlin Jr.
who helped design the Saturn V rocket with Dr.Wernher Von Braun at
Rocketdyne and North American Aviation. He is the grandson of
Chauncey Jerome Hamlin who founded the Buffalo Museum of Science in
Buffalo, New York. Chauncey Hamlin was also a president of the American
Association of Museums and created the International Council of
Museums.- Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
Cheryl Ladd is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series Charlie's Angels, whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 to replace Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Ladd remained on the show until its cancellation in 1981. Her film roles include Purple Hearts (1984), Millennium (1989), Poison Ivy (1992), Permanent Midnight (1998), and Unforgettable (2017).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Tony Danza is an American actor, perhaps best known for starring on some of television's most beloved and long-running series, including "Taxi" (1978-1983) and "Who's the Boss?" (1984-1992).
Danza was born in Brooklyn, New York to Anne (Cammisa), a bookkeeper, and Matty Iadanza, a garbageman. His mother was an Italian immigrant, and his father was also of Italian descent. He grew up in Malverne, Long Island and received a wrestling scholarship to the University of Dubuque in Iowa, where he earned a bachelor's degree in history education. Before finding a teaching job, he earned his living as a professional boxer and envisioned himself as the next Rocky Graziano. Changing his name to "Dangerous" Tony Danza, he entered the New York Golden Gloves in 1975. Shortly afterward, on Aug. 13, 1976, he started his professional boxing career. Fighting as a middleweight, Danza became a crowd favorite for his walk-in slugging style. He compiled a record of 9-3 with nine knockout victories, seven in the first round.
During a gym workout, Tony was discovered for the part of Tony Banta on the ABC TV show Taxi (1978). Danza still hoped to be a world champion and scored knockouts in 1978 and 1979, but when he was unable to secure a title shot, he retired from boxing and totally dedicated himself to his acting career. "Taxi" was critically acclaimed, earning him a place in television history and making him a household name. He followed "Taxi" with a starring role in the classic ABC comedy series Who's the Boss? (1984), which ran for eight seasons and broke all syndication records. He became known for his lovable sitcom persona.
Danza received an Emmy nomination for a guest-starring role in
The Practice (1997) and
acclaim for his performance in the Broadway revival of "The Iceman
Cometh" by Eugene O'Neill. He also starred in the comedy series
Hudson Street (1995) and
The Tony Danza Show (1997),
for which he was executive producer. His additional television credits
include an acclaimed performance opposite
George C. Scott and
Jack Lemmon in the remake of the
film classic
12 Angry Men (1997), and
the television movies
The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon (1998),
Noah (1998),
The Girl Gets Moe (1997),
North Shore Fish (1997),
and
Deadly Whispers (1995).
Among his
motion-picture credits are
Angels in the Outfield (1994),
She's Out of Control (1989),
A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998),
Glam (1997), and
Illtown (1996). He also wrote, directed,
and starred in the short film
Mamamia (1995).
Eventually Tony explored his love for the stage, and among his many stage credits is his exciting run on Broadway in Mel Brooks' hit musical "The Producers", playing Max Bialystock (2006-2007), and his reprise of the role in the Las Vegas production at Paris Las Vegas (2007).
For his theatrical debut in "Wrong Turn at Lungfish" (1993), he earned an Outer Critic's Circle Award nomination. Other stage credits include the critically acclaimed "The Iceman Cometh", opposite Kevin Spacey, Arthur Miller's Tony Award-winning play "A View from the Bridge", and "I Remember You". Most recently, Tony returned to the stage in the pre-Broadway run of the much-buzzed-about and highly-acclaimed smash hit musical "Honeymoon In Vegas", which he starred in at the Paper Mill Playhouse along with Tony Award nominee Rob McClure ("Chaplin"), and Brynn O'Malley ("Annie"). With music and lyrics by Tony Award winner, Jason Robert Brown ("Parade", "The Last Five Years"), the musical is written by Andrew Bergman ("Fletch", "The Freshman", "Blazing Saddles", "Soap Dish", "The In-Laws") and based on his hit Castle Rock/New Line comedy of the same title. Both the show and Tony's performance received amazing reviews, including a love letter from The New York Times that compares Tony's performance to "the cooler-than-cool spirit" of Frank Sinatra.
He garnered accolades performing in his song-and-dance stage show, which debuted in
Atlantic City in 1995. He later took it on the road to major venues throughout the
country, from Las Vegas to New York.
