Guest Stars on Mama’s Family
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Born in Los Angeles on June 2, 1978, Cox expressed an interest in show business at age four. She was discovered by a prominent dance agent while taking dance classes, which led to her professional debut in the comedy film Mac and Me (1988). Dancing temporarily held center stage with appearances in Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (1988); a Los Angeles Music Center Ballet Tour; The Joffrey Ballet; Paula Abdul's video "Forever Your Girl"; "The MTV Awards" and The Arsenio Hall Show (1989). At age 10, Cox won her first speaking part in a guest-starring role in Mama's Family (1983). Her other television credits included Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Night Court (1984), Murphy Brown (1988), Baywatch (1989) and Boy Meets World (1993). Cox also had starring roles in The Ryan White Story (1989) and the sci-fi thriller The Presence (1992) - both television movies. She was also a series regular on NBC's Someone Like Me (1994). On the big screen, Cox was featured in the box-office hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and played Gina Cates, Jagger Cates' long-lost sister on ABC's General Hospital (1963).- Actress
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American performer Amy O'Neill was born in Pacific Palisades on July 8, 1971. The daughter of an art school director and a construction company owner, O'Neill is the third of five children. Accompanied by her older siblings, she began auditioning for roles at the age of ten, first appearing at the age of 13 in an episode of Mama's Family (1983) in which she played the younger version of Betty White's character.
As a young teenager, O'Neill continued to land guest spots on television shows such as Matt Houston (1982), Night Court (1984), Highway to Heaven (1984), The Twilight Zone (1985), and Family Ties (1982), before winning a regular role on the 1986 season of the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless (1973). She made her feature film debut three years later in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989). In the movie, O'Neill's character Amy is shrunk by her scientist father (Rick Moranis). She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for her performance, but lost to Gaby Hoffmann for Field of Dreams (1989). O'Neill reprised her role in the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992).
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, O'Neill mainly continued to guest-star on popular television series such as Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), The Young Riders (1989), and Murder, She Wrote (1984), also appearing in the biographical miniseries I Know My First Name Is Steven (1989). She had roles in the made-for-TV flicks White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II (1993) and Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women (1994), as well as the rejected comedy pilot ...Where's Rodney? (1990)- Actress
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Patrika Darbo was born on 6 April 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Babe (1995) and Rango (2011). She has been married to Rolf Darbo since 29 December 1973.- Actor
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Veteran character actor Earl Boen is probably best known for his role as criminal psychologist Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator series. Other films which he appeared include Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), The Man with Two Brains (1983), Alien Nation (1988), Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000). Boen retired from screen acting in 2003, but continues his work as a voice actor in radio, animated series and video games.- Actor
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Alan Oppenheimer is an American actor from New York City, who started his career in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Oppenheimer started performing voice acting roles. He eventually emerged as one of the most prolific voice actors in the United States, with roles in numerous series and films. His better known roles include the evil emperor Ming the Merciless in "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon" (1979-1982), the tyrant Overlord and his mind-controlling Vizier in "Blackstar" (1981), the arrogant narcissist Vanity Smurf in "The Smurfs" (1981-1989), the evil sorcerer Skeletor, the shape-shifting animal Cringer, the heroic Man-at-Arms, and the aquatic villain Mer-Man in "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (1983-1985), the pacifistic naturalist Beachcomber, the sailor Seaspray, and the gun-enthusiast and munitions expert Warpath in "The Transformers" (1984-1987), the android wizard Prime Evil in "Ghostbusters" (1986), and the cryptic advisor Merlin in "The Legend of Prince Valiant" (1991-1993).
In 1930, Oppenheimer was born in New York City. His father was the stockbroker Louis Oppenheimer. In 1958, Oppenheimer married costume designer Marianna Elliott. They had three children. He received a divorce at some point prior to the mid-1980s. In 1984, Oppenheimer married the professional tennis player Marilyn Greenwood. Their marriage lasted less than a decade, and ended in a divorce. In 1992, Oppenheimer re-married his first wife Marianna Elliott. Their marriage lasted until her death in 2003. He has remained single since her death.
In 1993, Oppenheimer had a guest star role in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". He played the Klingon cleric Koroth. His character cloned the long-dead messianic warrior Kahless, in hope of restoring his peoples' faith in their religion.In 1994, Oppenheimer played the ill-fated star-ship captain Keogh in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". After successfully completing a rescue mission, Keogh fell victim to a suicide attack (along with most of his crew). In 1997, Oppenheimer played an unnamed ambassador of the Nezu in "Star Trek: Voyager". His character attempted to enlist the USS Voyager to rescue his planet from destruction. This was Oppenheimer's last role in a "Star Trek" television series. Oppenheimer has mostly avoided live-action roles since 1998.
In 2022, Oppenheimer voiced Skeletor again for an appearance in the film "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers". By 2022, Oppenheimer was 92-years-old. He has never fully retired, though he has played less prominent roles in recent productions. He remains popular to animation fans for his iconic roles in several classic series.- Actress
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Amy Benedict - Bio In film ("Sneakers", "Clairevoyant") and on television ("thirtysomething", "Grey's Anatomy", "CSI", "24"), Amy has portrayed moms and murderers, bombers and babysitters, in a career that has spanned over 3 decades. Born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, Amy attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL to study theatre. As an undergrad, she started working as a commercial and film actress in Chicago to help pay for her tuition. When she was flown to New York her senior year to audition for "Biloxi Blues" on Broadway and then later that year to Los Angeles for a pilot audition for "My Sister Sam", she decided, despite her love for the Big Apple, she would head to the left coast after graduation. Amy landed in Los Angeles in the late 80s and hit the ground running with guest star and recurring roles on "Family Ties", "thirtysomething" (as "Amy" the babysitter), "LA Law", and numerous after-school specials (due to her toddler-esque facial features). She was also cast as "Mary" in the cult-classic "Sneakers" with River Phoenix, Robert Redford, and James Earl Jones. Amy continued to work in television with a principal role on "General Hospital", and in prime-time on "ER", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", "24" with more recent credits on "CSI", "Grey's Anatomy", "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and on her brother Rob Benedict's streaming show, "Kings of Con". She appears as "Eliza" in the movie "Clairevoyant" streaming on Amazon (2021) and guest stars as "Gail Morgan" on CBS's "S.W.A.T." (November, 2021). She also appears in the award-winning short "Danni & May" with Julianne Dowler produced by the The Collaborative, an actor media collective. Amy plays a kooky computer hacker in a unique Zoom production shooting in 2021-22 and an alcoholic mother in the film "Remy & Arleta" (in post-production as of November, 2021). Theatre Credits include "You" with Lake Arrowhead Rep, "American Iliad" at the Victory Theatre, and Mary Zimmerman's pre-Broadway production of "Metamorphoses" at the Mark Taper Forum. Amy currently lives in the foothills above Los Angeles with her two awesome kids, her hard-working schoolteacher husband, Mark Brodie - and 3 very high-maintenance pets.- Actor
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Mark Brandon is known for Riverdale (2017), The Flash (2014) and Supernatural (2005). He has been married to Joanne Brandon since 2009.- Actress
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Stacey Swain was born on 30 November 1958 in Fullerton, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Little Nicky (2000) and Hot Rod (2007).- Actress
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Maureen LaVette was born on 10 August 1958 in Dubuque, Iowa, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Virgin High (1991), Danger USA (1989) and Otherworld (1985).- Actress
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Myra Turley is known for Flags of Our Fathers (2006), Meet the Fockers (2004) and Nightcrawler (2014).- Actor
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Troy Evans was born on 16 February 1948 in Missoula, Montana, USA. He is an actor, known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Under Siege (1992) and Demolition Man (1993). He is married to Heather McLarty.- Actor
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Brent Spiner, whose primary claim to fame is his portrayal of the beloved android Data on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His parents, Sylvia (Schwartz) and Jack Spiner, owned and operated a furniture store, and were both from Jewish immigrant families (from Austria, Hungary, and Russia). Jack died of kidney failure at age 29, when Brent was 10 months old. When he was 6 years old, his mother married Sol Mintz, who adopted Brent and his older brother Ron. Although his mother divorced Mintz after 7 years of marriage, Brent retained his adopted father's last name until 1975, when he took back his birth name.
Spiner first began pursuing his interest in acting while in high school. There his inspirational drama teacher, Cecil Pickett, gave a great start to the careers of a remarkable group of aspiring young actors (and directors), including Spiner, Cindy Pickett (Cecil's daughter), Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Trey Wilson, Robert Wuhl and Thomas Schlamme, all of whom later attained success in Hollywood. After graduation, Spiner followed his mentor to the University of Houston and other local colleges, while also launching his professional acting career in theater (The Houston Music Theater and other regional theater) and in film (My Sweet Charlie (1970), which was shot on location in Texas). After a couple of false starts in New York and Hollywood, Spiner eventually established himself as a stage actor in New York, appearing in a number of off-Broadway and Broadway plays, such as "A History of the American Film" (1978), "Leave It to Beaver is Dead" (1979), "Sunday in the Park with George" (1984), and "Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1985). While in New York, he had a bit part in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) and starred in an independent film called Rent Control (1981). The play "Little Shop of Horrors "brought Spiner to Los Angeles in 1984, where he eventually took up permanent residence.
In 1986, after a number of character parts in television series and movies, such as Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), Crime of Innocence (1985), Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986), and Family Sins (1987), Spiner snagged the role that would bring him international fame: Data, the endearing android, whom Spiner played "by tapping into his inner child." Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), the sequel to the original television series Star Trek (1966), became hugely popular, moving to the big screen for four films (so far) after its 7-year run on television. Aside from these films, Spiner has made cameo appearances in a number of films directed by his friend and old schoolmate Thomas Schlamme, such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Crazy from the Heart (1991), and Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995), and has appeared in small roles in more recent films, such as Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) and The Master of Disguise (2002). Arguably his most popular film portrayal was Dr. Brakish Okun in Independence Day (1996), a role that elicited his unique eccentricity and sense of humor. He reprised the character in the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).- Actor
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Gary was nominated for Best Actor for the Canadian series "Wild Roses" for the CBC at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in 2009. The show was also nominated. Born and raised in Newport News, Virginia.. He is a proud uncle, and son of Joe and Bev...and has 9 nieces and nephews. Gary moved to Los Angeles in 1979, but always considers Virginia his home. For the last 14 years he has split his time between the States and Canada. Gary is now a dual citizen, and enjoys the time he spends in the great white north. He has been teaching acting for the past 15 years, doing seminars in the US and Canada, and just finished teaching a semester at the University of the Arts in San Francisco. He enjoys his "frustrating" time on the golf course, playing in numerous charity events every year, and still swings a pretty mean tennis racket. A big sports fan...he cheers for the underdog...Cowboys - Joe Tores team in New York City...and the house that Jerry West built.- Mina Kolb was born on 7 June 1926 in Wilmette, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for A Mighty Wind (2003), The Hollywood Knights (1980) and Ellen (1994).
