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- Actor
- Producer
British actor Mark Strong, who played Jim Prideaux in the 2011 remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), is often cast as cold, calculating villains. But before he became a famous actor, he intended to pursue a career in law.
Strong was born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia in London, England, to an Austrian mother and an Italian father. His father left the family not long after he was born, and his mother worked as an au pair to raise the boy on her own. Strong's mother had his name legally changed, by deed poll, when he was young in order to help him better assimilate with his peers. He became Mark Strong.
Strong attended Wymondham College in Norfolk, and studied at the university level in Munich with the intent of becoming a lawyer. After a year, he returned to London to study English and Drama at Royal Holloway. He went on to further master his craft of at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Although Americans are most familiar with Strong's roles as Sinestro in Green Lantern (2011), mob boss Frank D'Amico in Kick-Ass (2010), and Lord Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes (2009), British audiences know him from his long history as a television actor. He also starred in as numerous British stage productions, including plays at the Royal National Theatre and the RSC.
His most prominent television parts include Prime Suspect 3 (1993) and Prime Suspect: The Last Witness (2003) as Inspector Larry Hall, and starring roles in the BBC Two dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Long Firm (2004), the latter of which netted Strong a BAFTA nomination. He also played Mr. Knightley in the 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's classic tale Emma (1996).
Strong resides in London with his wife Liza Marshall, with whom he has two sons, the younger of which is the godson of his longtime friend Daniel Craig.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
James Gunn was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, to Leota and James Francis Gunn. He is from a large Catholic family, with Irish and Czech ancestry. His father and his uncles were all lawyers. He has been writing and performing as long as he can remember. He began making 8mm films at the age of twelve. Many of these were comedic splatter films featuring his brothers being disemboweled by zombies. He attended Saint Louis University High (SLUH) college preparatory school but later dropped out of college to pursue a rock and roll career.
His band, "the Icons", released one album, "Mom, We Like It Here on Earth". He earned very little money doing this and so during this time, he also worked as an orderly in Tucson, Arizona, upon which many of the situations in his first novel, "The Toy Collector", are based. He wrote and drew comic strips for underground and college newspapers.
Gunn eventually returned to school and received his B.A. at Saint Louis University in his native St. Louis. He moved to New York where he received an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, which he today thinks may have been a wonderfully expensive waste of time. While finishing his MFA, he started writing "The Toy Collector" and began working for "Troma Studios", America's leading B-Movie production company. While there he wrote and produced the cult classic Tromeo and Juliet (1996) and, with Lloyd Kaufman, he wrote "All I Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger".
Gunn had a spiritual awakening in Cannes in 1997 and quit Troma and relocated from New York to Los Angeles. He wrote and acted in the film The Specials (2000) with Rob Lowe, Jamie Kennedy, Thomas J. Churchill and his brother Sean Gunn. He wrote two scripts for Warner Brothers live action movies: Spy vs. Spy (1985) and Scooby-Doo (2002). In 1999, after almost five years, he finished "The Toy Collector". After doing Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), Gunn made his directorial debut with Slither (2006). He later made the superhero film Super (2010) and the successful Marvel films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and its sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Gunn has four brothers, all of whom are in the entertainment industry. His brother, Patrick Gunn, is a Senior VP at Artisan Entertainment, the company responsible for distributing (and the marketing campaign of) The Blair Witch Project (1999). His brother, Brian Gunn, is a screenwriter who works in partnership with their cousin Mark Gunn.
Gunn's brother, Matt Gunn wrote and starred in the winner of the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, Man About Town (1997). Gunn's brother, Sean Gunn, is an actor regularly seen in films, commercials, and such TV shows as Angel (1999). James and Sean have collaborated on two occasions Sean starred in Tromeo and Juliet (1996), and they acted together and co-produced The Specials (2000). The brothers have one sister, Beth, who is a lawyer.
Gunn married actress and cartoonist Jenna Fischer in 2000. They divorced in 2008. He is now in a relationship with Jennifer Holland- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jesse Wesley Williams born August 5, 1981 is a former high school teacher and activist turned actor/director. He's best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy and his advocacy for the disenfranchised, highlighted by his internationally resonant acceptance speech for his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. He also appears in the hit 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson. Previous roles include Holden in The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Officer Eddie Quinlan in Brooklyn's Finest (2009), as Leo, Lena's boyfriend, in the film sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) and as Isaac "Ike" Singer in Jacob's Ladder (2019).- Actress
- Writer
Sophie Winkleman was born on 5 August 1980 in London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Wonka (2023), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) and Peep Show (2003). She has been married to Lord Frederick Windsor since 12 September 2009. They have two children.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Janet McTeer was born on August 5, 1961 in Newcastle, England, UK to
parents Jean and Allan McTeer. She was raised in York from the age of
6. She attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls, where there was
not much opportunity for drama. She became interested in acting at age
16, when she saw "She Stoops to Conquer" at the York Theater. She
worked as a waitress at the same theater, where she once served a
coffee to Gary Oldman. He suggested that she
apply to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he had
just finished studying. She successfully gained a place at RADA. After
graduation, she began her career acting on stage by joining the Royal
Exchange Theatre.
Her on-screen film debut came in
Half Moon Street (1986), an
erotic thriller based on a novel by
Paul Theroux. In 2000, she received her
first Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for
Tumbleweeds (1999). She was awarded
Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Queen's Birthday
Honours List for her services to drama.- Actress
- Music Department
- Composer
Olivia Holt was born in Germantown, Tennessee to parents, Mark and Kim Holt. When she was only 3 years old, she started singing and acting on the stage. Besides acting and singing, she has been a competitive gymnast for the past 5 years, and a competitive cheerleader for the past few years. At Christmas time, Holt moved with her family from DeSoto County to Los Angeles.
She had starring roles in numerous community productions, including Annie in "Annie" and Alice in "Through the Looking Glass", before landing a role in the indie film, Black and Blue (2009). She also appeared in multiple national TV commercials, including Hasbro, Mattel and Bratz dolls.
In 2011, Olivia got her break out role as "Kim Crawford", a confident martial artist and the only girl in the dojo who can go toe-to-toe with the boys, in the Disney XD comedy series, Kickin' It (2011).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Steven Knight is a British screenwriter and film director. He is best known for screenplays he wrote for the films Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and Eastern Promises (2007), and also directed as well as written the film Locke (2013).
Knight is also one of three creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, a game show that has been remade and aired in around 160 countries worldwide, and has written for BBC's Commercial Breakdown, The Detectives , Peaky Blinders and Taboo.
Others films based on screenplays that Knight has written include The Hundred-Foot Journey and Pawn Sacrifice both in 2014.- Scott William Winters is the brother of actor Dean Winters and writer
Brad Winters. His sister Blair is married to executive producer/writer
Jorge Zamacona. Scott is married to Jennifer Logan Winters. They have 2
daughters, Grace and Faith. Scott is from New York and attended
Northwestern University in Chicago. Following the 2010 earthquake in
Haiti, he went down with friends to serve as an EMT, which he works as
part time. He and his wife are completing a documentary on the
experience in Haiti. He enjoys surfing, writing, family-time, and
reading the Bible. - Actress
- Additional Crew
Mimi Keene (born 5 August 1998) is a British actress, known for her role as Cindy Williams in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Keene studied at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts from 2009-2014.
