Famous People I Have Met
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Precocious, outspoken child-teen starlet of the 1990s, Christina Ricci was born on February 12, 1980 in Santa Monica, California, the youngest of four children of Sarah (Murdoch), a realtor, and Ralph Ricci, a lawyer and therapist. She is of Italian (from her paternal grandfather), Irish, and Scots-Irish descent. She made her screen debut at the age of 9 in Mermaids (1990), in which she worked with Winona Ryder and Cher. Her breakthrough adult role was in The Ice Storm (1997), in which she plays a nymphet who skillfully seduces two brothers. She worked with Johnny Depp and Casper Van Dien in the Tim Burton film Sleepy Hollow (1999).- Scott Steiner has been a mainstay in professional wrestling for over 15 years. When he started out in the business, he was a singles wrestler, wrestling in some smaller federations before coming to the NWA (WCW) to team with his older brother, Rick. It was at this time that Steiner became world famous as one half of the greatest tag team of the 1990's. The two brothers wreaked havoc on anyone who dared get in the ring with them. Known for their amazing wrestling arsenal of suplexes, the two won the WCW tag team titles on many occasions throughout a ten year time period. Steiner, especially, bacame well-schooled in the art of the suplex, as he would use many varieties of this devastating wrestling move to render his foes senseless. He also invented the Frankensteiner, a wrestling move that involves jumping up onto your opponents shoulders from their front, letting your body fall upside-down so you head is between their legs, and then using your stomach and leg muscles to power them forward onto the mat. This move was perfected by Steiner, who could perform the maneuver from a standing position, while his opponent was running at him, or to an opponent sitting on the top rope.
After several years in WCW, which saw him win his first singles title (WCW TV title) in a brief singles push for a couple of months, The Steiner brothers went off to the WWF in early 1993. For the next year, the two continued their assault on every tag team in their path, winning the WWF Tag Team titles on two occasions before leaving in early 1994.
The next stop for the tag team tandem was Japan, where the two continued to prove why they were the best in the business. When WCW came calling in 1996, the Steiner Brothers headed back home. Once again they became the best tag team in WCW's ranks, taking on famous tag teams like Harlem Heat, the Road Warriors, and the Outsiders. They became a huge force in WCW against the nWo uprising in 1996-97. Their feud with The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) in 1997 saw the tag team belts change hands between the two several times.
By early 1998, Scott did not even resemble the Steiner of old. He had cut his hair short (it had always been shoulder length), had beefed up his always-impressive physique even more to look like a bodybuilder, and had grown quite a mean streak. Even with his changing appearance, fans were still completely shocked when he turned on his brother at WCW's Superbrawl VIII pay-per view in February of 1998. Steiner joined the ranks of the nWo and became one of its lead men, taking on the moniker "Big Poppa Pump". He spent most of the year feuding with his brother and helping the nWo in their war against the newly formed Wolfpack.
By early 1999, the nWo had joined with the Wolfpack and WCW was in disarray. Steiner did not let this chaos get to him, as he won the TV and the US titles in the first couple months of the year. He also reunited with his brother in the summer of that year, as the he and Rick held the US and TV titles, respectively. By 2000, Steiner was a main event star who was on his way to win the World Title. He did just that in the fall of that year, defeated Booker T to become the World Heavyweight Champion. He took on all comers in his four-month title reign and became one of the most dominant WCW Champions in history before WCW folded and was bought out by the WWF in March of 2003. He lost the WCW Title to Booker T on the very last edition of WCW Nitro. Steiner decided to take things easy for a while to recover from some back problems that he had been having, along with a severe nerve problem in his left leg. He did wrestle several times for the internation-touring WWA, winning their version of the Championship. He finally showed up in WWE in fall of 2002, immediately getting into a feud with then-champion HHH. After headlining two straight pay-per-views in early 2003, Steiner began a partnership and then a feud with fellow WWE superstar Test. This lasted for most of the year. He again was forced to take some time off from action due to a groin injury. He has yet to return to action as of April 2004, but knowing Steiner, he will return with a vengeance, so watch out. - Actor
- Soundtrack
- Additional Crew
Born James Jonah Cummings on November 3, 1952, he grew up in Youngstown, Ohio.
Sooner or later, he moved to New Orleans. There, he designed Mardi Gras floats, was a singer, door-to-door salesman, and a Louisiana riverboat deckhand.
Then Cummings moved to Anaheim, California, where he started his career playing Lionel from the program Dumbo's Circus (1985).- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
John DiMaggio is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, and producer from Plainfield, New Jersey. He is best known for voicing Bender on Futurama, Jake the Dog on Adventure Time, King Zøg on Disenchantment, The Joker from Batman: Under the Red Hood and Jerry Jumbeaux Jr from Zootopia. He can also be seen in Better Call Saul, Mythic Quest, The Newsroom, Modern Family, The League, Historical Roasts on Netflix and The Little Fockers. John had his own comedy show on MTV named after his comedy duo called Red Johnny and the Round Guy, and did stand up at home and abroad in the 1990s, with the likes of Dave Chapelle, Jeff Ross, Dave Attell, Greer Barnes and Dane Cook. He has been married to actress Kate Miller since 2014. He resides in both New York and Los Angeles.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Jonathan Scott Frakes was born in Bellefonte, central Pennsylvania. He is the son of Doris J. (Yingling) and Dr. James R. Frakes, a professor. His parents moved with Jonathan and his younger brother Daniel to Bethlehem in eastern Pennsylvania. There, his father taught English at Lehigh University, where he held the Fairchild chair in American Literature until his passing in 2002. Frakes is of German, and some English, ancestry.
While growing up Jonathan was introduced to jazz by his father and started playing the trombone when he was in fourth grade. As a child Jonathan was always friendly, funny and somewhat of an actor according to a childhood friend. In high school he played in the band and ran track. He graduated from Liberty High in Bethlehem in 1970. The day after he graduated he started classes at Pennsylvania State University, enrolling as a psychology major. The next summer he worked as an usher for the local theater and observed his peers thoroughly enjoying acting. He was motivated to switch his major to theater arts and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1974.
At this point he decided to move to New York City and try to make it as an actor. The roles did not come easily so he had to take side jobs, such as a waiter, a furniture mover (where he injured up his back), and a stint as Captain America for Marvel Comics. Meanwhile he won roles in the Broadway musical "Shenandoah" and on the soap opera The Doctors (1969) as Vietnam veteran Tom Carroll from 1977 to 1978. At his agent's urging Jonathan moved to Los Angeles in late 1978 to try his hand at television guest appearances. He guest-starred on several of the big prime-time shows of the time, including Charlie's Angels (1976), Fantasy Island (1977), Barnaby Jones (1973), Quincy M.E. (1976), Highway to Heaven (1984), The Waltons (1972), and The Dukes of Hazzard (1979).
During the 1980s Jonathan landed a starring role in a prime-time soap opera, Bare Essence (1983), which had spun off a successful miniseries of the same name. However the show did not take off with the viewers and was soon canceled. He went back to guest appearances for two more years until he got the part of Stanley Hazard in the Civil War epic North & South: Book 1, North & South (1985). After spending more than six months filming all over the southern United States, he and his co-star, Genie Francis, fell in love (he had met her three years before when they co-starred in Bare Essence (1983)). During that time he and Genie didn't have much to do with each other, other than his making fun of her hair, according to her. However three years later they were an item.
