Czech-American celebrities
Celebrities of Czech ancestry.
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- Ray Baker was born in Omaha, grew up in Colorado, and graduated from the University of Denver. In 1970 he moved to the East Coast, and began his acting career doing improvisational theater in Boston and New York. During 19 years in New York City, he appeared on Broadway in such productions as "Crimes of the Heart", "Is There Life After High School?", "Torch Song Trilogy", among others. He also appeared in many in off-Broadway shows, among them "The Proposition" and "Character Lines". He moved to Los Angeles in 1989, where he now lives, and works as an actor in movies and TV.
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Scott Stewart Bakula was born on October 9, 1954 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Sally (Zumwinkel) and J. Stewart Bakula, a lawyer. He is of German, as well as Czech, Austrian, Scottish and English ancestry. He comes from a musical family. In the fourth grade, he started a rock band and wrote songs for them, he later sang with the St. Louis Symphony. He studied Law at the University of Kansas until his sophomore year when he left to pursue acting. In 1976, he was first hired professionally in the role of Sam in "Shenandoah" and went to New York. After several small roles on television, he starred opposite Dean Stockwell in the science fiction series Quantum Leap (1989). Bakula played Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who was trapped by a malfunction of his time machine to correct things gone wrong in the past. He won a Golden Globe in 1992 for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series - Drama for Quantum Leap (1989) and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1988. He also starred in the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) as Jonathan Archer, the captain of Earth's first long-range starship. Today, he lives in Los Angeles, California and has a farm in upstate New York.- Actress
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Karen entered Northwestern University at 18 and left two years later. She studied under Lee Strasberg in New York and worked in a number of off-Broadway roles. She made a critically acclaimed debut on Broadway in 1965 in "The Playroom". Her first big film role was in You're a Big Boy Now (1966), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Shortly after wards, she appeared as Marcia in the TV series The Second Hundred Years (1967).
The film that made her a star was Easy Rider (1969), where she worked with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and a supporting actor named Jack Nicholson. She appeared with Nicholson again the next year when they starred in Five Easy Pieces (1970), which garnered an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Karen. Her roles mainly consisted of waitresses, hookers and women on the edge. Some of her later films were disappointments at the box office, but she did receive another Golden Globe for The Great Gatsby (1974). One role for which she is well remembered is that of the jewel thief in Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot (1976). Another is as the woman terrorized in her apartment by a murderous Zuni doll come to life in the well received TV movie Trilogy of Terror (1975). After a number of forgettable movies, she again won rave reviews for her role in Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). Since then, her film career has been busy, but the quality of the films has been uneven.- Director
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Director Noel Black was born on June 30, 1937, in Chicago, Illinois. He has a B.A. and Masters degree in Film from UCLA. His directing "debut" was with Skaterdater (1966), an 18-minute short that used only music and sound effects to advance the plot. Initially winning the Grand Prix and the Golden Palm Awards at the Cannes Film Festival, the picture went on to win more international film awards in 1966 and 1967 than any other American film. Black is best known for the his first feature-length film, Pretty Poison (1968), regarded by many as a film-noir classic, which starred Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld.- Anthony Booth was born on 9 October 1931 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Corruption (1968), Till Death Us Do Part (1965) and The Hi-Jackers (1963). He was married to Stephanie Buckley, Nancy Jaeger, Patricia Phoenix and Gale Booth. He died on 25 September 2017 in Todmorden, Yorkshire, England, UK.
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Kristin Booth is a versatile performer experienced in film, television and theatre.
Booth's feature film credits include several Toronto International Film Festival film selections, including Defendor (2009) and This Beautiful City (2007); as well as the heist thriller, Foolproof (2003), opposite Ryan Reynolds, On the Line (2001), Detroit Rock City (1999), Gossip (2000), Cruel Intentions 2 (2000) and Kardia (2006).
Kristin won her first Gemini Award in 2005, for her guest performance in the ReGenesis (2004) episode, Spare Parts (2004). She received her second Gemini Award nomination, for her portrayal of "Connie Lewis", in the new CBC series, M.V.P. (2008), which also aired on ABC Soapnet. Other television include: American Wife (2010), TNT's six-part mini-series, The Company (2007), opposite Chris O'Donnell and Alessandro Nivola, Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (2006), Kaw (2006), Burn: The Robert Wraight Story (2003), Salem Witch Trials (2002), The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer (1999), A Tale of Two Bunnies (2000), Jewel (2001) and Sleep Murder (2004), opposite Jason Priestley. She has also had lead roles in the series, The Newsroom (1996), Daring & Grace: Teen Detectives (2000), and has guest-starred in various series, including Supernatural (2005), 1-800-Missing (2003), This Is Wonderland (2004), Traders (1996), La Femme Nikita (1997), Puppets Who Kill (2002) and Show Me Yours (2004), among others. Kristin also starred in the pilot, My Best Friend's Girl (2008), for CBS.
On stage, Kristin appeared with the prestigious "Soulpepper Theatre Company", garnering rave reviews for her portrayal of "Olivia" in "Twelfth Night". She was welcomed back to the company to play the title role in Ferenc Molnár's "Olympia".
Most recently, Kristin appeared in her recurring role on The Border (2008), guest-starred on Rookie Blue (2010) for ABC, Flashpoint (2008) for CBS and CTV (third Gemini nomination), and The Listener (2009) for NBC and CTV. She also appeared in two independent Canadian features, At Home by Myself... with You (2009), for which she was nominated for a 2010 ACTRA award and Crackie (2009). Next up for this busy actor, starring opposite Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker, in Thom Fitzgerald's feature film, Cloudburst (2011). Ms. Booth also voices the lead character in the animated series, Producing Parker (2009), alongside Kim Cattrall (Fourth Gemini Nomination). She recently starred, opposite Alyssa Milano, in Lifetime's Sundays at Tiffany's (2010), based on the book by NYT best-selling author, James Patterson, and portrays Ethel Kennedy in the controversial mini-series, The Kennedys (2011), opposite Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Tom Wilkinson and Barry Pepper.- Actor
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Zachary Booth was born on 12 September 1982 in the USA. He is an actor, known for Keep the Lights On (2012), Damages (2007) and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008).- Actor
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Incisive, gravelly-voiced screen tough guy Powers Boothe was born on June 1, 1948 in Snyder, Texas, a sharecropper's son. Used to hard physical work "chopping cotton" as a youngster, he went on to become the first member of his family to attend university. He then proceeded to study acting via a fellowship with Southern Methodist University and graduated with a degree in Fine Arts. His performing career began in repertory with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
In 1974, Boothe arrived in New York after theatrical stints in Connecticut and Philadelphia. It took another five years before he made his breakthrough on Broadway as a swaggering Texas cowboy in James McLure's comedy play "Lone Star". His Emmy-winning performance as Reverend Jim Jones in the miniseries Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) led to a permanent move to Los Angeles. Lucrative screen offers followed and Boothe became firmly established as a leading actor after being well cast as Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983), HBO's first drama series, set in 1930s Los Angeles.
Though his portfolio of characters would eventually comprise assorted sheriffs, military brass and FBI agents, Boothe appreciated the indisputable fact that bad guys were often the "last in people's minds" and playing them could be "more fun". Arguably, his most convincing (and oddly likeable) villain was snarling gunslinger Curly Bill Brocius, confronting the Earps in Tombstone (1993). He went on to tackle such complex characters as White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig in Oliver Stone's Nixon (1995), hawkish Vice President Noah Daniels on 24 (2001) and industrialist power broker Lamar Wyatt in Nashville (2012).
One of his best remembered roles remains that of Cy Tolliver, the (fictional) owner of the (historical) Bella Union saloon and brothel, chief nemesis of Al Swearingen on HBO's Deadwood (2004). Boothe particularly enjoyed his lengthy soliloquies which reminded him of his time on the Shakespearean stage. The tall Texan with the penetrating eyes was rather gleefully (and enjoyably) over-the-top fiendish as Senator Roark in the post film noir Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) and managed (at least near the end) to inject some humanity into the role of Gideon Malick, the sinister head of HYDRA, in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013).
As is so often the case with actors of the 'hard-boiled school', Boothe has often been described as the very antithesis of the characters he essayed on screen. Sin City director Robert Rodriguez fittingly eulogised him as "a towering Texas gentleman and world class artist". Powers Boothe died in his sleep, in Los Angeles, at age 68 on the morning of May 14, 2017 of a heart attack after battling pancreatic cancer for six months.- Cliff Carpenter was born on 2 March 1915 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Synecdoche, New York (2008), Blazing Barriers (1937) and Coronet Blue (1967). He was married to Pauline. He died on 9 January 2014 in Pawling, New York, USA.
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Sabrina Carpenter has enchanted an audience of millions as a singer, songwriter, actress and style icon. With her music, she has delivered one anthem after another on stage and in the studio, earning multiple gold certifications, and performing to sold out crowds across the United States and internationally. On-screen, she has generated mega-fandom through starring roles on television and film.
Sabrina had her first leading role in the 2019 movie The Short History of the Long Road, which premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival to rave reviews and earned her the Jury Award for "Best Performance" at the 2019 SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Sabrina also executive produced and led the cast of Netflix's Work It which debuted at #1 on the platform upon its release in 2020. In the same year, she made her Broadway debut starring in Mean Girls. Carpenter then starred in Justin Baldoni's Warner Bros feature Clouds (Disney+). Most recently, she co-starred in the thriller film Emergency (Amazon Prime), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Sabrina's growing musical catalog encompasses multiple gold singles and acclaimed album releases. She is signed to Island Records, where she recently released a multitude of hit singles: "Skin," "Skinny Dipping," "Fast Times," "Vicious," and "Nonsense." She debuted her acclaimed fifth studio album, emails i can't send, which appeared on many "Best Of 2022" lists including Rolling Stone and Billboard. Of her music, Time Magazine wrote "she's one to watch" and V Magazine added "(with) successful pop albums and a hard-hitting social commentary under her belt, Carpenter's career has matured faster than many of her Disney-bred predecessors."
In addition to her growing list of acting and music credits, she was selected for Forbes' prestigious "30 Under 30" list. Following a sold-out concert tour of the US in 2022, Sabrina will be out headlining venues around the US in 2023.- Anna Maria Chlumsky is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, best known playing the lead role of Vada Sultenfuss in My Girl (1991) and its 1994 sequel. Between 1999 and 2005, Chlumsky's career entered a hiatus while she attended college. She returned to acting with roles in several independent films, including Blood Car (2007) and In the Loop (2009). From 2012 to 2019 Chlumsky portrayed Amy Brookheimer on the HBO television series Veep, for which she has received six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Chlumsky was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Nancy (née Zuncic), a singer, actress, and former flight attendant, and Frank Chlumsky Jr., a chef and saxophone player. She was raised in a Roman Catholic family. Chlumsky is of Czech and Croatian descent.
Chlumsky entered show business at an early age, modeling with her mother in an advertising campaign, though her roles in My Girl (1991) and My Girl 2 (1994) brought her fame. She also starred in Trading Mom (1994) alongside Sissy Spacek, as well as in Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain (1995) with Christina Ricci. In the mid to late 1990s, she appeared or starred in several television films and series.
Chlumsky appeared as Mary Calvin in a season 17 episode of Law & Order, first airing on January 12, 2007; and as Lisa Klein in a season 20 episode, first airing March 15, 2010. In March 2007, she appeared in the 30 Rock episode "The Fighting Irish" as Liz Lemler, a romantic rival of protagonist Liz Lemon, who receives flowers meant for Lemler. Chlumsky was in four episodes of the ABC dramedy Cupid in 2009. Later that year, she starred in the Lifetime Television movie 12 Men of Christmas as Jan Lucas.
She starred in the Off Broadway production of Unconditional by Brett C. Leonard at The Public Theater, which opened on February 2008; it was produced by the LAByrinth Theater Company, She also starred in Lanford Wilson's Balm in Gilead in November 2005 at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City.
In 2009, she appeared in Armando Iannucci's BBC Films political satire In The Loop, co-starring with Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Chris Addison, James Gandolfini, and Mimi Kennedy, a quasi-spin-off of Iannucci's BBC TV series The Thick of It. She plays Liza, a State Department assistant in the movie. From 2012, Chlumsky has played Amy Brookheimer, aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character in HBO's Veep, also produced by Iannucci. In June 2012, she starred in the world premiere of David Adjmi's 3C at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York.