Keene's career began on the stage, making her professional debut playing Janey in Kin at The Royal Court Theatre from 19 November to 23 December 2010. In 2013, Keene appeared in CBBC's Sadie J as Brandy May Lou and in Our Girl as Jade Dawes Between 2013 and 2015, Keene was a series regular in EastEnders, playing Cindy Williams. In 2016, Keene appeared in an episode of Casualty as Lana Westmore. Keene also played Megan in a short film, The Escape, in 2017. Keene also had voice roles for video games, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 1 and 2. In 2019, Keene will star in independent feature, Close. She will also portray the young version of Edith Tolkien in Tolkien. In 2019, Keene began playing Ruby in the Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Critic's Choice nominated actress Josie Totah is an immensely talented actress, writer, and producer with a gift for bringing dynamic characters to life. As she fearlessly evolves her body of work with each new project, Totah is fast proving to be one of Hollywood's most engaging and sought-after actresses. Totah has been recognized by numerous prestigious publications including being named to The Hollywood Reporter's Top 30 Stars Under 18, Forbes 30 Under 30 (Hollywood), Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21, Out Magazine OUT100 and Seventeen Magazine's 6 Women Under 21 Who Are Changing the World.
Josie Totah can currently be seen as the co-lead in AppleTV+'s period-drama series, THE BUCCANEERS, based on an unfinished book by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Edith Wharton. In the series created by Katherine Jakeways and directed by BAFTA winner Susannah White, Josie received critical acclaim for her grounded dramatic performance as "Mabel" alongside Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Mia Threapleton and Christina Hendricks.
Prior to that Josie starred as"Lexi", the most popular girl at Bayside High in the critically-acclaimed reboot of the iconic series SAVED BY THE BELL from Universal Television and Peacock. The series was created by Emmy-winning writer Tracy Wigfield and features several members of the original cast. Totah received critical praise for her standout performance and was nominated for a Critic's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Totah also serves as a producer of the series which was the recipient of the GLAAD Media Award for Best Comedy Series in 2022.
Josie can also be seen in the feature film MOXIE directed by Amy Poehler. The film, based on Jennifer Mathieu's novel of the same name about girls who start a feminist revolution in high school, premiered on Netflix in 2021.
Josie also starred in Amazon's half-hour pilot GOOD PEOPLE, created by Whitney Cummings and Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels. The pilot focuses on three generations of women, played by Lisa Kudrow, Whitney Cummings, and Totah, all working in the ombudsman's office of a college. Josie is Tallulah, the smart, brash, Generation Z voice of social injustice. The pilot also co-stars Greg Kinnear, Martin Short, and Ian Harding.
Totah is also known for her starring role in NBC's comedy television series CHAMPIONS created by Mindy Kaling and Charlie Grandy. The series focuses on a charismatic 15-year-old, 'Michael' (Totah), who is sent to live with his estranged father 'Vince' (Anders Holm) who is living the bachelor dream in New York City. Totah received critical acclaim for the role and was deemed the series' breakout star, garnering instant affection from fans and critics.
Totah can be seen starring alongside Adam Devine in Walt Disney Pictures' MAGIC CAMP. The young-adult comedy follows a former magician who returns to his youth camp to reignite his career. In Summer 2017 she was also seen in Columbia Pictures & Marvel Studios' SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING as 'Seymour.' Totah also appeared in Chris Kelly's debut feature OTHER PEOPLE opposite Jesse Plemons, Molly Shannon, Bradley Whitford, and Zach Woods, which was released in September 2016. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival where Totah received rave reviews for her riveting performance and was included in Variety's 2016 Breakout Stars portfolio, InStyle Magazine's 10 Rising Stars to Watch and a Most Inspirational Person at Sundance.
In 2015, Totah starred in the sixth and final season of Fox's hit series GLEE as 'Myron Muskovitz', a strong-armed prodigy and child tyrant in one. This follows her performance in Disney Channel's Kids' Choice nominated series JESSIE, for which Totah received a 2014 Young Artist nomination for Best Performance in a TV Series-Recurring Young Actor 10 & Under.She starred in several notable television series including: Comedy Central's The Other Two, CBS' Primetime Emmy nominated series 2 BROKE GIRLS, Fox's Golden Globe nominated comedy NEW GIRL, TV Land's Primetime Emmy nominated comedy THE EXES, Disney's Primetime Emmy nominated animation series SOFIA THE FIRST, as well as recurring in the Netflix series, No Good Nick. She also starred in ABC's comedy BACK IN THE GAME alongside James Caan and Maggie Lawson.
In addition to her career in front of camera, Totah is a television and film writer and currently serves as a producer on the Peacock series SAVED BY THE BELL. At age 15 she sold her first television pitch to Universal Television/NBC. The single-camera sitcom with the working title AUNT NANCY, based on her real-life aunt, had Totah set to produce alongside Adam and Naomi Scott, as well as star in it. She is currently working on new scripts and original projects.
Totah is also an LGBTQ activist who regularly appears on panels discussing LBGTQ rights and inclusion of LGBTQ characters in film and television. Totah was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign who honored her with the prestigious Visibility Award in 2018 and the Upstander Award in 2019. She was named by Out Magazine to Out100. Totah is also a celebrity ambassador for GLAAD and GLSEN where she serves as a member of the GLSEN Game Change Council.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Maureen Denise McCormick was born on August 5, 1956 to Richard and
Irene McCormick. The youngest of four children, she has three brothers Michael, Dennis and Kevin.
Her acting career began at age six when she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley
contest, which opened up the glamorous world of acting to the future
teenie-bopper. At age seven, her first role was in a play, and within a
year, was a popular choice for TV commercials and sitcoms. In
addition to ads for Barbie and Kool Aid, Maureen was seen on Bewitched (1964),
My Three Sons (1960) and Camp Runamuck (1965). She also did voice-over recordings for a dozen
Mattel talking dolls. For five years, Maureen was one of America's top
teen role-models, admired by millions. When the Brady Kids became a
singing group on the side, producers noticed her special talent
for singing and encouraged the recording of a number of solo tracks, some
of which turned up later on the LP "Chris Knight and Maureen
McCormick". Years later, she would attempt to revive her singing
career, with the 1995 Country CD "When You Get A Little Lonely".
Maureen has appeared in many feature films, many TV guest
spots and completed three films in the last three years,
Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure (1999) and The Million Dollar Kid (2000) and Dogtown (1997). She currently pursues her career
and keeps her friends and family first priority. Maureen is married to
Michael Cummings and together they have a daughter, Natalie.- Stephanie Szostak (show-stack), is an actress, author, a Give an Hour Ambassador and speaks on overcoming failure, being an outsider and living with authenticity.
Szostak left her native France to study business and play varsity golf at the College of William & Mary. At 29 years old, after a few years at Chanel in NYC she took a leap and gave the acting world a try. Soon after she landed a role opposite Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. Her most notable projects include the ABC hit series A Million Little Things, Iron Man 3, and Dinner for Schmucks.
As her career gained momentum, she battled with Impostor Syndrome which pushed her to address her mindset and develop her own 'Playbook' as a daily practice of Mental Fitness. In her book, Self!sh: Step Into a Journey of Self-Discovery to Revive Confidence, Joy, and Meaning, she guides readers in creating their own Personal Playbook for life - a tool to cultivate a resilient mindset and empower them on their unique journey of self-discovery, learning, and growth.