In 2013, Tony returned to the big screen and received great buzz and fantastic reviews for his performance as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character's father in Gordon-Levitt's much-buzzed-about and acclaimed directorial debut, "Don Jon". The film, which stars Gordon-Levitt, Danza, Julianne Moore, Brie Larson, and Scarlett Johansson, was released in theaters in the fall of 2013.
In 2009-2010, Tony took on his most challenging role yet: teaching tenth-grade English at Philadelphia's Northeast High School. His experience working as a real teacher was taped and aired on A&E last year in the form of the critically-acclaimed seven-part documentary series, Teach.
In September 2012, Crown Publishers (a division of Random House) released Tony's book, "I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High", a much-buzzed-about and critically acclaimed reflection of his experience teaching for a year. The book premiered on the New York Times Best Sellers list at number 16 and stayed on the list for two months. The paperback edition hit bookstores in September of 2013. In 2010, AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with more than 35 million readers, presented Tony with their Inspire Award. The Inspire Awards pay tribute to extraordinary people who inspire others to action through their innovative thinking, passion and perseverance. In December of 2012, Tony was among the iconic celebrities who participated in the Weinstein Company's historic concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief at Madison Square Garden. He was featured in the documentary about the concert, released by the Weinstein Company in the fall of 2013, in which Tony reminds people of the forgotten motto of America, "E pluribus unum", or "out of many one", or as Tony's father would say "we're all in this together, pal".
With great belief in the spirit of that motto, Tony participates in many charity efforts. In April 2013, USAToday honored Tony at their annual National Make A Difference Day Awards for his commitment to helping others through his numerous charity efforts.
Danza is married to Tracy Robinson and has three children.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Patti was 17 before her mother allowed her to appear in an Andy Warhol project. Her start in a lesbian love-scene in Flesh (1968), was followed by a string of movies with some degree of nudity included. Since then, she has steadily appeared in good supporting roles, only with a few time-outs, i.e. for bearing Don Johnson's son, Jesse Johnson.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Actress Pam Dawber grew up in a suburb of Detroit. Her career began to take off when a friend who was going to New York suggested that Pam accompany her and bring along her modeling portfolio to show various New York modeling agents. A pretty girl, Pam had done some modeling in Detroit, where she was attending Oakland Community College, and she had also worked as a model and singer at several auto trade shows. One of the top modeling agencies in New York, Wilhemina, signed Pam to an exclusive contract, and she was soon being seen in magazine advertisements and on TV commercials but was more interested in acting than in modeling. She began studying voice and acting. A leading role in a stock production of a musical comedy called "Sweet Adeline" at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut, led to her being auditioned for a major role on a new TV series, Tabitha (1976). To her disappointment, Pam did not get the part, but she did get an important role in the Robert Altman film A Wedding (1978) and, shortly afterward, signed an exclusive contract with ABC-TV. ABC cast Pam as the female lead in Mork & Mindy (1978) and her star has been riding high ever since. Pam returned to the stage and appeared in a revival of the musical "My Fair Lady," playing Eliza Doolittle. Her hobbies are canoeing, cooking, horseback riding, and swimming.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Character actor Stephen Tobolowsky was born on May 30, 1951 in Dallas, Texas. Over the past three decades, Tobolowsky has racked up a lengthy list of roles in movies and television across many different genres.
While Tobolowsky initially attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with the intention of studying geology, he was quickly drawn in to acting there. He later attended the University of Illinois for one year.
Tobolowsky worked primarily in theater during his early career, and wrote and directed a few plays including "Two Idiots in Hollywood" and "True Stories". His film career took off in the 1980s, though, thanks to roles in The Philadelphia Experiment (1984), Nobody's Fool (1986), Spaceballs (1987), and Mississippi Burning (1988). Since then, Tobolowsky has appeared in many popular movies including Bird on a Wire (1990), Basic Instinct (1992), Groundhog Day (1993), Radioland Murders (1994), Murder in the First (1995), Mr. Magoo (1997), The Insider (1999), Memento (2000), Freaky Friday (2003), Garfield: The Movie (2004) and Wild Hogs (2007). He has also done a substantial amount of voice work, most recently taking on the role of Uncle Ubb in The Lorax (2012).
Tobolowsky has been even more prolific in television over the past few decades. He's appeared on a diverse range of shows including Seinfeld (1989), Mad About You (1992), Chicago Hope (1994), The Practice (1997) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000), and has had recurring roles on CSI: Miami (2002), Deadwood (2004), Heroes (2006), Californication (2007) and Glee (2009).