Dan Aykroyd, who played her father in the two My Girl films, has said that a script for a third film has been in development since 2003. In April 2012, Chlumsky "put to rest" any rumors that such a film was in development. In addition to her role on Veep, Chlumsky has appeared in multiple television series between 2011 and 2013, including White Collar, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and NBC's adaptation of Hannibal.
Chlumsky has appeared on Broadway in You Can't Take It with You, and beginning in April 2015 as editor Iris Peabody in the comedy Living on Love, with Renee Fleming, Jerry O'Connell and Douglas Sills.
In 2017, Chlumsky appeared in the fourth season of AMC Networks' Halt and Catch Fire as Dr. Katie Herman, the love interest of Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy).
In October 2019, Chlumsky was cast in a main role, alongside Julia Garner in the Shonda Rhimes' upcoming Netflix limited drama series, Inventing Anna. - Ashley Crow holds an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and a BFA from Auburn University. In addition to playing the title role of Rita in Prelude To a Kiss on Broadway, she also performed in New York Shakespeare Festival's productions of Coriolanus with Christopher Walken and Irene Worth and in Twelfth Night with F. Murray Abraham at the Delacourte Theatre in Central Park. Additional theatre credits include work at Naked Angels Theatre Company, Playwright's Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, and Circle Repertory.
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Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American musician, actress and singer from Kennett, Missouri. She is known for multi-genre songs such as "Soak Up the Sun", "Real Gone", "All I Wanna Do", "Tomorrow Never Dies", "Picture" and "My Favorite Mistake". Her songs can be heard in films such as Cars, Kangaroo Jack, Tomorrow Never Dies and many more.- Actor
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Don DeFore toured the country in stock companies for several years before making his Broadway debut in 1938. In films since 1941, he occasionally played leads in B pictures, but was more often cast as the good-natured buddy of the hero or a likable but gullible character whom the hero has to bail out of trouble. DeFore found much more success on television, and was a regular in the hit series Hazel (1961) and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952).- Actress
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As an actress, Susan Rubes has enjoyed a Broadway career where she won the Donaldson Award for best supporting actress in 1946. Breaking into American TV she played the character "Kathy" for 10 years on the daytime drama, Guiding Light (1952). Moving to Canada with her actor husband, Jan Rubes, she continued her acting career and also found time to return time to her profession by founding the Young Peoples Theatre in 1965. In 1979, she became head of Radio Drama for C.B.C. (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) Drama Canada. She was a Board member of the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto and the Ontario Arts Council. She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1977 and was Woman of the Year of the Toronto B'nai Brith in 1979.- Actor
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Colin Fox was born on 20 November 1938 in Aldershot, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor, known for Tommy Boy (1995), Daylight (1996) and Virus (1980). He was previously married to Carol Bermingham.- Actor
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Matthew Chandler Fox was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. His mother, Loretta B. (Eagono), was a schoolteacher, and his father, Francis G. Fox, was a consultant for an oil company, who raised longhorn cattle and horses and grew barley for Coors beer. He has Italian (from his maternal grandfather), English, and Irish ancestry. Matthew entered the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts for a post-grad year after high school, and then matriculated at Columbia University where he played football and majored in Economics with the intent to end up on Wall Street. However, his girlfriend's mother was a modeling agent who convinced him to try some modeling which led to a couple of TV commercials. Soon after he was sold on acting.
He made his debut on an episode of _"Wings"(1990)_ in 1992. From 1994 to 2000 he played the role of Charlie Salinger in Party of Five (1994) alongside Neve Campbell and Scott Wolf. From 2004 to 2010 he starred on the popular TV-Show Lost (2004). During this time he appeared in movies such as We Are Marshall (2006), Vantage Point (2008) and Speed Racer (2008).
He has been married to his wife Margherita since 1992 and they 2 children together, a daughter and a son.- Actor
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Peter Fox is also a writer whose play Acts Of God was recently published by Samuel French Co. He has also written and directed the CINE Golden Eagle Award winning short film "The Sorrowful Mysteries Of Boomer Pastor". Peter was a member of the Alliance Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles where he served as the Artistic Director for 16 years while also teaching directing at UCLA. He is a graduate of Harvard University with a concentration in Anthropology. He now lives in Ojai where he has been a member of both Theater 150 and The Art Center Theater. You can see his art work at www.peterfoxart.com .- Actress
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Cassidy Freeman (born April 22, 1982, in Chicago, IL) is an American actress and musician. She is known for her role as Tess Mercer in The CW's superhero drama "Smallville" (2001) and Cady Longmire in "Longmire" (2012). Her parents are prominent attorneys, who also own a cattle ranch in Montana. She is the youngest of three children, brothers voice actor Crispin Freeman and musician Clark Freeman.- Actor
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Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Griffin began performing in local theater at the age of seven, and by age 13 was working consistently in commercial projects. Throughout middle and high school, Griffin continued to perform on stage in musicals, dramas and improv, and developed a love for filmmaking, filming and editing music videos for local bands and rappers, and writing, directing, editing and starring in short films. His drama, Sitting on the Fence (2011), was an official selection at the Macon Film Festival in 2011, and in 2013, his short film, Self Portrait, was the first short film ever awarded "Superior" at the Georgia Thespian Conference and was invited to compete at the national level.
As a high school sophomore, Griffin earned top honors as the Georgia State Champion-and went on to become a top 15 national finalist-in Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation competition.
While continuing to successfully balance his professional acting career with being a full time public school student, Griffin starred in several independent films, and made his television debut in 2012, guest starring in the hit NBC series Revolution (2012). He also held a guest star role in a CBS pilot, The Surgeon General (2013), starring Jason Isaacs, which never made it on CBS' season roster. In 2013, Griffin graduated cum laude from Chattahoochee High School and moved to LA to fully commit to his acting and filmmaking.
Griffin will hit the big screen this year, starring in three feature films including a lead role in the independent horror film, Case#13 (2014), a supporting role in the crime drama Term Life (2016) with Vince Vaughn and Hailee Steinfeld, and work in Cell (2016), the Stephen King thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack.
Griffin splits his time between LA and Atlanta, where he lives with his mom and dad, younger brother, Charlie, and brilliantly talented dog, Zoe.- Actor
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Jonathan Freeman is an American actor, puppeteer and singer who is known for voicing Jafar from Disney's Aladdin franchise. He portrayed Jafar in four animated films, five video games including Kingdom Hearts, an animated series, a 2011 Broadway musical and other Aladdin media. He also did the puppeteering and voice for Tito Swing from Shining Time Station.- Lindsay Frost was born on 4 June 1962 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for The Ring (2002), Collateral Damage (2002) and Dead Heat (1988). She has been married to Rick Giolito since 12 November 1988. They have two children.
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Scott Ganyo began performing at a young age with dance and violin recitals, but he soon moved to stage plays and musicals. At Millikin University, he initially studied music and toured with the University Choir before later graduating with a computer programming degree. Scott has performed on stage and screen from Indianapolis to Los Angeles with such career highlights as performing improv for Comedy Sportz and making an appearance in The Dark Knight. Scott now lives on the Oregon coast where he focuses on acting, writing, and producing entertainment.- Nick Gehlfuss can currently be seen in his lead role on NBC's hit show "Chicago Med". Gehlfuss has had recurring roles on "Shameless", "The Newsroom", and "Power", as well as guest spots on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", "The Good Wife", "Person of Interest", and "Royal Pains". He made his stage debut in New York in the Classic Stage Company's production of "Midsummer Night's Dream" as Lysander, starring opposite Bebe Neuwirth and Christina Ricci, and received the prestigious Rosemarie Tichler award for outstanding performance in a play. In Los Angeles, he starred in Neil LaBute's "Reasons to Be Pretty" at the Geffen Playhouse.
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While he's never been a typical leading man, Crispin Glover has distinguished himself as one of the most intriguing personalities in the movie business. His unusual characters and personal projects have inspired a cult-like following that has dubbed him both madman and genius.
The son of actress and dancer Betty Glover and actor Bruce Glover, Crispin Hellion Glover was born in New York City and raised in Southern California. He was named after the Saint Crispin's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V. His middle name, Hellion, was also used by his father. Crispin picked up his father's trade while still in elementary school--by age thirteen, he already had an agent scouting out parts. A lead in a stage production of "The Sound of Music" (starring Florence Henderson) led to guest spots on the TV shows Happy Days (1974), Hill Street Blues (1981) and Family Ties (1982), which in turn led to roles in made-for-TV movies. The adolescent Glover felt "confined" by TV work, however, so he opted to stick to movie parts. He made his big-screen debut in the teen hi-jinx movie in My Tutor (1983), then followed up with a supporting role in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984).
Glover's most defining Hollywood moment happened the next year, when he appeared as George McFly (Michael J. Fox's father) in the instant classic Back to the Future (1985). The underdog character struck a chord with moviegoers. Oddly enough, the actor delivered one of his favorite performances around the same time--playing a small-town kid obsessed with Olivia Newton-John in the indie The Orkly Kid (1985)--but the smaller film was completely overshadowed by his commercial success. Glover did, however, receive critical praise for his next indie role, a starring turn as a high-strung murder witness in River's Edge (1986). Glover and the producers did not come to a financial agreement for him to reprise the role of George McFly in Back to the Future Part II (1989). The producers brought the character back to life by splicing together archived footage and new scenes (using an actor in prosthetic makeup). Glover, who hadn't given permission for his likeness to be used, sued the film's producer, Steven Spielberg, and won. The case prompted the Screen Actors Guild to devise new regulations about the use of actors' images.
In 1990 Glover teamed up with fellow eccentric David Lynch to play the maniacal Cousin Dell in Wild at Heart (1990). He filled the next decade with similarly quirky, peripheral roles, including a turn as Andy Warhol in The Doors (1991) and a cameo as a train fireman in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1995). His small but memorable appearances in films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) and The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) often outshone the main action.
When he's not stealing scenes from Hollywood hotshots, Glover pours his considerable energy into other creative endeavors. He wrote his first book, "Billow Rock", before age 18, and since then he's gone on to create a library of peculiar titles (several of which have been published through his family's Volcanic Eruptions press). Among his most famous volumes are "Rat Catching" and "Oak-Mot", both Victorian-era stories updated with macabre illustrations and cut-up text. In 1989 he released an album of spoken word readings and cover tunes (including a rendition of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'") entitled "The Big Problem [does not equal] the Solution. The Solution = Let it be."
In 1995 Glover began shooting his directorial debut, What Is It? (2005), a surreal film populated entirely by actors with Down's Syndrome. He tours with the film and its sequel It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007) and his show, "Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slide Show," which is a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books. The artist in Glover has been said to be inspired by "the aesthetic of discomfort," a theme which seems to have been carried over into an artistic public performance on David Letterman's NBC show in 1987, Glover emerged wearing a wig and platform shoes, then delivered a swift kick toward Letterman's head that prompted the producers to cut to a commercial. Late 2000 saw him hitting the multiplex with roles in Nurse Betty (2000) and Charlie's Angels (2000), and the titular Willard (2003). He re-teamed with Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis as Grendel in Beowulf (2007) and has worked with Johnny Depp for the third time in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010). Other Glover projects loom on the not-too-distant horizon.- Actress
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Auburn haired Kerri Green was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA on 14 January 1967. In 1984, Kerri decided to skip summer camp and attend some movie auditions in New York City instead. This led her to the attention of none other than Steven Spielberg, who cast her as Andy in Richard Donner's adventure movie The Goonies (1985), which was one of the biggest hits of 1985. Also that year, she played one of John Candy's three children in the movie Summer Rental (1985). However, she gave her most accomplished performance in David Seltzer's Lucas (1986) - Corey Haim was the title character, a bespectacled, intelligent and unpopular 14-year-old misfit, who befriends 16-year-old Maggie, played brilliantly by Kerri, who Lucas soon falls in love with. However, Maggie has fallen for handsome football hero Cappie (Charlie Sheen), which breaks Lucas' heart. A heartwarming, realistic and enjoyable teen movie, Lucas also featured Ally McBeal star Courtney Thorne-Smith and, making her film debut, Winona Ryder. Kerri was reunited with Charlie Sheen for 1987's road movie Three for the Road (1987), in which she played Robin, the rebellious daughter of a ruthless senator. Following the release of that movie, Kerri decided to quit acting and studied art at Vassar College. Audiences didn't see her again until the TV movie Blue Flame (1993). She received critical acclaim for her direction of the film Bellyfruit (1999). Her marriage in the 90s has led to her now being credited as "Kerri Lee Green" and she now only pops up now and then on television - most notably in an episode of "ER" as a mother of several children, who tearfully wants to terminate her latest pregnancy.- Producer
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Tom Green was born on 30 July 1971 in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. He is a producer and actor, known for Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Charlie's Angels (2000) and Road Trip (2000). He was previously married to Drew Barrymore.- Daniel "Danny" Greene grew up in Miami, Florida with a loving and supportive mom, dad and sis. He played sports year round, attended Florida State University on a football scholarship and is a die hard Seminole for life. For part of his Jr year, he lived in Florence, Italy on the FSU Foreign Study Program, ultimately graduating with a B.A. degree in International Affairs. Traveling throughout Western Europe on a Eurail pass was amazing! Hollywood beckoned and Danny's rugged good looks launched his success in television and film. Numerous guest starring roles on TV shows led to a big break on Falcon Crest and then starring roles in action-adventure films shot on location in Yugoslavia, Argentina, Italy, Zimbabwe, Russia, South Africa, Jamaica and China. Seeing the world and enjoying the different cultures was the experience of a lifetime. Some of his most memorable times as an actor have been working with the very creative Farrelly Brothers.