As part of her commitment to mental health, she donates half of her proceeds from the book to the mental health organization, Give an Hour. - Born on 5th August 1948 in Hastings, East Sussex, England. She started
her television career in 1970 in the TV series A Family at War (1970), cast as Freda
Ashton. She became better known following her appearances in The Beiderbecke Affair (1985),
The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987) and The Beiderbecke Connection (1988), alongside James Bolam. She has narrated recent
documentaries such as: "Frontier House", When Pat Phoenix Met Tony Booth (2002), "50s & 60s in Living
Colour" and "What Granny Did in the War". Television series include:
Cracker (1993) in which she played Fitz's wife Judith, more recently in
Hornblower: Duty (2003) and Hornblower: Loyalty (2003). Recent feature film appearances include: Professor
Corner in You're Dead... (1999) and Pauline in The Escort (1999) (aka "The Escort"). Theatre
includes: Goneril in "King Lear" National Theatre (1997) and on BBC TV
(King Lear (1998)); "The Bullet" in which she played Billie at London's West End
Donmar Warehouse Theatre (1998); "An Experiment With An Air Pump" at
the Hampstead Theatre (2002), playing two characters, Susannah Fenwick
and Ellen. - Actress
- Producer
Tawny Kitaen was born on 5 August 1961 in San Diego, California, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Bachelor Party (1984), The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak (1984) and Witchboard (1986). She was married to Chuck Finley and David Coverdale. She died on 7 May 2021 in Newport Beach, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Born Spangler Arlington Brugh, Robert Taylor began displaying a diversity of talents in his youth on the plains of Nebraska. At Beatrice High School, he was a standout track athlete, but also showed a talent for using his voice, winning several oratory awards. He was a musician and played the cello in the school orchestra. After graduating he thought of music as a vocation and started studying music at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. In the early 1930s he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and study medicine. He enrolled at Pomona College but also joined the campus theater group and found himself in many lead roles because of his handsome features. He was inspired to go on to the Neely Dixon Dramatic School, but about a year after graduating from
Pomona, he was spotted by an MGM talent scout and given a contract in
1934. That same year, he appeared in his first movie, on loan-out to Fox for a Will Rogers entry, Handy Andy (1934). He also did an MGM short, Buried Loot (1935), for its "Crime Does Not Pay" series, which provided good exposure. However, the next year he did even better by being cast as the lead, again on loan-out, this time to then struggling Universal Pictures, in Magnificent Obsession (1935) with Irene Dunne, the story of a happy-go-lucky party guy who inadvertently causes blindness to the young lady he wishes to impress and then becomes a doctor in order to cure her. The movie was a big hit, and Taylor had a taste of instant box-office stardom. Along with his good looks, Taylor already showed solid dramatic skill. However, critics viewed of him as a no-talent flash-in-the-pan getting by on his looks (a charge levied at his closest contemporary comparison, Tyrone Power over at Fox). He had to endure some brutal reviews through his first years in Hollywood, but they would soon fade away. In 1935 alone, he appeared in seven films, and by the end of the year, he was at the top of his form as a leading man and being offered substantial scripts. The next year
he appeared with Greta Garbo in Camille (1936), and for the remainder of the decade MGM's vehicles for him--not to mention a pantheon of top actresses--clicked with audiences. On a personal level, despite his
impressive family background and education, Taylor would often strike
those who met him as a mental lightweight. Intellectually inclined
actress Luise Rainer was shocked when she struck up a conversation with him at a studio function in 1937 when, after asking him what his goals were, he sincerely replied that his most important goal was to accumulate "a wardrobe of ten fine custom-tailored suits." That he usually comes across on screen as having a confident, commanding presence is more of a testimony to his acting talent than his actual personality. He held rigid right-wing
political beliefs that he refused to question and, when confronted with an opposing viewpoint, would simply reject it outright. He rarely, if ever, felt the need to be introspective. Taylor simply felt blessed to be working behind the walls of MGM.
His affection for the studio would blind him to the fact that boss Louis B. Mayer masterfully manipulated him for nearly two decades, keeping Taylor's salary the lowest of any major Hollywood star. But this is also indicative of how much trust he placed in the hands of the studio's leaders. Indeed, Taylor remained the quintessential MGM company man and would be rewarded by remaining employed there until the demise of the studio system in the late 1950s, outlasting its legend, Clark Gable. Though not quite considered treasures to be locked away in film vaults, Taylor's films during the first five years of his career gave him the opportunity to explore a wide spectrum of romantic characters, playing young officers or doctors more than once. Some noticeable examples of the variety of roles he took over a year's time were his chip-on-the-shoulder Lee Sheridan in A Yank at Oxford (1938), ladies' man/boxer Tommy McCoy in The Crowd Roars (1938) and
cynical southern gentleman Blake Cantrell in Stand Up and Fight (1939). Taylor would truly become a first-rate actor in the following decade. By the 1940s, he was playing edgier and somewhat darker characters, such as the title roles in Billy the Kid (1941) and smooth criminal Johnny Eager (1941). With the arrival of the war, Taylor was quick to make his contribution to the effort. As an actor, he made two memorable combat movies: Stand by for Action (1942) and the better known (and for the time, quite graphic) Bataan (1943). From 1943 to 1946, he was in the US Naval Air Corps as a lieutenant, instructing would-be pilots. He also found time to direct two flight instruction training films (1943) and other training films for the Navy. Rather didactic in his ultra-conservative political beliefs, he became involved in 1947 as a "friendly witness" for the House Un-American Activities Committee investigating "Communist subversion" in the film industry. Anyone who knew Taylor knew he was an arch conservative but doubted that he could articulate why. He publicly stated that his accepting a role in Song of Russia (1944) was bad judgment (in reality, it was against his nature to balk at any film assignment while at MGM) and that he considered the film "pro-Communist." He also--rather unwittingly--fingered fellow actor Howard Da Silva as a disruptive force in the Screen Actors Guild. Although he didn't explicitly accuse Da Silva of being a Communist, his charges of "disruption" had the same effect, and the veteran actor found himself blacklisted by the studios for many years. After the war and through the remainder of the decade, Taylor was getting action roles to match his healthy box office draw, but there were fewer of them being offered. He was aging, and though he had one of his best known roles as the faith-challenged Gen. Marcus Vinicius in the monster hit Quo Vadis (1951), he was now being seen more as a mature lead. MGM, now under the aegis of Dore Schary, made the decision to move a significant amount of production to England to cut costs and opted to film several big-budget costume epics there starring Taylor. With Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1952), he was back (as once before in 1949) with the dazzling young Elizabeth Taylor pining for him as the exotic young Jewish woman Rebecca, effectively pulling off a role ideally suited for an actor a decade younger. With a great script and lots of action (forget about the mismatch of some matte backdrops!), the movie was a smash hit. He had a new look--rakish goatee and longer hair--that fit the youthful illusion. The movie did so well that MGM opted for a follow-up film based on the King Arthur legend, Knights of the Round Table (1953). It was not quite as good, but Taylor had the same look, and it