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- Actor
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- Producer
Alfredo James "Al" 'Pacino established himself as a film actor during one of cinema's most vibrant decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American movies.
He was born April 25, 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, to Italian-American parents, Rose (nee Gerardi) and Sal Pacino. They divorced when he was young. His mother moved them into his grandparents' home in the South Bronx. Pacino found himself often repeating the plots and voices of characters he had seen in the movies. Bored and unmotivated in school, he found a haven in school plays, and his interest soon blossomed into a full-time career. Starting onstage, he went through a period of depression and poverty, sometimes having to borrow bus fare to succeed to auditions. He made it into the prestigious Actors Studio in 1966, studying under Lee Strasberg, creator of the Method Approach that would become the trademark of many 1970s-era actors.
After appearing in a string of plays in supporting roles, Pacino finally attained success off-Broadway with Israel Horovitz's "The Indian Wants the Bronx", winning an Obie Award for the 1966-67 season. That was followed by a Tony Award for "Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?" His first feature films made little departure from the gritty realistic stage performances that earned him respect: he played a drug addict in The Panic in Needle Park (1971) after his film debut in Me, Natalie (1969). The role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) was one of the most sought-after of the time: Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Ryan O'Neal, Robert De Niro and a host of other actors either wanted it or were mentioned, but director Francis Ford Coppola wanted Pacino for the role.
Coppola was successful but Pacino was reportedly in constant fear of being fired during the very difficult shoot. The film was a monster hit that earned Pacino his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. However, instead of taking on easier projects for the big money he could now command, Pacino threw his support behind what he considered tough but important films, such as the true-life crime drama Serpico (1973) and the tragic real-life bank robbery film Dog Day Afternoon (1975). He was nominated three consecutive years for the "Best Actor" Academy Award. He faltered slightly with Bobby Deerfield (1977), but regained his stride with And Justice for All (1979), for which he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Unfortunately, this would signal the beginning of a decline in his career, which produced flops like Cruising (1980) and Author! Author! (1982).
Pacino took on another vicious gangster role and cemented his legendary status in the ultra-violent cult film Scarface (1983), but a monumental mistake was about to follow. Revolution (1985) endured an endless and seemingly cursed shoot in which equipment was destroyed, weather was terrible, and Pacino fell ill with pneumonia. Constant changes in the script further derailed the project. The Revolutionary War-themed film, considered among the worst films ever made, resulted in awful reviews and kept him off the screen for the next four years. Returning to the stage, Pacino did much to give back and contribute to the theatre, which he considers his first love. He directed a film, The Local Stigmatic (1990), but it remains unreleased. He lifted his self-imposed exile with the striking Sea of Love (1989) as a hard-drinking policeman. This marked the second phase of Pacino's career, being the first to feature his now famous dark, owl eyes and hoarse, gravelly voice.
Returning to the Corleones, Pacino made The Godfather Part III (1990) and earned raves for his first comedic role in the colorful adaptation Dick Tracy (1990). This earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and two years later he was nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). He went into romantic mode for Frankie and Johnny (1991). In 1992, he finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his amazing performance in Scent of a Woman (1992). A mixture of technical perfection (he plays a blind man) and charisma, the role was tailor-made for him, and remains a classic.
The next few years would see Pacino becoming more comfortable with acting and movies as a business, turning out great roles in great films with more frequency and less of the demanding personal involvement of his wilder days. Carlito's Way (1993) proved another gangster classic, as did the epic crime drama Heat (1995) directed by Michael Mann and co-starring Robert De Niro. He directed the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Looking for Richard (1996). During this period, City Hall (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997) and The Devil's Advocate (1997) all came out. Reteaming with Mann and then Oliver Stone, he gave commanding performances in The Insider (1999) and Any Given Sunday (1999).
In the 2000s, Pacino starred in a number of theatrical blockbusters, including Ocean's Thirteen (2007), but his choice in television roles (the vicious, closeted Roy Cohn in the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003) and his sensitive portrayal of Jack Kevorkian, in the television movie You Don't Know Jack (2010)) are reminiscent of the bolder choices of his early career. Each television project garnered him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.