In early 1987 Jonathan went to an audition for a new television series at the urging of his soon-to-be wife and her family. After six weeks, and seven auditions, he won the role that would bring him worldwide fame: that of Commander William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). It was at this time, he and Genie announced their engagement. They would have to postpone their wedding twice because of his job but were finally married in the first-season hiatus on May 28, 1988. All of his new co-stars attended the wedding, along with Star Trek (1966) creator Gene Roddenberry. During the seven years Frakes starred on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), he not only acted but discovered that he had a talent for directing. He helmed eight episodes in all and was invited to direct on the Next Generation spin-offs, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995).
The day after his 42nd birthday, on August 20, his son, Jameson Ivor Frakes, was born. Jameson is named after both his grandfathers, the late James Frakes and the late actor Ivor Francis, Genie's father. During this time Jonathan actually turned down work, preferring to stay at home and raise his son with his wife. For the next two years he did a few guest appearances on television.
In 1996 it was announced that he was to be the director of the next Star Trek film, Star Trek: First Contact (1996). He received critical praise for his work on the film and it became the highest-grossing entry of the franchise to date. He formed a production company, Goepp Circle Productions, named after the street he lived on in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Just two days after his ninth wedding anniversary in 1997, Elizabeth Francis Frakes was born. Sadly just two weeks prior Jonathan's brother, Daniel, passed away from pancreatic cancer. In 1998 he was asked to direct the ninth Star Trek film, Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). Following mixed reviews for this film he continued to direct in movies and television, act in a few non-Star Trek roles, and starred in the tenth Star Trek film, Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Kurt Angle was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He won a Olympic Gold Medal in 1996 having notoriously won it with a broken neck. In 1998 he transitioned into professional wrestling where he sky rocked to success after joining the World Wrestling Federation. He later became the first ever wrestler to hold the WCW and WWF Championships during the same calendar year. He also became the second ever TNA Triple Crown Champion in the promotions history and is a overall 13 time World Champion in professional wrestling.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could possibly hope. He played "Awful Knoffel" in the TNT original movie Evel Knievel (2004), directed by John Badham and executive produced by Mel Gibson. Henriksen portrayed "Awful Knoffel" in this project based on the life of the famed daredevil, played by George Eads. Henriksen starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on Millennium (1996), Fox-TV's critically acclaimed series created by Chris Carter (The X-Files (1993)). His performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who has the ability to get inside the minds of killers, landed him three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for "Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama Series" and a People's Choice Award nomination for "Favorite New TV Male Star".
Henriksen was born in New York City. His mother, Margueritte, was a waitress, dance instructor, and model. His father, James Marin Henriksen, who was from Tønsberg, Norway, was a boxer and merchant sailor. Henriksen studied at the Actors Studio and began his career off-Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's "Three Plays of the Sea." One of his first film appearances was as an FBI agent in Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975), followed by parts in Lumet's Network (1976) and Prince of the City (1981). He then appeared in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) with Richard Dreyfuss and François Truffaut, Damien: Omen II (1978) and in Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983), in which he played Mercury astronaut Capt. Wally Schirra.
James Cameron cast Henriksen in his first directorial effort, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), then used him again in The Terminator (1984) and as the android Bishop in the sci-fi classic Aliens (1986). Sam Raimi cast Henriksen as an outrageously garbed gunfighter in his quirky western The Quick and the Dead (1995). Henriksen has also appeared in what has developed into a cult classic: Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987), in which he plays the head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in the TNT original film The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998).
In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an accomplished painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has enabled him to create some of the most unusual ceramic artworks available on the art market today. He resides in Southern California with his wife Jane and their five-year-old daughter Sage.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Michael Owen Rosenbaum is an American actor and pod-caster. He is known for portraying Lex Luthor on the Superman television series Smallville, a role that TV Guide included in their 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time". Rosenbaum is also known for portraying Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Parker in Urban Legend, Adam/Adina in Sorority Boys and Dutch Nilbog on Fox's Breaking In. He also has an extensive voiceover career in animation, such as his role of Wally West / The Flash in the DC Animated Universe series Justice League (2001-04) and its sequel Justice League Unlimited (2004-06). Between 2015 and 2016, he played the lead role in the TV Land comedy series Impastor. He is also the lead singer of the band Sun Spin with his friend Rob Danson. The band's first album, Best Days was released on February 9, 2021- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; February 25, 1971) is an American actor, voice actor, screenwriter, director, producer, family man, author, marathon runner, political activist and philanthropist who is well known for his film debut portraying Mikey in Steven Spielberg's The Goonies (1985), for playing the title role in the critically acclaimed Rudy (1993), and for his role as the beloved Sam Gamgee in the Academy Award winning trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
Astin was born Sean Patrick Duke on February 25, 1971 in Santa Monica, California. His mother was actress Patty Duke. At the time of his birth, his biological father was believed to be entertainer Desi Arnaz Jr., but Astin discovered through a DNA test in the 1990s that his biological father is music promoter Michael Tell, who was married to Patty Duke in 1970. Sean was raised by his stepfather, actor John Astin, who married Patty Duke in 1972 and whose surname Sean took. Sean's mother was of Irish and more distant German ancestry, and Sean's biological father is of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent.
At age nine, Sean starred with his mother in the after-school special Please Don't Hit Me, Mom (1981). Followed by Sean's feature debut The Goonies (1985) and since then, he has had a steady stream of roles. Starring in Toy Soldiers (1991), Where the Day Takes You (1992), Rudy (1993) and Harrison Bergeron (1995). He directed and co-produced the short film Kangaroo Court (1994), which was nominated in the best short film category at The 67th Annual Academy Awards (1995). Sean's adoptive father John Astin was nominated for the same award in 1969.
Sean experienced another career breakthrough with his role as the epitome of loyal sidekicks, Samwise Gamgee, in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, released in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Along with the many awards bestowed upon the trilogy (particularly its final installment The Return of the King), Sean received nominations for his own performance. He took home the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, and awards from the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Seattle Film Critics, the Utah Film Critics Association, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society. As an ensemble, the Return of the King cast received awards from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the Screen Actors Guild. In 2004, Sean authored the NY Times best seller "There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale," chronicling his acting career with emphasis on his experiences filming the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Sean has been a long-distance runner since his teens. His marathons include the 2014 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, where he had the honor of officially starting the race, the 2015 Boston Marathon as a member of charity fund-raising team MR8, and the New York City Marathon in 2016. He has done numerous half marathons and countless 5Ks, 10Ks, and races of other distances. He successfully completed the Ironman World Championship Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, in October 2015; the grueling event consisted of a 2.4 mile open ocean swim, a 112 mile bike race and a 26.2 mile marathon.
In 2012, while training for the LA Marathon, he began a Twitter campaign using #Run3rd, a way to dedicate his runs to causes and ideas that mattered not just to him, but to others. The principle of #Run3rd is that Sean runs first for himself, since running is ultimately a solitary act, second for his ever-patient and supportive family, and third for others. #Run3rd has grown to include a team of runners, walkers, and others who dedicate their activities to the causes of others. A $25,000 grant from the Ironman Foundation will allow the charity to fund after school running programs for children in under-served school districts. More information on #Run3rd, including sponsored 5Ks, is available at run3rd.com.
Sean has served as a philanthropist on the board of several non-profit organizations, including the Creative Coalition, National Center for Family Literacy, and Los Angeles Valley College's Patrons Association and Arts Council. He is a vocal advocate on many issues including literacy, mental health awareness and civic engagement. After the passing of his mother in late March 2016, Sean began fund-raising to create a foundation to carry on her life's work as an advocate for mental health
Politically, Sean has been very active having served in two non-partisan Presidential appointments. Sean also hosts a live weekly 2 hour in-studio bi-partisan political radio talk show, 'Vox Populi Radio' which was made possible by a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2013. In 2004, Sean broke into the publishing world and authored the NY Times Best Selling release of There and Back Again a memoir of his film career (co-written with Joe Layden).