worked. To his credit, Taylor continued to push for challenging roles in his dramatic output; the old "pretty face" stigma still seemed to drive him. He played an intriguing and most unlikely character in Devil's Doorway (1950)--an American Indian (dark-stained skin with blue eyes!) who wins a Medal of Honor for heroism in the Civil War but comes home to his considerable land holdings to encounter the continued racial bigotry and envy of his white neighbors. It contained pushing-the-envelope dialog with many thought-provoking scenes dealing with the social plight of the Indian. Taylor did several noteworthy pictures after this film (e.g., the edgy Rogue Cop (1954)) and was even more swashbuckling in one of the lesser known of Sir Walter Scott's romantic novels, Quentin Durward (1955), again successful in a younger-man role. Though his contract with MGM expired in 1958, he accepted a few more films into the 1960s. He put on some weight in his 50s, and the effects of heavy chain smoking began to affect his looks, but Taylor successfully alternated between starring film roles and television, albeit at a somewhat reduced pace. He founded his own production company, Robert Taylor Productions, in 1958 and moved comfortably into TV work. From 1959 to 1962, he was the star of the TV series The Detectives (1959), and when Ronald Reagan bowed out of TV's popular western anthology Death Valley Days (1952) for a political career, Taylor took over as host and sometime actor (1966-1968) until his death from lung cancer at the age of only 57.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
An eccentric rebel of epic proportions, this Hollywood titan reigned
supreme as director, screenwriter and character actor in a career that
endured over five decades. The ten-time Oscar-nominated legend was born
John Marcellus Huston in Nevada, Missouri, on August 5, 1906. His
ancestry was English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, distant German and very remote Portuguese. The age-old story
goes that the small town of his birth was won by John's grandfather in
a poker game. John's father was the equally magnanimous character actor
Walter Huston, and his mother, Rhea Gore,
was a newspaperwoman who traveled around the country looking for
stories. The only child of the couple, John began performing on stage
with his vaudevillian father at age 3. Upon his parents' divorce at age
7, the young boy would take turns traveling around the vaudeville
circuit with his father and the country with his mother on reporting
excursions. A frail and sickly child, he was once placed in a
sanitarium due to both an enlarged heart and kidney ailment. Making a
miraculous recovery, he quit school at age 14 to become a full-fledged
boxer and eventually won the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Championship of
California, winning 22 of 25 bouts. His trademark broken nose was the
result of that robust activity.
John married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Harvey, and also took
his first professional stage bow with a leading role off-Broadway
entitled "The Triumph of the Egg." He made his Broadway debut that same
year with "Ruint" on April 7, 1925, and followed that with another
Broadway show "Adam Solitaire" the following November. John soon grew
restless with the confines of both his marriage and acting and
abandoned both, taking a sojourn to Mexico where he became an officer
in the cavalry and expert horseman while writing plays on the sly.
Trying to control his wanderlust urges, he subsequently returned to
America and attempted newspaper and magazine reporting work in New York
by submitting short stories. He was even hired at one point by mogul
Samuel Goldwyn Jr. as a screenwriter,
but again he grew restless. During this time he also appeared unbilled
in a few obligatory films. By 1932 John was on the move again and left
for London and Paris where he studied painting and sketching. The
promising artist became a homeless beggar during one harrowing point.
Returning again to America in 1933, he played the title role in a
production of "Abraham Lincoln," only a few years after father Walter
portrayed the part on film for
D.W. Griffith. John made a new
resolve to hone in on his obvious writing skills and began
collaborating on a few scripts for Warner Brothers. He also married
again. Warners was so impressed with his talents that he was signed on
as both screenwriter and director for the
Dashiell Hammett mystery yarn
The Maltese Falcon (1941). The
movie classic made a superstar out of
Humphrey Bogart and is considered by
critics and audiences alike--- 65 years after the fact--- to be the
greatest detective film ever made. In the meantime John wrote/staged a
couple of Broadway plays, and in the aftermath of his mammoth screen
success directed bad-girl
'Bette Davis (I)' and good girl
Olivia de Havilland
in the film melodrama
In This Our Life (1942), and
three of his "Falcon" stars (Bogart,
Mary Astor and
Sydney Greenstreet) in the romantic
war picture
Across the Pacific (1942).
During WWII John served as a Signal Corps lieutenant and went on to
helm a number of film documentaries for the U.S. government including
the controversial
Let There Be Light (1980),
which father Walter narrated. The end of WWII also saw the end of his
second marriage. He married third wife
Evelyn Keyes, of "Gone With the Wind" fame,
in 1946 but it too lasted a relatively short time. That same year the
impulsive and always unpredictable Huston directed
Jean-Paul Sartre's experimental play
"No Exit" on Broadway. The show was a box-office bust (running less
than a month) but nevertheless earned the New York Drama Critics Award
as "best foreign play."
Hollywood glory came to him again in association with Bogart and Warner
Brothers'.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948),
a classic tale of gold, greed and man's inhumanity to man set in
Mexico, won John Oscars for both director and screenplay and his father
nabbed the "Best Supporting Actor" trophy. John can be glimpsed at the
beginning of the movie in a cameo playing a tourist, but he wouldn't
act again on film for a decade and a half. With the momentum in his
favor, John hung around in Hollywood this time to write and/or direct
some of the finest American cinema made including
Key Largo (1948) and
The African Queen (1951) (both
with Bogart),
The Asphalt Jungle (1950),
The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
and Moulin Rouge (1952). Later
films, including Moby Dick (1956),
The Unforgiven (1960),
The Misfits (1961),
Freud (1962),
The Night of the Iguana (1964)
and
The Bible in the Beginning... (1966)
were, for the most part, well-regarded but certainly not close to the
level of his earlier revered work. He also experimented
behind-the-camera with color effects and approached topics that most
others would not even broach, including homosexuality and
psychoanalysis.
An ardent supporter of human rights, he, along with director
William Wyler and others, dared to form
the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947, which strove to
undermine the House Un-American Activities Committee. Disgusted by the
Hollywood blacklisting that was killing the careers of many talented
folk, he moved to St. Clerans in Ireland and became a citizen there
along with his fourth wife, ballet dancer Enrica (Ricki) Soma. The
couple had two children, including daughter
Anjelica Huston who went on to have an
enviable Hollywood career of her own. Huston and wife Ricki split after
a son (director Danny Huston) was born to
another actress in 1962. They did not divorce, however, and remained
estranged until her sudden death in 1969 in a car accident. John
subsequently adopted his late wife's child from another union. The
ever-impulsive Huston would move yet again to Mexico where he married
(1972) and divorced (1977) his fifth and final wife, Celeste Shane.
Huston returned to acting auspiciously with a major role in
Otto Preminger's epic film
The Cardinal (1963) for which Huston
received an Oscar nomination at age 57. From that time forward, he
would be glimpsed here and there in a number of colorful, baggy-eyed
character roles in both good and bad (some positively abysmal) films
that, at the very least, helped finance his passion projects. The
former list included outstanding roles in
Chinatown (1974) and
The Wind and the Lion (1975),
while the latter comprised of hammy parts in such awful drek as
Candy (1968) and
Myra Breckinridge (1970).