Danny took on his best role ever when he married the love of his life, former actress LaGena Lookabill in 1990. Home now is in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina. - Actor
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Born in Santa Monica, California, USA, Richard Hatch was studying classical piano at the age of eight, and knew he wanted to carve out a career as a performer before he reached his teens. After attending Harbor College in San Pedro, he joined a Los Angeles repertory company with which he traveled to New York City in 1967. He performed in the plays "Song of Walt Whitman", "Young Rebels" and a production called "Exercise", which Richard directed. Richard was cast as the original "Philip Brent" in the soap All My Children (1970) in 1970. He later played "Inspector Dan Robbins" on the television series The Streets of San Francisco (1972). Richard Hatch is best remembered for his portrayal of "Apollo" on the series, Battlestar Galactica (1978).- Actor
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Bernard Hill is an English actor. He is well recognized for playing King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Captain Edward Smith in Titanic, and Luther Plunkitt, the Warden of San Quentin Prison in the Clint Eastwood film True Crime. Hill was also known for playing roles in television dramas, including Yosser Hughes, the troubled "hard man" whose life is falling apart in Alan Bleasdale's groundbreaking Boys from the Blackstuff in the 1980s, and more recently, as the Duke of Norfolk in the BBC adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.- Actor
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Craig Hill was born on 5 March 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), All About Eve (1950) and Flight That Disappeared (1961). He was married to Teresa Gimpera. He died on 21 April 2014 in Barcelona, Spain.- Actress
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January Jones was born on January 5, 1978 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She is the daughter of Karen Sue (née Cox), a sporting goods store manager, and Marvin Roger Jones, a gym teacher and fitness director. She is of Czech, Danish, English, Welsh, and German ancestry. She was named after the character January Wayne in Jacqueline Susann's potboiler novel turned film, Once Is Not Enough (1975). She has two sisters, Jacey Jones and Jina Jones].
Her family moved to the small town of Hecla, South Dakota, with a population of just some 400 souls in 1979, when she was one year old; they moved back to Sioux Falls in 1986. After graduating from Roosevelt High School, she moved to New York City to become a model. Despite her stature (5'6", which is short for a fashion model), she got modeling gigs, including Abercrombie & Fitch ads. However, modeling was just a means to an end, to get out of South Dakota and avoid going to college.
She got her first taste of acting from TV commercials and found that she had flair for it, even though she did not act in high school and had no training. January appeared in a couple of television pilots and a cable television series before making her big screen debut in All the Rage (1999), an indie that never got a real release. She followed it up with a small role in the teen thriller The Glass House (2001). Her actual debut in the sense of attracting attention was in the near silent role of the beauty who entices Jane Fonda's son, Troy Garity, in the Bruce Willis-Cate Blanchett-Billy Bob Thornton comedy Bandits (2001). It was not a career-making part. At the time the movie was released, she was ending a three-year relationship with Ashton Kutcher.
Small roles followed, including a "don't blink or you won't see me" part in the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson comedy Anger Management (2003). She gained some career traction with a good role in another comedy, American Wedding (2003), a sequel to American Pie (1999). Until she landed the part on Mad Men (2007), which made its debut on AMC in 2007, her career was steady but undistinguished. "I choose roles that are not me", January has said. The role of Betty Draper has garnered her two Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy nomination as Best Actress. Her cool, Grace Kelly-ish blonde ice queen looks -- counterpointed by her soul burning in her bright blue eyes -- have established her as a retro icon of the 21st Century.- Actor
- Producer
Andrew Keegan was born in Shadow Hills, California. He was first recognized for his gregarious performance of teen rebel "Zack Dell in the cult-classic film Camp Nowhere (1994). Barely in high school, Roland Emmerich cast Keegan in the blockbuster Independence Day (1996). After an immediate rise in popularity, the charismatic actor guest-starred on many hit shows before being cast on the TV drama Party of Five (1994). That same year, he landed another recurring role on 7th Heaven (1996), the WB's longest-running hit series, on which he played a single teenaged father in love with Jessica Biel's character Mary. Keegan showed his range from comedy to drama in two modern-day Shakespearean film adaptations. His hilarious performance as the antagonist of Heath Ledger in the comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) was balanced by a solid dramatic performance as Mekhi Phifer's best friend in O (1995), which was directed by Tim Blake Nelson.
A bold choice in his career, Keegan accepted the lead role in Greg Berlanti's critically acclaimed The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000), which showed a more vulnerable side of his acting range as the newbie. The film won best picture that year at the GLAAD Awards. Expanding his range in 2009, Keegan made his theatrical stage debut in the provocative award winning play "He Asked For It." Keegan stepped on stage as Rigby, a character tackling the emotional issues of being HIV-positive in modern-day society. In 2010, Keegan jumped into the cockpit as Strayger, a drug-smuggling pilot in the high-octane action film Kill Speed (2010). Innovative camera technology allowed the adrenaline-driven actor to give his performance while doing aeronautical stunts in mid-flight.
Alongside William Sadler and John Heard, Keegan took on a darker role as a sadistic and sociopathic vampire named Blake in the film Living Among Us (2018).- Music Department
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Jim Keltner was born on 27 April 1942 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He is an actor, known for Man of Steel (2013), Across the Universe (2007) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).- Actor
- Director
Ken Kercheval was born on 15 July 1935 in Wolcottville, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Dallas (1978), Network (1976) and The Secret Storm (1954). He was married to Cheryl Paris, Ava Ruth Fox and Judith Peters Launt. He died on 21 April 2019 in Clinton, Indiana USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Susan Kohner was born on November 11, 1936 in Los Angeles, California. Her Mexican mother was actress Lupita Tovar, a successful performer from the 1930s and it was only natural that for Susan to gravitate toward acting. Her first role was in To Hell and Back (1955) in 1955. One more film in 1956 and one in 1957 brought her to the attention of producers in the movie industry. Susan made four in 1959. The best of the lot was Imitation of Life (1959), a film starring Lana Turner and Sandra Dee. It was a dual story of Lana portraying a struggling actress and Susan as Sara Jane, struggling with the fact that although she appeared white, her mother was Black. Susan's role as a young woman trying to cope in the white world while hiding the fact she was Black was enough to win her an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Unfortunately, Susan lost out to Shelley Winters in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). After appearing in Freud (1962), Susan left films for good with the exception of appearing in the television program Temple Houston (1963) in 1963. She wed John Weitz in 1964 and retired to raise a family.- Director
- Actor
- Cinematographer
George Kuchar was born on 31 August 1942 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Devil's Cleavage (1975), Bongwater (1998) and Sparkle's Tavern (1976). He died on 6 September 2011 in San Francisco, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Christopher Ashton Kutcher was born on February 7, 1978 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Diane (Finnegan), who was employed at Procter & Gamble, and Larry Kutcher, a factory worker. He has a fraternal twin brother, Michael, and a sister, Tausha. He is of Czech (father) and Irish, German, and Czech (mother) descent. He grew up in rural Homestead, Iowa, graduating from Clear Creek-Amana High School in Tiffin, Iowa. In 1997, Kutcher was a biochemical engineering student at the University of Iowa and was discovered by a local talent scout. In 2010, Kutcher was named one of Time Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People. He created the Demi and Ashton Foundation, to eliminate child sex slavery worldwide. Kutcher is mostly known for playing Michael Kelso in That '70s Show (1998) and is co-founder of Katalyst, a studio for social media.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The legendary actress set a record when at age 82, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005). Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman and the former Cloris Wallace. Her father's family owned a lumber company, Leachman Lumber Co. She was of Czech (from her maternal grandmother) and English descent. After graduating from high school, Leachman attended Illinois State University and Northwestern University, where she majored in drama. After winning the title of Miss Chicago 1946 (as part of the Miss America pageant), she acted with the Des Moines Playhouse before moving to New York.
Leachman made her credited debut in 1948 in an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour (1948) and appeared in many television anthologies and series before becoming a regular on The Bob & Ray Show (1951) in 1952. Her movie debut was memorable, playing the doomed blonde femme fatale Christina Bailey in Robert Aldrich's classic noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Other than a role in Rod Serling's movie The Rack (1956) in support of Paul Newman, Leachman remained a television actress throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, appearing in only two movies during the latter decade, The Chapman Report (1962) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Though she would win an Oscar for Peter Bogdanovich's adaptation of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show (1971) and appear in three Mel Brooks movies, it was in television that her career remained and her fame was assured in the 1970s and into the second decade of the new millennium.
Leachman was nominated five times for an Emmy Award playing Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Tyler Moore's landlady and self-described best friend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and on the spin-off series Phyllis (1975). She won twice as Best Supporting Actress in a comedy for her "Mary Tyler Moore" gig and won a Golden Globe Award as a leading performer in comedy for "Phyllis", but her first Emmy Award came in the category Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1973 for the television movie A Brand New Life (1973). She also won two Emmy Awards as a supporting player for Malcolm in the Middle (2000).
She was married to director-producer George Englund from 1953 to 1979. They had five children together. Cloris Leachman died of natural causes on January 27, 2021 in Encinitas, California.- Actress
- Producer
Brandy Ledford is an American/Canadian actress, dancer and former model. She was born on February 4th to Sandra and Ken Ledford. Her mother is from Canada, with New Zealand roots and her father is part Cherokee Indian from North Carolina. Brandy was raised in Redondo Beach, CA with her mother and her younger sister and brothers. She discovered her love for dancing at an early age and began competing in local and national drill team competitions, winning the World Drill Team championships in 1980.
After graduating from Redondo Union High School, Brandy started her modeling career. She lived in Japan, New York and Canada and traveled all over the globe as a model and dancer.
From 1993-96, Brandy attended the Baron Brown Studio in Los Angeles, CA, where she studied acting with DW Brown. She continued her training with Margie Haber at the Margie Haber Studio for a number of years. She made her film debut in a small, but memorable role in the blockbuster movie, Demolition Man (1993), starring Sylvester Stallone. Her next role was as Bud's love interest on Married... with Children (1987), which landed her the lead role of Alex Davies in the ABC production of Aaron Spelling's, Pier 66 (1996).
Since then, she has starred as a series regular on several TV series' and guest-starred in popular sitcoms like, Modern Family (2009) and movies such as Rat Race (2001) and the HBO hit, Zebra Lounge (2001). She has a large sci-fi following due to her role as Doyle in Andromeda (2000), which she counts as her favorite character to play. In 2006, Brandy was cast in the critically acclaimed television show, Whistler (2006), for which she was nominated both the Leo Award and the Gemini Award for her performance.
Brandy continues to study dance and spends her time between Los Angeles, Vancouver and Kauai where she enjoys being a mom and a wife and spends quality time on fitness, health and helping others.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Michael Lomenda is known for Jersey Boys (2014), Kill Cat Oakland (2021) and Mother Father Sister Brother Frank (2024).- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Desi Lydic was born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Daily Show (1996), Awkward. (2011) and We Bought a Zoo (2011). She has been married to Gannon Brousseau since 13 September 2014. They have one child.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden did not speak English until he was in kindergarten. After graduating from high school in the nearby steel town of Gary, Indiana, Malden worked in the industry for three years until 1934, when he was frustrated with the drudgery of manual labor. He left to attend the Arkansas State Teacher's College, then the Goodman Theater Dramatic School and never looked back. Three years later, he went to New York City to find fame.