In addition to acting in live action films and television, Sean is also an accomplished voice actor. He has voiced several different characters in animated series, cartoons, animated movies, anime dubs and video games. His voice is also familiar to many. He narrated the Animal Planet series "Meerkat Manor" (2006-2007), and voiced the title characters in the animated Disney Channel series "Special Agent Oso" (2009-2012) and the animated feature film "Ribbit" (2014). He was the voice of Raphael in Nickelodeon's popular "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (2012-2017) as well as it's video games. He voiced the paranoid Siamese cat Chester in "Bunnicula" (2016-2018), a Warner Brothers produced series based on children's books by James Howe and narrates "The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants" (2018-2019) a series on Netflix, based on the Dav Pilkey's children's books. He can be heard in a plethora of other animated shows, anime dubs, video games, audio dramas and narrations. More recently, Sean was the Narrator of the Documentary called Remember the Sultana, which released on March 1st, 2018.
After four decades in front of camera or microphone, Sean has ventured in front of a theater audience, first as Joseph Stalin in a multimedia stage production of "Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Fantasy," (2018-2019) and then as Dr. Moricet in "Bang Bang!" (2018), John Cleese's adaptation of a 19th century French farce.
Sean is also comfortable behind the camera, directing episodic TV and serving as producer on several films. He directed and co-produced with his wife Christine the short film "Kangaroo Court," nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1995. While working on "The Lord of the Rings," Sean made "The Long and Short of It." The film premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and appears on the DVD for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," along with a making-of video. He is currently working to bring "Number the Stars," based on Lois Lowry's Newbery Award winning children's classic, to the big screen.
While maintaining a career as a professional actor (in live action films and television) and a voice actor for characters in animated series, cartoons, animated movies, anime dubs and video games, Sean is also a political activist. Sean has been actively engaged in the political world since early in his life. He served in two non-partisan Presidential appointments. In 1995, under President Bill Clinton, he became a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, serving for 10 years under six secretaries in two administrations. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to his Council on Service and Civic Participation, whose mission was to promote a culture of volunteerism and civic engagement. He campaigned for presidential candidates John Kerry in 2004, and Hillary Clinton in 2008 and 2016. He also served as campaign manager for his friend, Dan Adler, in a special election for California's 36th congressional district race in 2011.
Sean attended Crossroads High School for the Arts and studied with the famous Stella Adler. He graduated with honors from UCLA; B.A. in History & B.A. in English American Literature and Culture. Sean is married to Christine Astin, his co-producer on Kangaroo Court (1994). He resides in Los Angeles, CA with his wife Christine Louise and daughters Alexandra (Ali) Louise, Elizabeth Louise, and Isabella (Bella) Louise. All of his daughters attend Harvard University.- Actress
- Producer
Patricia Anne Stratigeas, better known as Trish Stratus, is marketed as a former wrestler for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Before she became a mainstay in professional wrestling, she was a student at York University in Toronto, Canada. She majored in Biology and Kinesiology, but when the professors went on strike she took a job as receptionist at a local fitness club. There she was soon discovered by an agent who landed her a job as a fitness model.
Her success as a fitness model eventually caught the attention of a WWE talent official who sent her a letter offering her a contract. Other wrestling promotions had also offered her similar contracts, but she decided to sign with the WWE. She then made her WWE debut in March 19, 2000 on WWF Sunday Night Heat #86 (2000), where she formed the tag team of T & A with Test (Andrew Martin) and Albert (Matt Bloom). She also became the manager of then-WWE Intercontinental Champion Val Venis (Sean Morley).
Trish Stratus is highly regarded as a self-proclaimed WWE Diva. Among her accomplishments: she was voted Internet Babe of the Year for three consecutive years in 2001, 2002 and 2003, along with winning the "Diva of the Decade" award for the Raw Tenth Anniversary (2003); she graced the cover of the annual WWE Divas Magazine four times--in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2006; and she holds the record for being the only woman in WWE history to win the WWE Women's Championship seven times. On September 17, 2006, she officially retired from professional wrestling after an amazing 7-year career; she'll be remembered for the legacy she left during her time with the WWE.
Following her retirement from WWE, she made occasional appearances on WWE Raw (1993) in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012, either for a special anniversary episode (Raw 15th Anniversary (2007) and Raw 1000 (2012)- Raw 1000), to wrestle, to guest-host, or make a televised appearance in a gimmick style segment. She participated in WrestleMania XXVII (2011) in 2011 with Snooki (Nicole Polizzi) and John Morrison (John Hennigan) in an intergender tag team match against Laycool (Layla El and Michelle McCool) and Dolph Ziggler (Nic Nemeth) in which her team proved victorious. She was later inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame 2013 (2013) in 2013 by Stephanie McMahon and the following year she inducted her bestie Lita (Amy Dumas) in the WWE Hall of Fame (2014) in 2014.
During that time, she toured with Lita (Amy Dumas) on convention tours to meet and greet fans who enjoyed their 2000-2006 friendship/rivalry. In 2018, they made their return to WWE when they individually participated in the main event all women's WWE Royal Rumble (2018), then wrestled in a tag-team match against Alicia Fox (Victoria Crawford) and Mickie James at the all female pay-per-view WWE Evolution (2018). Trish Stratus continues to split her time between making appearances at conventions, doing autograph signings for special WWE events, and taking care of her children Maximus (born September 30, 2013) and Madison (born January 14, 2017). She also made her mark in the feature films Bounty Hunters (2011) as Jules and Gridlocked (2015) as Gina.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Billy Boyd was born in 1968 in Glasgow, Scotland, to Mary and William Boyd. The talented young boy, inspired by Star Wars to try acting, got his first taste of it in his school's production of Oliver Twist when he was 10. Boyd's parents were extremely supportive, driving over two hours to get him to the performances, but sadly they passed away when he was 12. He was thereafter raised by his grandmother. He realized that he enjoyed acting very much and told his school counselor that was what he wanted to be, but the counselor discouraged this choice and told him to "keep it secret". When he was 17 he left school and went to work in a book-binding workshop. He worked there 4 years as an apprentice and 2 years as a workman. Ironically, during the years he worked at the book-binders, the Lord of the Rings trilogy was printed and bound there, many copies bound by his hands. After the 6 years as a book-binder, he was thoroughly sick of it. Billy planned on going to America for a year, but before he went he called the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and asked about applying for when he got back. But it so happened that they still had space for that year and they asked him if he wanted to apply and he did. He was at the drama school in a 3-year course for his bachelor of arts degree, meanwhile studying everything from Shakespeare to puppet-making. During this time Billy had a few small roles in TV series such as "Down Amongst The Boys" and "Taggart". After graduating he performed in many plays like 'The Slab Boys', 'The Diary of Adrian Mole' etc. at The St. Andrews theatre which were his first paying roles. He then received a call from his agent about the Lord of the Rings movies and if he would like to audition for them. He went along not expecting much, but within a few months Peter Jackson came out to Scotland to meet him and to audition him personally. While rehearsing for a show he received a call from his agent who said that the part of Pippin had been offered to him - if he wanted it. The rest is history.- Seth Lesser was born on 18 October 1982 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for WWE NXT (2010), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WWE Raw (1993).
- Actor
- Producer
Rob Strauss was born on 1 October 1983 in Alpine, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Wrestler (2008), TNA iMPACT! Wrestling (2004) and WWE Raw (1993).- While growing up in Detroit, Gerin's father died when he was just fourteen and his mother was working up to three jobs. While still living in Detroit, Gerin made his professional wrestling debut in 1994 in the independent circuit. Then in 1995, he started working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a jobber (someone who loses almost every match).