Directing daughter Angelica in her inauspicious movie debut, the
thoroughly mediocre
A Walk with Love and Death (1969),
John made up for it 15 years later by directing her to Oscar glory in
the mob tale
Prizzi's Honor (1985). In the
1970s Huston resurged as a director of quality films with
Fat City (1972),
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
and Wise Blood (1979). He ended his
career on a high note with
Under the Volcano (1984), the
afore-mentioned
Prizzi's Honor (1985) and
The Dead (1987). His only certifiable
misfire during that era was the elephantine musical version of
Annie (1982), though it later became
somewhat of a cult favorite among children.
Huston lived the macho, outdoors life, unencumbered by convention or
restrictions, and is often compared in style or flamboyancy to an
Ernest Hemingway or
Orson Welles. He was, in fact, the source
of inspiration for Clint Eastwood in the
helming of the film
White Hunter Black Heart (1990)
which chronicled the making of "The African Queen." Illness robbed
Huston of a good portion of his twilight years with chronic emphysema
the main culprit. As always, however, he continued to work tirelessly
while hooked up to an oxygen machine if need be. At the end, the living
legend was shooting an acting cameo in the film
Mr. North (1988) for his son Danny,
making his directorial bow at the time. John became seriously ill with
pneumonia and died while on location at the age of 81. This maverick of
a man's man who was once called "the eccentric's eccentric" by
Paul Newman, left an incredibly rich
legacy of work to be enjoyed by film lovers for centuries to come.- Actor
- Director
John Saxon appeared in nearly 200 roles in the movies and on television in a more-than half-century-long career that has stretched over seven decades since he made his big screen debut in 1954 in uncredited small roles in It Should Happen to You (1954) and George Cukor's A Star Is Born (1954). Born Carmine Orrico on August 5, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Italian-American parents, Antonio Orrico and Anna (née Protettore), he studied acting with Stella Adler after graduating from New Utrecht High School.
He was discovered by talent agent Henry Willson, the man most famous for creating and representing Rock Hudson (as well as a stable of "beefcake" male stars and starlets), who signed him up after he saw Saxon's picture on the cover of a magazine. Willson brought the 16-year-old to Southern California, changed his name to John Saxon, and launched his career. Saxon made his television debut on Richard Boone's series
Medic (1954) in 1955 and got his first substantial (and credited) role in Running Wild (1955), playing a juvenile delinquent. In the
Esther Williams vehicle The Unguarded Moment (1956) (one of her rare dramatic roles), the film's marketing campaign spotlighted him, trumpeting the movie as "Co-starring the exciting new personality John Saxon.".
By 1958, he seemed to have established himself as a supporting player in A-List pictures, being featured in Blake Edwards's comedy This Happy Feeling (1958) headlined by Debbie Reynolds and Vincente Minnelli's The Reluctant Debutante (1958) with Rex Harrison and Sandra Dee. In the next five years, he worked steadily, including supporting roles in John Huston's The Unforgiven (1960), the James Stewart comedy Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) and Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963) while having first billing in the B-movies Cry Tough (1959) and War Hunt (1962). Fluent in Italian, he made his first pictures in Italy in the period, Agostino (1962) and Mario Bava's The Evil Eye (1963). Despite his good work with major directors, he failed to succeed as a star.
By 1965, he was appearing in the likes of Blood Beast from Outer Space (1965), albeit, top-billed. A more emblematic picture was Sidney J. Furie's The Appaloosa (1966), in which he appeared in Mexican bandito drag as the man who steals the horse of Marlon Brando, another Stella Adler student. Saxon would reprise the role, of sorts, in John Sturges Joe Kidd (1972) in support of superstar Clint Eastwood. In those less politically correct times, many an Italian-American with a dark complexion would be relied on to play Mexicans, Native Americans and other "exotic" types like Mongols. Saxon played everything from an Indian chief on Bonanza (1959) to Marco Polo on The Time Tunnel (1966).
From 1969 to 1972 season, he was a star of the television series The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1969), playing the brilliant surgeon Theodore Stuart. When the series ended, he took one of his most famous roles when Bruce Lee demurred over casting Rod Taylor as he was too tall. A black belt in karate, Saxon appeared as Roper in Enter the Dragon (1973). He continued to play a wide variety of roles on television and in motion pictures, with key roles in 1974's classic slasher Black Christmas (1974), 1984's groundbreaking A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and the 1990s self-referential horror films New Nightmare (1994) and From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).
John Saxon died of pneumonia on July 25, 2020, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He was 83.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A bodacious, bedimpled, pert-nosed, well-endowed knockout, Loni Anderson earned an assured television sex symbol pedestal during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As sexy but smart Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), the ravishing star later became a soap-styled fixture in mini-movies. All eyes were peeled on this worthy pin-up who helped to bring back the glossy platinum-blonde allure of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren.
Loni strove for much more than a sex pedestal as she tried to parlay her newly found fame into a viable dramatic career. She met with a measured degree of success as she recreated the lives of such artificial sex sirens as Mansfield and Thelma Todd on television, but got bogged down in television-movie retellings of famous movie classics (Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Leave Her to Heaven (1945)) that could not help but pale in comparison. This attempt at seriousness was further hampered by messy tabloid headlines in her private life.
Loni Kaye Anderson was born with very dark (jet black) hair on August 5, 1945 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of a chemist. An art student at the University of Minnesota, she entered (and won) beauty contests on the sly (including a Miss Minnesota runner-up placing in 1964). Married and divorced from Bruce Hasselberg before she reached age 21, Loni took on a teaching position to support herself and baby daughter (Deidre) while completing college.
Developing an interest in acting, she went the route many aspiring thespians do -- apprenticing in local commercials and theater shows. Still dark-haired, she played in several early 1970s productions such as "Born Yesterday" (as Billie Dawn), "Send Me No Flowers", "Can-Can" and "The Star-Spangled Girl". She even played Tzeitel in "Fiddler on the Roof" and appeared in a production of "The Threepenny Opera".
Remarried in 1973 to actor, Ross Bickell, the couple decided to move away from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1975 and actively pursue film and television work. Pounding the proverbial pavement, she eventually went blonde and this, plus her gorgeous looks, helped her to secure minor but sexy roles on such series as S.W.A.T. (1975), Police Woman (1974), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Three's Company (1976). By the time she nabbed the role of Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), she had grown quite admirably as an actress.
Loni and Howard Hesseman became the breakaway stars of the sitcom and Loni skyrocketed to sexy status, earning two Emmy nominations in the process. On the other hand, her instant fame led to the breakup of her second marriage to Bickell in 1981. Loni found hit-and-miss success outside the parameters of her comedy series. She was front-and-center in a number of television-movies, notably playing tragic Hollywood sex sirens Jayne Mansfield in The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger as her muscle-bound husband Mickey Hargitay, and Thelma Todd, in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991), whose untimely death in 1935 is still questioned.
Loni also appeared lusciously alongside Bob Hope, brightening up several of his classic television specials. On the minus side, she fizzled in her teaming up with equally sexy Wonder Woman (1975) star Lynda Carter in the tepid, short-lived series Partners in Crime (1984) and then played a former Las Vegas showgirl who inherits a bundle in the sitcom misfire Easy Street (1986). She also was given a chance to work in feature films such as Stroker Ace (1983). While her performance in that movie was panned, it did have her meeting and co-starring opposite mega star Burt Reynolds.