Malden rapidly became involved with the Group Theater, an organization of actors and directors who were changing the face of theater, where he attracted the attention of director Elia Kazan. With Kazan directing, Karl starred in plays such as "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. While Malden had one screen appearance before his military service in World War II, in They Knew What They Wanted (1940), he did not establish his film career until after the war. Malden won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and showed his range as an actor in roles such as that of Father Corrigan in On the Waterfront (1954) and the lecherous Archie Lee in Baby Doll (1956).
He starred in dozens of films such as Fear Strikes Out (1957), Pollyanna (1960), Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), Gypsy (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), and Patton (1970) as General Omar Bradley. In the early 1970s, he built a television career on the tough but honest screen persona he had created when he starred as Detective Mike Stone on The Streets of San Francisco (1972), co-starring with Michael Douglas. He also became the pitchman for American Express, a position he held for 21 years. In 1988, he was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a position he held for five years. Following that he, published his memoir entitled, "When Do I Start?: A Memoir", written with his daughter Carla.
Malden also courted controversy by pushing for a special salute to Elia Kazan at the 1999 Academy Awards. Malden defended both Kazan and the award, arguing that Kazan's artistic achievements outshone any shame attached to Kazan's naming names before the Congressional committee investigating Communists in Hollywood. Marlon Brando refused to give Kazan the statuette; Robert De Niro ultimately did. Karl Malden died at age 97 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on July 1, 2009. He was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California.- Actor
- Writer
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Kovar McClure, born Denny Kovar McClure, was raised in El Paso Texas, where he studied theater at The University of Texas at El Paso. He then received his BFA in Acting at the State University of New York at Purchase. Now residing in LA with his wife Silvia, Kovar has been seen in countless commercials including the Cleo Award winning-super-bowl "VW Mini Darth Vader" commercial and is seen often in television and film productions including Home Again, Bosch, RAKE, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy, House, E.R. and is also a writer/director on the award winning comedy web series Devil's Couriers.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Dashiell Raymond Mihok was born on May 24, 1974 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, to Andrea Mihok (née Cloak) and Raymond Thorne (born Raymond Mihok), both actors, with ties to the New York stage. He is of Czech and British descent. Dash was raised in a trendy artist building. He attended many different schools, including the Bronx High School of Science. During his freshman year in 1988, while going to high school, he participated in City Kids, a foundation in New York City whose purpose is to engage and develop young people through programs dealing with self-esteem, leadership, and communication, which grew into a role on CityKids (1993), a short-lived TV series that starred a group of multi-ethnic teen actors and Jim Henson's Muppets. Dash was part of the group's touring company, which put on productions all over the city.
Much of the New York native's early work was lensed in his hometown. The young actor appeared in guest spots on the NYC-filmed dramas New York Undercover (1994), NYPD Blue (1993), and Law & Order (1990). Mihok made his film debut in the 1994 racially themed independent feature "Black is White" before receiving particularly strong reviews for his role as a mentally unbalanced young man in the CBS-TV movie thriller Murderous Intent (1995), and an appearance in Barry Levinson's hard-hitting Sleepers (1996) followed. While Mihok's performances in these New York-filmed features were strong, he first gained real notice with his featured role in Baz Luhrmann's modern take on Romeo + Juliet (1996).
He was a featured regular on the CBS sitcom Pearl (1996), on which he starred as Rhea Perlman's rebellious son Joey. He also had a recurring role during 1999 on the WB's college drama Felicity (1998) as Lynn, a competitive swimmer attending the fictional University of New York. He has also had a guest appearance on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000).
To date, he has been in a variety of independent and high-budget films, the most recent of which being Hollywoodland (2006) and Firehouse Dog (2007).- Actress
- Producer
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Jason Mraz was born on 23 June 1977 in Mechanicsville, Virginia, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for 50 First Dates (2004), Chasing Liberty (2004) and The Big Fix (2012). He was previously married to Christina Carano and Sheridan Edley.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Corin Nemec's name comes from his nickname, Corky, given to him as a child by his grandmother. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, and later moved to Atlanta. He now lives in California. His first acting parts were in the series Webster (1983) and Sidekicks (1986). He then got a part in Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, followed by lead roles in I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989) and My Son Johnny (1991), and the lead role in the TV series Parker Lewis Can't Lose (1990).- Briers Newman is known for 3 Strikes (2012).
- Stunts
- Actor
- Special Effects
Cord Newman says his proudest achievements are his children who are the brightest and most decent youngsters that any parent would love to have as their own! This heartfelt sentiment is most poignant because reluctantly, he is often away from them traveling for work obligations as he has spent most of his life over the last thirty years owning a number of successful businesses.
Back in 1986, while living on a sailboat in St. Thomas, he noticed a lack of ease in the disposal of trash from the other boaters in the Charlotte Amalia Harbor so he designed and engineered a refuse route. With his parents' assistance, he made fliers and took them around to all the live-a-board boats in the harbor. This was the beginning of Cord's first business.
Cord's passion and vision for entrepreneurship continued to grow. His desire pushed him to find what is lacking in the world, setting his core purpose to make the world a better place.
Before high school graduation he had moved more than thirty times; always being the new kid and many times arriving mid semester where classmates already had their "own" friends, so he constantly struggled to understand how to fit in, as well as learn what makes people feel and react in ways unbecoming of humanity. He was thirteen years old when a black kid reached out to be his friend. Cord's new buddy, was soon after killed, simply because of his friendship with a white boy. It is overwhelming when one's his close friend is shot and killed, being young it is beyond devastating, yet due to this sudden and tragic death, Cord's compassion for others deepened.
Poignantly, even after Cord's parents moved to another state and started another new life in a predominately non-integrated school, he experienced much more of the same prejudices as he had in the greater populate urban or Hispanic schools. He discovered that no matter the location, race, or religion, it was usually the fear of "something different" that many times seemed to incite the negative reactions of others. This forced perspective, from often being the minority, was probably Cord's unique genesis of his very empathetic understanding and affinity for different cultures.
Life continued to show Cord opportunities to love and learn from all that life had to offer. Leadership skills acquired from organized sports along with terrific parents who provided a formidable upbringing conferred the tools to embark on what God had in store for Cord's life as an adult.
Always welcoming a challenge, Cord excelled in football through college then channeled his superior athletic abilities from physical sports on the field into stunts for the movies and television shows.
In 1997, as an extra in the film Something About Marry, Cord saw a great opportunity. Within five hours of being on set, Cord was promoted to having speaking lines and his life took another leap of fate, changing him forever. The film bug had bitten Cord where he found a perfect avenue to express his creativity as well as fulfilling his charitable goals.
Cord's film and television career, like his life, despite its many twist and turns, seemingly, consistently, pursued an uplifting, as well as enriching trajectory. Constantly challenging himself to climb the wisdom and experience ladder from stunt performer, then to coordinator, leading to his most appealing position, since his inception in the entertainment business, being behind camera.
In 2008, he met his future wife while on location, in Thailand. The two fell in love and she followed Cord back to Los Angeles. Once back in Hollywood, Cord went full force into the world of producing and creating connections from his career that had already spanned more than a decade. The next two years he learned the tumultuous world of film finance and forged new skill sets including the flare for successfully bringing people together in profitable projects.
After building these relationships and setting up his company (Cord Newman Pictures, CNP), both so his wife could be closer to her family and with a keen eye for the future of film funding, Cord jumped head on into another tremendous opportunity and moved to Dubai, in 2012. Once in Dubai the beautiful city and all the rich culture had his heart.
The stars aligned again when Cord met one of the world's wealthiest and most prominent Investment Bankers, Mr. Reza Dari. Cord and Reza found themselves to be kindred spirits in many ways. The most important of their analogous thoughts was a heartfelt desire to ameliorate the world. Born from the creation of the International Film Fund, Cord and Reza initiated over the course of years an assemblage resulting in the best possible picture producing profit platform including extensive stress testing, while continuously making it better and even more advanced. Finally, they had the completed platform of the "IFF" which integrally included Project High Dominion, PHD, and the charity arm of the fund. Equally important with great success is to attain triumph where previously none was found through constantly improving the world the best way they could envision. Nearly five years later, Cord has again gained more valuable knowledge and created a platform to produce film and television. The IFF is now a $200-million-dollar fund that is backed by one of the most successful private investment banks in the world, Global Investment Bank; the president is Reza Dari, Cord's dear friend.
Returning to Los Angeles, Cord developed more relationships with key people to best assemble the new "Round Table" of multi-industry experts to ensure the company appropriately succeeds. So, Round Table was born. The team quickly assembled a number of the most brilliant minds in the world with its ultimate quest of saving the universe.
Spanning every venture from energy to water; waist to storage - the Round Table team's star is spiraling!- Actress
- Music Department
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Laraine Newman is a founding member of The Groundlings. After seeing her in The Groundlings, Lorne Michaels cast her in a Lily Tomlin Special and later as an original cast member of Saturday Night Live (1975). She has worked from directors ranging from Woody Allen to Guillermo del Toro. She has a thriving animation career and has written for the food magazine One For The Table, McSweeney's, The Believer, The Jewish Journal, Huffington Post and Esquire. She in on the board of San Francisco's long running alternative comedy festival Sketchiest and has appeared there since 2012. She appears regularly in the Drama Desk Award winning show Celebrity Autobiography. She has two daughters and lives in her home town of Los Angeles.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Zack Norman (a/k/a Howard Zuker) is an American actor/comedian/producer/financier best known for his roles in Romancing the Stone, Cadillac Man, Festival in Cannes and Ragtime. On television, he has appeared on The A-Team, Baywatch and The Nanny and was featured in several TV movies including At Home with the Webbers. As Howard Zuker, he has produced, presented or financed over forty motion pictures, including Hearts And Minds, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature 1974.- Actor
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Brady Novak climbed down from his tractor in 1998 to make the natural transition from farming to comedy. He went from Kansas to Cannes later that year when his first role, in the film "Pep Squad", was featured at the world-famous festival. Other screen credits include the Ang Lee film "Ride with the Devil," the Comedy Central pilot "Mash Up," Spike TV's "1000 Ways to Die", and the short film "Illegal Use of Hands", which has been featured on funnyordie.com and sportsillustrated.com.- Actor
- Producer
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David Novak, a veteran of over 30 years in the entertainment industry and has appeared in numerous feature films, television shows as well as commercials (both national and regional) and voice overs. The films include a wide genre of suspense thriller, to action to romantic comedy. Most recently, David had the starring role in the western feature film LOST OUTLAW as the antagonist role of "Jack" (available worldwide distribution through BMG Dist. -available on Amazon and many other outlets). He is currently attached to the western feature film AMONG THE WILLOWS in the starring role as JOHN WILLIAMS. As a writer, he has just been nominated for his screenplay RUTH (a faith based action, suspense civil war project) in the Sunny Side Up Film Festival. Recently he as appeared in BAKING CHRISTMAS as FIRE CHIEF CHUCK on OWN TV (Oprah Winfrey Network); Also, recently airing on LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK, you can catch David playing the role of DETECTIVE HOBBS in MY DAUGHTER WAS STOLEN, filmed on location in Chicago. Produced by Richard Brandes and David was also a co-producer. In 2017, also played the role COMMISSIONER VAUGHAN in a feature film Starring Eric Roberts title FAKE NEWS; soon to be released. Earlier in 2017, David played the role of Johnson in Fred Olen Ray's TV movie THE TWIN (finished shooting 06/2016). It premiered on Lifetime TV; (David has done 6 movies with director Fred Olen Ray). Also previously with Richard Brandes directing, David played the role of Sheriff John Holt in the family film UGLY BENNY released throughout Europe and recently in summer here in the U.S.A. on DVD (Target and other outlets). Also, some other TV movies include SUPERSHARK, SUPERCROC (Lead starring role as GENERAL MCFADDEN), and TV movie ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS airing numerous times during the XMAS and subsequent holiday seasons (starring Melissa Sagemiller who was a series regular on Law & Order, directed by Fred Olen Rey); In 2013 David played a major supporting role (Mr. Sullivan) in the film FIVE HOUR FRIENDS starring Tom Sizemore. Other TV movies also include SUPER SHARK (as Senator Wainwright; also starring John Schneider) and SUPERCROC in the lead role of GENERAL MCFADDEN airing many times on TV.