Never wed, Pacino has a daughter, Julie Marie, with acting teacher Jan Tarrant, and a set of twins with former longtime girlfriend Beverly D'Angelo. His romantic history includes Jill Clayburgh, Veruschka von Lehndorff, Carole Mallory, Debra Winger, Tuesday Weld, Marthe Keller, Carmen Cervera, Kathleen Quinlan, Lyndall Hobbs, Penelope Ann Miller, and a two-decade intermittent relationship with "Godfather" co-star Diane Keaton. He currently lives with Argentinian actress Lucila Solá, who is 36 years his junior.
As of 2022, Pacino is 82-years-old. He has never retired from acting, and continues to appear regularly in film.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Barry's full given name is Leonard Barrie Corbin, and he was born on
October 16, 1940 in Lamesa, Texas, to Kilmer Blain Corbin, an attorney & TX State Senator, and Alma Corbin, an elementary school teacher. Barry and his wife Jo share a ranch in Fort
Worth, Texas. He says when he isn't working, he rides horses there every chance he gets.- Actor
- Director
- Stunts
A masculine and enigmatic actor whose life and movie career have had more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster and whose selection of roles has arguably derailed him from achieving true superstar status, James Caan is New York-born and bred.
He was born in the Bronx, to Sophie (Falkenstein) and Arthur Caan, Jewish immigrants from Germany. His father was a meat dealer and butcher. The athletically gifted Caan played football at Michigan State University while studying economics, holds a black belt in karate and for several years was even a regular on the rodeo circuit, where he was nicknamed "The Jewish Cowboy". However, while studying at Hofstra University, he became intrigued by acting and was interviewed and accepted at Sanford Meisner's
Neighborhood Playhouse. He then won a scholarship to study under acting coach Wynn Handman and began to appear in
several off-Broadway productions, including "I Roam" and "Mandingo".
He made his screen debut as a sailor in Irma la Douce (1963) and began to impress audiences with his work in Red Line 7000 (1965) and the
western El Dorado (1966) alongside John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Further work followed in Journey to Shiloh (1968) and in
the sensitive The Rain People (1969). However, audiences were moved to tears as he put in a heart-rending performance as cancer-stricken Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo in the highly rated made-for-TV film Brian's Song (1971).
With these strong performances under his belt, Francis Ford Coppola then cast him as hot-tempered gangster Santino "Sonny" Corleone in the Mafia epic The Godfather (1972). The film was an enormous success, Caan scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination
and, in the years since, the role has proven to be the one most fondly remembered by his legion of fans. He reprised the role for several flashback scenes in the sequel The Godfather Part II (1974) and then moved on to several very diverse projects. These included a
cop-buddy crime partnership with Alan Arkin in the uneven Freebie and the Bean (1974), a superb performance as a man playing for his life in The Gambler (1974) alongside Lauren Hutton, and pairing with Barbra Streisand in Funny Lady (1975). Two further strong
lead roles came up for him in 1975, first as futuristic sports star "Jonathon E" questioning the moral fiber of a sterile society in
Rollerball (1975) and teaming up with Robert Duvall in the Sam Peckinpah spy thriller The Killer Elite (1975).
Unfortunately, Caan's rising star sputtered badly at this stage of his career, and several film projects failed to find fire with either
critics or audiences. These included such failures as the hokey Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), the quasi-western Comes a Horseman (1978) and the
saccharine Chapter Two (1979). However, he did score again with the stylish Michael Mann-directed heist movie Thief (1981). He followed this with a supernatural romantic comedy titled Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) and then, due to personal conflicts, dropped out of the spotlight for several years before returning with a stellar performance under old friend Francis Ford Coppola in the moving
Gardens of Stone (1987).
Caan appeared back in favor with fans and critics alike and raised his visibility with the sci-fi hit Alien Nation (1988) and Dick Tracy (1990), then surprised everyone by playing a meek romance novelist held captive after a car accident by a deranged fan in the dynamic Misery (1990). The 1990s were kind to him and he notched up roles as a band leader in For the Boys (1991), another
gangster in Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), appeared in the indie hit Bottle Rocket (1996) and pursued Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser (1996).
The demand on Caan's talents seems to have increased steadily over the past few years as he is making himself known to a new generation of fans. Recent hot onscreen roles have included The Yards (2000), City of Ghosts (2002) and Dogville (2003). In addition, he finds himself at the helm of the hit TV series Las Vegas (2003) as casino security chief "Big Ed" Deline. An actor of undeniably manly appeal, James Caan continued to surprise and delight audiences with his invigorating performances up until his death in July 2022 at the age of 82.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Multiple Emmy- and Golden Globe-winner Martin Sheen is one of America's most celebrated, colorful, and accomplished actors. Moving flawlessly between artistic mediums, Sheen's acting range is striking.