- Bonnie Urseth was born on 14 August 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), Hardcastle and McCormick (1983) and Medium (2005). She has been married to Gerry Koch since 13 July 1975. They have one child.
- Tina Payne was born on 6 December 1968 in Harris County, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Mama's Family (1983) and The 5th Annual People's Choice Awards (1979).
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The entertainment world has enjoyed a six-decade love affair with comedienne/singer Carol Burnett. A peerless sketch performer and delightful, self-effacing personality who rightfully succeeded Lucille Ball as the carrot-topped "Queen of Television Comedy," it was Burnett's traumatic childhood that set the stage for her comedy.
Carol's rags-to-riches story started out in San Antonio, Texas, on April 26, 1933, where she was born to Ina Louise (Creighton) and Joseph Thomas "Jodie" Burnett, both of whom suffered from acute alcoholism. As a child, she was left in the care of a beloved grandmother, who shuttled the two of them off to Hollywood, California, where they lived in a boarding house and shared a great passion for the Golden Age of movies. The plaintive, loose-limbed, highly sensitive Carol survived her wallflower insecurities by grabbing attention as a cut-up at Hollywood High School. A natural talent, she attended the University of California and switched majors from journalism to theater. Scouting out comedy parts on TV and in the theater, she first had them rolling in the aisles in the mid-1950s performing a lovelorn novelty song called "I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles" (then Secretary of State) in a nightclub act. This led to night-time variety show appearances with Jack Paar and Ed Sullivan and where the career ball really started rolling.
Carol's first big TV breaks came at age 22 and 23 as a foil to a ventriloquist's dummy on the already-established The Paul Winchell Show (1950) in 1955, and as Buddy Hackett's gawky girlfriend on the short-lived sitcom Stanley (1956). She also developed an affinity for game shows and appeared as a regular on one of TV earliest, Stump the Stars (1947) in 1958. While TV would bring Carol fans by the millions, it was Broadway that set her on the road to stardom. She began as the woebegone Princess Winnifred in the 1959 Broadway musical "Once Upon a Mattress" which earned her first Tony Award nomination. [She would later appear in three TV adaptations - Once Upon a Mattress (1964), Once Upon a Mattress (1972) and Once Upon a Mattress (2005).] This, in turn, led to the first of an armful of Emmy Awards as a repertoire player on the popular variety series The Garry Moore Show (1958) in 1959. Burnett invented a number of scene-stealing characters during this time, most notably her charwoman character. With the phenomenal household success of the Moore show, she moved up quickly from second banana to headliner and appeared in a 1962 Emmy-winning special Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall (1962) co-starring close friend Julie Andrews. She earned the Outer Critics Circle Award for the short-lived musical "Fade Out, Fade In" (1964); and made her official film debut opposite Bewitched (1964) star Elizabeth Montgomery and Dean Martin in the lightweight comedy Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963).
Not surprisingly, fellow redhead Lucille Ball, who had been Carol's treasured idol growing up, subsequently became a friend and mentor to the rising funny girl. Hilarious as a guest star on The Lucy Show (1962), Carol appeared as a painfully shy (natch) wallflower type who suddenly blooms in jaw-dropping fashion. Ms. Ball was so convinced of Carol's talent that she offered Carol her own Desilu-produced sitcom, but Burnett had her heart set on fronting a variety show. With her own team of second bananas, including character crony Harvey Korman, handsome foil Lyle Waggoner, and lookalike "kid sister" type Vicki Lawrence, the The Carol Burnett Show (1967) became an instant sensation, and earned 22 Emmy Awards during its 11-year run. It allowed Carol to fire off her wide range of comedy and musical ammunition--whether running amok in broad sketch comedy, parodying movie icons such as Gloria Swanson, Shirley Temple, Vivien Leigh or Joan Crawford, or singing/gushing alongside favorite vocalists Jim Nabors, Steve Lawrence, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormé. She managed to bring in huge stars not known at all for slapstick comedy, including Rock Hudson and even then-Governor Ronald Reagan while providing a platform for such up-and-coming talent as Bernadette Peters and The Pointer Sisters In between, Carol branched out with supporting turns in the films Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), The Front Page (1974) and Robert Altman's A Wedding (1978).
Her program, whose last episode aired in March of 1978, was the last truly successful major network variety show to date. Carol took on new challenges to display her unseen dramatic mettle, and accomplished this amazingly in TV-movie showcases. She earned an Emmy nomination for her gripping portrayal of anti-Vietnam War activist Peg Mullen in Friendly Fire (1979), and convincingly played a woman coming to terms with her alcoholism in Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice (1982). Neither character bore any traces of the usual Burnett comedy shtick. Though she proved she could contain herself for films, Carol was never able to acquire crossover success into movies, despite trouper work in The Four Seasons (1981), Annie (1982) (as the hammy villainess Miss Hannigan), and Noises Off... (1992). The last two roles had been created onstage by Broadway's Dorothy Loudon.
Carol would return from time to time to the stage and concert forums with productions of "Plaza Suite", "I Do! I Do", "Follies", "Company" and "Putting It Together". A second Tony nomination came for her comedy work in "Moon Over Buffalo" in 1995. Carol has made frequent appearances on her own favorite TV shows too, such as Password (1961) (along with Elizabeth Montgomery, Carol was considered one of the show's best players) and the daytime soaper, All My Children (1970).
During the early 1990s, Carol attempted a TV comeback of sorts, with a couple of new variety formats in Carol & Company (1990) and The Carol Burnett Show (1991), but neither could recreate the magic of the original. She has appeared, sporadically, on various established shows such as "Magnum, P.I.," "Touched by an Angel," "Mad About You" (for which she won an Emmy), "Desperate Housewives," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Emmy nomination), "Hawaii Five-0," "Glee" and "Hot in Cleveland." Befitting such a classy clown, she has received a multitude of awards over time, including the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1985. Her personal life has been valiant--tears in between the laughs. Married three times, her second union with jazz-musician-turned-variety-show-producer Joe Hamilton produced three daughters. Eldest girl, Carrie Hamilton, an actress and former teen substance abuser, tragically died of lung and brain cancer at age 38. Shortly before Carrie's death, mother and daughter managed to write a play, together, entitled "Hollywood Arms", based on Carol's 1986 memoir, "One More Time". The show subsequently made it to Broadway.
Today, at age 80 plus, Carol has been seen less frequently but still continues to make appearances, especially on TV. Most recently she has guested on the shows "Glee," "Hot in Cleveland" and the revivals of "Hawaii Five-0" and "Mad About You." As always she signs off a live appearance with her signature ear tug (acknowledging her late grandmother), reminding us all, between the wisecracks and the songs, how glad and lucky we all are to still have some of "this time together".- Actress
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Tanya Fenmore was born on 9 October 1973 in San Diego, California, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Tales from the Darkside (1983) and My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988).- Additional Crew
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Heather Kerr is known for Mama's Family (1983), Trapper John, M.D. (1979) and Superior Court (1986). She has been married to Thom Mooney, Drummer since 1994.- Susan Barnes was born in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, USA. She is known for Repo Man (1984), They Live (1988) and Nurse Betty (2000).
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Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Christine Tess (Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Logan White, a lighting company executive for the Crouse-Hinds Electric Company. She was of Danish, Greek, English, and Welsh descent.
Although she was best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and the ditzy Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985), Betty White had been in television for a long, long time before those two shows, having had her own series, Life with Elizabeth (1952) in 1952.
She was married three times, lastly for eighteen years, until widowed, to TV game-show host Allen Ludden.
She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and she was known for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.
Betty White died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 99.- Courtney Gebhart was born on 18 September 1964. She is an actress, known for My Name Is Khan (2010), Summer School (1987) and 976-WISH (1997). She was previously married to Jared Chandler.
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The day his dad took him to see Star Wars on the big screen was the day Todd knew what he was meant to do the rest of his life. As a boy, he experimented behind the camera making short films with the help of his family and friends and his grandfather's 8mm camera.
Today Todd is a creative director, producer and writer who has enjoyed a career both in front and behind the camera. His favorite role, however, has always been that of a storyteller. He has over 20 years of experience working with The Walt Disney Company and other well-known consumer brands including ESPN, ABC, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Smucker's, Jif, Folgers, The Orlando Magic, Atlantis and NASA. Todd also boasts a modest resume of award-winning films.
His most recent is the 2022 Emmy nominated "Woman In Motion" (Paramount+) which chronicles the story of Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols and her epic journey to bring diversity to our space program after standing up and asking NASA the question: "Where are my people?" In 2022, "Woman In Motion" was named an ambassador film for the American Film Showcase (AFS), a partnership with the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
Todd is putting the finishing touches to his next feature film project, "Pre Fab!", the story of one man, his drums and the band that became The Beatles. He is also working on the authorized documentary film The Runaway about rock-n-roll legend Del Shannon and the film What Hugh Knew which centers around the power of human connection.
For more information, please visit StarsNorth.com and ToddThompsonOnline.com.- Film, TV and stage actress Georgann Johnson was a product of Decorah High School, Luther College and Northwestern University. Her father, George, was a local plumbing contractor and an amateur actor. Georgann's specialization has been in the portrayal of the all-American girl/housewife and/or the young comic's sweetheart. She met her husband, Stanley Prager, in 1953 when both were appearing briefly as replacements in the Broadway stage revival of "Room Service". In 1954, she appeared with Mike Wallace in the stage comedy, "Reclining Figure", a spoof of the art world. Her recurring role as the menacing "Princess Arura" in the noted DuMont Television Network series, Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949), widened her acceptance as a strong dramatic artist. Georgann has been notably critical of what she terms the false glamor of the stage.