Appearing in routine, mini-movie soap operas (via her own production company), if anything, kept Loni in the public eye as a serious-minded actress, but it was an uphill battle to rise above her manufactured image as a fantasy bombshell. Not helping things was her high-profile marriage to Reynolds in 1988, which began blissfully enough (and produced adopted son Quinton), then dissolved quickly into a nasty divorce in 1993 that damaged the reputations of both stars.
In later years, Loni showed incredible perseverance. As always, the stalwart beauty continued to play up the glam but has since downplayed the dramatics. She seems more focused these days on having innocuous fun, playing a number of hearty vixens in sitcoms and series guest spots. Over time, she has enjoyed such lightweight sitcoms as her regular role in Nurses (1991), and as a guest in such sitcoms as The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991) (in which she recreated her role as Jennifer Marlowe), Empty Nest (1988), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) and Clueless (1996). Her last movie was the SNT-based comedy movie A Night at the Roxbury (1998).
Millennium television credits include the sitcom The Mullets (2003) and as Tori Spelling's materialistic mother in So Notorious (2006), which did not get the seal of approval from Tori's real-life mother. Loni has more recently starred in the resurrected comedy series My Sister Is So Gay (2016). In 2008, she married a fourth time to musician Bob Flick. Loni's autobiography, "My Life in High Heels", was published in 1997.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Jonathan Silverman was born on 5 August 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Weekend at Bernie's (1989), Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) and Another Dirty Movie (2012). He has been married to Jennifer Finnigan since 22 May 2007. They have one child.- Standing at an average 5ft 5in, with a cheeky glint in her deep brown
eyes we have Kara Tointon - a girl who is anything but average. She was
brought into the world on August 5th 1983 in a large Essex town
called Southend-On-Sea.. Ambitious and confident from an early
age, Kara often made up her own words for things and was always amusing
those around her with her random and creative moods. If she wasn't an
actress she would have attended art college. During her teenage years
she attended a private school with only 12 people in her entire year.
It was here she made friends for life.
At the tender age of 7 Kara began her acting career. She attended
speech and drama lessons at school and she also took part in LAMDA
examinations, entering local musical festivals doing poetry recital.
Her first proper acting experience came when she played the part of
Birgita in The Sound of Music at the Cliffs Pavillion. Shortly after
that her first paid job was as one of the children in the pantomime
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Her first appearance on television was
as an extra in Eastenders.
Not only is she a wonderful actress but she is also highly trained in
dance, specializing in Aerobics, Ballet, Bass-Baritone, Cabaret
Singing, Choreography, Contemporary, Jazz and Tap. In her spare time
she enjoys painting, swimming and skiing. She is a girl with endless
talents.
But Kara often likes to take a step back from the limelight to spend
time with her family and friends who she strives to spend as much time
with as possible. Her mother and younger sister Hannah in particular,
who recently moved away from Essex to London to be closer to her. Kara
is also a keen shopper and likes to spend hours at a time rooting
around London for rare, one-off outfits. Fading into the background
isn't her style.
2004 has been a great year for Kara. Not only did she appear in Mile
High but she has recently returned to her former Dream Team role as
Gina Milliano. Kara longed for a regular role in a hit TV show and it
looks like her dream maybe have come true. - Wanda Ventham was born on 5 August 1935 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK. She is an actress, known for UFO (1970), Invasion: UFO (1974) and Sherlock (2010). She has been married to Timothy Carlton since April 1976. They have one child. She was previously married to James Tabernacle.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Iddo Goldberg was born on 5 August 1975 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is an actor and producer, known for Snowpiercer (2020), Peaky Blinders (2013) and The Zookeeper's Wife (2017). He has been married to Ashley Madekwe since 17 June 2012. They have one child.- Actor
- Writer
John Paul Reynolds is an American actor and writer. He is known for his starring role in the series Search Party (2016-2022) and his recurring role on Stranger Things (2016-present). Reynolds also starred in the miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral in 2019. Born in Madison, Wisconsin, he began his career at the Annoyance Theatre in Chicago.- Pyper, with a "Y", is native of Southern CA. With her infectious personality, dynamic talent, and impeccable comedic timing, Pyper is quickly becoming a rising star of her generation. Competitive dance gave Pyper her start on the stage which led to her 2019 title as a national dance soloist. She began acting at age 4 and just two short years later landed her first series regular role on the Netflix comedy, Country Comfort. In addition, Pyper has now starred in Disney Jr.'s Superkittes, Nickelodeon's Erin & Aaron, as well as, the movie Desperation Road. She can also be seen in commercials/print work for Disney Jr, Nick Jr, Quaker Oats, Big Lots and more. In her spare time, Pyper enjoys music, horseback riding, the beach, and trips to Disneyland with her two older brothers. Some of her favorite things include: animals, chocolate, baking, cheetahs, reading and making people laugh.
- Actor
- Director
Clayton Rohner was born on 5 August 1957 in Palo Alto, California, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Mope (2019), Ozark (2017) and Bluff City Law (2019).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ray Fearon is a British actor of stage, theatre and film. He has worked with the RSC, Donmar, Almeida, National, and other theatres. Fearon was born on 5 August 1973 and grew up in London with his family. His West Indian parents raised him alongside his seven brothers and sisters. His film works includes Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Macbeth (2013). His television work includes appearances in episodes of Raw (2008), Snatch (2017), Origin (2018), Da Vinci's Demons (2013), Midsomer Murders (1997), Suspects (2014), Moving On (2009), The Play's the Thing (2019), and His Dark Materials (2019).- Joan Hickson was born in 1906 at Kingsthorpe, Northampton. Her stage
career began with provincial theater in 1927, going on to a long series
of West End comedies, usually playing the part of a confused or
eccentric middle-age woman. She performed at the Regent's Park Open Air
Theatre, at the time London was subject to World War II bombing. Her
work gradually included screen roles:
The Outsider (1948),
The Promoter (1952),
The 39 Steps (1959) - over 80 movies
in all - but her stage career continued, with parts in three
Peter Nichols plays,
Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit" (1976) and and
a Tony award supporting actress performance in
Alan Ayckbourn's "Bedroom Farce" (1977).
Her first Agatha Christie role was "Miss
Pryce" in the play, "Appointment With Death" (1946), which prompted
Christie, herself, to write "I hope you will play my dear Miss Marple".
She began playing this, her best known part, in her late 70s, in a BBC
television series which ran from 1984 to 1992. A Miss Marple fan,
Queen Elizabeth II, awarded her the
Order of the British Empire in 1987. After the series closed, Joan
recorded audio books of the Christie mysteries. She died, aged 92, in a
hospital at Colchester, Essex, survived by a son and daughter (her
physician husband Eric Butler died in 1967). - Actress
- Soundtrack
Kajol Devgn is a well-known Bollywood actress known for her exceptional performances on screen. She attended St. Joseph's Convent School in Panchgani and was actively involved in extra-curricular activities such as dancing. In her early teens, Kajol was supposed to make her debut as an actress in a movie directed by her mother, Tanuja, but the project was cancelled. She eventually made her acting debut at the age of sixteen with the film Bekhudi (1992), while still in school. Later, she quit school to pursue a full-time career in the film industry.