Tobolowsky is married to fellow actor Ann Hearn.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Patrick Bergin has done more than 80 films and TV movies and is best known internationally for playing the menacing husband of Julia Roberts’ character in the thriller Sleeping With the Enemy, or for his role as an Irish terrorist alongside Harrison Ford in the film adaption of Patriot Games. He starred opposite Uma Thurman in the 1991 TV movie “Robin Hood,” playing the title role, and was a psychotic Provisional Irish Republican Army gunman in Johnny Was, with Vinnie Jones and Roger Daltrey. More recently Bergin appeared in Age of Kill, We Still Steal the Old Way, Free Fire, Black Bird and The Last Days of American Crime.
Bergin’s recent TV credits include guest leads on ITVs “Wild Bill” and Channel 4’s “No Offence,” as well as playing series regular Jim Tierney in the fourth series of “Red Rock” for TV3/ BBC One and Aidan Maguire in “EastEnders” for BBC One.- Actress
- Casting Department
- Soundtrack
Phyllis Smith is an American actress from Missouri who is known for playing Phyllis Vance from The Office and Sadness from Inside Out. She also acted in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and The OA. She also works for the casting department of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Spin City and Roswell.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Robert Davi is an award-winning actor, screenwriter, director, producer
and jazz vocalist.
From his portrayal of the opera singing baddie in "The Goonies" and one
of the most popular James Bond villains Franz Sanchez in "License to
Kill" to FBI Special Agent Big Johnson in "Die Hard" or Al Torres in
"Showgirls" to most recently Leo Marks in "The Iceman " Robert Davi is
one of the film industry's most recognized tough guys. He has also
starred in the small screen in hit shows like Profiler, Stargate
Atlantis, Criminal Minds and CSI. With over 140 film and TV credits he
has frightened us, romanced us, made us cry or split our seams
laughing. He is also one of the top vocalists of our day in
interpreting the Great American Songbook, thrilling audiences by
playing top venues like the Venetian in Las Vegas where he headlines or
for 10,000 people at the Harry Chapin Theater in East Meadow, Long
Island or the Orleans in Vegas where he gave 3 sellout shows with Don
Rickles. His debut album Davi Sings Sinatra- On the Road to Romance
produced by Phil Ramone shot to number 6 for more than several weeks on
Billboard's Jazz Charts.
In his early acting years, Davi attended Hofstra University on a drama
scholarship. He then moved to Manhattan, New York where he studied with
the legendary acting coach Stella Adler, who became his mentor. Davi
became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio, where he studied with
acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Always perfecting his craft, Davi studied
under Sandra Seacat, Larry Moss, Milton Katselas, Martin Landau, Mala
Powers and George Shdanoff, the creative partner and collaborator with
Michael Chekhov.
Robert Davi was born in Astoria, Queens, to Maria (Rulli) and Sal Davi.
His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother was of Italian
descent. Davi was introduced to film when he was cast opposite Frank
Sinatra in the telefilm, "Contract on Cherry Street." Later, his work
as a Palestinian terrorist in the award-winning television movie,
"Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami" brought him
critical acclaim and caught the eye of legendary James Bond producer
Albert R. Broccoli and writer Richard Maibaum, who cast Davi as
Colombian drug lord and lead villain Franz Sanchez in the Bond film
"License to Kill." Today, Davi is one of the top Bond villains of all
time ranking at the top on many lists. Davi also received critical
acclaim within the industry for his provocative portrayal of Bailey
Malone in "Profiler." The show struck a chord with audiences, paving
the way for such shows as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Without a
Trace," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Criminal Minds" and many
others. In 2004, Davi joined the cast of television's "Stargate:
Atlantis," which earned Davi many science fiction fans. He has also
shown his comedic strength in films such as "The 4th Tenor" with Rodney
Dangerfield and "The Hot Chick," produced by Rob Schneider and Adam
Sandler.
Having appeared in more than 100 motion pictures, some of Davi's most
notable film credits span 30 years and include cult-classics and
blockbuster hits with roles as Jake Fratelli in "The Goonies," Max
Keller in "Raw Deal," Special Agent Big Johnson in "Die Hard," Al
Torres in "Showgirls," Leo Marks in "The Iceman" with Michael Shannon,
Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, Chris Evans and James Franco, and most
recently, with Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger among a
large A-list cast in "Expendables 3." He has worked with such directors
as Steven Spielberg, Richard Donner, Blake Edwards, John McTiernan,
Paul Verhoeven and Patrick Hughes. In addition, he has worked on film
projects with acting talent such as Marlon Brando, Roberto Benigni,
Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, Christopher Walken, Benicio Del Toro,
Danny Glover and Catherine Zeta Jones, to name a few.