Sheen was born Ramón Antonio Gerard Estevez in Dayton, Ohio, to Mary-Ann (Phelan), an Irish immigrant (from Borrisokane, County Tipperary), and Francisco Estevez, a Spanish-born factory worker and machinery inspector (from Parderrubias, Galicia). On the big screen, Sheen has appeared in more than 65 feature films including a star turn as Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard in Francis Ford Coppola's landmark film Apocalypse Now (1979), which brought Sheen worldwide recognition. The film also starred Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall. Other notable credits include Wall Street (1987) (with son Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas), Academy Award-winning film Gandhi (1982) (with Sir Ben Kingsley), Catch Me If You Can (2002) (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks), The American President (1995) (with Michael Douglas and Annette Bening) and a Golden Globe nominated breakthrough performance as Timmy Cleary in The Subject Was Roses (1968), a role he originated on Broadway and for which he received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actor.
In 2006, the actor played ill-fated cop Oliver Queenan in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film The Departed (2006) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin.
The same year, Sheen joined another all-star ensemble cast for the highly acclaimed feature Bobby (2006), written and directed by his son, Emilio Estevez. Bobby was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a SAG Award; and starred Anthony Hopkins, Harry Belafonte, Laurence Fishburne, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy, Elijah Wood, Demi Moore and Heather Graham.
For television audiences, Sheen is best recognized for his six-time Emmy nominated performance as President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing (1999). Sheen won six of his eight Golden Globe nominations as well as an ALMA Award; and two individual SAG Awards; for the White House series. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor TV Series Drama in 2001.
Of his ten Primetime Emmy nominations, Sheen won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series on the long-running sitcom Murphy Brown (1988) (starring Candice Bergen) in 1994. In addition, he has garnered a Daytime Emmy Award for directing and another for performance.
In 2006, Sheen was again nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series; this time for the CBS hit comedy Two and a Half Men (2003), starring his son Charlie Sheen.
In addition to series television, Sheen has appeared in several important made-for-television movies and mini-series including playing President John F. Kennedy in the television mini-series Kennedy (1983) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Gladys (Barrowclough), a textile worker and weaver, and Alfred Stewart, who was in the army. He was a member of various local drama groups from about age 12. He left school at age 15 to work as a junior reporter on a local paper; he quit when his editor told him he was spending too much time at the theatre and not enough working. Stewart spent a year as a furniture salesman, saving cash to attend drama school. He was accepted by Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1957. He made his professional debut in 1959 in the repertory theatre in Lincoln; he worked at the Manchester Library Theatre and a tour around the world with the Old Vic Company followed in the early 1960s. Stewart joined
the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1966, to begin his 27-year association. Following a spell with the Royal National Theatre in the mid 1980s, he went to Los Angeles, California to star on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), which ran from 1987-1994, playing the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. After the series ended, Stewart reprised his role for a string of successful Star Trek films: Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Stewart continues to work on the stage and in various films. He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2010 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to drama.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born in Los Angeles but raised in Manhattan and educated at Middlebury College and Carnegie-Mellon University, James Cromwell is the son of film director John Cromwell and actress Kay Johnson. He studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon, and went into the theatre (like his parents) doing everything from Shakespeare to experimental plays. He started appearing on television in 1974, gaining some notice in a recurring role as Archie Bunker's friend Stretch Cunningham on All in the Family (1971), made his film debut in 1976, and goes back to the stage periodically. Some of his more noted film roles have been in Revenge of the Nerds (1984), Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and the surprise classic about a charming pig, Babe (1995). He garnered some of the best reviews of his career (many of which said he should have received an Oscar) for his role as a corrupt, conniving police captain in L.A. Confidential (1997).- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Katharine Juliet Ross was born January 29, 1940, in Hollywood, CA, to Katherine (née Mullen) and Dudley Tying Ross. Her father, who had also worked as a reporter for the Associated Press, was a commander in the US Navy when she was born. His navy career shuttled the family around to Virginia, then Palo Alto, and finally to Walnut Creek, outside of San Francisco, where Ross grew up.