She made her debut with Rahul Rawail's Bekhudi (1992) in 1992. Her film career flourished with commercial successes like Baazigar (1993), Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), which established her as a leading star in the 1990s. She was appreciated critically for her role in Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997) and as an avenger in Dushman (1998). Another blockbuster Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001) won her multiple awards, after which she took a break. She returned to the industry after a brief period with the romantic thriller Fanaa (2006).
She was cast in My Name Is Khan (2010) in 2010 opposite Shah Rukh Khan - it was widely appreciated by critics worldwide. Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan became the first Indian actors to be invited by NASDAQ to open the NYSE American to promote My Name Is Khan (2010). She was also appreciated for her performance in Dilwale (2015) - it also featured other renowned stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Kriti Sanon. She was also cast in the period film Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020) in 2020.
She also appeared in the social drama Tribhanga (2021), her first collaboration with Netflix.
She holds a managerial position at Devgn Entertainment and Software Ltd., And as the supervisor, she launched the filmmaking-related portal Cineexplore in 2000. Devgn established another company, Ajay Devgn Films, in 2009.
She appeared with Ajay Devgn, and her mother Tanuja as the supervisor in Zee TV's 2008 reality show Rock-N-Roll Family. She was named a part-time public broadcaster Prasar Bharati member in 2016.
The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis honored her with the Swabhimani Mumbaikar Awards. She was also included on Forbes India's "Celebrity 100", a list based on the income and popularity of India's celebrities, in 2012, 2013, and 2017.
She has won 23 awards, including 6 Filmfare Awards, 5 Screen Awards, 4 Zee Cine Awards, 1 Stardust Award and 1 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award, and one Bollywood Movie Award till the year 2021. She was also honored with the Rajiv Gandhi Award for her contribution to Indian cinema in 2002. Kajol was listed in the Box Office India's "Top Actresses" for five consecutive years (1995-1999), topping the list in 1998.
In 2001 and 2006, she was featured in Rediff annual "Top Bollywood Actresses" listing. And in 2007, she received Karamveer Puraskar, presented by the Mumbai Pradesh Young Congress, for her social work in helping educate unprivileged children.
During the shooting of Gundaraj in 1994, Kajol and Ajay Devgn started dating. They eventually tied the knot on 24th February 1999 in a traditional Maharashtrian wedding ceremony held at Devgn's residence.- Fair, freckled and quite lovely, actress Natalie Trundy, of Italian and Irish heritage, had quite a
promising career approaching adulthood in the late 1950s until a
serious car accident put a serious halt to things. As Natalie Campagna,
she was born in Boston on August 5, 1940, the elder of two daughters. A child
model, she took dance classes and started flirting with an acting
career even before she graduated from elementary school.
The little strawberry blonde made her TV debut as a singing and dancing "Little
Red Riding Hood" in a Fred Waring
live broadcast. The talented youngster quickly moved into radio and
commercial work and made her Broadway debut at age 13 playing
Janet Blair's daughter in "A Girl Can
Tell". By this time, she was attending New York's Professional
Children's School. She subsequently appeared alongside multiple Tony
winner Shirley Booth in the
turn-of-the-century Broadway musical, "By the Beautiful Sea" (1953),
after replacing the originally cast ingénue. She followed this with the
short-lived play, "Girls of Summer" (1956), which starred
Shelley Winters.
At age 15, Natalie made her debut in the Italian film
The Montecarlo Story (1956), featuring such
foreign luminaries as Marlene Dietrich
and Vittorio De Sica in the cast.
Agent-turned-producer Arthur P. Jacobs,
who represented Ms. Dietrich at the time and was nearly 18 years older,
met young Natalie during this filming. Producer
Kirk Douglas cast her in what would
be her second film
The Careless Years (1957), a
typical troubled teen love story co-starring
Dean Stockwell.
Natalie put her career on hold in order to attend New York's Briarcliff
College and was planning to return full-time to acting following her
education. In 1963, however, she was struck by a car and suffered a
serious back injury that ended all hopes for a comeback. By chance, she
was reintroduced to producer Jacobs a few years later and they married
in London in 1968. Jacobs was producing the "Planet of the Apes" film
series at the time and had just finished the original movie starring
Charlton Heston. Natalie finally made
her return in film, appearing in all of the sequels beginning with her
role as "Albina", the mutant in
Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).
For Jacobs, she also played the role of "Mrs. Loftus" in the musical
adaptation of
Huckleberry Finn (1974).
Natalie's husband's sudden death of a heart attack at age 51 in 1973 while she was on a
Mississippi location signaled the end of her comeback. Natalie went on
to assume production duties of his film company, APJAC productions.
Her last visible appearance on TV was in a 1978 episode of "Quincy." She was married five times in all. One of her later brief marriages was to Gucci executive Carmine Roberto Foggia - she had her daughter and son with him. She later volunteered for years at Mother Theresa's hospice in Kolkata, India.. For the most part, however, very little was heard from her until her death of natural causes at age 79, on December 5, 2019. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
John Jarratt was born on 5 August 1951 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. He is an actor and writer, known for Wolf Creek (2005), Django Unchained (2012) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Wi Ha-joon was born on 5 August 1991 in South Jeolla, South Korea. He is an actor, known for Squid Game (2021), Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) and Gyeongseong Creature (2023).- Mahima Makwana was born on 5 August 1999 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She is an actress, known for Antim: The Final Truth (2021), Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke (2012) and Shubharambh (2019).
- Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 5, 1934, actor Zakes Mokae was initially a jazz saxophonist. Moving to England in 1961, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and became one of the most distinguished
thespians in South Africa for over two decades.
Mokae was one of the few actors capable of crossing the divided racial sections, punctuated
by his collaborations with white writer Athol Fugard. Together they
founded the radical theater group The Rehearsal Room in the 50s that
specifically dealt with his country's injustices. In fact, over the
years his performances in "The Blood Knot," "Boesman and Lena," "A
Lesson from Aloes" and "Master Harold...and the Boys," have been
universally applauded.
He fled the racist apartheid policies in South
Africa in 1969 and migrated to America, subsequently winning a Tony
award in 1982 for "Master Harold..." and proceeded to perform in
American films to somewhat lesser acclaim, including A Dry White Season (1989), A Rage in Harlem (1991) and Waterworld (1995). TV appearances included strong appearances on such programs as "Law & Order," "Dream On," "Oz," "X-Files," "The West Wing" and "Monk."