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Imogene Coca is best remembered for playing opposite Sid Caesar in the live 90-minute Your Show of Shows (1950), which ran every Saturday night in regular season on NBC from February 1950 to June 1954. Their repertoire of comedy acts included the very memorable, hilarious, timeless and irreconcilable married couple Charlie and Doris Hickenlooper. Coca, however, did not begin her career in comedy. Her father, who was the conductor at a small Philadelphia opera house, and her mother, who performed in vaudeville, certainly instilled in her a desire to perform, but nurtured that desire with piano lessons, vocal training and dance. "I began as one of those horrible little children who sing with no voice," Coca said of her early training. By the time she was 13, she found herself tap dancing, somersaulting (along with various other acrobatics), dancing ballet and otherwise committed full-time as a serious vaudeville trouper. She left Philadelphia at 15 for New York, where she plied her trade as a dancer. She debuted in the chorus of "When You Smile." For the next 30 years music and dance were her staple. She could be found in the troupes of musical revues and doing her own acts in Manhattan clubs, such as the Rainbow Room, the Silver Slipper and Cafe Society Uptown. Her first husband, Robert Burton (who died in 1955), arranged music for many of her performances. Comedy and pantomime filtered into her routines quite by accident. In the production of "New Faces of 1934" Leonard Sillman, the choreographer for the show, loaned her his coat to keep her warm in what was a very cold theater. To augment what warmth she was getting from the oversized coat, Coca, along with three male dancers in the chorus began jumping up and down and improvising dance steps. Stillman noticed them and immediately recognized the comedic affect. He encouraged them to repeat the routine in the show, coat and all, which they did. Although coolly received by the audience at first, eventually the bit had the audience in stitches. Even the critics laughed, crediting Coca with great comedic talent. To hone her skills in what would become her forte in show business, Coca did the next four summers in the Poconos working with Danny Kaye, Carol Channing and the like.
It wasn't until near the end of WWII that she found much work in her new field and it wasn't until January 1949 that she was paired with Caesar in NBC's The Admiral Broadway Revue (1949), a show that aired only until that summer. In the fall of 1950 "Your Show of Shows" was launched on NBC. Coca won an Emmy the following year for her contributions to the program. She and Ceasar left the show in 1954 to pursue individual routes. They did not, however, match the success they enjoyed in "Your Show of Shows." Coca attempted a solo with The Imogene Coca Show (1954), but it lasted only one season. In 1958 Caesar and she paired again on Sid Caesar Invites You (1958); still, it was not the same. Only in 1967 did some of that same magic again occur when the original cast from "Your Show of Shows" reunited on CBS in _The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special (1967) (TV)_; it won an Emmy for outstanding variety special.
Coca starred in two single-season sitcoms in the 1960s: NBC's 1963-64 Grindl (1963) and CBS' 1966-67 It's About Time (1966). In the 1970s she could be found visiting on Dick Cavett's talk show and making guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show (1967). Thereafter, she appeared only sporadically on TV and in the movies--her most notable appearance was as Aunt Edna in Vacation (1983) with Chevy Chase. Coca and Caesar re-visited some of their old sketches and put together the 1991 show "Together Again", which they toured throughout the country on stage. In her later years Coca and her second husband, actor King Donovan (who died in 1987), lived in Connecticut and Manhattan, staying close to her roots in vaudeville, theatre and "Your Show of Shows."- Actor
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Character actor Bernard Behrens was born on September 28, 1926 in London, England. Behrens grew up in poverty in Depression-era London and did his level best to surmount the dire reality of his dismal situation by sneaking into movie theaters as a youngster and aspired to become an actor since the age of seven. A child evacuee during World War II, Bernard was forced to live by his wits with a foster family. Behrens not only acted in stage productions for the Bristol Old Vic in the United Kingdom, but also with the Canadian Players, Halifax's Neptune Theatre (he starred in the Canadian premiere of "Mary, Mary" at this particular venue), Toronto's Crest Theatre, as well as the Shaw and Stratford Festivals in Canada. Outside his stage work, Bernard also acted in a handful of films and made guest appearances on numerous television programs. His last acting role on stage was playing Young Farley in a Shaw Festival production of "Belle Moral." Diagnosed with dementia four years prior to his death, Behren's final years were spent in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, then, during the last year of his life, was in Perth, Ontario, Canada, where he was cared for in Lanark Lodge. Bernard died at age 85 on September 19, 2012 in Perth, Ontario, Canada. The husband of actress Deborah Cass, who along with Behrens was a founding member of the Neptune Theatre under the directorship of Leon Major, died in 2004. Behrens was survived by his sons Mark, Adam, and Matthew and his grandchildren Kate, Spenser, and Taylor.- Pamela Kosh was born on 1 October 1928 in Crayford, Kent, England. She was an actress, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), The Golden Girls (1985) and Northern Exposure (1990). She was married to Walter Lamont Gilmore . She died on 4 May 2022 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Natalie Core was born on 21 February 1919 in Ford City, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for My Neighbor Totoro (1988), First Daughter (2004) and The Ice Pirates (1984). She died on 14 October 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Anne Haney held prominent roles acting on stage, on the screen, and on TV. All these achievements came in her mid-40s, after she had raised a daughter and buried a husband. It wasn't until after she had packed her daughter off to college and "the maid quit", as she said, that she decided to try her hand at acting. She was born in Memphis, Tennessee and studied drama, radio and TV at the University of North Carolina, where she met her husband, John Haney. She did apply her schooling briefly at a Memphis television station, but soon settled down with her husband and devoted herself to family life. "I was a lovely faculty wife. We made ambrosia salad. We did good works. We played a lot of bridge", she said of those times. By the 1970s, however, Haney began seeking work in local theatre productions and television commercials. Soon, she was traveling with a touring company performing as the maid in Noël Coward's "Fallen Angels". She toured for two years. Eventually, she joined the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of T.V. and Radio Artists. She and her husband had, in fact, planned to move to Southern California after his retirement. She was eager to experience and, she hoped, benefit from the variety and prestige available only in Hollywood. Those plans changed when Mr. Haney died of kidney disease in 1980; Anne Haney made the trek to California, alone. Not long after arriving, she had an agent and a part in the Walter Matthau vehicle Hopscotch (1980). As her career took off, she also secured roles on stage, notably the role of Margaret Fielding in the Theatre West production of "Verdigris". When asked whether she ever dwelled on the prospect that had she begun her career too late, she replied that "this is gravy to me. It's a wonderful way to spend the last third of my life".
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A native of Moline, Illinois she was the daughter of a post office worker and Depression era housewife. She started her career as a stage actress in 1946 despite her fathers objections and later emerged as an actress and writer for television in the 1980s situation comedy "Mama's Family" in the role of Aunt Effie Harper.- Actor
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Stan Mazin was born on 24 February 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), Titanic (1997) and The Back-up Plan (2010).- Music Artist
- Actor
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Tall, blond haired country & western singer / songwriter from Atlanta Georgia, who usually appears in films portraying good humored Southern type characters. Reed was already writing and singing music in high school, and was signed by Capitol Records to a three-year contract in 1955. However, in 1958, he signed over to NRC Records, and appeared alongside Ray Stevens and Joe South, plus he met his future wife, singer Priscilla Mitchell.
Reed is well known by music fans for his C & W hits including "She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)", "Lord, Mr. Ford", "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "East Bound and Down". After striking up a friendship with Burt Reynolds, Reed was cast in small roles in W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), and Gator (1976). He had a natural on-screen charm, and Reynolds picked him to play trucker "Cledus Snow" in the hugely popular Smokey and the Bandit (1977), plus he returned to the role in Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983).
More recently, Reed has been seen in Bat*21 (1988) and The Waterboy (1998).- Actor
- Producer
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Gaunt, wavy-haired Sicilian-American character actor Joseph Campanella seemed to pop up in just about every second TV series and telemovie of the 1960s and 70s. A tireless veteran of stage and screen, he remained very much in demand well into his eighties. His older brother Frank was also an actor. The son of a musician, Campanella began his flirtation with show biz as a teenage sports announcer for a small Pennsylvania radio station. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, where, at 18, he commanded a landing craft. Campanella initially studied architecture, earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and studied for a Master's Degree in speech and drama at Columbia University. His stage career began at the Colonial Theatre in Boston in 1954. He subsequently relocated from New York to Hollywood. Beginning with anthology television in 1952, he amassed numerous guest credits and even had a recurring role as Lew Wickersham (the suave, scientifically-minded head of the Intertect detective agency) in Mannix (1967), for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. For the better part of his career, Campanella was cast as priests (a standout role was that of Father Corelli in The Invaders (1967) episode "Storm"), police officers or doctors. He had a knack for playing characters of a volatile or tortured disposition. Campanella appeared on many daytime soap operas, including a lengthy spell on The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) and the short-lived Dynasty spin-off The Colbys (1985). As narrator, he provided the voice for National Geographic specials (for each episode some eight hours of voice-over were taped, though only fifty minutes were actually used), as well as doing commercials for BMW and the National Automotive Parts Association. On Broadway his roles have included "Captain and the Kings," "Hot Spot," "Born Yesterday," and "The Caine Mutiny".- Actor
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Steve Nevil is known for Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), The Howling (1981) and Who's the Boss? (1984).- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Talented and highly capable character actor Geoffrey Lewis, with rustic (sometimes sour-faced) looks, grew up in Rhode Island but was moved out to California at the age of ten. Lewis was very keen on the dramatic arts at high school, but often preferred to put on his own one-man shows rather than participate in larger school productions. His drama teacher took note of his growing talent and referred him to the Plymouth Theater in Massachusetts, where he appeared in summer stock. Afterwards he appeared in several off-Broadway productions in New York City. After spending considerable time traveling, in both the United States and abroad, Lewis turned his attention back to his love of the dramatic arts, and scored his first minor movie role in The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972) as a somewhat jovial but deadly cowhand. He then cropped up as gangster Harry Pierpont in Dillinger (1973) before beginning a long association with Clint Eastwood, starting off with High Plains Drifter (1973), then as kind-hearted thief Eddie Goody in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), as Clint's buddy Orville Boggs in Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and Any Which Way You Can (1980), then as a henpecked husband in Bronco Billy (1980), as Ricky Z in Pink Cadillac (1989), and in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) also as patient Michael Kahn in Disturbed (1990).
Equally busy on the small screen, he has guest-starred in dozens of episodes of high profile TV series. Additionally, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the series Flo (1980). Apart from his extensive film and TV exposure, Lewis is also a member of the rather unique musical/storytelling "Celestial Navigations," along with award-winning composer songwriter Geoff Levin. Their performances have received terrific reviews from some of Hollywood's top actors and noted musicians, including Chick Corea. As Geoffrey Lewis approaches his seventh decade, nothing seems likely to slow down this multi-talented actor, storyteller and engaging entertainer!- Actor
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Barney Martin was born on 3 March 1923 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Arthur (1981), The Producers (1967) and Seinfeld (1989). He was married to Catherine Martin. He died on 21 March 2005 in Studio City, California, USA.- Ray Young was born on 9 May 1940 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Police Story (1973), Hunter's Blood (1986) and The Krofft Supershow (1976). He died on 6 July 1999 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Jack Gilford was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Yankel Gellman. He began his career in the Amateur Nights of the 1930s moving on to nightclubs as an innovative comedian doing satire and pantomime. He was a regular at the Greenwich Village nightspot, Cafe Society and hosted shows featuring Zero Mostel, Billie Holiday and jazz greats like Hazel Scott. It is said that he invented the expression, "The butler did it!", as part of one of his movie satire routines. He also did a facial pantomime of "Pea Soup Coming to a Boil". During the 1950s, he was a victim of the The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisting which stalled his TV career until the early 1960s. But after that, he became a regular popular comic character actor on dozens of TV series and movies. He was most recognized for being the rubber-faced guy on the "Cracker Jacks" commercials for a dozen years, from 1960-1972.