Soon, he won the World Title for the Pro Wrestling Worldwid (PWW). During this time, he was part of a team called "Thug Life" which had top wrestlers of today such as 'Christian Cage' and 'Joe Legend'.
However, it was in 1999, that Gerin wrestled under the name "Rhino" when he won the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) World Heavyweight Chmapionship in 1999 and became a star. He thanked Paul Heyman, the former owner of ECW, for making him a star.
When ECW was starting to go out of business, Rhino made his WWF/E (World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment) debut at WrestleMania 17 under slightly different name from his old name: Rhyno.
After being released from the WWE with his good friend _Matt Hardy_, Rhyno is now working Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) Wrestling. There, He won the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World Heavyweight Championship. - Actor
- Director
David Heath was born February 16th, 1969 in Florida. He played high school football but suffered a serious neck injury that ended his career. Despite fears that he would never play contact sports again, he became interested in professional wrestling. He was trained by Boris Malenko, father of fellow wrestler Dean Malenko. He then hit the independent wrestling scene under different personas all involving a gothic theme. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in mid 1998 under the name "Gangrel." At first he opposed a wrestler named Edge, but they (along with Christian), formed a highly popular trio known as the Brood, and feuded with Al Snow's J.O.B. Squad at the end of 1998. Gangrel received a European title shot at the Royal Rumble but did not win. The Brood then joined The Ministry of Darkness and followed the Undertaker in his goal to capture Stephanie McMahon. In April 1999 the Brood left the Ministry and shorty after they broke up. In the summer of 1999, Gangrel joined Matt and Jeff Hardy to create the New Brood, but the popularity level of the first version could not be duplicated. They broke up in October of that year and Gangrel tried to launch his solo career. He teamed up with his real life wife, Luna Vachon, but she was released from the WWF, and he followed soon after. In 2002, he appeared on an Australian World Wrestling All-Stars PPV as the Vampire Warrior, facing his wife Luna in a Black Wedding match, which he won. He remained out of the major-league spotlight until September 2004, when he made his return to WWE along with Viscera, turning against their former mentor The Undertaker, as one of JBL's hired henchmen on Smackdown.- Tony Atlas was born on 23 April 1954 in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and Spectrum Wrestling (1977). He has been married to Monika DeRanek since 27 June 1990. He was previously married to Lisa.
- Travis Gordon was born on 12 December 1991 in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Burial Ground Massacre (2021), All In (2018) and Ring of Honor Wrestling (2009).
- Robert Louis Backlund is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, where he held the WWWF Championship/WWF Championship on two occasions. His first reign was the second longest in history. Backlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Backlund began his career in amateur wrestling, competing for the North Dakota State University Bison from the late 1960s to early 1970s. He began training as a professional wrestler in 1973 under Eddie Sharkey and competed for the American Wrestling Federation. He then wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship in 1976. Later that year he joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation, defeating Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1978. He held the championship until 1983, where he lost it in a match against the Iron Sheik. Shortly after losing the title, Backlund left the WWF, but returned in 1992 and was in the 1993 Royal Rumble match for over an hour, a record held until the 2004 Royal Rumble. At the 1994 Survivor Series, Backlund won his second WWF Championship, defeating Bret Hart. He held the championship for three days, before losing it to Diesel at a house show in Madison Square Garden.
In addition to his time with the WWWF/WWF, Backlund has had success in Wrestling and Romance, Championship Wrestling from Florida, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. - One of the most recognizable grapplers of the 1980s, Sgt. Slaughter became huge in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), American Wrestling Association (AWA), and the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). While never actually serving as a United States Marine, Remus adopted the character Sgt. Slaughter and became a professional wrestler. During his run in the WWF, Sgt. Slaughter became a contender to Bob Backlund's WWF Championship and also faced Italian wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino in Sammartino's last match at Madison Square Garden. Sgt. Slaughter was also a NWA United States Champion, as well as NWA Tag Team Champion with Don Kernodle. When Sgt. Slaughter's career exploded, he became one of the most beloved and popular superstars in the WWF during the 1980s, along with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Snuka.
Besides becoming a household name in wrestling, the Sarge also made his name as a popular culture icon for letting the G.I. Joe using him as a toy. In 1991, he then won his first and only WWF Championship from the Ultimate Warrior at the year's Royal Rumble. After his retirement from being a full-time competitor, Sgt. Slaughter then became a commissioner, later a well respected road agent.
Sgt. Slaughter was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. - Adam Scherr was born on September 6, 1983, in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina. Scherr is an American professional wrestler, actor and former strongman. Scherr recently completed a successful run as a WWE Superstar (2013-2021), where he performed on the SmackDown Live brand on FOX under the ring name Braun Strowman.
In WWE, Scherr won his first world title at WrestleMania 36 (2020) - WWE Universal Champion. Scherr is WWE Intercontinental Champion and a two-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champion. He is also the winner of the 2018 Men's Money in the Bank contract, the winner of the titular match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event, where he won the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Trophy and Championship, and the winner of 2019 edition of Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. In 2020, at WrestleMania 36, he won the Universal Championship, his first world title.
Scherr has headlined many pay-per-view events. He holds the record for most eliminations in a single Elimination Chamber match with five, tied for first with Brock Lesnar for the most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match with 13, most eliminations in a single Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal with 14, and is tied for the most eliminations in a single Survivor Series elimination match with four. Throughout his appearances with WWE, Strowman has been portrayed as an unstoppable monster, earning the moniker "The Monster Among Men".
Prior to becoming a WWE Superstar, Scherr earned his Strongman Corporation (ASC) Professional Card by winning the NAS Amateur National Championships on November 5, 2011. He won the 2012 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships on March 4, which took place during the Arnold Sports Festival alongside the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic. This victory earned Scherr an invite to the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic. He competed in the SCL North American Championships on July 8, 2012, finishing in 5th place overall as well as competing in the Giants Live Poland event on July 21, finishing in 7th place overall.
Beyond professional wrestling, Scherr serves as co-host, YouTube show My Life My Rules, co-owner, Free The Narrative (cinematic wrestling storytelling), Owner, clothing brand Meat Castle Clothing, Owner, motorsports company Meat Castle Motor Sports and has appeared in the Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly film Holmes & Watson (2018).
In addition, Scherr has served as a brand ambassador for companies including ST Biosciences, Diskuss, Kingsford, Certified Piedmontese, Redcon1, Indian Motorcycle, Traeger Grills, MegaFit Meals, Sanvello Health, The Topps Company and Sport Kings. - Joseph Ruud is an American Professional Wrestler working under the ring name Erick Redbeard. During his 9 year career in the WWE Ruud performed as Erick Rowan. He was both a NXT Tag Team Champion and a two time SmackDown Tag Team Champion.
Standing at just over 6' 7' tall, Ruud has recently decided to turn his attention toward acting, bringing his unique presence and performing experience to the world of film and television. He can be seen in the 2021 movie Ghosts of the Ozarks (2021) as well as in Back Fork (2019) from 2019. - Actor
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- Editor
Michael Hutter was born on 18 March 1983 in Willoughby, Ohio, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The House of the Devil (2009), Free the Narrative (2021) and WWE NXT (2010).- Johnny Curtis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is known for WWE NXT (2010), WWE Smackdown! (1999) and WWE Raw (1993).