Ross graduated from Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek in 1957 and attended Santa Rosa Junior College and Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area, where she took part in her first onscreen work in a student film. Moving to San Francisco, into an apartment on Stockton Street above a grocery store, she began her acting career as an understudy in Actor's Workshop productions, and was soon auditioning for roles. She was also married in 1960 to college sweetheart Joel Fabiani, the first of five husbands.
Work came steadily for Ross, at first mainly in television westerns, and indeed Westerns would make up the majority of her best-known work, her natural beauty being a strong asset in that genre. She made her TV debut in an episode of Sam Benedict (1962), and her first film role was in the Civil War era Shenandoah (1965) starring James Stewart. Ross' career as a leading actress began in earnest in 1967, with her strong turn co-starring with James Caan and Simone Signoret in Games (1967), and with The Graduate (1967). Ross' performance as Elaine earned her a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.
A disappointing, formulaic John Wayne vehicle, Hellfighters (1968), followed but she soon returned to form with two films with Robert Redford. As Etta Place in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Ross was part of the most memorable scene from that hit film, precariously perched barefoot on the bumper of that newfangled contraption, the bicycle, as Paul Newman's Butch Cassidy takes her for a ride. The compelling Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969) was less of a box office success but more highly regarded by the critics, and Ross won a BAFTA Award for her work as Lola, a Paiute Indian who flees with her boyfriend, played by Robert Blake, after he kills her father in self-defense.
Swept up into a whirlwind of fame, widely idealized as the symbol of beauty for the Woodstock generation, Ross had accomplished so much so quickly that it seemed her entire career had happened almost all at once, in that frenzy of activity between 1967 and 1969. Sure enough, there followed a long dry spell in which she was mostly cast in forgettable roles; her next strong film wasn't for another six years. In The Stepford Wives (1975), an intriguing black comedy-cum-horror film, Ross plays a independent, free-spirited wife newly relocated to a suburb where the other wives all seem to be just a little too perfect, too submissive; it was arguably her strongest performance to date, but Stepford Wives would prove to be but a temporary resurgence for Ross, and her work in the decade and a half to follow would include such star-studded duds as The Betsy (1978), and a return to TV, including a part in primetime soap opera The Colbys (1985). Along the way, however, Ross found love. After four failed marriages (the second, third and fourth were to John Marion, Conrad L. Hall and Gaetano Lisi respectively), she met her current husband Sam Elliott, while working on The Legacy (1978). They married in May 1984; that September, just four months short of her 45th birthday, Ross gave birth to a daughter, Cleo Rose.
In 1991, Ross and Elliott adapted the Louis L'Amour novel, Conagher (1991), for television in a remarkably affecting Western tale which showcases both actors' remarkable talents. Ross continues to take roles on occasion and, as usual, her work is strong -- something that was sometimes overlooked in her youth due to her famous beauty. For instance, Ross turned up in Donnie Darko (2001), in a solid performance as Donnie's psychiatrist.
Ross and Elliott live on their ranchito in Malibu.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Julie Christie, the British movie legend whom Al Pacino called "the most poetic of all actresses," was born in Chabua, Assam, India, on April 14, 1940, the daughter of a tea planter and his Welsh wife Rosemary, who was a painter. The young Christie grew up on her father's plantation before being sent to England for her education. Finishing her studies in Paris, where she had moved to improve her French with an eye to possibly becoming a linguist (she is fluent in French and Italian), the teenager became enamored of the freedom of the Continent. She also was smitten by the bohemian life of artists and planned on becoming an artist before she enrolled in London's Central School of Speech Training. She made her debut as a professional in 1957 as a member of the Frinton Repertory of Essex.
Christie was not fond of the stage, even though it allowed her to travel, including a professional gig in the United States. Her true métier as an actress was film, and she made her debut in the science-fiction television series A for Andromeda (1961) in 1961. Her first film was a girlfriend part in the Ealing-like comedy Crooks Anonymous (1962), which was followed up by a larger ingénue role in another comedy, The Fast Lady (1962). The producers of the James Bond series were sufficiently intrigued by the young actress to consider her for the role that subsequently went to Ursula Andress in Dr. No (1962), but dropped the idea because she was not busty enough.