He was nominated for Tony awards on Broadway for best supporting actor in the musical, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Cabaret". The song "Meeskite" was written for him by John Kander & Fred Ebb.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, Save the Tiger (1973), starring opposite Jack Lemmon, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.- Barbara Stuart was born on 3 January 1930 in Paris, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for Bachelor Party (1984), Airplane! (1980) and One Step Beyond (1959). She was married to Dick Gautier. She died on 15 May 2011 in St. George, Utah, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
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Kathleen Freeman's introduction to show business came very early in life. Her parents were vaudevillians, and she made her debut at age 2 in their act. Later she attended UCLA with intentions of becoming a pianist, but was bitten by the acting bug and never looked back. She gained experience on stage in various stock and repertory companies, and made her film debut in 1948. One of the most memorable character actresses in recent memory, her stocky build, incredibly expressive face and hearty laugh have kept audiences convulsed for decades, playing a variety of neighborhood gossips, busybodies and eccentrics. Memorable as Sister Mary Stigmata ("The Penguin"), Dan Aykroyd's and John Belushi's nemesis, in The Blues Brothers (1980). She was used as a comic foil by Jerry Lewis in many of his films, always to great advantage. She did much television work, playing in everything from The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) to Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) to Hogan's Heroes (1965) to Married... with Children (1987), where she was the voice of Peg's monstrous but never-seen mother, Al Bundy's nemesis. She was working on Broadway in a production of "The Full Monty" when she died of lung cancer in 2001.- Actor
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A man of all mediums, this veteran, Manhattan-born character actor was named after his great-grandfather, Lincolnesque Congressman William Windom. Born in 1923, the son of Paul Windom, an architect, and the former Isobel Wells Peckham, Bill attended Williams College and the University of Kentucky, among others, before serving in the Army during WWII. After the war, he studied at both Fordham and Columbia universities in New York City before settling on an acting career. Trained at the American Repertory Theatre (1946-1961), he made his minor Broadway debut with the company in November of 1946 with revolving productions of "Henry VIII", "What Every Woman Knows", "John Gabriel Borkman" and "Androcles and the Lion". The following year, he continued building up his Broadway resume with roles in "Yellow Jack" and as the "White Rabbit" in a production of "Alice in Wonderland".
In the early 1950s, a new avenue opened up to Bill: television. For the duration of the decade, he shifted between stage, which included Broadway roles in "A Girl Can Tell" (1953), "Mademoiselle Colombe" (1954), "Fallen Angels" (1956), "The Greatest Man Alive" (1957) and "Viva Madison Avenue!" (1960), and TV drama, with stalwart work in such programs as Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) and Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951).
Major attention came Windom's way on TV moving into the following decade. In addition to hundreds of guest appearances on the most popular shows of the day (Combat! (1962), The Fugitive (1963), All in the Family (1971), Dallas (1978), Highway to Heaven (1984)), his standout work included a co-starring role opposite the luminous Inger Stevens in the popular light comedy series The Farmer's Daughter (1963). On the show, Windom portrayed widower "Glen Morley", a decent congressman who eventually falls in love with his pert and pretty Swedish governess "Katy Holstrum" (played by Stevens). Prior to this success, both he and Ms. Stevens had been singularly recognized for their sterling performances on various episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959). Following this success, Windom enjoyed critical notice as the cartoonist/protagonist whose vivid imagination causes problems on the homefront on the Thurberesque weekly series My World and Welcome to It (1969). Despite the show's critical merit and Windom's "Best Actor" Emmy win, the show, years ahead of its time, lasted only one season. Decades later, Windom would play James Thurber on stage in one-man shows.
The native New Yorker went on to essay a number of loungy Southerners and down-home types with incredible ease--both heroes and villains. He offered strong support in his film debut as Gregory Peck's opposing counsel in the Alabama-based To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and went on to play prelate Norman Vincent Peale's father in One Man's Way (1964) starring Don Murray. Windom demonstrated the maturity to carry off the character even though he was only 5 years older than Murray. He also delivered a variety of pungent roles in such films as The Detective (1968) (as a closeted gay married man), Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud (1970) (as a political blowhard facing a series of murders) and The Man (1972) (as a racist politician).
Growing slier and stockier over the years, Windom provided TV audiences with a colorful gallery of characters, ranging from avuncular and ingratiating, to cantankerous and unscrupulous. He became a regular for over a decade on the Angela Lansbury whodunit series Murder, She Wrote (1984), joining the show in its second season as "Dr. Seth Hazlitt". He briefly left "Murder" to work on another series, Parenthood (1990), which was based on the highly popular 1989 movie starring Steve Martin. Here, Ed Begley Jr. took over the Martin part and Windom assumed Jason Robards's patriarchal role as Begley's father. The show was off the air within a few months, however, and Windom was invited back to the mystery series -- a semi-regular until the show folded in 1997.
In addition, Windom reprised a Star Trek (1966) portrayal as "Commodore Matt Decker," appeared in scores of mini-movies, has given voice to various book readings, presented a second one-man show (this time that of combat reporter Ernie Pyle), and continued to film at age 80+, his latest being Yesterday's Dreams (2005).
The five-times-married Windom was wed (for 36 years) to writer Patricia Veronica Tunder at the time of his death of congestive heart failure at age 88. A chess, tennis and sailing enthusiast, he is survived by four children: Rachel, Heather Juliet, Hope and Rebel Russell.Two step-daughters, Debora and Maggie as well as four grandchildren. He died at his home in Woodacre, California, on August 16, 2012.- Actor
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Richard Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm on November 20, 1932 in Gosport, Hampshire, England. When he was 14, he joined the Merchant Navy and served for three years. During that time, he made money boxing. He had to lie about his age and remain tough so the older guys would not hassle him. In the late 1950s, Richard met a British actress named Diana Dors. On April 12, 1959, while in New York for an appearance on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956), they were married. Richard and Diana's first child, a son named Mark Dawson, was born in 1960, and a second son, Gary Dawson, was born in 1962. Richard and Diana separated in 1964 and eventually divorced in 1967. When Richard moved to the United States, he began acting on the well-known series, Hogan's Heroes (1965), in 1965. Richard played the lovable British Corporal Peter Newkirk. The show ended in 1971. Not long after that, in 1973, he became a panelist on Match Game (1973) and remained there until 1978.
While still on "Match Game", he hosted his own show called Family Feud (1976). , which he is most remembered for by his trademark of kissing all the female contestants. Those kisses made the show a warm and friendly program, along with his quick wit, subtle jokes, and ability to make people feel at ease with being on camera. In 1987, Richard co-starred withArnold Schwarzenegger in the science fiction action movie The Running Man (1987). Richard portrayed an egotistical game show host, Damon Killian, whom many say was a mirror image of himself at one time or another, during his real-life career.
When Richard was 61, he hosted the third incarnation of "Family Feud" in 1994, but had only a short run. On April 6, 1981, the Johnson family appeared on "Family Feud" and Richard was introduced to 27-year-old Gretchen Johnson. They had a daughter, Shannon Dawson (Shannon Nicole Dawson), in 1990, and were married in 1991. They were still married and reside in Beverly Hills, California. Richard narrated TV's Funniest Game Show Moments (1984) on Fox in early 2000. On Thanksgiving Day, November 23rd, 2000, he hosted a "Family Feud" marathon, which was filmed in 1995. Some people hear the name Richard Dawson and may not recognize the name. But say his name, followed by his famous quote "Survey says...!" or mention "Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes (1965)", and they're sure to know who you mean. Richard Dawson died at age 79 of complications from esophageal cancer on June 2, 2012.- Actress
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Gloria Mildred DeHaven was born on July 23, 1925 in Los Angeles to vaudeville headliners Carter and Flora DeHaven. Her parents made sure their daughter would be educated at the very best private schools. They also indulged her ambition to be in show business by packing her off to the Mar-Ken Professional School in Hollywood (1940-42). Diminutive of stature and dark-haired, budding musical star Gloria (her nickname then was "Glo") enjoyed collecting perfume, reading (her favorite author being Daphne Du Maurier) and listening to the big bands (particularly Tommy Dorsey). With her father's help (who was assistant director and a friend of Charles Chaplin) she finagled her first movie appearance -- an uncredited bit part in Modern Times (1936). Her first visible role was in the George Cukor-directed Susan and God (1940). A contemporary newspaper article quipped that the winsome lass was "a backstage baby, never a child star".
First and foremost, Gloria concentrated on her singing career. She developed her own nightclub act over the years and also enjoyed considerable success as a solo vocalist with the orchestras of Bob Crosby, Jan Savitt and Muzzy Marcellino. It was her singing which prompted Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to sign her under contract in 1940. During the following decade she made decent strides as a soubrette and was regularly featured as second lead in cheerful light musicals. The pick of the bunch were Thousands Cheer (1943), Step Lively (1944) (on loan to RKO, giving Frank Sinatra his first screen kiss), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), Summer Stock (1950) (a typical role, as sister to the nominal star, in this case Judy Garland) and Three Little Words (1950) (in which she played her own mother, Flora Parker DeHaven, singing the Ruby & Kalmar standard "Who's Sorry Now?"). New York Times critic Bosley Crowther commented in in June 1944: "It's a toss-up between June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven as to which is the lovelier girl. Both sing and dance with springtime crispness and have such form and grace as are divine." Always a popular pin-up with American servicemen in World War II, Gloria was featured on the cover of 'Yank' magazine that very same month.
Gloria never quite managed to get first tier assignments and her career waned as musicals ceased to be a bankable commodity. In the early 1950s she attempted stronger dramatic roles but with only moderate success. By 1955, she had wisely turned to the stage for occasional appearances on Broadway. As late as 1989 she sang in cabaret at the Rainbow & Stars in New York. There was also a screen comeback of sorts with recurring roles in the soap operas Ryan's Hope (1975), As the World Turns (1956) and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976). She was one of the numerous celebrities who appeared in box office bomb Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) and guest-starred on television series, such as Gunsmoke (1955), Mannix (1967), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), The Love Boat (1977), Fantasy Island (1977), Hart to Hart (1979), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Touched by an Angel (1994).
After a long absence, Gloria returned to motion pictures and scored a hit as Jack Lemmon's love interest in the romantic comedy Out to Sea (1997). She died of a stroke in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 30, 2016, one week after her 91st birthday.- Micole Diana Mercurio was born in Chicago to Mary and Michael Mercurio on March 10, 1938. The first born of her generation and a beautiful child, she flourished under the attention of her extended Italian-American family. Her father had been a captain in the Italian Army and became a private in the American Army to serve his country and support his family. Her mother was a working woman. She grew up, married a local boy, and had four children. Tragically, SIDS took one child. Ever-resilient, she forged on enduring more tragedy until she went West.