In later years, Mokae moved to Las Vegas and served as artistic director for the Nevada Shakespeare Company. 75-year-old Mokae died there from complications of a stroke on September 11, 2009. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Honor Kneafsey was born on 5 August 2004. She is an actress, known for Crooked House (2017), Wolfwalkers (2020) and The Bookshop (2017).- Erika Slezak was born on 5 August 1946 in Hollywood, California, USA. She is an actress, known for One Life to Live (1968), One Life to Live (2013) and Next Stop, Christmas (2021). She has been married to Brian Davies since 4 August 1978. They have two children. She was previously married to R. Daniel Mooney.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ko Shibasaki was born on August 5, 1981 in Tokyo. Her real name is Yukie Yamamura (Ko Shibasaki is a main character of her favorite
manga). She started her career at 14 when her talent was discovered by a star agent. She has worked in many TV shows and commercials, starting to become more famous thanks to her excellent performance in the movie Battle Royale (2000) as Mitsuko Soma. She has reached a star status not only in Japan, but all over East Asia. She has also been singing since 2002, releasing her first single, "Trust My Feelings". However, her singing skills were only recognized with her second single, "Tsuki no Shizuku", a song used for the movie Yomigaeri (2002) that was one of the best J-Pop hits of 2003. She is considered one of the glamorous queen of drama, earning millions of yens and going out with bad boys.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Tara Karsian is an actor and producer, known for The Morning Show (2019), American Horror Story (2011) and Review (2014).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Parley Baer was born on 5 August 1914 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for License to Drive (1988), A Fever in the Blood (1961) and Dave (1993). He was married to Ernestine Clark. He died on 22 November 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ami Foster was born on 5 August 1975 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Punky Brewster (1984), Pound Puppies (1985) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Billie Hayes was born August 5, 1924 in the small town of DuQuoin, Illinois. She started in show business at 9 years old as a tap dancer in local clubs. She was encouraged but not "pushed" by her parents after she expressed the desire to do so. By the time she was in her teens, Hayes had joined a 14-piece orchestra and was working throughout the Midwest. After performing her own act in Chicago, she was cast in a New York revue which toured the United States and Canada.
Hayes landed a part in a Leonard Sillman Broadway production, "New Faces of 1956", at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It ran for 220 performances between June 14, 1956 and December 22, 1956. One of her songs was "The Greatest Invention". The producers of the Broadway production of "Li'l Abner" wanted her for the role of Mammy Yokum but the producers of "New Faces" wouldn't release her from her contract and the part went to Charlotte Rae (best known for playing Mrs. Garrett on the television show The Facts of Life (1979)). Hayes would later succeed Rae in the role and went on to play the part in the 1959 film version and in the 1971 television version, as well.
A fellow cast member in a Las Vegas show in which Hayes was appearing recommended her to Sid Krofft, who was preparing for production for the television show H.R. Pufnstuf. Only two actresses auditioned to play "Witchiepoo". The first was then an unknown Penny Marshall, but it was felt that she was not right for the part. When Hayes auditioned for the part, she created a maniacal cackle and hopped up on a desk and was given the part on the spot. Hayes also appeared in the next Krofft brothers television show Lidsville (1971) and made other guest appearances on other live-action television shows through the rest of the 1970s and until the mid-1980s when she effectively made the transition to voice acting.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A blue-eyed, chestnut-haired beauty, Joan Weldon trained to be a
singer, and made her professional debut as a member of the San
Francisco Opera Company. While appearing with the Los Angeles Civic
Light Opera Company, she came to the attention of Warner Brothers, who
took her out of grand opera and put her in horse operas
(The Command (1954),
Riding Shotgun (1954)), a crime
drama (The System (1953)) and, most
famously, the biggest and best of the "Big Bug" movies, 1954's
Them! (1954). Amidst her movie roles, all
of them dramatic, non-singing parts, Weldon sang at the Hollywood Bowl,
on her TV series
This Is Your Music (1955)
and on tour in "The Music Man" (on tour for three years as the
repressed Marian the Librarian). She and her husband reside in
Manhattan.- Actress
- Executive
Izzy G. was born on 5 August 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and executive, known for AJ and the Queen (2020), B Positive (2020) and The Highwaymen (2019).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kola Bokinni is well-known for his role as Richmond Team Captain Isaac McAdoo in the Emmy and SAG Award winning Apple TV+ series "Ted Lasso." Bokinni also appeared in "Top Boy" on Netflix, where he played the role of Leyton in this critically acclaimed series, produced by rapper and entrepreneur Drake. He has also recently appeared on "Black Mirror" on Netflix.- Suzuka Ohgo was born on 5 August 1993 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Gokusen (2002) and Kamen Rider Zero-One (2019).
- Actress
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Erin Yvette, born as Erin Yvette Ashe, is an award winning film, stage and voice actress in Los Angeles, CA. She is known for her voice work in video games like Oxenfree (2016), Fortnite (2017), The Wolf Among Us (2013), Batman: The Telltale Series (2016) and Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Games Series (2014).- Actress
- Music Department
- Executive
Ja'Net DuBois was a multi-talented and diverse performer. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York and began her career on Broadway. She has appeared in various plays, including "Golden Boy" with Sammy Davis Jr. and Louis Gossett Jr., and "A Raisin in
the Sun". She moved onto TV roles, receiving a Peabody Award for a 1969 CBS children's movie J.T. (1969). She then appeared in a daytime serial, Love of Life (1951); she is the first African American actress to have a regular serial role.
She was best known for her role as the sexy, confident, gossipy "Willona Woods" on Good Times (1974). She composed and sang the theme song, "Movin' On Up", for another Norman Lear series, The Jeffersons (1975). She appeared in many films, including the blaxploitation parody, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), as a tough and loving mother. She also did voice-over work, for which she received two Emmys.
She co-founded the "Pan African Film & Arts Festival", which showcases global films about people of African descent and fine
arts. She is a community activist whose DuBois Care Foundation's mission is to empower youth by supporting after-school programs. She was also a painter who regularly exhibited her work. She released a CD in 2008, "Hidden Treasures", which includes the well-known TV theme song, "Movin' On Up".- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bruce Horak is a multi-talented performer and creator who was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He lost over 90% of his eyesight to a childhood cancer, Retinoblastoma. Bruce studied theatre at Mount Royal University, Loose Moose Theatre, and the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance. He performed with Calgary's Shakespeare in the Park for six seasons, and with the children's theatre company, Quest Theatre for several years. He became an artistic associate with Vancouver's Monster Theatre where he created and performed several shows which toured the Canadian Fringe Theatre circuit until 2014. His ground-breaking and genre-defying show, "This is CANCER" in which he portrays the living embodiment of the disease which took his eyesight won several awards and toured extensively across North America. His follow-up piece, "Assassinating Thomson" in which he paints a portrait of the entire audience live onstage continues to tour to this day.
He is a musician, painter, writer, director, performer, teacher, public speaker and advocate for Disability Arts.- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Producer
Francine Maisler is a casting director and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), The Revenant (2015) and Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014).- Elle McKinnon was born on August 5, 2006 in Vancouver, Canada. Elle McKinnon is well recognized for playing 'Charlotte' in 2017's Oscar-nominated, Lionsgate feature Wonder (2017) with Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, and Mandy Patinkin.
Having pulled in over $250mm at the WWBO, Wonder (2017) continues to attract awards and attention. Critics at the magazine 'Cultured Vultures' describe Elle as a "newcomer who is here to be around for some time to come," and laud her for an "excellent performance which scored big laughs as showbiz Broadway Baby Charlotte."
Elle has also seen success in significant roles on the small screen joining the guest casts in Disney's Gabby Duran & The Unsittables (2019), the Netflix Original Series, Travelers (2016), ABC's smash hit, Once Upon a Time (2011), and Audience's Hit the Road (2017). Elle also starred in the Hallmark movie A Christmas to Remember (2016) with Oscar winner Mira Sorvino.
Elle began her career in the performing arts as a competitive dancer in disciplines including ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, contemporary, and musical theatre. In her spare time, Elle is an avid reader and enjoys doing charity work; with the homeless and children with facial differences being the nearest to her heart. - Lorri Bagley was born on 5 August 1973 in Dallas, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for The Stepford Wives (2004), Ice Age (2002) and Trick (1999).