In 2007, Davi produced, directed, co-wrote, and starred in "The Dukes,"
which tells the story of a once-successful Doo Wop group who fall on
hard times. The film won nine awards including the coveted Coup de
Coeur award. Davi was also awarded Best First-time Director and Best
Screenplay in the Monte Carlo Festival of Comedy by the legendary
director Ettore Scola where Prince Albert presented him with the
awards. Davi was the only first-time director in the Premiere Section
of the International Rome Film Festival along with Sean Penn, Robert
Redford, Sidney Lumet, Julie Taymor and others.
In October of 2011, Davi released his debut album, Davi Sings Sinatra:
On the Road to Romance (produced by Grammy award-winning producer Phil
Ramone) to rave reviews. Within weeks of its highly anticipated
release, the album soared onto Billboard Magazine's Top 10 Jazz Chart
taking the number 6 spot for several weeks. In response to the release,
the legendary Quincy Jones stated, "As FS would say, 'Koo, Koo.' Wow! I
have never heard anyone come this close to Sinatra's sound - and still
be himself. Many try, but Robert Davi has the voice, tone, the flavor
and the swagger. What a surprise. He absolutely touched me down to my
soul and brought back the essence and soul of Ol' Blue Eyes himself."
In support of the album release, Davi is touring the U.S. with his live
stage show, receiving standing ovations. He has performed at The
Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas for a three-night engagement,
the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza with a 55-piece orchestra, the
National Italian-American Foundation's (NIAF) special tribute to the
25th anniversary of its Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank Sinatra at
the Washington Hilton in D.C., the Soboba Casino in San Jacinto,
Calif., with David Foster at the Beverly Hilton, and in August of 2013,
at Long Island's Eisenhower Park for more than 10,000 people. In
November of 2013, Davi released the Christmas single, "New York City
Christmas."
Besides working in film, television, and music and raising his five
children, four dogs and two cats, Davi keeps busy volunteering his time
with such charities as The Dream Foundation, Exceptional Children's
Foundation, Heart of a Child Foundation, the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Youth Foundation, The Humane Society of the United States,
Heart of a Horse, NIAF, The Order 'Sons of Italy' in America (OSIA),
and UNICO. Since its inception in 1998, Davi has been the National
Spokesperson for i-Safe America, which is regarded by many internet
experts as the most complete internet safety program in the country and
is available in grades K-12 in all 50 U.S. states.
Among his numerous awards for career achievement and community
involvement, Davi has received the George M. Estabrook Distinguished
Service Award from the Hofstra University Alumni Association (past
recipients include Francis Ford Coppola and William Safire). In 2000,
Davi was awarded the FBI's Man of the Year Award in Los Angeles. In
2004, Davi was named KNX radios' "Citizen of the Week" for saving a
young girl from a fire in her home. The same year, he also received the
Sons of Italy's Royal Court of the Golden Lion Award, including a
$20,000 donation to a foundation in which he is involved. In addition,
he received the 2004 STEP Award (Science, Technology and Education
Partnership). In 2007, Davi was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Italian Board of Governors in New York, where New York State
recognized his value as an artist and community leader. In 2008, he
received the Italo-Americano Award from the Capri-Hollywood Festival.
In 2011, Davi was awarded the "Military Order of the Purple Heart"
(MOPH) Special Recognition Award for dedication and service honoring
America's service members, veterans, and their families. In June of
2013, Davi was honored with a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in
Toronto, Canada.
Davi is on The Steering Committee for George Washington University's
Homeland Security Policy Institute and is the only entertainer among 28
members, which consists of mainly Senators and former heads of the FBI
and CIA. Davi has developed Civilian Patrol 93, which is at Homeland
Security, where a lesson plan is being written.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Malayalam film actor Mammootty was born to Ismail (an agriculturist) and Fatima (a homemaker). He has two younger brothers Ibrahim and Zakariah; and three sisters, Ameena, Sauda and Shafina. He did his schooling in St.Joseph's Thevara, Maharaja's College and then studied law at Ernakulam Government Law College. It was during his days at Maharajah's that he got his first role as an extra (junior artist) in Anubhavangal Paalichakal in 1971. Along with Mohanlal, he is a top star in the Malayalam film industry of South India.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Sandahl Bergman was born November 14, 1951 in Kansas City, Missouri.