Once in California, she had a series of jobs, the kinds of things you do to make ends meet. She worked at a magazine, did some legal assistant work as a temp and pursued the dream of acting. Micole studied acting with Milton Katselas, working as an "intern" in lieu of paying tuition. She accepted all and any roles and endured through a lot of rejection. Hollywood is not kind to women over 40, especially back in 1980. Big blond hair, a winning smile and that sparkle that lights up a room, she soon got her AFTRA and SAG cards. She taught ESL to adults at night and would audition during the day. She continued to do theater and worked really hard, using her emotional history to bring depth and range to her acting.
Micole helped to mentor the next generation of actors after she formally retired from film, television and theater. She helped coach new talent and continued to teach. She volunteered at rehabilitation facility, driving for hours round trip to do so. She was a warm and wonderful person and a tremendous talent and will be greatly missed. - Bridget Hanley was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Doris (née Nihlroos) and Lee Hanley. At the age of four, she moved with her parents and older sister Mary-Jo to Edmonds, Washington, where her younger sister Molly was later born. Best known for her starring roles as Candy Pruitt in Here Come the Brides (1968) and Wanda Reilly Taylor in Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981), Bridget made appearances in numerous classic television series including Gidget (1965), I Dream of Jeannie (1965), The Flying Nun (1967), Welcome Back, Kotter (1975) and Murder, She Wrote (1984).
After graduating from Edmonds High School in 1959, Bridget studied drama at the San Francisco College for Women (now the University of San Francisco's Lone Mountain Campus) for two years, before transferring to the University of Washington, where she appeared in 17 stage productions, and graduated with honors and a B.A. in drama. Hanley remained active in theater throughout her career, as a regular performer at Theatre West in Hollywood, California, and notably as the star of the award-winning one-woman play "May Day Sermon," based on the poem by James Dickey.
She and director/producer E.W. Swackhamer were married from April 1969 until his death in December 1994. - Actress
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Jeannie Linero was born on 28 August 1945 in New York, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part III (1990) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). She died on 27 October 2005 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Robin Bach was born on 28 December 1947 in New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Simon & Simon (1981), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). He died on 10 August 1991 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
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Yvonne Wilder was born on 21 September 1937 in Bronx, New York, New York, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for West Side Story (1961), Seems Like Old Times (1980) and Operation Petticoat (1977). She was married to Bob Kellijan and Zach Kleiman. She died on 24 November 2021 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
Luis Avalos was born on 2 September 1946 in Havana, Cuba. He was an actor and director, known for The Ringer (2005), Hollywood Homicide (2003) and Resurrection Blvd. (2000). He died on 22 January 2014 in Burbank, California, USA.- Pitt Herbert was born on 25 September 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Search for the Evil One (1967), Lost in Space (1965) and Dear Brigitte (1965). He was married to Helen Emily Truesdell. He died on 23 June 1989 in Edmonds, Washington, USA.
- Marcus Vaughter is known for From Hawai'i to the Holocaust (1993), The Visitants (1986) and Nightmare Sisters (1988).
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Fred Willard radiated a unique charm that established him as one of the industry's most gifted comic actors, first coming to prominence as ambitious but dimwitted sidekick Jerry Hubbard to Martin Mull's smarmy talk-show host Barth Gimble in the devastating satirical series Fernwood Tonight (1977). A master of sketch comedy, he was most heralded for his quick wit and improvisational expertise. His 50 appearances in sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) were indicative of his ability to transform any character into a unique comic portrayal. Fred starred in an oft sold-out one-man show, "Fred Willard: Alone At Last!" (actually with a cast of 12) that received two Los Angeles Artistic Director Awards, for Best Comedy and Best Production. He was also an alumnus of The Second City and headed a sketch comedy workshop, The MoHo Group.- Murray Hamilton was one of those character actors whose face would be familiar to most movie buffs at an instant, yet his name may not. That's a shame, because Hamilton was one of the most versatile and prolific of performers who was never anything less than completely convincing in any role he took on, from priests to gangsters, soldiers to politicians, ordinary men to aliens. His characters would rarely fail to evoke emotion, whether that be sympathy or dislike. He particularly excelled at hard-edged, street-wise tough guys on either side of the law. His own dictum was to be always "true to the part as it is written".
Born and schooled in Washington, North Carolina, he had originally studied graphic design but had an early yearning for the acting profession. Barely out of his teens, he took a bus to Los Angeles, eventually arriving in Hollywood with just $50 to his name. He gained a foothold at Warner Brothers (his favorite studio) through the back door, as a messenger boy, earning $22 a week. He soon found work as an extra in films, but by 1945, returned to New York making his debut on Broadway as "a mill hand" in 'Strange Fruit', directed by 'Jose Ferrer (I)'.
His breakthrough came three years later, when he appeared with Henry Fonda in the long-running play 'Mister Roberts' (1948-51), first playing the role of a shore patrol officer, later taking over from David Wayne in the key part of Ensign Pulver. Over the years, Murray became quite comfortable with playing more comedic roles on stage and made good impressions as the over-zealous director Dion Kapakos in 'Critic's Choice' (1960-61), and as Otis Clifton in his Tony Award-nominated performance in 'Absence of a Cello' (1964-65), co-starring with Fred Clark and Charles Grodin. Of his enactment as Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the short-lived military drama 'Stockade' (1954), critic Brooks Atkinson remarked: "Modest of manner, pleasant of voice, he has a steel-like spirit that brings Prewitt honestly to life" (New York Times, September 17, 1986).
Murray began in films properly as a credited screen actor from 1951, alternating with guest starring roles on television (by the end of his life he had appeared in more than 100 TV shows). His expressive face and gravelly voice became an adaptable combination for playing surly gangsters (Perry Mason (1957)), authority figures with integrity (James Stewart's ill-fated colleague in The FBI Story (1959)), or without (pompous mayor Larry Vaughn in Jaws (1975)). He was particularly good as Irving Blanchard in the comedy No Time for Sergeants (1958), giving an excellent drunk impersonation; as obtuse barkeeper Al Paquette in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), the key witness to the crime who keeps mum out of misguided loyalty; cocky Kentuckian millionaire Findley who thinks he can take Fast Eddie in The Hustler (1961); and Anne Bancroft's complacent, cuckolded husband, Mr. Robinson, in The Graduate (1967), a role for which Marlon Brando was at one time considered. Of Murray's performance in the iconic 1960s film, Bosley Crowther posited that "Murray Hamilton is piercing ... a seemingly self-indulgent type who is sharply revealed as bewildered and wounded in one fine, funny scene" (New York Times, December 22, 1967).
On the small screen, he was memorable as "Mr. Death" in the 'One for the Angels' episode of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (1959), who is seemingly sweet-talked by salesman Lew Bookman (Ed Wynn) to remain on earth just long enough to make his big "pitch to the angels". As Lewis Dunn in the episode 'The Condemned' of The Invaders (1967), he was a very different type of visitor to earth, a sinister alien. In addition to numerous portrayals of harassed or cynical cops, he is also remembered for his recurring TV role, Captain Rutherford T. Grant, in B.J. and the Bear (1978).
Unlike other busy actors, Hamilton was not a part of the established Hollywood set, preferring to spend his life in his native North Carolina, and in Manhattan. He counted George C. Scott, Jason Robards, and Walter Matthau, among his close friends.
When the actor was suffering from the effects of cancer and found film roles harder to come by, Scott helped out by getting him a part in the made-for-television movie The Last Days of Patton (1986).
Murray Hamilton died, aged 63, in September 1986 in his native North Carolina. - Award-winning Greek-American actor Michael Constantine (born 22 May 1927) is best known for his portrayal of the Windex bottle-toting family patriarch "Gus Portokalos" in the sleeper hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Before his appearance in that movie and the subsequent TV series based on it, he was primarily known for his portrayal of principal Seymour Kaufman in the series Room 222 (1969), for which he won a 1970 Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actor (in 1971, he also received a second Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actor for the role).
Michael Constantine was born Constantine Joanides in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Greek parents, Andromache (Fotiadou) and Theoharis Ioannides, a steel worker. He made his Broadway debut as part of the ensemble of the hit play "Inherit the Wind," which made its bow at the National Theatre on April 21, 1955, and closed on June 22, 1957, after 806 performances. During the run of the play, Constantine managed to work his way up into the part of "Conklin". His next appearance on the Great White Way was in "Compulsion," a dramatization of the Leopold & Loeb trial, in which he played three parts: speakeasy owner "Al," defense attorney "Jonathan Wilk" and "Dr. Ball." The show had a modest run of 140 performances in the 1957-58 season at the Ambassador Theatre.
On October 19, 1959, Constantine was part of the opening-night cast of the hit play "The Miracle Worker," appearing in the role of "Anagnos." It ran for 719 performances at the Playhouse through July 1, 1961, but his next play, "The Egg", was a flop, lasting but one week (eight performances) at the Cort in January 1962. His last turn on Broadway was in Tony Richardson's staging of Bertolt Brecht's mediation on the rise of Adolf Hitler, "Arturo Ui" (a.k.a. "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui"). Constantine played the character "Dogsborough" in support of the great Broadway star Christopher Plummer's "Arturo Ui." It, too, was a one-week flop, lasting but eight performances at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in November 1963. Constantine's Broadway career was at an end.
He made his motion picture debut in The Last Mile (1959) in support of Mickey Rooney, but had already begun appearing in the medium in which he made his reputation, television, the year before. He appeared in teleplays on the omnibus television anthologies Armstrong Circle Theatre (1950) and Play of the Week (1959) and made numerous guest appearances on TV series, where his ethnic look made him valuable as heavies on such programs as The Untouchables (1959). In film, he appeared in such productions as Robert Rossen's classic The Hustler (1961), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) and the film version of Woody Allen's play, Don't Drink the Water (1969), the latter two films revealing his flair for comedy.
Constantine was a regular on the series Hey, Landlord (1966). His stint on Room 222 (1969) was followed by his star-turn in the short-lived series Sirota's Court (1976), for which he received his second Golden Globe nomination, this time as Best Leading Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV Series, in 1976. After that, he remained steadily employed but his career remained rather quiet until cast he was cast in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002).