- Actress
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Jasmine Benitez is an American professional wrestler as Mercedes Martinez. She is best known for her work for WSU and SHIMMER. She debuted in November 2000 after training under former ECW World Television Champion and manager Jason Knight. She has been a 2x WSU Champion, a 1x WSU Tag Team Champion with Angel Orsini, a 4x WXW Women's Champion, and has won several other titles primarily in the Northeast. She also competed for Wrestlicious as Maria Toro.- is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. In 2011, she was a contestant on WWE Tough Enough, but was eliminated from the competition due to injury. WWE signed her in November 2011 and Vélez adopted the ring name Sofia Cortez as she appeared in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling as well as WWE NXT; Vélez was released from the WWE in August 2012. Vélez began her wrestling career at the age of fifteen in the island of Puerto Rico. Soon after, she debuted in World Wrestling Council. She subsequently wrestled in the International Wrestling Association.
After gaining experience, she began wrestling in the United States, starting on the Chicago independent circuit. She was eventually noticed by WWE and sent to Florida Championship Wrestling for further evaluation. She continued to work the indy scene in the U.S. before signing a contract with WWE.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2011-2012) Tough Enough (2011) In March 2011, Vélez was announced as one of the fourteen contestants for the revival of Tough Enough. On the May 10 episode, she was eliminated from the competition due to an injury.
Florida Championship Wrestling (2011-2012) After being cut from Tough Enough, on November 11, 2011, Vélez signed a contract with WWE. She made her debut under the name Sofia Cortez at a FCW house show in a 6-women tag team match, teaming with Cameron Lynn and Audrey Marie to defeat Caylee Turner, Leah West and Raquel Diaz. She made her television debut on the December 25 edition of FCW, teaming with Caylee Turner to defeat Cameron Lynn and Kaitlyn. On the February 5 episode of FCW television Cortez teamed with Raquel Diaz in a losing effort to the team of Audrey Marie and Kaitlyn. On the March 11 episode of FCW television, Cortez formed an alliance with Paige and Raquel Diaz, with the trio attacking Audrey Marie. The following week on FCW television, Cortez teamed up with Paige losing to Audrey Marie and Kaitlyn. Cortez and Paige dubbed themselves the Anti Diva Army.
NXT (2012) In 2012, Vélez, as Sofia Cortez, debuted on the July 4 episode of the sixth season of WWE NXT taped at Full Sail University, where she (as a heel) defeated Paige. On the July 25 episode of NXT, Cortez (as a face) defeated Natalya by count-out but suffered a post-match attack from Natalya. In August 2012, Vélez announced that she had been released from her WWE contract. In her final match in WWE, Sofia reverted to her villainous persona in a loss to Tamina Snuka taped before her release.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2012, 2013) On October 11, 2012, Velez had a tryout match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling; a losing effort to Tara. Velez returned to TNA on the February 28, 2013 edition of Impact Wrestling; defeating Lei'D Tapa in a Gut Check Challenge match. Despite her victory, the Gut Check judges turned Velez down. Velez took part of the Knockouts Knockdown PPV on March 17, 2013 (aired September 6, 2013) in a losing effort to Tapa. The same night, Velez also took part in the World Cup of Wrestling PPV (aired December 6, 2013) as a villain representing the Aces & Eights in a victorious effort against Mickie James, who represented Team USA. In the 5-on-5 elimination match for the TNA World Cup, Velez was eliminated by James.
Shine Wrestling (2012-present) Debut; Valkyrie (2012-2013) On November 17, 2012, Ivelisse debuted for Shine Wrestling at SHINE 5 in a losing effort to Athena. After the match, Ivelisse attacked Athena in the ring, establishing herself as a villainous character. On January 11, 2013, Ivelisse defeated Su Yung and later took part in forming the Valkyrie faction along with Allysin Kay, Taylor Made, April Hunter, and their leader Rain. Ivelisse defeated LuFisto in a highly praised match at SHINE 7 on February 22, and was on the victorious end of an eight-woman tag team main event at SHINE 8 a month later. At SHINE 9, Ivelisse lost to Jazz in a match for a spot in the SHINE Championship Tournament, but she would defeat the debuting Amber O'Neal at SHINE 10 in May.
An Injury to Jazz and vacant spots left by Allysin Kay's suspension and Taylor Made gave Ivelisse a second chance to qualify for the SHINE Championship Tournament, which she did by defeating Amazing Kong, Angelina Love, and Kimberly in one of two four-way qualifying matches that took place at SHINE 11 on July 12. That same night, Ivelisse defeated Santana Garrett in the first round, but she lost to Mia Yim in the semifinals after Rain's attempt to interfere on Ivelisse's behalf backfired. At SHINE 12 on August 23, Ivelisse competed in a #1 Contender's three-way match against Yim and Jessicka Havok and lost to Havok. Ivelisse teamed up with the returning Allysin Kay in a victorious outing against Havok and Kong at SHINE 13 on September 27. She teamed up with Kay again at SHINE 14 on October 25 in a losing effort against the Global Green Gangsters (Kellie Skater and Tomoka Nakagawa) for the SHIMMER Tag Team Championship. Ivelisse defeated Mia Yim at SHINE 15 on December 13, and was named #1 Contender for the SHINE Championship at the end of the show.
SHINE Champion (2014-2015) At SHINE 16 on January 24, 2014, Ivelisse defeated Rain to win the SHINE Championship, and after the match, she was attacked by Rain and the rest Valkyrie after being ousted from the faction, turning her into a babyface. Ivelisse was also attacked by the debuting Serena Deeb, who replaced her in Valkyrie. Ivelisse had her first title defense at SHINE 17 on February 28, defeating Mercedes Martinez. At SHINE 18 on April 18, Ivelisse defeated Saraya Knight to retain the title, and was again attacked by Valkyrie after the match. At SHINE 19 on May 23, Ivelisse participated in a 10-woman elimination tag team match, and was eliminated by Serena.
At SHINE 20 on June 27, Ivelisse competed to a time-limit draw against Serena in a match for the SHINE Championship. She defended her title successfully against Nevaeh at SHINE 21 on August 22 and against Madison Eagles at SHINE 22 on October 10. On November 16, 2014, Ivelisse lost the SHINE Championship to Mia Yim during WWNLive's tour of China.
Ivelisse confronted Mia Yim at SHINE 23 on December 5 before defeating Amanda Rodriguez via submission. She later saved La Rosa Negra from a post match attack from former Valkyrie cohort Taylor Made and got involved in the main event SHINE Championship match by attacking Nevaeh, causing Mia Yim to be disqualified. After the match, Ivelisse brawled with both women and attacked referees and Shine VP Lexie Fyfe, and had to be carried away by security.
Return (2015-present) At SHINE 27 on May 15, 2015, Ivelisse returned and challenged Santana Garrett to a match for the SHINE Championship. Ivelisse received her opportunity at SHINE 28 on July 24, but failed to capture the title after the referee stopped the match due to her ankle injury. After the match, Ivelisse refused to shake Santana's hand. At SHINE 29, Ivelisse and Amanda Rodriguez defeated Malia Hosaka and Thunderkitty.
SHIMMER Women Athletes (2014-present) On April 5, 2014, Ivelisse made her debut for SHIMMER Women Athletes at the SHIMMER 62 event in New Orleans; defeating Kimber Lee in singles action.