Christie first worked with the man who would kick her career into high gear, director John Schlesinger, when he choose her as a replacement for the actress originally cast in Billy Liar (1963). Christie's turn in the film as the free-wheeling Liz was a stunner, and she had her first taste of becoming a symbol if not icon of the new British cinema. Her screen presence was such that the great John Ford cast her as the young prostitute in Young Cassidy (1965). Charlton Heston wanted her for his film The War Lord (1965), but the studio refused her salary demands.
Although Amercan magazines portrayed Christie as a "newcomer" when she made her breakthrough to super-stardom in Schlesinger's seminal Swinging Sixties film Darling (1965), she actually had considerable work under her professional belt and was in the process of a artistic quickening. Schlesinger called on Christie, whom he adored, to play the role of mode Diana Scott when the casting of Shirley MacLaine fell through. (MacLaine was the sister of the man who would become Christie's long-time paramour in the late 1960s and early '70s, Warren Beatty, whom some, like actor Rod Steiger, believe she gave up her career for. Her "Dr. Zhivago" co-star, Steiger -- a keen student of acting -- regretted that Christie did not give more of herself to her craft.)
As played by Christie, Diana is an amoral social butterfly who undergoes a metamorphosis from immature sex kitten to jaded socialite. For her complex performance, Christie won raves, including the Best Actress Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Film Academy. She had arrived, especially as she had followed up "Darling" with the role of Lara in two-time Academy Award-winning director David Lean's adaptation of Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago (1965), one of the all-time box-office champs.
Christie was now a superstar who commanded a price of $400,000 per picture, a fact ruefully noted in Charlton Heston's diary (his studio had balked at paying her then-fee of $35,000). More interested in film as an art form than in consolidating her movie stardom, Christie followed up "Zhivago" with a dual role in Fahrenheit 451 (1966) for director François Truffaut, a director she admired. The film was hurt by the director's lack of English and by friction between Truffaut and Christie's male co-star Oskar Werner, who had replaced the the more-appropriate-for-the-role Terence Stamp. Stamp and Christie had been lovers before she had become famous, and he was unsure he could act with her, due to his own ego problems. On his part, Werner resented the attention the smitten Truffaut gave Christie. The film is an interesting failure.
Stamp overcame those ego problems to sign on as her co-star in John Schlesinger's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), which also featured two great English actors, Peter Finch and Alan Bates. It is a film that is far better remembered now than when it was received in 1967. The film and her performance as the Hardy heroine Bathsheba Everdene was lambasted by film critics, many of whom faulted Christie for being too "mod" and thus untrue to one of Hardy's classic tales of fate. Some said that her contemporary Vanessa Redgrave would have been a better choice as Bathsheba, but while it is true that Redgrave is a very fine actress, she lacked the sex appeal and star quality of Christie, which makes the story of three men in love with one woman more plausible, as a film.
Although no one then knew it, the period 1967-68 represented the high-water mark of Christie's career. Fatefully, like the Hardy heroine she had portrayed, she had met the man who transformed her life, undermining her pretensions to a career as a movie star in their seven-year-long love affair, the American actor Warren Beatty. Living his life was always far more important than being a star for Beatty, who viewed the movie star profession as a "treadmill leading to more treadmills" and who was wealthy enough after Bonnie and Clyde (1967) to not have to ever work again. Christie and Beatty had visited a working farm during the production of "Madding Crowd" and had been appalled by the industrial exploitation of the animals. Thereafter, animal rights became a very important subject to Christie. They were kindred souls who remain friends four decades after their affair ended in 1974.
Christie's last box-office hit in which she was the top-liner was Petulia (1968) for Richard Lester, a film that featured one of co-star George C. Scott's greatest performances, perfectly counter-balanced by Christie's portrayal of an "arch-kook" who was emblematic of the '60s. It is one of the major films of the decade, an underrated masterpiece. Despite the presence of the great George C. Scott and the excellent Shirley Knight, the film would not work without Julie Christie. There is frankly no other actress who could have filled the role, bringing that unique presence and the threat of danger that crackled around Christie's electric aura. At this point of her career, she was poised for greatness as a star, greatness as an actress.
And she walked away.