Michael Constantine died in August 2021. He was 94. - Actor
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After decades in show business, character actor Conrad Janis came to prominence as Mindy's father on TV's Mork & Mindy (1978). Manhattan-born Janis was the son of renowned art dealer and clothing manufacturer Sidney Janis (1986-1989), and his wife Harriet (Grossman), who wrote books about jazz. He began acting as a 13 year old with a travelling stock company. Subsequently working as a radio actor, he went on to provide assorted voices, ranging from teens to middle aged men. He also had a small role in the 1945 Broadway play Dark of the Moon which was noticed by a Hollywood talent scout and paved the way to some freelance work in motion pictures, where he was featured as juvenile leads. In the early 50s, Janis segued into television while pursuing a separate career as a jazz trombonist, inspired by the music of Kid Ory. Having perfected his skills by studying under Cab Calloway alumni Tyree Glenn and Herbie Nichols, Janis fronted his own Dixieland/trad combo (Conrad Janis and His Tailgate Five) in the early 50s. By the late '70s, he had formed the Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band which performed in many festivals and was often showcased on David Letterman's and Johnny Carson's late shows.
Janis acted in anthology TV dramas from as early as 1950, according to his account ultimately racking up some 700 appearances (many of them not recorded or otherwise lost to posterity). He toiled away in fairly minor parts until his breakout role as music store owner Fred McConnell in Mork & Mindy. In addition to numerous guest appearances, the balding Janis was also seen as a regular in the short-lived sitcom Quark (1977) (as philistine bureaucrat Otto Bob Palindrome) and in recurring roles on Murder, She Wrote (1984) and Frasier (1993). True to his roots, he remained involved with the art world and with music education throughout his life.- Actor
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As heartthrob "Mr. Boynton" on "Our Miss Brooks", Robert Rockwell was so identified with the role that other, dramatic roles were often denied him. Still, after beginning his career as a contract player for Republic Studios he appeared in over 350 television shows over fifty years, and on stage opposite Jose Ferrer in the 1946 Broadway production of "Cyrano de Bergerac", and with Ginger Rogers during the 1960s in a San Diego production of "A More Perfect Union".- Actress
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Marian Mercer was born on 26 November 1935 in Akron, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for 9 to 5 (1980), Out on a Limb (1992) and Great Performances (1971). She was married to Patrick Hogan and Martin Cassidy. She died on 27 April 2011 in Newbury Park, California, USA.- Actress
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Annie O'Donnell is known for Black Sheep (1996), Blast from the Past (1999) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011).- Actor
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Ritch Brinkley was born on 18 March 1944 in Colorado City, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Breakdown (1997), Cabin Boy (1994) and The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). He died on 5 November 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.- David Friedman was born on 10 June 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Little House on the Prairie (1974), Mama's Family (1983) and Little House: The Last Farewell (1984).
- Patrice Cole is a gifted Astrologer, Numerologist, Intuitive Adviser, Actress and Humanitarian. She resides on the highest peak in the beautiful and prestigious Hollywood Hills, where she is closest to the energy of the stars. Patrice is Chief Examiner for the American Federation of Certified Psychics and Mediums Incorporated/ Numerologist and Astrologer Categories. She was voted and ranked #1 Top Astrologer and #1 Top Numerologist six consecutive years (2012-2013-2014-2015-2016-2017), People's Choice in "The Register of the United States and World Best & Most Trusted Psychics, Mediums and Healers in International Rank Order". She also was voted one of the twelve most influential and successful women in the business in the United States (2016-2017) and voted Best Intuitive Entertainer (2016-2017), People's Choice in "The National And International Rank Of The United States And The World's Best Practitioners Of Divinatory Arts". In 2018 she was voted "The Best of 2018-2019 Men & Women Of The Year" by Stars Illustrated Magazine. Patrice has graced the cover and/or was featured in over 45 publications worldwide (several of which were Amazon best sellers), and was the proud recipient of The Super Star Award of Special Merit and The Golden Halo Humanitarian Award from the Southern California Motion Picture Council for her work as an accomplished actress and humanitarian.
Patrice showed signs of being gifted at an early age. She loved positively helping others with her extraordinary intuition and compassionate talents. After High School, Patrice embarked on a modeling/acting career and soon realized that her intuitive sensitivity was in fact a gift, not a burden. She was able to tap into a character on a page, truly feel 'their' emotions and quickly embody 'their' overall being. This powerful insight encouraged her to keep developing and fine-tuning her intuitive gift. Patrice found herself fascinated and intrigued with the Esoteric Sciences, especially Numerology and Astrology, which she studied intensely. On movie sets, she started doing readings and charts for fellow actors, who later referred family members and friends. Patrice's psychic abilities and skills were soon in high demand.
Today, the glamorous and vivacious Patrice Cole has successfully merged her performance skills with her Spirituality, and applied her passion, compassion, intuition and knowledge of the Esoteric Sciences into a what can be considered an extraordinary art form. She was chosen out of 1,500 psychics to co-host a nationally syndicated radio talk show, has appeared in numerous TV shows, infomercials and videos, and has been featured in books, magazines and newspaper articles across the planet. Patrice continues to work with well-known celebrities, professionals, corporations, private clientele and fund-raising venues. She is involved with several TV projects in development, recently completed TV pilots titled, "Haunted Hollywood", "Ghost Girls", "Match Me If You Can", and appeared as guest investigator for the new paranormal show, "Through The Veil". A firm believer in 'Paying It Forward', Patrice continues to incorporate her exceptional abilities and talents to help raise awareness for her favorite charities and causes. - Squire Fridell was born on 9 February 1943 in Oakland, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Mac and Me (1988), Village of the Damned (1995) and Pink Motel (1982). He has been married to Suzanne McDermaid since 1977. They have one child.
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Gary Allen was born on 4 September 1942 in Camden, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Annie Hall (1977), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) and Buddy Buddy (1981). He died on 6 June 2020.- Actress
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- Actress
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Marnette Patterson is an American-born actress who was raised in Los Angeles, California. Her name is a combination of her two great grandmothers: Mary and Nettie. Her aunt is Dana Dillaway, former child actress who appeared in Giant (1956) as Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson's daughter Judy. Marnette started her career on Nightmare on Elm Street followed by Sliver with Sharon Stone and William Baldwin. She worked in many film and television projects before landing in comedy. She was a series regular on multiple sitcom and single camera projects. She then went on to the TV show Charmed for it's final season. She is also a singer who started as a junior vocal winner on "Star Search" and was the voice of Lucy in Charlie Brown. She has worked in numerous film and television projects with the likes of Amy Adams, Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper among many others. She recently produced and starred in a film called Charisma Killers and is slated to produce and star in one summer of 2023.- Actress
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Offbeat comic actress and voice specialist Yeardley Smith has made a virtue out of her distinctive looks, small figure, and child-like nasal tones. Lending vocal life to the animated role of "Lisa Simpson," the intelligent, caring, saxophone-droning, vegetarian member of the Simpson family, has been her bread-and-butter job for over a remarkable 30 years.
While Yeardley is American, she was born Martha Maria Yeardley Smith on July 3, 1964, in Paris, France where her father served as a correspondent with UPI. By the time she was two, she and her family had moved to Washington, D.C., where she was raised. A shy, introverted child, she started her pixie-like young career as a teenager at a nearby dinner theater where she played "Tinkerbell" in a musical adaptation of "Peter Pan". After receiving her high school diploma, she apprenticed for a time at the famed Arena Stage, then headed off to New York and bigger things.
Yeardley understudied the role of "Debbie" on Broadway in Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing", starring Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, then took over the part for eight months. Small film offers started coming her way with Heaven Help Us (1985) and The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), so in 1986, she headed West and settled. After some work on the LA stage with "Boys and Girls/Men and Women" (1987) and "How the Other Half Loves" (1988) and a recurring role on the ground-breaking gay comedy, Brothers (1984), Yeardley won the part of daughter "Lisa Simpson". The animated character was launched on the sketch TV comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show (1987). Two years later, she spun off into The Simpsons (1989) and still going strong after 20 years.
Yeardley has made the TV rounds on-camera as well with amusing guest appearances on Dharma & Greg (1997) (recurring), "Murphy Brown," "Empty Next" and "Mama's Family." She also had regular role for three seasons as "Louise" on Herman's Head (1991). Other film supports during that time included roles in City Slickers (1991), Jingle All the Way (1996) and As Good as It Gets (1997).
Yeardley continues to be quite active well into the millennium. In 2004, Yeardley performed front-and-center in her own one-woman autobiographical show entitled "More" in New York. Other comedic and occasional dramatic film parts include the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back by Midnight (2004), an animated full-length The Simpsons Movie (2007), Waiting for Ophelia (2009), High School (2010), Tug (2010), Virginia (2010), The Chaperone (2011), Miles (2016), All Square (2018), Love & Debt (2019) and Gossamer Folds (2020). On TV, Yeardley appeared as a guest on "Becker," "The Big Bang Theory," "Hot in Cleveland" and "Mom."
Married and divorced twice, Yeardley's first husband was actor Christopher Grove.- Jack Dodson was arguably best known for playing "Howard Sprague," the somewhat geeky county clerk on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). This amazingly funny character actor endeared himself to 60s and 70s audiences as the straight-laced "straight man" to the "comic idiot" character "Goober." He brought laughs throughout the end of the run of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) (Ugh!!!)- and its spin-off, the ever popular (he said facetiously), Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) (alongside Ken Berry in the "Andy" knock-off role). Dodson got his start on Broadway, later coming to Hollywood and "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) in 1967. In fact, Andy Griffith saw Jack on Broadway in 1964's, "Hughie," and hired him for "The Andy Griffith Show" straight away.
In 1971, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) fizzled, but Jack remained busy with television and film appearances. From his first effort in Munster, Go Home! (1966) to the Griffith film Angel in My Pocket (1969) and even a nod as "Dr. Douglas" in the very scary Disney (Ray Bradbury) film Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983). Believe it or not, Howard (Jack) did it "all, working with some of the great directors and actors of his time. From Andy Griffith to Sam Peckinpah, Bea Arthur and Jonathan Pryce; Jack Dodson made friends and history.
Dodson returned to Broadway in the revival of "You Can't Take It With You" in 1985. Jack was married to television actress Mary Dodson (the sister of actor Fritz Weaver) from 1959 until his death. In his personal life, Jack was very much "Howard". The actor was a boxing fan, and was also an outdoors man; loving to fish and camp. Jack left us all too soon, at the age of 63, from heart failure. He will be missed. - Actress
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Joyce Brothers was born on 20 October 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), The King of Comedy (1982) and Spy Hard (1996). She was married to Milton Brothers. She died on 13 May 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.- Actor
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Lewis Arquette was born on 14 December 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Little Nicky (2000), Waiting for Guffman (1996) and Tango & Cash (1989). He was married to Brenda Denaut. He died on 10 February 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Francine York was born in the small mining town of Aurora, Minnesota to her parents, Frank and Sophie Yerich. When Francine was five, her family (including her younger sister, Deanne) moved to Cleveland, where she began to write short stories and take an interest in acting. At age nine, Francine made her theatrical debut in the Hodge Grammar School production of Cinderella, playing Griselda. Initially quite upset that she did not get the starring role, Francine ended up stealing the show with her performance as the evil stepsister. Right after the show, Francine ran into the audience and told her mother that she wanted to be an actress.