Lucha Underground (2014-2018) Vélez debuted on the November 5, 2014, episode of Lucha Underground, simply as Ivelisse, teaming with Son of Havoc in a loss to Sexy Star and Chavo Guerrero Jr. On February 8, 2015, Ivelisse, Son of Havoc and Angélico won a tournament to become the inaugural Lucha Underground Trios Champions. On the February 18 episode of Lucha Underground, Ivelisse earned her first singles victory against Angélico. During the time Ivelisse, Havoc and Angélico held the championships, they defended and successfully retained them against The Crew (Cortez, Castro and Bael) in a ladder match on the May 20 episode of Lucha Underground and against Cage, DelAvar Daivari and Big Ryck on the June 3 episode, despite Ivelisse suffering from a legitimate foot injury. - Actor
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In 1999 Matt won gold medals in both the Rings and Vault at the AAU National Junior Olympics. This capped off a successful ten year gymnastics career and it became time to lay the foundation for what the world would later know as MDogg20. Out of sheer boredom and an ever-burning athletic drive, Matt took to the backyard: brawling with his friends, denting ladders, and forever revolutionizing the pastime of backyard wrestling. With his gymnastic background and apparent disregard for heights and the law of gravity, Matt became MDogg20 and the world took note. Recently his days as a backyard wrestler have been immortalized by the Eidos Interactive release of "Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home" video game available worldwide for the PS2 and XBox game consoles. MDogg and his long time friend/rival Josh Prohibition grace the cover of the video game and at the time of this writing 300,000 copies have already sold worldwide. After his feats received national exposure with the release of the Best of Backyard Wrestling video series on which he's prominently featured, MDogg20 decided to take professional wrestling from a hobby to a career. The first step in this new direction meant going to the Cleveland All Pro Wrestling Training Center and learning the business from head trainer, JT Lightning. After about a year of training MDogg20 was ready to hit the Independent wrestling scene in May of 2001. After traveling across the Midwest and learning wherever he went, monthly bookings became weekly excursions to places as far away as London, England. He now travels regularly everywhere from Los Angeles California to New York City and between. This year looks to be yet another positive one as he continues to climb the independent ranks. In his short two years in the business MDogg20 has gone from the podium, to the backyard, to the company of Mario and Zelda, and there are no signs of slowing down.- American professional wrestler for CHIKARA as part of a tag team with Cornelius Crummels. Debuted at "CHIKARA Hour of Power #1", June 26, 2016, in a victory over the Snake Pit (Ophidian and Argus). They defeated the Colony (Soldier Ant and Worker Ant) at "CHIKARA Hour of Power #2" on August 7th. They entered the 10-team Tag Team Gauntlet at "CHIKARA King of Trios 2016 Night III" on September 4th. They eliminated the Gentleman's Club (Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream), but were eliminated by the debuting Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger and Jasper Tippins), launching a feud between the two teams. At "CHIKARA The Shape of Things to Come," the final event filmed at the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory that made up the "lost" Season 17 and released on March 31, 2017, Crummels and DeFarge defeated the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti) and the Closers (Rick Rowland and Sloan Caprice) in a three-way two falls to win match to win the vacant CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas.
- American professional wrestler for CHIKARA as part of a tag team with Sonny DeFarge. Debuted at "CHIKARA Hour of Power #1", June 26, 2016, in a victory over the Snake Pit (Ophidian and Argus). They defeated the Colony (Soldier Ant and Worker Ant) at "CHIKARA Hour of Power #2" on August 7th. They entered the 10-team Tag Team Gauntlet at "CHIKARA King of Trios 2016 Night III" on September 4th. They eliminated the Gentleman's Club (Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy) and Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream), but were eliminated by the debuting Dez Peloton (Donald Kluger and Jasper Tippins), launching a feud between the two teams. At "CHIKARA The Shape of Things to Come," the final event filmed at the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory that made up the "lost" Season 17 and released on March 31, 2017, Crummels and DeFarge defeated the Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and "Mr. Touchdown" Mark Angelosetti) and the Closers (Rick Rowland and Sloan Caprice) in a three-way two falls to win match to win the vacant CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas.
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American professional wrestler who competes for CHIKARA and Excellence Professional Wrestling. Debuted at "CHIKARA The Ocean Walker" on October 10, 2015, teaming with Cajun Crawdad in a loss to Battleborn (Kevin Condron and Missile Assault Man) in a four-way match that also involved Battle Hive (Amasis and Fire Ant) and the Nightmare Warriors (Frightmare and Silver Ant). Started teaming with Rock Lobster in 2016 after Cajun Crawdad was injured. Entered the 2016 Young Lions Cup Tournament at "National Pro Wrestling Day 2016" but was eliminated from a four-way match by Argus. He won his first title by defeating Sylverhawk for the CHIKARA Young Lions Cup at "CHIKARA The Johnny Kidd Invitational" on June 18, 2017.- Actor
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Professional wrestler for CHIKARA. Debuted with Hermit Crab in a loss in a four-way elimination match involving Battleborn (Snowflake (Kevin Condron) and Missile Assault Man (R.B. Banks), Battle Hive (Amasis (Desean Pratt) and Fire Ant) and the Nightmare Warriors (Hallowicked and Frightmare) at "CHIKARA The Ocean Walker" on October 10, 2015. Suffered an injury at "CHIKARA Babylon Springs" on November 8th, 2015 that put him out for a year. He returned at "CHIKARA Temple of Doom" on December 3, 2016, teaming with Hermit Crab in a loss to Los Ice Creams (Ice Cream Jr. and El Hijo del Ice Cream.) Continues to compete for CHIKARA.- Actor
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Veteran character actor Robert Englund was born in Glendale, California, to Janis (MacDonald) and John Kent Englund, an aeronautics engineer. Since 1973, Robert has appeared in over 75 feature films and starred in four TV series. He has starred alongside Oscar-winners Henry Fonda, Susan Sarandon and Jeff Bridges. Since 1984 he's achieved international fame as the iconic boogeyman Freddy Krueger in the hit franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street and its seven sequels. Englund has guest starred in hundreds of hours of TV most recently Bones, Criminal Minds and Hawaii 5-0. He will soon be seen starring in the horror film Fear Clinic, and the English thriller The Last Showing, he can be heard as the voice of the Evil Beaver in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show.- Actor
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Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, to Phyllis, a restaurant manager and server, and Gene D'Onofrio, a theatre production assistant and interior designer. He is of Italian descent and has two older sisters. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American Stanislavski Theatre. Vincent D'Onofrio is known as an "actor's actor". The wide variety of roles he has played and the quality of his work have earned him a reputation as a versatile talent.
His first paid role was in Off-Broadway's "This Property Is Condemned". He continued appearing in plays and worked as a bouncer, a bodyguard and a delivery man. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in "Open Admissions", followed by work in numerous other stage plays. In 2012, D'Onofrio returned to teach at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute. As a film actor, D'Onofrio's career break came when he played a mentally unbalanced recruit in Full Metal Jacket (1987), directed by the renowned Stanley Kubrick. For this role D'Onofrio gained nearly 70 pounds. He had a major role in Dying Young (1991), and appeared prominently in the box-office smash Men in Black (1997) as the bad guy (Edgar "The Bug").
Other films of note in which he has appeared are Mystic Pizza (1988), JFK (1991), The Player (1992), Ed Wood (1994), The Cell (2000), The Break-Up (2006) and Jurassic World (2015). In 1996, D'Onofrio garnered critical acclaim along with co-star Renée Zellweger for The Whole Wide World (1996), which he helped produce. He also made a guest appearance in The Subway (1997), where he played an accident victim who could not be rescued and was destined to die. For this performance he won an Emmy nomination. In 2000, he both produced and starred in Steal This Movie (2000), a biopic of radical leader Abbie Hoffman.
In 2001, D'Onofrio took the role which has likely given him his greatest public recognition: Det. Robert Goren, the lead character in the TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). Goren is based on Sherlock Holmes but, instead of relying upon physical evidence like Holmes, D'Onofrio's character focuses on psychology to identify the perpetrators, whom he often draws into confessing or yielding condemning evidence. He played the part for 10 years.