After meeting Beatty, Julie Christie essentially surrendered any aspirations to screen stardom, or at maintaining herself as a top-drawer working actress (success at the box office being a guarantee of the best parts, even in art films.) She turned down the lead in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), two parts that garnered Oscar nominations for the second choices, Jane Fonda and Geneviève Bujold. After shooting In Search of Gregory (1969), a critical and box office flop, to fulfill her contractual obligations, she spent her time with Beatty in Calfiornia, renting a beach house at Malibu. She did return to form in Joseph Losey's The Go-Between (1971), a fine picture with a script by the great Harold Pinter, and she won another Oscar nomination as the whore-house proprietor in Robert Altman's minor classic McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) that she made with her lover Beatty. However, like Beatty himself, she did not seek steady work, which can be professional suicide for an actor who wants to maintain a standing in the first rank of movie stars.
At the same time, Julie Christie turned down the role of the Russian Empress in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), another film that won the second-choice (Janet Suzman) a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Two years later, she appeared in the landmark mystery-horror film Don't Look Now (1973), but that likely was as a favor to the director, Nicolas Roeg, who had been her cinematographer on "Fahrenheit 451," "Far From the Madding Crowd" and "Petulia." In the mid '70s, her affair with Beatty came to an end, but the two remained close friends and worked together in Shampoo (1975) (which she regretted due to its depiction of women) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).
Christie was still enough of a star, due to sheer magnetism rather than her own pull at the box-office, to be offered $1 million to play the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis character in The Greek Tycoon (1978) (a part eventually played by Jacqueline Bisset to no great acclaim). She signed for but was forced to drop out of the lead in Agatha (1979) (which was filled by Vanessa Redgrave) after she broke a wrist roller-skating (a particularly southern Californian fate!). She then signed for the female lead in American Gigolo (1980) when Richard Gere was originally attached to the picture, but dropped out when John Travolta muscled his way into the lead after making twin box-office killings as disco king Tony Manera in Saturday Night Fever (1977) and greaser Danny Zuko in Grease (1978). Christie could never have co-starred with such a camp figure of dubious talent. When Travolta himself dropped out and Gere was subbed back in, it was too late for Christe to reconsider, as the part already had been filled by model-actress Lauren Hutton. It would take 15 years for Christie and Gere to work together.
Finally, the end of the American phase of her movie career was realized when Christie turned down the part of Louise Bryant in Reds (1981), a part written by Warren Beatty with her in mind, as she felt an American should play the role. (Beatty's latest lover, Diane Keaton, played the part and won a Best Actress Oscar nomination.) Still, she remained a part of the film, Beatty's long-gestated labor of love, as it is dedicated to "Jules."
Julie Christie moved back to the UK and become the UK's answer to Jane Fonda, campaigning for various social and political causes, including animal rights and nuclear disarmament. The parts she did take were primarily driven by her social consciousness, such as appearing in Sally Potter's first feature-length film, The Gold Diggers (1983) which was not a remake of the old Avery Hopwood's old warhorse but a feminist parable made entirely by women who all shared the same pay scale. Roles in The Return of the Soldier (1982) with Alan Bates and Glenda Jackson and Merchant-Ivory's Heat and Dust (1983) seemed to herald a return to form, but Christie -- as befits such a symbol of the freedom and lack of conformity of the '60s -- decided to do it her way. She did not go "careering," even though her unique talent and beauty was still very much in demand by filmmakers.
At this point, Christie's movie career went into eclipse. Once again, she was particularly choosy about her work, so much so that many came to see her, essentially, as retired. A career renaissance came in the mid-1990s with her turn as Gertrude in Kenneth Branagh's ambitious if not wholly successful Hamlet (1996). As Christie said at the time, she didn't feel she could turn Branagh down as he was a national treasure. But the best was yet to come: her turn as the faded movie star married to handyman Nick Nolte and romanced by a younger man in Afterglow (1997), which brought her rave notices. She received her third Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, and showed up at the awards as radiant and uniquely beautiful as ever. Ever the iconoclast, she was visibly relieved, upon the announcement of the award, to learn that she had lost!
Christie lived with left-wing investigative journalist Duncan Campbell (a Manchester Guardian columnist) since 1979, first in Wales, then in Ojai, California, and now in London's East End, before marrying in January 2008. In addition to her film work, she has narrated many books-on-tape. In 1995, she made a triumphant return to the stage in a London revival of Harold Pinter's "Old Times", which garnered her superb reviews.