Another fun project was the family film in which he played a romantic lead as TONY VORNELLINI in the delightful romantic comedy DEWITT & MARIA opposite daytime soap star LEE BENTON).
In addition, he has co-written the feature film RUTH (a civil war based film with inspiration from the Bible story; his co-writer Frank Galvan joined him in writing this epic soon to be in pre production). Other screenplays include CROSS MY HEART (romantic comedy; co-writers John Eaden and Teresa Pape), DARK DECISION (government cover-up suspense thriller; co-writer John Eaden) and VERACITY (suspense thriller faith based film; co-writer John Eaden).
*****Other numerous credits include: recurring role of TISO on ABC TELEVISION daytime soap GENERAL HOSPITAL (16 episodes-mafia head); DAYS OF OUR LIVES soap; MELROSE PLACE (primetime TV); ERASER (feature film); SUPER CROC (feature film-world wide distribution in lead role of GENERAL MCFADDEN; Asylum Prods.); COLOR OF THE CROSS 2: THE RESURRECTION (lead role of CAIPHAS; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Dist. world wide); **IN PLAIN SIGHT (guest role of BILLY COOPER-USA Television-co-star MARY MCCORMICK). DOWN N' DIRTY (supporting role of DETECTIVE MAHONEY co -starring DAVID CARRIDINE, GAREY BUSEY, FRED WILLIAMSON; action, thriller); AND MANY MORE (please see resume). Commercials include: BUFFALO WILD WINGS; DIRECTV; TRUE CREDIT ; BANCO POPULAR (with Los Angeles Lakers Pau Gasol); GOLDENSTATE WARRIORS (NBA) and more!
Some interesting other facts and points of interest:
Currently, David is the host of the podcast IT'S ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIP, which can be heard on Apple, Spotify, Google, Anchor and most major podcast platforms. It is a Christian based encouragement promoting a deeper relationship with God, others and even yourself! As of the writing of this, it has been heard in 16 countries and 32 US States.
Was and IS a musician, singer, songwriter. For many years (as teenager and in his twenties was member of main stream cover bands as Lead Singer and guitarist. In late twenties and early 30's as front man and lead singer/songwriter/guitarist for the Christian Contemporary Rock Band SONKIST (original songs and touring SoCal for years at various concerts, venues, churches, etc.).
Also was a worship leader for many years with Power Community Church, He Lives Faith Center and Church of Grace (all in So. Calif. Anaheim, Yorba Linda areas). Currently playing electric guitar (lead) in the worship band (contemporary music).
Currently in addition to his acting and entertainment career, he and his wife Kathy are the Small Group Coordinators at their church: Church of Grace, Yorba Linda, Ca.- As a fetching, shapely silent screen co-star, Eva Novak would be best known for her early work as cowboy Tom Mix's love interest in ten of his popular westerns. Although she sparked a number of florid dramas and light comedies with other top actors of the day, in retrospect it was with Mix with whom she would be memorably partnered.
Born on Valentine's Day in St. Louis, Missouri in 1898, Barbara Eva Novak was one of a bevy of beauties who was able to parlay her wholesome good looks into a career. The daughter of Joseph, an immigrant from Bohemia, and Barbara Novak, Eva began as a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty and first began in comedy for L-KO Company with the shorts Roped Into Scandal (1917) and Hearts and Flour (1917). Two years later she advanced to full length features and was partnered with Tom Mix in such westerns as The Speed Maniac (1919), The Feud (1919), The Daredevil (1920), Desert Love (1920), The Rough Diamond (1921), Trailin' (1921), Sky High (1922) and Chasing the Moon (1922). She also appeared opposite cowboy icon William S. Hart in a couple of his rugged oaters, and was occasionally allowed more versatility in a series of enjoyable comedies and dramas.
It was cowboy star Mix who taught the agile Novak how to perform her own stunts in those western adventures and she proved quite good at it until 1921, when she married William Reed (1894-1944), an assistant director and stuntman of his own, who insisted she stop the dangerous tricks.
Come the advent of sound, Eva's popularity faded, finishing out her career in Australia with her husband. She returned occasionally to film and sometime TV but nearly always in minor, unbilled character parts until the late 1960s when she retired altogether.
Eva died of pneumonia in Woodland Hills, California, at age 90. Older sister Jane Novak also had a formidable career in silent films. - Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Soundtrack
Kim Novak was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 13, 1933 with the birth name of Marilyn Pauline Novak. She was the daughter of a former teacher turned transit clerk and his wife, also a former teacher. Throughout elementary and high school, Kim did not get along well with teachers. She even admitted that she didn't like being told what to do and when to do it.
Her first job, after high school, was modeling teen fashions for a local department store. Kim, later, won a scholarship in a modeling school and continued to model part-time. Kim later worked odd jobs as an elevator operator, sales clerk, and a dental assistant. The jobs never seemed to work out so she fell back on modeling, the one job she did well.
After a stint on the road as a spokesperson for an appliance company, Kim decided to go to Los Angeles and try her luck at modeling there. Ultimately, her modeling landed her an uncredited role in the RKO production of The French Line (1953). The role encompassed nothing more than being seen on a set of stairs.
Later a talent agent arranged for a screen test with Columbia Pictures and won a small six month contract. In truth, some of the studio hierarchy thought that Kim was Columbia's answer to Marilyn Monroe. Kim, who was still going by her own name of Marilyn, was originally going to be called "Kit Marlowe". She wanted to at least keep her family name of Novak, so the young actress and studio personnel settled on Kim Novak.
After taking some acting lessons, which the studio declined to pay for, Kim appeared in her first film opposite Fred MacMurray in Pushover (1954). Though her role as "Lona McLane" wasn't exactly a great one, it was her classic beauty that seemed to capture the eyes of the critics. Later that year, Kim appeared in the film, Phffft (1954) with Jack Lemmon and Judy Holliday. Now more and more fans were eager to see this bright new star. These two films set the tone for her career with a lot of fan mail coming her way.
Her next film was as "Kay Greylek" in 5 Against the House (1955). The film was well-received, but it was her next one for that year that was her best to date. The film was Picnic (1955). Although Kim did a superb job of acting in the film as did her co-stars, the film did win two Oscars for editing and set decoration. Kim's next film was with United Artists on a loan out in the controversial Otto Preminger film The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Her performance was flawless, but it was was Kim's beauty that carried the day. The film was a big hit.
In 1957, Kim played "Linda English" in the hit movie Pal Joey (1957) with Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth. The film did very well at the box office, but was condemned by the critics. Kim really didn't seem that interested in the role. She even said she couldn't stand people such as her character.
That same year, Novak risked her career when she started dating singer/actor Sammy Davis Jr.. The interracial affair alarmed studio executives, most notably Harry Cohn, and they ended their relationship in January of the following year. In 1958, Kim appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's, now classic, Vertigo (1958) with James Stewart. This film's plot was one that thoroughly entertained the theater patrons wherever it played. The film was one in which Stewart's character, a detective, is hired to tail a friend's wife (Kim) and witnesses her suicide. In the end, Stewart finds that he has been duped in an elaborate scheme.
Her next film was Bell Book and Candle (1958) which was only a modest success. By the early 1960s, Kim's star was beginning to fade, especially with the rise of new stars or stars that were remodeling their status within the film community. With a few more nondescript films between 1960 and 1964, she landed the role of "Mildred Rogers" in the remake of Of Human Bondage (1964). The film debuted to good reviews.
In the meantime, Kim broke off her engagement to director Richard Quine and embarked on a brief dalliance with basketball player Wilt Chamberlain. While filming The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965), she had a romance with co-star Richard Johnson, whom she married, but the marriage failed the following year.
Kim stepped away from the cameras for a while, returning in 1968 to star in The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968). It was a resounding flop, perhaps the worst of her career. However, after that, Kim, basically, was able to pick what projects she wanted. After The Great Bank Robbery (1969) in 1969, Kim was away for another four years until she was seen with then-boyfriend Michael Brandon in a television movie called The Third Girl from the Left (1973), playing a veteran Las Vegas showgirl experiencing a midlife crisis.
In a personal development, Novak met equine veterinarian Robert Malloy in October 1974 and the couple married in 1976. Subsequent films were not the type to get the critics to sit up and take notice, but afforded her the opportunity to work with strong talent. She appeared to good effect in Satan's Triangle (1975), Just a Gigolo (1978), The Mirror Crack'd (1980) and Malibu (1983).
In 1986 and 1987, Kim played, of all people, "Kit Marlowe" in the TV series Falcon Crest (1981). In 1990, she starred alongside Ben Kingsley in The Children (1990), a fine independent film shot in Europe. It was not widely distributed, thus few got to see Novak giving one of her most powerful performances.
Her last film, on the silver screen, was Liebestraum (1991), in which she played a terminally ill woman with a past. The film was a major disappointment in every aspect. Kim clashed with director Mike Figgis over how to play her character. Consequently, the role was cut to shreds. Kim has ruled out any plans for a comeback and says she just isn't cut out for Hollywood.
Fortunately, she has found long-lasting happiness outside her career. Today she lives in Eagle Point, Oregon with her husband Bob, on a ranch where they raise horses and llamas. Kim is also an accomplished artist and has exhibited her painting in galleries around the country. She enjoys riding, canoeing and expressing herself through paint, poetry and photography.- Actor
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Ric Ocasek was born on 23 March 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Super 8 (2011), The Saint (1997) and Transformers (2007). He was married to Paulina Porizkova, Suzanne LaPointe and Constance Campbell. He died on 15 September 2019 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Actress
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Betsy Palmer was probably best known for playing Jason Voorhees' mother in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980), but her career as an actress began many years before.
Palmer was born Patricia Betsy Hrunek in East Chicago, Indiana, to Marie (née Love), who launched the Chicago Business College, and Rudolph Vincent Hrunek, a Czech-born industrial chemist. Palmer played a young female officer opposite Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955), and appeared in another war film the same year, The Long Gray Line (1955). Throughout the late 1950s, Palmer was recognized as a news reporter on Today (1952) on NBC, then became largely involved in television. She remained in made-for-TV films and notable guest appearances, before playing the murderous avenging mother, Mrs. Voorhees, in the horror film Friday the 13th (1980). She also continued working in television, and appearing in low-budget films like The Fear: Resurrection (1999). Palmer spent her later years between her home in New York City and Sedona, Arizona.
Betsy Palmer died of natural causes on a Friday, May 29, 2015, at a hospice care center in Danbury, Connecticut.- Jake Pavelka was born on 27 January 1978 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) and The President's Man (2000).
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Eve Plumb, the actress and painter most famous for playing the role of Jan on The Brady Bunch (1969), began acting professionally in 1966, appearing in TV commercials. The child actor began getting parts on series television in 1967.
Her place in TV history was cemented when she landed the role of Jan Brady, the middle of three daughters in a mixed family that also featured three sons, in the TV sitcom "The Brady Bunch". The show, which debuted in 1969, ran for five seasons and spawned numerous spin-offs. While Plumb declined to reprise the role of Jan in the first spin-off, the TV variety show The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976), as she did not want to sign a five-year contract (the show was canceled after nine episodes), she did appear as Jan in the subsequent spin-offs featuring the original cast: the TV movie The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), the short-lived sitcom The Brady Brides (1981), the TV movie A Very Brady Christmas (1988), and another short-lived TV series, The Bradys (1990).
Though she has worked steadily in TV since a child, her only other major role was as a teenage prostitute in Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976).
In the 1990s, Plumb began painting, fashioning for herself a second artistic career. She works out of a studio at her Laguna Beach home.- Actor
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A native Texan who moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dreams of acting at the age of 16, Matt Prokop is quickly becoming one of Hollywood's hottest, most- coveted young stars. After making appearances on the hit comedies The Office (2005) and Hannah Montana (2006), Prokop competed globally and was cast in a highly sought-after role Disney's High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008). Prokop joins the cast as "Jimmie 'The Rocket' Zara" and will star alongside Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens & Ashley Tisdale, as the film opens nationwide in October of 2008. Kenny Ortega returns as director and choreographer of the third installment of this franchise phenomenon. In his spare time, Prokop enjoys streaming on Twitch and resides in South Texas. He is represented by Brevard Talent Group.- Actress
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Mary Lynn Rajskub is an American actress, comedienne and singer who is best known as a co-star of Kiefer Sutherland on the popular television series 24 (2001).