In his career D'Onofrio's various film characters have included a priest, a bisexual former porn star, a hijacker, a serial killer, Orson Welles, a space alien, a 1960s radical leader, a pulp fiction writer, an ingenious police investigator and Stuart Smalley's dope-head brother. His on-screen love interests have included Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Renée Zellweger, Marisa Tomei, Tracey Ullman, Rebecca De Mornay and Lili Taylor. One of his latest roles is in Marvel's Daredevil (2015) as Daredevil's nemesis, Wilson Fisk. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.- Actress
Born and raised in Manhattan Beach, California, Amanda Wyss, was discovered playing the titular character (Rhoda Penmark) in a production of "The Bad Seed" at an LA theater. She quickly found work in commercials before landing a guest starring role in television's science fiction hit Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), followed by a recurring role on When the Whistle Blows (1980). She won a Best Young Artist award for her work in the ABC After School Special She Drinks a Little (1981), before sharing the stage with Eva Marie Saint in the stage production of "The Country Girl".
Major motion pictures came next, including hits such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Better Off Dead (1985), Silverado (1985) and the award-winning indie film, Powwow Highway (1988). She has worked extensively in television, with recurring roles on Cheers (1982), St. Elsewhere (1982), Cagney & Lacey (1981), Highlander (1992) and more recently, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Dexter (2006), Murder in the First (2014) and All Rise (2019), among many other guest starring roles.
She was awarded Best Actress honors at the Santa Monica International Film Festival for the horror film Oct 23rd (2016), she starred alongside genre favorites in the Syfy Channel original movie, The Sandman (2017) produced by the legendary Stan Lee, and broke hearts in her critically acclaimed performance in the award winning drama,The Id (2015). Next, she made a return to westerns with her award winning turn in, Badland (2019).- Actor
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Cal Dodd was born on 23 November 1956 in Ireland. He is an actor, known for X-Men: The Animated Series (1992), Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994) and Marvel Super Heroes (1995).- Music Department
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Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to an Italian carpenter/stagehand father from Naples, Italy, and an African-American opera singer mother from Alabama. His parents, working in Europe at the time of his birth, settled in Manhattan by the time he was 6, and that's where he grew up.
Coming from a theatrical background, it was, perhaps, inevitable that young Giancarlo would appear on stage sooner or later, and he did, at age 8, appearing on Broadway as a slave child in "Maggie Flynn" in 1966.
More Broadway work followed through the 1960s and early '70s, followed by some small roles in movies. TV work followed in the 1980s, with increasingly significant parts in a string of high-profile series until he became well-established as a character player both on TV and in a number of movies.
He came very much to the public's attention playing Agent Mike Giardello in the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993) in 1998 and since then has rarely been off our screens.- Actress
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Heather Langenkamp was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. She got her start in acting when she was cast as an extra in the Francis Ford Coppola films The Outsiders (1983) and Rumble Fish (1983), which were both filmed in Tulsa. Her scenes were deleted from the final cut of both films. While studying at Stanford University, she rose to international prominence when Wes Craven cast her as Nancy Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). After a string of television guest appearances, she returned as Nancy in the 1987 sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Subsequently, she became known for her role as the moralistic Marie Lubbock on the ABC television series Just the Ten of Us (1987), a spin-off of the popular ABC situation comedy Growing Pains (1985) (on which she guest-starred), from 1988 to 1990. In 1994, she portrayed fictionalized versions of herself in New Nightmare (1994) and the figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story (1994). The following year, she had a supporting role as the reporter Christy Carruthers in the horror film The Demolitionist (1995). She served as executive producer and narrator for the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010), followed by roles in The Butterfly Room (2012), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Truth or Dare (2017). She has since starred in a variety of independent films. She co-owns AFX Studio, a company responsible for the special effects for films such as Dawn of the Dead (2004) and The Cabin in the Woods (2011). She has been married to David LeRoy Anderson since 1990. They have two children. She was previously married to Alan Pasqua.- Actress
- Producer
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Jodi Benson was born on October 10, 1961 in Rockford, Illinois as Jodi Marie Marzorati. She has received worldwide recognition & critical acclaim as the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Tour Guide Barbie in Toy Story 2 (1999), Weebo in Flubber (1997) as well as Thumbelina in Thumbelina (1994). Other projects include The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008), The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001), 101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure (2002), Joseph: King of Dreams (2000), Balto: Wolf Quest (2001), Balto III: Wings of Change (2004) & Enchanted (2007).
She starred in Crazy For You as Polly Baker, receiving a Tony & Helen Hayes award nomination for best actress in a musical. Other Broadway credits include Smile, Welcome to the Club & Marilyn. Internationally, she has had the honor of sharing the stage w/ her husband Ray Benson at the European premiere of Ira Gershwin's My One & Only, starring as Miss Edythe Herbert. In Los Angeles, she starred in the critically-acclaimed Reprise/UCLA production of Babes in Arms, South Pacific, Flora the Red Menace, Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady & Chess, for which she won the Best Actress Drama League Award.
She can be heard in over a dozen recordings & has a 6-part DVD series titled Baby Faith. Her animated works include Camp Lazlo! (2005), The Little Mermaid (1992), Batman Beyond (1999), The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001), The Wild Thornberrys (1998), Hercules: Zero to Hero (1999), P.J. Sparkles (1992) as well as many others. On the concert stage, she has performed as a concert soloist w/ symphonies all over the world such as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The National Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, Dallas Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic to name a few. She has starred in the Kennedy Center Honors for Ginger Rogers, The 25th Anniversary of Walt Disney, Central Park Disney Spectacular & Disney's 100 Years of Magic. She's honored to be the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line & ambassador for feature animation. She gives thanks & praise to the Lord for her family, friends, her loving husband Ray as well as her precious children: son McKinley Benson & daughter Delaney.- Actor
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Native Detroiter Kevin Nash is an actor and equal rights advocate who discovered his love of comedy as the class clown in elementary school and to this day, he can find humor in almost any situation. One day he could not find humor was April 4th, 1968 as that was the day his father died of a heart attack at work at 36 years of age. After spending the day at the funeral home he came home seeking solace in the back bedroom of their 800 sq. foot home watching his portable TV. Suddenly on screen came the report of Martin Luther King's assassination. This brought to mind sitting on his father's knee as they watched MLK's "I have a dream" speech. This touched a nerve since the only time he'd ever seen his father cry was the day JFK was shot. Kevin's father, a lifelong democrat instilled core values in his son which later in life lead to Nash's advocacy of human rights, whether it be race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
After 3 years playing Division 1 college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers a physical altercation with the head coach Don DeVoe (Kevin pie-faced him after DeVoe grabbed Nash by his jersey), led to a parting of the ways. He was then inspired to join the Army after watching Bill Murray's Stripes and went on to not only have top-secret clearance but also represent the US Armed Forces in the paint. Upon honorable discharge from the Army, Nash played European basketball where a career-ending catastrophic knee injury concluded his basketball career and would hinder his ensuing professional athletic career from day one. His love of being an athlete led him down another path to infamy, namely, professional wrestling. He is one of only eight human beings on the planet to bear the elite distinction of being TWICE inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, after a career garnering 6 world title belts and 21 championships in total. Of course, none of that would have been possible without the brains, talent, and personality that put him on the Mt. Olympus of the sports entertainment universe in the first place.