In the decade since "Afterglow," she has worked steadily on film in supporting roles. Christie -- an actress who eschewed vulgar stardom -- proved to be an inspiration to her co-star Sarah Polley, the remarkably talented Canadian actress with a leftist political bent who also abhors Hollywood. Of her co-star in No Such Thing (2001) and The Secret Life of Words (2005), Polley says that Christie is uniquely aware of her commodification by the movie industry and the mass media during the 1960s. Not wanting to be reduced to a product, she had rebelled and had assumed control of her life and career. Her attitude makes her one of Polley's heroes, who calls her one of her surrogate mothers. (Polley lost her own mother when she was 11 years old.)
Both Christie and Polley are rebels. Sarah Polley had walked off the set of the big-budget movie that was forecast as her ticket to Hollywood stardom, Almost Famous (2000), to have a different sort of life and career. She returned to her native Canada to appear in the low-budget indie The Law of Enclosures (2000), a prescient art film in that director John Greyson offset the drama with a background of a perpetual Gulf War three years before George W. Bush invaded Iraq, touching off the second-longest war in U.S. history. Taking a hiatus from acting, Polley went to Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre to learn to direct, and direct she has, making well-regarded shorts before launching her feature film debut, Away from Her (2006), which was shot and completed in 2006 but held for release until 2007 by its distributor.
Polley, who had longed to be a writer since she was a child actress on the set of the quaint family show Avonlea (1990) wrote the screenplay for her adaptation of Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" with only one actress in mind: Julie Christie. Polley had first read the short story on a flight back from Iceland, where she had made "No Such Thing" with Christie, and as she read, it was Julie whom she pictured as Fiona, the wife of a one-time philandering husband, who has become afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and seeks to save her hubby the pain of looking after her by checking herself into a home.
After finishing the screenplay, it took months to get Christie to commit to making the film. Julie turned her down after reading the script and pondering it for a couple of months, saying "No" even though she liked the script. Polley then had to "twist her arm" for another couple of months. But alas, Julie has a weakness for national treasures: Just like with Branagh a decade ago, the legendary Julie Christie could not deny the Great White North's Sarah Polley, and commit she did. Polley then found out why Christie is so reticent about making movies:
"She gives all of herself to what she does. Once she said yes, she was more committed than anybody."
According to David Germain, a cinema journalist who interviewed Christie for the Associated Press, "Polley and Christie share a desire to do interesting, unusual work, which generally means staying away from Hollywood.
"'It's been a kind of greed and a kind of egotism, but it's not necessarily wanting to avoid the Hollywood thing, but in fact, it incorporates wanting to avoid the Hollywood thing, because the Hollywood thing is so inevitably not original,' Christie said. 'It's avoiding non-originality, so that means you're really down to a very small choice.'"
The collaboration between the two rebels yielded a small gem of a film. Lions Gate Films was so impressed, it purchased the American distribution rights to the film in 2006, then withheld it until the following year to build up momentum for the awards season.
Julie Christie's performance in "Away From Her" is superb, and already has garnered her the National Board of Review's Best Actress Award. She will likely receive her fourth Academy Award nomination, and quite possibly her second Oscar, for her unforgettable performance, a labor of love she did for a friend.
We, the Julie Christie fans who have waited decades for the handful of films made by the numinous star: Would we have wanted it any other way? We are the Red Sox fans of the movies, once again rewarded with a world-class masterpiece by our heroine. Perhaps, like all human beings, we want more, but we have learned over the last thirty-five years to be content with the diamonds that are Julie's leading performances that she gives just once a decade, content to feel that these are a surfeit of riches, our surfeit of riches, so great is their luminescence.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
James Brolin is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin.
He is best known for his TV roles such as Stephen Kiley on Marcus Welby, M.D.(1969-1976), Peter McDermott on Hotel (1983-1988), and John Short in Life in Pieces (2015-2019), and his film roles such as Sgt. Jerome K. Weber in Skyjacked (1972), John Blane in Westworld (1973), General Ralph Landry in Traffic (2000), Jack Barnes in Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Emperor Zurg in the 2022 Toy Story spin-off film Lightyear.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
An intense, versatile actor as adept at playing clean-cut FBI agents as
he is psychotic motorcycle-gang leaders, who can go from portraying
soulless, murderous vampires to burned-out, world-weary homicide
detectives, Lance Henriksen has starred in a variety of films that have
allowed him to stretch his talents just about as far as an actor could
possibly hope. He played "Awful Knoffel" in the TNT original movie
Evel Knievel (2004),
directed by John Badham and executive
produced by Mel Gibson. Henriksen
portrayed "Awful Knoffel" in this project based on the life of the
famed daredevil, played by George Eads.