Born June 22, 1971, in Detroit, Michigan, Rajskub comes from a family of Irish, Czech, and Polish ancestry. In 1989 she graduated from Trenton High School before attending Detroit's College for Creative Studies with a painting major. She later transferred to the San Francisco Art Institute, graduating as a painter but also studying music and acting. After performing as a stand-up comedian at various clubs and restaurants for some years, Rajskub made her 1995 television debut when David Cross hired her as one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995). During its second season she left the show to take a brief job as a coffee brewer at Seattle's Best Coffee before again making her way to TV; In 1999 she joined the cast of 'Veronica's Closet' TV series as Cloe, appearing in 15 episodes of the show.
A skilled guitarist, Rajskub has been one half of comic duo "Girls Guitar Club" and appeared on the NBC's 'Late Friday' show. The 2000's saw her venturing into more dramatic roles, most notably as analyst Chloe O'Brian opposite Kiefer Sutherland on the hit TV series 24 (2001). She joined the show in 2003 at the beginning of its third season, drawing praise from both critics and the viewership; Rajskub became a recurring cast member and eventually the show's leading female.
While she has mainly been a television star, Rajskub also played bit parts on the big screen in Magnolia (1999), Man on the Moon (1999), and Road Trip (2000), among other works. She offered mesmerizing performances in Mysterious Skin (2004), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), and in Punch-Drunk Love (2002), then played a few more visible roles such as Janet Stone in Firewall (2006), opposite Harrison Ford, and as Pam in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). In 2006 Rajskub was awarded the Female Breakthrough Award for her comedic stage productions and acting prowess in both TV and film. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Awards twice, in 2005 and 2007.
Besides her work in film and on television, Mary Lynn Rajskub has been performing locally in Hollywood with her Girls Guitar Club show. Outside of acting, she is fond of art and is known as a regular at numerous LA museums. Her own paintings have been displayed and sold at art auctions and exhibits.- Actor
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Alan Ritchson has carved a space for himself on both the large and small screens since he made the trek from a small town in Florida to Los Angeles.
Alan Michael Ritchson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to Vickie (Harrell), a high school teacher, and David Ritchson, a U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant. He is of Czech, English, and German descent. Frequently relocating as the middle son of a military family, Alan learned to adapt and entertain in order to build friendships in new and unfamiliar environments. Certainly this has been a key ingredient in his success so far in the industry.
Alan's early credits include portraying Aquaman in the long running series Smallville. This marked the first portrayal of the superhero in an officially licensed live-action production.
Ritchson has also taken on grittier leading man roles in the independent film market with the modern-day western "Rex" and the dramatic love story of "Steam" alongside Ally Sheedy.
In contrast, he also made quite a comedic impression with his love-to-hate-him character of Thad Castle on the football comedy Blue Mountain State. He parlayed his comedic skills to work with Rebel Wilson in her CBS pilot Super Fun Night.
In addition to his acting repertoire, Alan also writes, produces and is a singer/songwriter.
Most recently Alan can be seen as the District 1 victor, Gloss, in Catching Fire; the second installment of the hugely successful Hunger Games franchise. He also portrayed the cool-but-crude Raphael in the Michael Bay produced reboot of TMNT.- Actress
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Danielle Ryan Chuchran was born in Upland, California, but moved to Utah shortly afterward. She started her career with some ads before she won her first role at age 7 in "Little Secrets." With her part as Thing One in "The Cat in the hat" she consolidated her position as child actress and did several films and series afterwards. Since "Minor Details" she has appeared in most of projects of John Lyde and Mainstay Productions.
Danielle is quite sporty. She is an accomplished rider, and besides several other hobbies she loves to go shooting, both guns and archery. She likes to perform her own stunts and fighting scenes for her roles, a passion that started all the way back with her Thing One role, and today includes some serious rock climbing in her newer movie "Survivor." She is also an animal lover and enjoys spending time with her dog and her horses.- Actor
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Jeremy Shada was born on 21 January 1997 in Boise, Idaho, USA. He is an actor, known for Julie and the Phantoms (2020), Adventure Time (2010) and Mr. Student Body President (2016). He has been married to Carolynn Rowland since 7 March 2020.- Brandon Sklenar was born and raised in northern New Jersey. His father a carpenter and his mother a hair dresser. With an intense passion for both film and music, at a young age he decided to pursue a career as an actor and filmmaker.
In 2018 Brandon worked with revered international filmmaker Amir Naderi (99 Homes), on his next directorial effort, Magic Lantern. He filmed a supporting role in the highly acclaimed Dick Cheney biopic VICE, with Academy Award Winners Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell and writer/director Adam McKay. Brandon also starred opposite Matt Smith (The Crown) as real life artist Edward Mapplethorpe, in the film Mapplethorpe, about the life and death of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in competition at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2019 Brandon filmed Lead roles in three feature films. He starred as Texas moonshiner, Deke Jones in the dark comedy, Jonesin'. He starred opposite Rosie Day (Outlander) as a concert violinist in Jaclyn Bethany's relationship drama, Indigo Valley. He played West Virginia oil man, Junior Lawford, in the western, London Calling, opposite Nick Braun (Succession) and Ron Perlman. As well as a supporting role portraying real life Torpedo Bomber and World War 2 hero, George Gay, in Roland Emmerich's upcoming World War 2 epic Midway. - Actress
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After starring in 8 Days, a non-profit film about human trafficking, Nicole traveled to eight cities across America to raise awareness. She ventured to Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town in South Africa. In addition to speaking at benefits, she championed local anti-trafficking organizations and was later interviewed on Steve Harvey. She has also appeared on shows across ABC, CBS, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon, most notably Criminal Minds and Brothers & Sisters.
In Summer 2017, she received a certificate in Contemporary Drama from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. Along with classical methods, she has also studied those pioneered by George Morrison, Jack Waltzer, and Ivana Chubbuck.
Nicole was an actor first, so this informs her process at Verve Casting. Since 2018, she has found the right performers for commercials, print jobs, music videos, and a wide range of theatrical projects. Most recently, she cast 150+ performers in the 8-episode revival of the cult classic, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, hosted by Jonathan Frakes. She also associate-produced season 5 and wrote an original story in the premiere.
Nicole has a passion for telling stories that raise important questions and challenge viewers to look beneath the surface. In addition to top-tier commercials and music videos, she has produced several award-winning films, many of which have debuted at acclaimed festivals ranging from Palm Springs International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival to the Cannes Short Film Corner. Besides being certified in AVID Media Composer, she specializes in Movie Magic Budgeting/Scheduling, Final Cut Pro, Google Drive, and the Adobe Suite.
In 2023, Nicole founded the full-service creative studio Smolder® to help artists and makers bring their unique visions to life.- Actress
- Art Department
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As a kid, Sissy Spacek climbed trees, rode horses, swam, and played in the woods. She was born Mary Elizabeth Spacek on December 25, 1949, in Quitman, Texas, to Virginia Frances (Spilman) and Edwin Arnold Spacek, Sr., a county agricultural agent. Her father's family was of Czech and German origin.
Sissy attended Quitman High School and was homecoming queen. After graduating, she embarked on an acting career, gaining interest in the profession through her cousin, actor Rip Torn. Sissy relocated to New York, and through him, enrolled in the New York branch of the Actors Studio. She studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute while also pursuing work as a model and singer, appearing in West Village showcases such as the Bitter End for $10 a night. Sissy eventually broke into film and one of her first roles was as Holly in the classic Badlands (1973). The art director on that film was Jack Fisk, with whom she would marry in 1974 and ultimately collaborate on eight films. Sissy followed this landmark film with a star-making and Oscar nominated performance in Carrie (1976), in which she played a humiliated prom queen who goes postal with her telekinesis. Sissy has had an enduring and award winning career in movies and television, which includes an Oscar as Best Actress for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). The parents of two grown daughters, Sissy and Jack live on a large horse ranch in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Even though she continued to appear in film and television during the late 1980s and 1990s, Sissy devoted most of those years to her family. Then, in 2001, Sissy returned to the big screen in a major way with a powerful performance in In the Bedroom (2001), which not only earned her a sixth Best Actress Oscar nomination, but a win for Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, and numerous critics association awards. Sissy continues to work steadily as an actress, but in 2012, her credits expanded even further to include a memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life.- John Spencer was born John Speshock III in Paterson, New Jersey, the only son of Mildred (Benzeroski), a homemaker and occasional waitress, and John Speshock, a truck driver. He grew up near Paterson, New Jersey, and left at age 16 to attend the Professional Children's School. In 1963, he landed a recurring role on The Patty Duke Show (1963). After that ended, he attended Fairleigh Dickenson University and later New York University, but dropped out to return to acting. John had been an acknowledged alcoholic, who remained sober ever since getting therapy. He had quit smoking in 1999, which he described as "hell on earth". He passed away of a heart attack on December 16, 2005. He will be missed.
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Rip Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn Jr. on February 6, 1931 in Temple, Texas, the son of Thelma Mary (Spacek) and Elmore Rudolph Torn, who was an agriculturalist and economist, credited with popularizing the custom of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. "Rip" is a family name, taken by generations of Torn men and bestowed on Elmore by his father, who was also called "Rip." He was of German, Austrian, Bohemian, and Moravian descent. His mother was an elder sister of actress Sissy Spacek's father, Edwin Spacek.
Torn attended Texas A&M and the University of Texas, where he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity. He majored in animal husbandry. Extremely naïve when he was young, Torn hitchhiked to Hollywood with the idea of becoming a movie star; he wanted to make enough money in order to buy a ranch. Success did not come overnight, as he had hoped, and Torn had to work many odd jobs while occasionally being cast in television roles. He made his feature film debut in Elia Kazan's Baby Doll (1956) in a small part.
Serious about learning his craft, he moved to New York City where he studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Torn also studied dance with Martha Graham. His serious acting career began on the small screen, where he made a name for himself in the Golden Age of Television; between 1957 and 1960, he appeared regularly on such prestigious live shows as Omnibus (1952) and Playhouse 90 (1956).
Torn made his Broadway debut in Kazan's staging of Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" on March 10, 1959, in support of Paul Newman, Sidney Blackmer and Geraldine Page, who would become his second wife. The play was a hit, closing on January 30, 1960 after 375 performances. He won a 1960 Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Theater World award for his role as "Tom, Jr.", a role he recreated in the 1962 film. (Torn also starred as "Boss Finley" in a later television adaptation of the play).
Torn earned a reputation as an actor's actor on stage, both Broadway and off-Broadway, as well as on screen. He continued to work in the New York theater despite his demanding TV and movie schedule as both an actor and director. He won two Obie awards for his work off-Broadway, for Distinguished Performance in Norman Mailer's "The Deer Park" (for the 1966-67 season), and for Distinguished Direction for "The Beard" (1967-68). He had his own stage company, and directed his daughter Angelica Page (by Geraldine Page) in John Paul Alexander's "Strangers in the Land of Canaan" at the Actors Studio. Torn made his feature film directorial debut with The Telephone (1988).
He was constantly in demand as a character actor, in supporting, second lead and occasional lead roles. Arguably his best performance on film came in Payday (1973), and he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Cross Creek (1983). Most of Torn's roles were in drama, though he was adept at comedy. His role in Albert Brooks' comedy Defending Your Life (1991) led to his being cast in The Larry Sanders Show (1992), on which he played talk show producer "Artie." Torn won six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role, winning once for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series in 1996.
Torn was married to actress Ann Wedgeworth from 1956-61, whom he divorced to marry Geraldine Page. They remained married until her death in 1987. He was married to Amy Wright until his death. Torn helped his first cousin, Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek, to make her way as an actress, seeing to it that she was accepted by the Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio and then the Lee Strasberg Institute.
Rip Torn died in on July 9, 2019 in Lakeville, Connecticut, aged 88.- Actress
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Ivana Marie Trump was a Czech-American businesswoman, media personality, fashion designer, author, and model. Trump lived in Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions in The Trump Organization as vice president of interior design, as CEO and president of Trump's Castle casino resort, and as manager of the Plaza Hotel.