While his athletic route to fame using not only his wit and Detroit coolness but also his considerable 6'10" size and physical prowess to his advantage is what he may be best known for, Nash's skill as a primarily comedic actor is what gives him the most personal satisfaction. Proudest of his portrayal as Officer Englehart in The Longest Yard (2005), the role was originally scripted for a single line, "Who drank all the damn Gatorade?!" but when both Adam Sandler and director Peter Segal saw how thoroughly and artfully Nash embraced the part, Englehart became a much, much bigger part of the film due to Nash's ability to ad-lib scenes. Kevin's take on this masculine prison guard turned estrogen-laden cheerleader, is perhaps his most memorable character to date.
Part Native American and part Neanderthal, Kevin Nash is one-of-a-kind.- Actress
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Lisa is BACK to acting full time after raising her boys and married to corporate world for a couple decades. She is excited about a slew of 2019-2020 projects. Check out the latest! Lisa has performed in over 100 film, television, commercial and theater productions, starting her career in Equity Waiver theater, then completing her Bachelor of Arts degree at UCLA, Lisa went on to play the lead role of "Alice" in A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), directed by Renny Harlin. Due to the phenomenal box office success of A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Lisa played "Alice" once again in A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989), directed by Stephen Hopkins. Lisa has played from nun to prostitute. Comedy, soap operas and episodic dramas. She was a regular in the television series, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures (1992), Knots Landing (1979), General Hospital (1963) and numerous guest starring roles. Some of her television highlights include her portrayal of "Carol Brady/Florence Henderson" in the TV movie, Unauthorized: Brady Bunch - The Final Days (2000), and in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), portraying the part of "Yuta". This episode, The Vengeance Factor (1989), became so prolific, that "Yuta" is featured on the "Star Trek: Next Generation Monopoly Board"! Other film credits include Men Seeking Women (1997), starring Will Ferrell, and she co-starred with Mark Hamill in Watchers Reborn (1998). Notably, Lisa played the lead in the student foreign short film, Les nouvelles aventures de Chastity Blade (2000) (or "The All New Adventures of Chastity Blade"), which was nominated for a Foreign Student Film Academy Award.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Ray Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He moved with his parents, younger brother and sister to London, UK, at the age of seven. Ray always wanted to be in the movies, and be like their heroes. He also began to nurture a love for martial arts from the age of seven, when his father's fondness for Bruce Lee films sparked a fire in the youngster's mind that would never extinguish. Specializing in the traditional Chinese Northern Shaolin Kung-fu (in the Chin Woo style), Park moved on to master other styles, most notably Wushu. In 1991, at age 16, Ray became a member of the Great Britain Wushu team, competing in his first international in Beijing, China at the 1st World Wushu Championships. Ray was the first Wushu athlete from Great Britain and Europe to place in the top seven in the world, and went on to compete for Great Britain for another six years. He became a fixture at martial arts exhibitions and tournaments, Nationally, European and Internationally, attaining Gold Medal for the Great Britain Wushu and the Chin Woo Martial Arts team.
Ray began teaching himself gymnastics at a young age but felt he was missing the correct training to achieve a higher level. At fifteen, he found a school that was willing to allow him to practice and use the floor space. The gymnastic training helped to improve his martial arts training and began to sit in and take seminars in coaching gymnastics. It was when he was nineteen that he relocated to another gymnastic gym and became one of the boys' squad coaches. He further went on to be in charge of coaching recreational gymnastics throughout schools in London. Ray's boys squad won 1st in The London Youth Games for Hendon Gymnastics Club. During one of his frequent visits to Malaysia, he was approached to audition for Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997). Ray became martial arts advisor to one of the stunt coordinators and later landed playing one of the Reptiles, Baraka, and doubling for Rayden.
Conjuring memories of his youthful cinematic martial arts passion, Park attempted to learn as much as possible about the process of filmmaking. Soon being given more scenes and becoming more natural on set, he was contacted by stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to audition for George Lucas' prequel Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Offered the job by producer Rick McCallum, Park was given the creative freedom to develop his choreography by an impressed Lucas, and soon gained the confidence to develop his role to the best of his abilities.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
He was trained by the Original Sheik, Ed Farhat, who was one of pro-wrestling's classic and greatest bad guys. Even though their styles are quite different (Sheik being a wild hardcore-style brawler, known for throwing fire, cutting his opponent's forehead's up with foreign objects like a pencil, fork, etc. whereas Van Dam is a technical high-flyer), Farhat taught him the importance of the right mindset.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Ronee Blakley came to prominence as the fictional country superstar Barbara Jean (a role that was originally offered to Susan Anspach), in Robert Altman's Nashville (1975). Her performance in the film won her a National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress, and garnered Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Mike Smith was born and raised in Thorburn, Nova Scotia. He started playing hockey at the age of four but showed early signs of musical genius when he learned to play guitar at the age of seven. Continuing with both hobbies for the majority of his life, Mike eventually gave up hockey to concentrate on being a musician.
He attended St.F.X. University in Antigonish where he earned an Advanced Major in English. In 1992, Mike's career in music began to take off. He started playing guitar and was one of the principal songwriters in the band Sandbox. the group quickly signed a record deal with EMI in Canada and Nettwerk in the U.S. Nominated for a Juno Award, East Coast Music Awards and a Casby Award, Sandbox released two albums with EMI and Nettwerk - Bionic and A Murder In The Glee Club.
When Sandbox broke up in 1998 Mike began working as a location sound mixer on film and TV. He was hired to mix the original Trailer Park Boys black and white movie in 1999 where director Mike Clattenburg discovered him doing the 'Bubbles' character on set for the crew. Clattenburg saw that the character had some very lovable qualities and decided to write him into the upcoming Trailer Park Boys TV series. Never having acted before Smith decided to accept the offer but also remained on as the series sound mixer until Season 3.
Since the rise of Trailer Park Boys, Mike has been in numerous music videos with the likes of Rush, The Tragically Hip, Snow and George Canyon and toured Canada, the US, Mexico, Australia and Japan (including a show at the legendary Budokan Arena in Tokyo) with rock legends Guns N Roses with front man and long-time friend Axl Rose.
In 2010, along with his Trailer Park Boys co-stars Robb Wells and John Paul Tremblay, Mike is writing, producing and starring in the comedy series 'The Drunk And On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour', a half hour comedy set in the town of Port Cockerton where a kids show goes horribly wrong when a powerful hallucinogen is accidentally given to the cast and crew.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Robb Wells was born on October 28, 1971 in Moncton, New Brunswick and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia since the age of 8. His father was a Forensic Expert with The RCMP. Robb later went to high school with Mike Clattenberg and John Paul Tremblay. The three were always pulling practical jokes on people and getting into trouble. They had a bizarre sense of humor. While Tremblay and Wells were operating a successful chain of pizza restaurants called J.R. Capone's, they decided to pass the time making crude video skits of themselves. In 1998 they made a short film with acting veteran John Dunsworth called One last Shot. The film won a best actor and best cinematography award. A year later they made a mockumentary film called "Trailer Park boys" featuring newcomers Patrick Roach, Mike Jackson, Cory Bowles, Lucy Decoutere and Jeanne Harrison. During the filming, they met a sound mixer named Mike Smith, and after the filming was complete they made a deal with Showcase to make Trailer Park Boys into a TV Series with Mike Smith on board.
After the series was green-lit, the lovable Bubbles was born. Now there are 3 main characters in the Park. Besides their day jobs as restaurant managers in Nova Scotia and as sound mixers, Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith are Canadian TV icons to this day.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
John Paul Tremblay was born on 17 May 1968 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Trailer Park Boys (2001), Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park (2016) and Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day (2009). He is married to Andrea. They have three children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director