She later graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie
Village, Kansas. She moved to New York City while she was in her
20's, and appeared in a number of Bob Fosse
productions. Her film debut was in his film
All That Jazz (1979). Sandahl went
on to appear in Xanadu (1980),
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
and Red Sonja (1985).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Offbeat character actor Tom Noonan, born in Connecticut on April 12, 1951, started off his career in various
theater troupes that utilized his skills as a guitarist and composer. A
graduate from Yale's acting school, he founded the Paradise Theatre in
1983, which was instrumental later in his growth as an artist.
Gravitating toward film and TV in the 80s, he began appearing regularly
in edgy, unsympathetic roles, most notably as the "Tooth Fairy" serial
killer in Manhunter (1986) which was the first feature length film to introduce
the infamous Hannibal Lector character. Most of his other work at this
time was solid but unrewarding, including such looming parts in
Easy Money (1983), Best Defense (1984), The Monster Squad (1987) and RoboCop 2 (1990), so he began to take classes in
writing and directing in order to extend himself.
In the mid-90s, by appearing in a number of mainstream parts, he was
able to finance his own first play-turned-art house film project
What Happened Was... (1994), which became the darling of the Sundance Film Festival that
year and won the Grand Jury Prize, not to mention an Independent Spirit
nomination. He filmed it in eleven days at a cost of $300,000, and
managed to edit it only hours before the Sundance deadline. The success
of the two character film, which starred Tom and Karen Sillas as an awkward
couple on their first date, induced Tom to finance another film,
The Wife (1995), based on his Obie-winning (for writing) play "Wifey", which
co-starred Tom with Julie Hagerty, Wallace Shawn and his one-time wife Karen Young.
This film, which was warmly received at the Sundance Festival as well,
was barely released theatrically, however, as was his third hands-on
feature Wang Dang (1999).
Notable 90s TV work included roles in The X-Files (1993) and the miniseries North & South: Book 3, Heaven & Hell (1994), in which he also composed the score. Into the millennium, Tom was seen in such films as The Egoists (2003), Madness and Genius (2003), Seraphim Falls (2006), The Alphabet Killer (2008), The House of the Devil (2009), Night of the Wolf (2014), The Shape of Something Squashed (2014) and Wonderstruck (2017). TV offerings included "CSI," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and recurring roles on Damages (2007) (as Detective Huntley), Hell on Wheels (2011) (as Reverend Cole) and 12 Monkeys (2015) (as Pallid Man).
The New York-based actor continues to perform as well as teach acting at the
Paradise Theatre, where many of his plays-turned-films got off the
ground. He has also written short works of fiction.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Didi Conn was born Edith Bernstein, July 13, 1951 in Brooklyn, New
York, she is memorable for her role as "Frenchy" in Grease. With over
40 film and television credits, we should acknowledge Didi's work in
The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980),
Grease 2 (1982), Benson,
Shining Time Station (1989),
and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
Since her son Daniel had been diagnosed with the disorder, on November
13, 2008, she was named "national celebrity spokesperson" for Autism
Speaks. She has made several appearances, educating the masses on the
disorder.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ellen Greene was performing as a nightclub singer in several New York City clubs and treading the boards in New York City theater before her friend and mentor, filmmaker Paul Mazursky cast her in her first motion picture, Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), she was awarded the part of Sarah, opposite Lenny Baker. Four years after she originated the role of Audrey, the lovably ditzy, golden-hearted, sweetest masochist in musical-comedy history in Howard Ashman's 1982 Off-Broadway play, The Little Shop of Horrors, the actress reprised the role in Frank Oz's film adaptation, Little Shop of Horrors (1986) (in which she starred opposite Rick Moranis and Steve Martin). Up to the present time, this is the actress's most talked-about and celebrated role.
A few years later, Greene starred in the American drama film Talk Radio (1988), she played the part of Ellen, opposite Eric Bogosian and Alec Baldwin. Aside from the actress's work in these two motion pictures, and ABC's fantasy mystery comedy-drama television series, Pushing Daisies (2007), in which she and Swoosie Kurtz play Lily and Vivian Charles, the agoraphobic sisters. Greene has also provided her talent to Law & Order (1990), The X-Files (1993), Heroes (2006), and The Young and the Restless (1973).