Ivana and Donald were prominent figures in New York society throughout the 1980s. The couple's divorce, granted in 1990, was the subject of extensive media coverage. Following the divorce, she developed her own lines of clothing, fashion jewelry, and beauty products which were sold on QVC London and the Home Shopping Network. Ivana wrote an advice column for Globe called "Ask Ivana" from 1995 through 2010 and published several books including works of fiction, self-help, and the autobiography Raising Trump.- Actor
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Czech actor/producer/director/author George Voskovec was born Jirí Wachsmann on June 19, 1905, the son of Jirina Valentina Marie (nee Pinkasová) and Vilem Eduard Voskovec (Wachsmann). His ancestry was Czech, German, and French. Prior to George's birth, the spelling of the family name was Vaksman (Russian). By the time he was born, which was shortly after their return to Bohemia--then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire--it had been changed to Wachsmann. In 1920, the family again changed the name from Wachsmann to Voskovec, a Czech translation, and his father changed his name to Václav Voskovec. George received his education at Lycée Carnot in Dijon and Charles University (School of Law) in Prague. He made his stage début in Prague in 1927 in "Vest Pocket Revue" and subsequently formed a solid partnership with fellow actor/lyricist Jan Werich. For the next 11 years they wrote, produced and performed 26 productions for the avant-garde Liberated Theatre of Prague, Osvobozene divadlo. He also established himself in Czech comedy films as both performer and writer in tandem with Werich.
In the late 1930s, he left his homeland following the German invasion and emigrated to America. Rebuilding his status as a performer/writer/director, he débuted at the Cleveland Playhouse in 1940 in "Heavy Barbara" and "The Ass and the Shadow," again in collaboration with Werich. During the war years he and Werich wrote and broadcast a host of radio programmes for the "Voice of America". He also made his Broadway début in "The Tempest" in 1945. He returned to Prague after the war in 1946 and worked for a time in the theatre before traveling to Paris, where he first worked for UNESCO, later founded the American theatre of Paris in 1949 and served as producer/director.
Upon his return to America in 1950, he was detained for 11 months on Ellis Island on suspicion of being a communist sympathizer. After he was allowed to enter USA, Voskovec appeared in New York with "The Love of Four Colonels," which he later toured. He went on to accumulate a formidable list of theatre credits including "The Seagull," "Festival" and, notably, "Uncle Vanya" for which he won an Obie award in the title role. He made his London stage début as Otto Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank" in 1956, and was a continued presence on the 1960s Shakespearean stage with "Caesar and Cleopatra" (as Caesar) and John Gielgud's production of "Hamlet" as the Player King, the latter play was filmed.
In films, he played supporting roles in the U.S. from 1952. Affair in Trinidad (1952), The Iron Mistress (1952), The 27th Day (1957), The Bravados (1958), BUtterfield 8 (1960), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and The Boston Strangler (1968) all benefited from his imposing presence and professional stature. He also played one of the jurors in the classic drama 12 Angry Men (1957) alongside Lee J. Cobb and Henry Fonda. Voskovec was indeed a vital ethnic presence during the "Golden Age of Television" during the 1950s and in episodic 1960s TV. Voskovec was also a songwriter, being the lyricist of some 300 popular songs over his career. He continued to thrive in all three mediums throughout the 1970s practically until his death in 1981 at age 76. One of his final theatrical highlights was in Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" in which he shared the stage with Irene Worth. This was followed by regular TV stints on Skag (1980) and Nero Wolfe (1981).
Divorced from his first wife and the widower of his second, Broadway stage actress Anne Gerlette, Voskovec later wed poet/journalist Christianne McKeown. He was survived by his third wife and two daughters from his second marriage: Victorie (adopted, born in 1954) and Georgeanne (adopted, born in 1956). He never returned to Prague.- Actress
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Helen Walker was a beautiful and bright actress whose career never reached its full potential, in spite of her evident talent. She was a successful actress on Broadway, and in 1942 her performance in the play "Jason" was so impressive that she was signed up to act in films. She immediately earned good notice and received star billing in her film debut, Lucky Jordan (1942), starring Alan Ladd. During the mid-1940s she had continued success with strong performances in offbeat but entertaining and successful films like The Man in Half Moon Street (1944), the satirical Brewster's Millions (1945), and the murder spoof Murder, He Says (1945), which starred Fred MacMurray. Achieving both artistic and box office success, she was clearly on the brink of major stardom. She won the starring role in the prestigious film Heaven Only Knows (1947). But all that changed on New Year's Eve of 1946 when she picked up three hitchhiking World War II veterans while driving to Los Angeles from Palm Springs, where she had been vacationing. She had a terrible accident, hitting a divider and wrecking the car, which flipped several times. One of the soldiers died and the other two were severely injured. Walker herself was seriously injured, including a broken pelvis. But her career suffered even greater and longer-lasting damage. The survivors of the accident accused her of driving drunk and speeding, and she was brought to trial. She suffered bad press and faced a public that was grateful to World War II veterans for having won the war, and was replaced in Heaven Only Knows (1947). Although she was acquitted of criminal charges, many fans turned against her and major studios were hesitant to hire her. She tried to adapt by portraying ruthless and manipulative women in dark murder mysteries, in which she again showed great talent. She performed with great aplomb in Nightmare Alley (1947), the gritty urban police drama Call Northside 777 (1948), and Impact (1949), an unconventional murder drama that featured a fatal automobile accident her character helped cause. But she could not overcome the stigma of the veteran's death. By the 1950s, she was reduced to low-budget films that received little notice. After winning a minor role in the Cornel Wilde police drama The Big Combo (1955), her film career ended and she only appeared in a few television shows. In 1960, she made her last television appearance, and that same year her house burned down. Some remaining friends from show business helped her, with some fellow actresses staging a benefit for her, which touched her deeply. She faded from the public view and during the 1960s she experienced health problems. In 1968, she died of cancer. She was 47 years old.- Actor
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Tom Wopat will forever be remembered as strapping, good ol' boy Luke Duke, the virile, blue-eyed, dark-haired, plaid-shirted rascal opposite equally good-looking John Schneider as Bo Duke, his strapping, plaid-shirted blond cousin on the bucolic 80s action series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). Where others may have fallen by the TV wayside after the cancellation of such a popular series, both Tom and John moved on successfully. As for Tom, he reverted back to his first true love - music - successfully refocusing as a recording artist and musical leading man of Broadway, cabaret and regional shows.
The highly engaging Wisconsin native was born Thomas Steven Wopat on September 9, 1951, in Lodi, Wisconsin, the son of Ruth Arlene (Skarda) and Albin Carl Wopat, a dairy farmer. One of six brothers and sisters, Tom's father and maternal grandfather were of Czech descent. By age 12, he was singing and dancing in school musicals and, following high school graduation, decided to avidly pursue music as a viable profession. Studying at the University of Wisconsin, Tom dropped out to front a rock band as both guitarist and lead singer, and later found on-stage work in such musicals as "South Pacific", "West Side Story" and "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Appearing off-Broadway in 1978, Tom made his Broadway debut that same year as a replacement actor in the musical "I Love My Wife." Other musical shows around that time included "The Robber Bridegroom" (title role) and "Oklahoma!" (as Curly).
With solid, down-home good looks and appeal, it didn't take long for Hollywood to check Tom out. With relatively little TV exposure, Tom found sudden teen heartthrob stardom on the rollicking, down-home comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). During that period, he appeared elsewhere on an episode of "Fantasy Island," co-starred with singer Barbara Mandrell in the dramatic TV movie" Burning Rage (1984), and voiced the role of Luke Duke on the related animated version The Dukes (1983). During the 1981-82 season, stars Wopat and Schneider walked away from the hugely popular series after contractual disputes involving deserved pay raises and merchandise royalties. The producers tried to replace the popular duo with the similar good-looking pals Vance (played by Christopher Mayer) and Coy (played by Byron Cherry) for the following season, but the ratings dived alarmingly. The dispute with Wopat and Schneider was immediately settled, and the boys returned to the show in the next season and stayed until its 1985 cancellation.
During the show's run, Tom kick-started a recording career with his first (and self-titled) country album release in 1983. His output went on to include six other country albums before finally releasing a 2000 album of standard love songs.
In later years, Wopat made do with a few mini-movie efforts, reuniting with Schneider in the yuletide drama Christmas Comes to Willow Creek (1987); co-starring opposite Jean Smart as a famous rock singer in the romantic musical comedy movie Just My Imagination (1992); and appearing opposite Roxanne Hart in the action adventure Meteorites! (1998). He also showed up as a guest on a few TV series such as "Blue Skies," "Murder, She Wrote," "Crisis Center," "Home Improvement," and was seen in a recurring role on the sitcom Cybill (1995) as a stuntman and former husband of the Cybill Shepherd character.
Tom also re-sharpened his musical theater skills, finding commanding baritone leads as Billy Bigelow in "Carousel" (1986), Detective Stone in "City of Angels" (1990) and Sky Masterson in "Guys and Dolls" (1992). In 1999, he played the sharp-shooting Frank Butler opposite Bernadette Peters in the popular Broadway revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" and earned a Tony nomination in the process.
Guesting for the Cincinnati Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestras in programs featuring Broadway's finest music, Tom more than held his own in 2005 with his first straight-acting Broadway part as part of the excellent ensemble in the Tony-winning (for "Best Revival of a Play") production of "Glengarry Glen Ross" starring acting heavyweights Alan Alda and Liev Schreiber. That same year Wopat embarked on a 33-date national "Over The Rainbow" tour with Faith Prince featuring the gorgeous songs of Harold Arlen, a tour that included Carnegie Hall. Briefly playing slick lawyer Billy Flynn in "Chicago" in 2007, other Broadway musicals followed with "A Catered Affair," "Side by Side by Sondheim" and "Catch Me If You Can," as well as the 2013 legit play "The Trip to Bountiful."
As for on-camera work into the millennium, Tom returned for a few "Dukes of Hazzard" TV-reunions and video games. He also made a late, mid-career film debut in a featured role with the comedy drama Bonneville (2006) starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, and went on to appear in a number of others: The Understudy (2008), Jonah Hex (2010), Main Street (2010), Mariachi Gringo (2012), Django Unchained (2012), All in Time (2015). In addition, Tom was given a starring role in the gay-themed drama Fair Haven (2016) and appeared in the action western County Line (2017) with Jeff Fahey and Patricia Richardson. Among the ensemble of stars in the comedy Lost Cat Corona (2017), his more recent features include New Money (2017) and Delight in the Mountain (2019). On TV, Tom graced such popular programs as "Medium," "Smallville," "Blue Bloods," "The Blacklist," "Madam Secretary" and had a recurring sheriff role in the series Longmire (2012).
Divorced from his first wife of 15 years and the father of five, Tom is married to documentary producer and archivist Kirsten Larvick.- Actress
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Audrey Young was born on 30 October 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Follow That Woman (1945), Easy Living (1949) and Love Me or Leave Me (1955). She was married to Billy Wilder. She died on 1 June 2012 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- American character actor noted for his deep, rich voice. Young made his Broadway debut in the early 1930s, appearing in such plays as "Page Pygmalion", "The Man Who Reclaimed His Head", "Late Wisdom" and "Yesterday's Orchids". Moving to Hollywood in 1936, he began getting small film roles and soon graduated to frequent appearances in B-Westerns and serials, occasionally as a supporting lead, but most often as a heavy. He was Dick Tracy's brother in Dick Tracy (1937) and was a familiar face in many oaters and serials at Republic, where he was a contract player, occasionally working under the stage name Gordon Robert. In 1941, Young returned to Broadway to star in "Cuckoos On the Hearth" by Parker Fennelly. Back in Hollywood, he made Westerns throughout the Forties, then began appearing in better roles in better films, becoming a late favorite of John Ford. His line in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend", has become synonymous with Ford. Young retired in 1970 and died in 1994, at the age of 89. He is often confused with Carleton G. Young, a radio performer who made a few films and who was the father of actor Tony Young.