When Francine was age 12, the family moved back to Aurora, where she continued to perform in class plays, as well as writing, producing, directing and starring in a three-act play called "Keen Teens or Campus Quarantine". Francine, displaying an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, charged five cents admission to the show, and the whole town turned out for the production.
While studying journalism and drama at Aurora High School, Francine worked as the feature editor of the school newspaper, Aurora Borealis, and she won all of the school's declamation contests with her dramatic readings. Additionally, she was the baton-twirling majorette for the school band, and active in the 4-H club, where she won several blue ribbons for cooking in both county and state fairs. This proved to be valuable experience for Francine later on, when she would not only host, but do all of the gourmet cooking for dinner parties for some of Hollywood's biggest names.
At age 17, Francine won the Miss Eveleth contest (Eveleth being a nearby town), and became a runner-up in the Miss Minnesota contest, which was hosted by former Miss America BeBe Shopp. For the talent portion of the Miss Minnesota pageant, Francine, who was not afraid to be less than glamorous during a performance, donned some old clothes, removed her makeup, grayed her hair, and performed a reading of a monologue called "The Day That Was That Day" by Amy Lowell, in which she played a dual role of two elderly Southern women. BeBe Shopp encouraged Francine in her theatrical ambitions, and predicted that she would end up in Hollywood very soon. At this point, however, Hollywood was still a dream for Francine, who wanted desperately to leave Minnesota and make her mark in show business.
Moving to Minneapolis, she got a job modeling sweaters for New York-based Jane Richards Sportswear and began traveling throughout the United States, ending up in San Francisco. After leaving Jane Richards, Francine began a modeling course at the House of Charm agency, which started her off on a very successful modeling career for all of the major department stores, including Macy's. Her modeling work got the attention of the producers of the Miss San Francisco beauty pageant, which she subsequently entered and was voted runner-up, but ended up taking over the title after the winner became too sick to participate. Soon after, Francine got a job as a showgirl at Bimbo's, a well-known San Francisco nightclub, which was highly disapproved of by Francine's modeling agency, but this turned out to be the right choice for Francine when she met Bimbo's headliner, singer Mary Meade French, who brought Francine to Hollywood and, later, got her signed with her first agent.
Arriving in Los Angeles, Francine once again found herself working as a showgirl at Frank Sennes' Moulin Rouge, a popular nightclub on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, where she performed in three shows a night, seven nights a week for six months. Tired of sharing a stage with elephants, pigeons and horses, she moved on to pursue her acting career and began study with famed actor/teacher Jeff Corey. While performing in Corey's class, Francine was spotted by a theatrical producer, who cast her in a play called "Whisper in God's Ear" at the Circle Theatre. During this time, the same producer gave Francine her very first movie role, starring in Secret File: Hollywood (1962), a film about the day-to-day operations of a sleazy Hollywood tabloid. The movie premiered in Francine's hometown of Aurora, which gave her the biggest thrill of her life as the whole town, the press, her family, friends, and even the high school band turned out at the airport to greet her with banners proclaiming, "Welcome Home, Francine!"
Francine's first big break came when Jerry Lewis cast her in his film It's Only Money (1962), in which she played a tantalizing sexpot, a role which brought her a tremendous amount of publicity. This led to Lewis hiring her for five more of his films, including The Nutty Professor (1963), The Patsy (1964), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Family Jewels (1965) and Cracking Up (1983), in which she played a fifteenth century marquise. Other notable film appearances include Bedtime Story (1964) (with Marlon Brando and David Niven), Tickle Me (1965) (with Elvis Presley), Cannon for Cordoba (1970) (with George Peppard), and science fiction cult films Curse of the Swamp Creature (1968), Mutiny in Outer Space (1965) and Space Probe Taurus (1965). Francine's most popular film was the cult classic The Doll Squad (1973), where she played Sabrina Kincaid, leader of an elite team of gorgeous female assassins who attempt to stop a diabolical madman from destroying the world with a deadly plague virus. Francine also delivered a stunning performance as Marilyn Monroe in an otherwise lackluster film, Marilyn Alive and Behind Bars (1992). (Film critic Tom Weaver has been quoted as saying that Francine's performances often rise above the low-budget films she has been cast in.) More recently, Francine played Nicolas Cage's mother-in-law in The Family Man (2000).
Francine has also had tremendous success in television, with appearances on Route 66 (1960), Hawaiian Eye (1959), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), My Favorite Martian (1963), Burke's Law (1963), Perry Mason (1957), Batman (1966), Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964), Lost in Space (1965), It Takes a Thief (1968), Green Acres (1965), The Wild Wild West (1965), Ironside (1967), I Dream of Jeannie (1965), Love, American Style (1969), Mannix (1967), Bewitched (1964), Adam-12 (1968), Mission: Impossible (1966), Kojak (1973), Columbo (1971), Matlock (1986), The King of Queens (1998) and Las Vegas (2003), among many others. Francine's personal favorites among her television roles include her portrayal of nineteenth century British actress Lily Langtry in the Death Valley Days (1952) episode "Picture of a Lady", and her role as the princess opposite Shirley Temple (one of Francine's childhood idols) in NBC's presentation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid". One of Francine's other favorite roles was that of high-class prostitute and blackmailer Lorraine Temple on Days of Our Lives (1965).
While Francine was enjoying great success as a film and television actress, she was also making a name for herself as a fitness/nutrition expert and gourmet cook. She made many appearances on television demonstrating her culinary skills, and many of her recipes, as well as her exercise programs, were published in national health magazines. Francine also became known as one of Hollywood's leading hostesses, cooking for such celebrities as Clint Eastwood, Rex Harrison, Vincent Price, Regis Philbin, Jean Stapleton, Neil Sedaka, James Arness, Glenn Ford and Peter Ustinov.
Francine continued to act in films and on television. Two recent television appearances include Hot in Cleveland (2010) (as British matriarch Lady Natalie), and Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures (2011) (as Aunt Bitsy). She was also quite busy working on her autobiography, something her fans are looking forward to with great interest. In 1996, she met director Vincent Sherman (Mr. Skeffington, The Adventures of Don Juan, The Young Philadelphians), and was his companion until his death in 2006. Francine never married - she once said, "Like Cinderella, I always wanted to marry the handsome prince...but they don't make glass slippers in size ten!" On January 6, 2017, Francine York died of cancer at age 80 in Van Nuys, California. - Producer
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Grant Heslov was born on 15 May 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Argo (2012), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) and The Ides of March (2011). He is married to Lysa Heslov. They have two children.- Stunts
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Born on a ranch in North Hollywood, California, Spice Williams-Crosby rode her horse to kindergarten, grew up playing in her father's medical offices, eventually hitting the road as a musician, singer, and dancer under contract to 20th Century-Fox Records.
Overcoming a seven-year drug and alcohol problem, at the age of 26, she turned to God, nutrition and exercise with the eventual promise of helping others to turn their lives around. As she got older, Spice changed the course of her career and began studying acting for stage and film. After hearing about roles for female warriors, wrestlers, and super-heroines, she took to kickboxing and bodybuilding, slowly creating a niche for herself.
Spice has worked in such feature motion pictures as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), The Cherokee Kid (1996), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), The Guyver (1991), A Simple Plan (1998), and For Love of the Game (1999). She has also guest-starred on numerous TV shows including Roseanne (1988), My Two Dads (1987), Women in Prison (1987), Mama's Family (1983), The Bold And The Beautiful, The Young and the Restless (1973), Step by Step (1991), Smart Guy (1997), Diagnosis Murder (1993), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), and Scrubs (2001), in what she terms as an "action actress." "In fact," says Spice, "I can't remember doing a role where I wasn't asked to perform some kind of physical feat". Since 1986, Spice has been stunt doubling Deidre Hall (Marlena) on Days of Our Lives (1965) and has also played several roles on that soap. She had the great honor of working with Clint Eastwood on Million Dollar Baby (2004), and then had a blast working on an independent film in with Luke Goss, called The Dead Undead (2010). She is very proud of co-starring in an incredible film called The Sensei (2008) with Diana Lee Inosanto starring & directing, a fun film called Bare Knuckles (2010), and recently, she played a warden in a Stallone film, and can be seen as a hooker on the new TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013). Starting in 2014, Spice has produced her own show called I Fight for My Life (2014), about women victims and turning them into women victors!
Stunts came into play in 1980 ago when Spice was asked to double an actress playing a Judo instructor opposite Rock Hudson. Since then, she has doubled for the likes of Louise Fletcher, Meg Foster, Katherine Ross, Clare Carey, Deidre Hall, Cindy Pickett, Linda Kozlowski, Eileen Brennen, Becky Ann Baker, Kelly Preston and many more. Spice also Stunt Coordinates feature films, Television shows and commercials. Her stunt expertise is in fighting & "hitting the ground!"
Although Spice has crashed cars, dove through glass windows, taken stair falls, executed 30-foot ratchets, 50-foot high falls, and hung from helicopters 350 feet above the ground, she is perhaps best known for her ability to pick a 300 pound man up over her head in a fireman's carry. In the year 2000, Spice founded the Stunt Peer Group & Emmy at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Gracing the cover and pages of over 100 magazines, both here and abroad, Spice has also made a name for herself as a nutritional expert with 2 Masters in Fitness Science & Holistic Nutrition and a PhD in Natural Health Medicine, writing for magazine as Ms. Fitness, Natural Muscle Magazine, and World Black Belt. She holds a 6th DAN in Arjukanpo, 6th DAN in Doce Pares Eskrima, and is Certified Level B in Israeli Krav Panim el Panim (abbrev. KAPAP), Level C in Guatemala GIKA, and Security Defensive Tactics, Inc.. Her successful joint venture with her husband -- a popular line of vegetarian food products called "Spice Of Life Meatless Meats & Jerky." In December of 1998, she was voted into the Marquis Who's Who in America-West. One of her greatest honors was posing for a 30ft bronze statue where she represents the past, present and future female athletes of the Olympics. Spice's goal is to continue to set an example for the "women of the new millennium" -- spiritually focused, mentally alert, and physically capable. Spice is married to Gregory Crosby, screenwriter (Hacksaw Ridge), grandson of actor/singer Bing Crosby, and they have a beautiful son Luke, who is equally healthy and active!- Actor
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Michael Fairman is a veteran of film, stage and television, with a career spanning more than 40 years. He has portrayed Adlai Stevenson in the political thriller Thirteen Days (2000) starring Kevin Costner, was featured in David Lynch's Academy Award-nominated Mulholland Drive (2001) and played Ben Affleck's father in Dreamworks' Forces of Nature (1999). This versatile actor can be seen regularly on television, having guest appearances on popular shows such as ER (1994), The Practice (1997), The X-Files (1993), Boston Public (2000), Family Law (1999) and Dharma & Greg (1997), to name just a few.