In July 2015, Greene brought back Audrey for a two-night revival of Little Shop of Horrors at New York City Center. She starred opposite Jake Gyllenhaal (who replaced Moranis). The revival received rave reviews, and according to The New York Times, when Greene made her entrance on stage, she received the kind of entrance applause you might imagine greeting the resurrection of Maria Callas at the Metropolitan Opera for a beyond-the-grave performance of "Norma."- Actor
- Soundtrack
Terrence Vaughn Mann was born to Charles and Helen Mann in Ashland, Kentucky on
July 1, 1951. Terry left Jacksonville University after two years there
(1969-1971), and later graduated with honors from the North Carolina
School for the Arts (1971-73, 1975-76). During his first summer in
Paul Green's outdoor drama, "The Lost Colony", Terry was Ira David Wood III's
understudy for the role of Old Tom. Terry eventually took over the
role. Terry became the Children's Theatre Director for Raleigh, North
Carolina's Theatre In The Park when David Wood broadened the theatre's
scope. While at TIP, Terry appeared in a number of main stage
productions including "A Christmas Carol", "The Taming of the Shrew"
and "Romeo & Juliet". After spending a couple of years performing at
the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Terry moved to New York and
landed a spot in the chorus of "Barnum", directed by Joe Layton
(Director of The Lost Colony.) Shortly thereafter, he auditioned for
the role of Rum Tum Tugger in "Cats", and a star was born.
Terry spent the rest of the 1980s starring in such films as Critters (1986) and
A Chorus Line (1985), making television guest appearances on shows like The Equalizer (1985) and
various soap operas, and originating such roles as Saul in "Rags" and
Javert in "Les Miserables".
Terry is happily married to his second wife, a fellow Broadway veteran,
Charlotte d'Amboise. For the past ten years, he seems to have switched his focus to
directing and TV movies, and has honed his talents by starring as the
Beast in the Broadway production of "Beauty & the Beast" and Chauvelin
in "The Scarlet Pimpernel". For a time, he served as Artistic Director
for The North Carolina Theatre, based in Raleigh. Terry is currently
working on a rock musical version of William Shakespeare's classic, "Romeo &
Juliet". He has served as Director of "The Lost Colony" for the past
two summers.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
An internationally famous and well respected bodybuilder / actor, Lou
Ferrigno first appeared on TV screens in 1977 as the musclebound title character of
The Incredible Hulk (1977),
the alter ego of meek scientist David Banner. Ferrigno was born in
Brooklyn, New York, in 1951 and as a child suffered from an ear
infection that resulted in permanent partial hearing loss. Undeterred
by what some may have perceived as a disadvantage, Lou threw himself
into athletics (predominantly weightlifting and body building) and at
the age of 21 won his first Mr. Universe title. For good measure, he
came back and won it again the following year!
He also played professional football in the Canadian Football League,
before coming to the attention of producer
Kenneth Johnson, who was seeking
just the right person to portray on screen the comic book superhero,
The Incredible Hulk. With his 6' 5", 285 lb. frame, Lou was the biggest
professional bodybuilder of the time, and had recently starred in the
documentary Pumping Iron (1977),
about the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest in South Africa. He successfully
auditioned for the part of the green-skinned Goliath, and that is the
role with which he is most closely identified.
"The Hulk" was a huge ratings success and spawned several telemovies
after the initial TV series completed its run. Lou continued to remain
busy in films and TV with appearances often centered around his
remarkable physique. His films included
Hercules (1983),
Sinbad of the Seven Seas (1989)
and Frogtown II (1992). Lou has
additionally guest-starred on several TV shows including
The Fall Guy (1981) and
The New Mike Hammer (1984) and had a
recurring role on
The King of Queens (1998).
In 1997 he was featured in the dynamic documentary about his
sensational return to professional bodybuilding at age 43,
Stand Tall (1997). The film detailed
how he returned to compete in the Masters category of the Mr. Olympia
contest against several familiar bodybuilding foes. In more recent
years, he has appeared in several films, including
The Misery Brothers (1995),
Ping! (2000),
From Heaven to Hell (2002)
and a cameo as a security guard in the big-budget remake of
Hulk (2003).
Big Lou is also a successful author with two books detailing his
bodybuilding knowledge, and his life behind the scenes playing the
Incredible Hulk on TV in the 1970s, plus he has a popular website
frequented by his many fans worldwide.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gavan O'Herlihy was born on 29 July 1951 in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. He was an actor, known for The Descent: Part 2 (2009), Willow (1988) and Never Say Never Again (1983). He was married to Juliette. He died on 15 September 2021 in Bath, England, UK.