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William Zabka was born on 20 October 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Karate Kid (1984), Back to School (1986) and Hot Tub Time Machine (2010). He has been married to Stacie Lynn Doss since 2008. They have two children.- Actor
- Editorial Department
Daniel Cerny was born on 11 December 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Doc Hollywood (1991), Fearless (1993) and Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995).- Producer
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- Executive
Sheldon Drobny is Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Paradigm Group II, an investment firm with over $200 million in investments in over 40 companies. Drobny is also a Board Member of numerous Paradigm Group II portfolio companies, including XML Global (Chairman), Cypress Bioscience, TL Contact, and Vertaport, Inc. Prior to entering public accounting, he had a number of years of taxation experience with the Internal Revenue Service. In recent years Drobny has entered the mass media industry. He is co-founder of Air America and Nova M Radio Networks, and is the author of Road to Air America, published by Select Books in 2004. Drobny is also a very active supporter of the Chicago Jewish community. He is Benefactor of the Sheldon and Anita Drobny Interdisciplinary Program for the Study of Jewish Culture and Society at the University of Illinois, and is active with the Jewish Children's Bureau and Jewish United Fund. Drobny is a member of the NASD and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois C.P.A Society and several other professional associations, and holds a BS degree in Accounting from Roosevelt University.- Animation Department
Gerry Dvorak was born on 29 October 1913 in Larksville, Pennsylvania, USA. Gerry is known for The Mighty Hercules (1963), The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (1972) and Popeye the Sailor (1960). Gerry was married to Margaret Teslicko. Gerry died on 8 September 1999 in Canton, Connecticut, USA.- Actor
- Producer
David Svoboda was born in Parma, Ohio, USA. He is an actor, known for A Christmas Story (1983). He has been married to Jodi Svoboda since 2005. They have two children and reside in Livonia, Michigan. David's grandmother worked at the Higbee's Department Store in Cleveland, OH where A Christmas Story was filmed. While visiting the set, David was noticed by directors and offered the role.- Jackie began training for the classic ballet at age 5. She was accepted into the New Jersey Dance Company at age 15, and accepted a scholarship from New York University at age 15 to pursue a major in dance. The dark-haired beauty decided to try acting, and has become a staple of daytime drama (aka soap operas).
- Dana Jester was born on 21 January 1954 in Redkey, Indiana, USA. He has been married to Anita Taylor since 30 August 1975. They have three children.
- William Tubbs was born on 10 May 1907 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Wages of Fear (1953), The Golden Coach (1952) and Paisan (1946). He died on 25 January 1953 in London, England, UK.
- Nancy Fish was born on 16 March 1938 in Spokane, Washington, USA. She is an actress, known for The Mask (1994), The Exorcist III (1990) and Sudden Impact (1983).
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- Animation Department
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in the propane business, and his grandfather, Francis Wesley "Frank" Bird, who was born in County Sligo, Ireland, was a president and chief executive of the Montana Power Company. On a tour of the Walt Disney Studios at age 11, he announced that someday he would become part of its animation team, and soon afterward began work on his own 15-minute animated short. Within two years, Bird had completed his animation, which impressed the cartoon company. By age 14, barely in high school, Bird was mentored by the animator Milt Kahl, one of Disney's legendary Nine Old Men. Bird recalls Kahl's criticisms as ideal: Kahl would point out shortcomings by gently delivering thoughts on where Bird could improve. After graduating from Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon in 1975, Bird took a three-year break. He was then awarded a scholarship by Disney to attend California Institute of the Arts, where he met and befriended another future animator, Pixar co-founder and director John Lasseter.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cameron Bender was born in Midland, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Just Roll with It (2019), Gilmore Girls (2000) and Bones (2005).- Actress
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- Soundtrack
Lucille Bliss was an American voice actress from New York City who was known for voicing Smurfette from The Smurfs, Anastasia from Cinderella and Ms. Bitters from Invader Zim. She voiced in other animated projects and video games including Robots and The Secret of NIMH. She passed away in November 8th, 2012.- Lela Bliss was born on 11 May 1896 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), The Snake Pit (1948) and The Stu Erwin Show (1950). She was married to Harry Hayden. She died on 15 May 1980 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Lawrence Green was born on 21 November 1917 in Milan, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Jerk (1979), Sea Hunt (1958) and Highway Patrol (1955). He died on 27 July 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Dorothy Green was born on 12 January 1920 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Big Heat (1953), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1963) and Tammy (1965). She was married to Dr. Arthur Leo Heller, Sidney Miller, Dr. Sidney Green and William Wade Woodson. She died on 8 May 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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- Producer
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An instinct for acting showed very early for Bruce. In 1935, aged 3, he distracted his mother from the worries of Depression Era Chicago by recreating stuff they'd seen at the movies like FDR struggling to walk, putting his little body thru it, to try to understand by experiencing it. A knack for comedy showed when as part of a church pageant his #1 line, ''No room at the Inn", booming hugely out of a tiny body sent the whole congregation into laughter. He so enjoyed it he repeated it even louder to louder laughter then again and again continuing even as he was chased by the minister all over the altar to gales of laughter.
At age 6, he had his first job, earning 60 cents for 6 days of delivering groceries. From then on there was always a job after school, Saturdays and summers, such as on a Chicago Loop newsstand or in a glass factory ladling molten glass. At age 15, his desperate father asked him to quit school to help support the family. His mother saved him by herself taking a job. School was showing him two paths out of poverty: Art (selling paintings) and Football (the 1949 Chicago high school city champs) and a chance for a scholarship. He played for two college seasons and moonlighted on a semi-pro team. Then a new window opened -- posing at an Art Institute class with a naked lady who said, ''How would you like to- [pause] - be a Gorilla?'' She was a stripper and needed a guy strong enough to wear a 90 lb. ape suit and toss her around. A magician at the club tapped him jokingly with his magic wand, saying "Bruce, you are an actor".
Drafted into the U.S. Army for the Korean War, he served there for the last six months of that war, and came back with malaria, delaying his football. He tried out for a play (in 1955) never having had an acting class or read a book on it, but he was a natural, got the lead and great reviews, went to summer stock did a new play every week. He did a dozen years of theatre, on Broadway and off-Broadway. He visited Hollywood in 1965. In 1967, he made it his home.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Michael Kutcher was born on 7 February 1978 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. He is an assistant director and producer, known for Kung Fu Joe (2009), Bulletface (2010) and Walnut (2008).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Character actress Shirley Booth could play everything in all facets of show business, whether it was Miss Duffy the Tavern Owner's Man Crazy Daughter on "Duffy's Tavern", the sassy maid on TV's Hazel (1961) or the pathetic woman in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952). For those who only know her through her sitcom, it might be hard to believe she was a seasoned theatrical veteran, having appeared on Broadway from 1925-70. She was highly regarded as a stage actress and ranks as one of the premier talents of the 20th-century theatre.- Charles Green began his acting career at age 12 in the local theaters of Lake Charles, Louisiana. He received his BA, MA and MFA from McNeese State University, University of Tennessee and University of New Orleans (UNO), respectively. He was a member of UNO's Acting Company, and was nominated for an Irene Ryan Award for his role as Tom in Glass Menagerie. Upon graduating from UNO, he moved to Hollywood where he worked on camera and in local Equity-Waiver theaters. In 1990, he placed his TV/film career on hold to concentrate on his award-winning health care public relations career. In 1999, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brought him to Atlanta, Georgia to create national public health campaigns. In 2013, he restarted his TV/film career when cast in a one-on-one scene opposite Anthony Hopkins in the film Kidnapping Mr. Heineken. He left CDC in 2017 and now pursues TV, film, commercial and stage work full-time.
- Rachel Lewis is known for Secrets & Lies (1996), Weekend at Bernie's (1989) and American Gothic (1995).
- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Kiernan Brennan Shipka is an American actress. She is known for playing Sally Draper on the AMC series Mad Men (2007), B. D. Hyman in the FX anthology series Feud (2017), and voicing Jinora in the Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) spin-off, The Legend of Korra (2012). She stars as Sabrina Spellman on Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018) series based on the comic series of the same name. Kiernan Shipka was born in Chicago, Illinois. As part of Mad Men (2007)'s ensemble cast, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2008 and 2009. As part of Mad Men's ensemble cast, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2008 and 2009. Shipka has received praise for her performance on Mad Men (2007). In naming her as his dream nominee for the "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series" Emmy Award, Austin American-Statesman critic Dale Roe remarked, "This 10-year-old actress was so affecting as troubled Sally Draper last season that it seems odd that she's only just been upgraded to series regular. If Shipka's upcoming Mad Men (2007) work-struggling with the broken marriage of her parents and entering preteendom in the tumultuous 1960s-remains as amazing as it was in season three, this is a ballot wish that could come true next year." Initially a recurring guest star, Shipka was upgraded to a series regular with the start of season four. She got the part after two auditions. Shipka's credits after Mad Men (2007) include Flowers in the Attic (2014) and a dual role in the Oz Perkins horror film, The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) (2015). In 2014, Shipka was named one of "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014" by Time magazine. In the same year, IndieWire included her in their list of "20 Actors To Watch That Are Under 20". In 2017, she portrayed B.D. Hyman, daughter of Bette Davis, in the FX television series Feud (2017). In January 2018, it was announced that Shipka would be starring as Sabrina Spellman in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018) series based on the comic series of the same name. The first season was released by Netflix on October 26, 2018.- Angela Aames grew up in Pierre, South Dakota. She acted in high school and attended the University of South Dakota before coming to Hollywood in 1978 to begin her acting career. Her first film role was as Little Bo Peep in the film Fairy Tales (1978). She followed that up by playing Linda "Boom-Boom" Bang in H.O.T.S. (1979). Other film roles included ...All the Marbles (1981), Scarface (1983), Bachelor Party (1984), The Lost Empire (1984), Basic Training (1985), and Chopping Mall (1986). She did guest appearances on several television shows, including Cheers (1982) and Night Court (1984). Her last role was as Penny, a fitness instructor, on The Dom DeLuise Show (1987). Angela was found dead at a friend's home in West Hills in the San Fernando Valley on November 27, 1988. The coroner later ruled that her death was a result of a deterioration of the heart muscle, probably caused by a virus. She was 32 at the time.
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Barbara Bedford was born on 19 July 1903 in Eastman, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1920), Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1926) and The Spoilers (1923). She was married to Terry Spencer, Alan Roscoe and Irvin Willat. She died on 25 October 1981 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.- Actress
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Strikingly beautiful and fiery blonde Tiffany Bolling may not have achieved the long-lasting stardom she deserved, but she nonetheless has remained a much-beloved cult favorite of 1970s B-movie buffs for her lively and impressive performances in a handful of enjoyably trashy drive-in flicks. Born in Santa Monica, California, as Tiffany Royce Kral, Bolling basically had show business in her blood: her father was singer/pianist Roy Kral and her mother was singer/comedienne Bettie Miller.
Tiffany attended Webster elementary school in Malibu. She began singing in coffee houses at age 16 and recorded an album for Canyon Records, scoring a minor hit single with the Vietnam protest song "Thank God the War is Over". Bolling's latter album "Tiffany" was a flop in its day, but has since become a much sought after collector's item.
She found greater success as an actress. She made her film debut at age 20 in an uncredited bit part as a cocktail waitress in the Frank Sinatra private eye picture Tony Rome (1967). More prominent parts in Triangle (1970) and The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) cemented her status as a most promising new talent. She did a nude pictorial for the April 1972 issue of "Playboy" magazine. Bolling secured her place as a bona-fide B-movie queen with a bunch of juicy starring parts: she's a sneaky, manipulative con artist femme fatale supreme in Bonnie's Kids (1972), a hotel lounge singer who's stalked by a crazed psycho in Wicked, Wicked (1973), the ruthless ringleader of a trio of desperate kidnappers in the terrific The Candy Snatchers (1973) and a stewardess who gets terrorized by deranged psychopath Andrew Prine in the splendidly sleazy The Centerfold Girls (1974). Bolling gave another fine performance as a gutsy entomologist in the hugely entertaining killer tarantula epic Kingdom of the Spiders (1977).
On television Bolling was a regular cast member of the short-lived TV series The New People (1969), which was a precursor to Lost (2004). Among the many TV programs Tiffany did guest spots on were High Mountain Rangers (1987), The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977), Vega$ (1978), Mod Squad (1968), Bonanza (1959), Mannix (1967), Man from Atlantis (1977), Barnaby Jones (1973), Charlie's Angels (1976), Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976) and The Sixth Sense (1972). Alas, Bolling's career petered out in the 1980s, as such lackluster movies as The Vals (1983), Love Scenes (1984) and Open House (1992) all grimly confirm. Her last movie to date is Visions (1998). More recently Bolling has worked in both stage and film productions behind the scenes. She also teaches and dedicates herself to various humanitarian causes. Moreover, her daughter Seanie sang back-up vocals on the 1990 debut album of the Christian heavy metal band Holy Soldier.