He started out his career as a navigator in the U.S. Air Force. While stationed at Tachikawa Air Force Base near Tokyo, he joined a theater group and has been acting ever since. After the Air Force, he enrolled in the Dramatic Arts Department of New York University. Beginning with Oedipus in Sophocles Oedipus Rex, he played leads throughout college, including a series of classical roles at the Oregon Shakespearean Festival. He has played everything from Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" to Pozzo in "Waiting for Godot" to his critically acclaimed "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" and was in numerous productions off-Broadway.
This extensive stage experience led Michael to numerous recurring roles in such hit TV shows as L.A. Law (1986), Hill Street Blues (1981) and Cagney & Lacey (1981), and extended runs on the soap operas General Hospital (1963), Ryan's Hope (1975) and Love of Life (1951). Fairman is in the soon-to-be-released feature film comedy Wheelmen (2005).- Actor
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John Ingle was born on 7 May 1928 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Heathers (1988), General Hospital (1963) and Death Becomes Her (1992). He was married to Grace-Lynne Martin. He died on 16 September 2012 in Altadena, California, USA.- Sound Department
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Cary Stratton is known for The Mexican (2001), Galaxy Quest (1999) and Titanic (1997). He has been married to Mary-Margaret Stratton since 18 November 1989.- William Frankfather was not an albino, but played one in his first movie role in Foul Play (1978). He was a long time Artistic Director for Theatre Forty, located in Beverly Hills, a graduate of New Mexico State University and got a M.F.A. from Stanford University. Bill was a talented actor, loving father and friend and is greatly missed.
- Ryan Bollman was born on 9 August 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He is an actor, known for Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992), Only the Strong (1993) and The NeverEnding Story III (1994).
- Jennifer Richards was born on 18 June 1948 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for TerrorVision (1986), C.O.D. (1981) and Hill Street Blues (1981).
- Helen Page Camp was born on 27 December 1930 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990), The Love Boat (1977) and Telefon (1977). She died on 1 August 1991 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Stalwart American actor Donald Adam May is best known to television viewers as dapper crime fighting District Attorney Adam Drake in the long-running mystery soap opera The Edge of Night (1956). Donald was born in Chicago, one of four siblings, to Texan oil businessman Harry S. May and his wife Leontine. He attended school in Houston, and, in 1949, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. His first professional acting gig was in a play with a stock company in Albany, New York. Donald subsequently appeared in a few promotional films for the Signal Corps and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, eventually serving as a gunnery officer (ensign) on a destroyer during the Korean War. Following his demobilisation in 1955, he returned to New York to resume work on the repertory stage. The following year, he starred as a cadet in the CBS anthology TV series West Point (1956) (a show supposedly based on factual events). With a Warner Brothers contract in hand, Donald and his then wife (Yale graduate and former stage actress Ellen Cameron) relocated to Hollywood at the end of the decade. Henceforth, his rugged good looks were gainfully employed in essaying men of integrity, the 'white hat' wearers in westerns and crime dramas.
After appearing in an episode of Sugarfoot (1957), Donald played the lead in four segments of the western series Colt .45 (1957) (temporarily replacing Wayde Preston) and had further guest spots in 77 Sunset Strip (1958) and Cheyenne (1955). The next acting assignment -- his most prominent leading role to date -- was as New York reporter Pat Garrison, chronicling gangland crime in The Roaring 20's (1960). This prohibition era action series ran for two seasons and co-starred Dorothy Provine, Rex Reason and John Dehner. If it failed to do better in the ratings, it should be remembered that it was going up against and being compared to The Untouchables (1959) (which was being presented in a semi-documentary style and appeared to the viewing public as 'more authentic').
From the mid-60s, Donald May was probably one of the busiest actors in showbiz, dividing his time between the New York off-Broadway stage and acting on The Edge of Night, which was a New York-based live broadcast. By the time the series had run its course, Donald had managed to rack up an impressive 2840 episodes as Adam Drake over a period of ten years. Not finished with soaps yet, he later had further recurring roles in Falcon Crest (1981), and, as a romantic lead, in Texas (1980) (which starred his second wife, the actress Carla Borelli).
Donald retired from screen acting in 1993 and died at the age of 94 on January 28 2022. - Heidi Helmer was born on 8 March 1965. She was an actress, known for What Women Want (2000), Porky's Revenge (1985) and Starting from Scratch (1988). She was married to Daniel Castino. She died on 28 December 2010 in Northfield, Illinois, USA.
- Mark Neely is known for Night of the Demons 2 (1994), Centennial (1978) and The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1988).
- Emily Dole was born on 28 September 1957 in Orange, California, USA. She was an actress, known for GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (1986), Hard Time on Planet Earth (1989) and Son in Law (1993). She died on 3 January 2018 in Orange, California, USA.
- George McDaniel was born on 30 June 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last Starfighter (1984), Lionheart (1990) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984). He died on 24 March 2023 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Flo Di Re is known for Spyro: Year of the Dragon (2000), Mighty Joe Young (1998) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008).
- Calvin Mason is known for Diff'rent Strokes (1978), Mama's Family (1983) and The Gary Coleman Show (1982).
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Mary Pat Gleason was born on 23 February 1950 in Lake City, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Crucible (1996) and A Cinderella Story (2004). She died on 2 June 2020 in Burbank, California, USA.- Born in Toronto, Canadian-American actor Graham Jarvis attended Williams College, before moving to New York to pursue a career in theatre. He studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and was an original member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. He appeared in film and television for decades, from the 1960s to the 2000s.
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Cheryl Pollak was born on 31 August 1967 in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Pump Up the Volume (1990), My Best Friend Is a Vampire (1987) and Art House (1998). She has been married to Richard Murphy since 1999.- Actress
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Penelope Sudrow was born on 20 January 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), Amazing Stories (1985) and Dead Man Walking (1988).- Actress
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Lois De Banzie was born on 4 May 1930 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Addams Family Values (1993) and Arachnophobia (1990). She died on 3 April 2021 in Greenbrae, California, USA.- Producer
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Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Alex Trebek graduated from the University of Ottawa with a degree in Philosophy. After his first decision to become a newscaster, he joined the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company), Canada's premier network in 1961. As he was working, he helped organize national news and covered a variety of special events for CBC's radio and television divisions, receiving high praise as a broadcaster who retained his poise and composure in the toughest places. Then, in 1966, he became a Canadian game show host on Reach for the Top (1965), and stayed there for the first seven years until he migrated to the United States to host his very first game show in that country, The Wizard of Odds (1973), for NBC.
Prior to being selected as the host of Jeopardy! (1984), for syndication, he came back to NBC and hosted the revamped version of Classic Concentration (1987), which was also his second hit in his then-almost 30 year career. On this show, he received 4 Emmy nominations, but didn't win. It was canceled in 1991, when the network stopped making game show for daytime TV.
On May 17, 2002, Jeopardy! (1984) celebrated a milestone, with its 4000th episode and at the same time, received another Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Game Show/Audience Participation," making it its 21st Emmy. Like Bob Barker, Alex Trebek broke the world record as host of TV's #1 quiz show in the country, won seven Outstanding Game Show Host Emmy Awards, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and was often described as one of the Top 10 Canadians on U.S. Television. Trebek passed away, after a long battle against pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2020, at age 80.- Actor
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Brian Byers is known for Meet the Parents (2000), Archive 81 (2022) and M*A*S*H (1972). He has been married to LuAnn Leonard since 15 November 2014.- Actress
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- Actress
- Writer
Shirley Prestia was born on 18 August 1947 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Species (1995), Wag the Dog (1997) and What Women Want (2000). She died on 6 October 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Magda Harout was born on 22 April 1926 in Van Nuys, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Baggage Claim (2013), The Golden Girls (1985) and Quantum Leap (1989). She was married to Robert T. Kardashian. She died on 9 September 2021 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Spunky actress, singer and comedienne all rolled up into one, Puerto Rican-American Liz Torres was born on September 27, 1947, a native of the Bronx. She began her stand-up/singing career as a regular performing in various small NYC niteries. It wasn't until she received an invite to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) that her comic career started blooming on TV and in film.
Liz has been a broadly familiar ethnic face on the sitcom circuit, having had regular or recurring parts in numerous series. In addition to regular roles on 70s TV variety shows for Melba Moore, Clifton Davis and Ben Vereen, she replaced the late Barbara Colby in the Mary Tyler Moore spinoff Phyllis (1975) starring Cloris Leachman following Colby's tragic murder. A year later she joined the All in the Family (1971) cast for a season. Liz co-starred in a number of short-lived series such as Checking In (1981), The New Odd Couple (1982) and City (1990) before hitting paydirt and scoring multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her prime role of Mahalia on The John Larroquette Show (1993). She has continued to make the guest rounds on such popular series as Ally McBeal (1997), The Nanny (1993), Quantum Leap (1989), The Wonder Years (1988) and L.A. Law (1986), often providing some necessary comedy relief amid the drama, and she is a veteran of many mini-movies, both comedic and dramatic.
On Broadway, Torres replaced Tony-winning Rita Moreno as men's bathhouse entertainer Googie Gomez in the wacky comedy "The Ritz" and portrayed the bizarre character of Bunny in "House of Blue Leaves." The musical part of her has recorded for RCA and appeared in a number of stage roles that have ranged from Aldonza/Dulcinea in "Man of La Mancha" to lightweight roles in "Bye Bye Birdie" and "See Saw."
She has provided amusing vignettes in such film comedies as The Odd Couple II (1998) starring the late Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Sunset (1988) with Bruce Willis and Permanent Midnight (1998) showcasing Ben Stiller. She was nominated for her the
Although comedy has been Liz's primary career outlet, her millennium film credits have leaned toward heavier material with featured parts in the romantic drama Gabriela (2001), the urban drama King Rikki (2002), the social drama Taylor (2005) and the dramedy West of Brooklyn (2008). Outside the recurring roles on the law series First Monday (2002) and the Latino family drama American Family (2002), TV has proven a different story where she is best remembered for her series role as "Miss Patty" in the long-running sitcom Gilmore Girls (2000), and made numerous amusing appearances on such regular comedies as "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," "The Brothers Garcia," "Ugly Betty," "Desperate Housewives," "Devious Maids" and the Cuban-American sitcom "One Day at a Time."
Long married to producer Peter Locke, the couple resides in Los Angeles.