Henriksen starred for three seasons (1996-1999) on
Millennium (1996), Fox-TV's
critically acclaimed series created by
Chris Carter
(The X-Files (1993)). His
performance as Frank Black, a retired FBI agent who has the ability to
get inside the minds of killers, landed him three consecutive Golden
Globe nominations for "Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Drama
Series" and a People's Choice Award nomination for "Favorite New TV
Male Star".
Henriksen was born in New York City. His mother, Margueritte, was a
waitress, dance instructor, and model. His father, James Marin
Henriksen, who was from Tønsberg, Norway, was a boxer and merchant
sailor. Henriksen studied at the Actors Studio and began his career
off-Broadway in Eugene O'Neill's
"Three Plays of the Sea." One of his first film appearances was as an
FBI agent in Sidney Lumet's
Dog Day Afternoon (1975),
followed by parts in Lumet's
Network (1976) and
Prince of the City (1981). He
then appeared in Steven Spielberg's
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
with Richard Dreyfuss and
François Truffaut,
Damien: Omen II (1978) and in
Philip Kaufman's
The Right Stuff (1983), in which
he played Mercury astronaut Capt.
Wally Schirra.
James Cameron cast Henriksen in
his first directorial effort,
Piranha II: The Spawning (1982),
then used him again in
The Terminator (1984) and as the
android Bishop in the sci-fi classic
Aliens (1986).
Sam Raimi cast Henriksen as an outrageously
garbed gunfighter in his quirky western
The Quick and the Dead (1995).
Henriksen has also appeared in what has developed into a cult classic:
Kathryn Bigelow's
Near Dark (1987), in which he plays the
head of a clan of murderous redneck vampires. He was nominated for a
Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of
Abraham Lincoln in the TNT
original film
The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998).
In addition to his abilities as an actor, Henriksen is an accomplished
painter and potter. His talent as a ceramist has enabled him to create
some of the most unusual ceramic artworks available on the art market
today. He resides in Southern California with his wife Jane and their
five-year-old daughter Sage.- Actor
- Soundtrack
One of stage, screen and TV's finest transatlantic talents, slight, gravel-voiced, pasty-looking John Vincent Hurt was born on January 22, 1940, in Shirebrook, a coal mining village, in Derbyshire, England. The youngest child of Phyllis (Massey), an engineer and one-time actress, and Reverend Arnould Herbert Hurt, an Anglican clergyman and mathematician, his quiet shyness betrayed an early passion for acting. First enrolled at the Grimsby Art School and St. Martin's School of Art, his focus invariably turned from painting to acting.
Accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960, John made his stage debut in "Infanticide in the House of Fred Ginger" followed by "The Dwarfs." Elsewhere, he continued to build upon his 60's theatrical career with theatre roles in "Chips with Everything" at the Vaudeville, the title role in "Hamp" at the Edinburgh Festival, "Inadmissible Evidence" at Wyndham's and "Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs" at the Garrick. His movie debut occurred that same year with a supporting role in the "angry young man" British drama Young and Willing (1962), followed by small roles in Appuntamento in Riviera (1962), A Man for All Seasons (1966) and The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967).
A somber, freckled, ravaged-looking gent, Hurt found his more compelling early work in offbeat theatrical characterizations with notable roles such as Malcolm in "Macbeth" (1967), Octavius in "Man and Superman" (1969), Peter in "Ride a Cock Horse" (1972), Mike in '"The Caretaker" (1972) and Ben in "The Dumb Waiter" (1973). At the same time he gained more prominence in a spray of film and support roles such as a junior officer in Before Winter Comes (1968), the title highwayman in Sinful Davey (1969), a morose little brother in In Search of Gregory (1969), a dim, murderous truck driver in 10 Rillington Place (1971), a skirt-chasing, penguin-studying biologist in Cry of the Penguins (1971), the unappetizing son of a baron in The Pied Piper (1972) and a repeat of his title stage role as Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs (1974).
Hurt shot to international stardom, however, on TV where he was allowed to display his true, fearless range. He reaped widespread acclaim for his embodiment of the tormented gay writer and raconteur Quentin Crisp in the landmark television play The Naked Civil Servant (1975), adapted from Crisp's autobiography. Hurt's bold, unabashed approach on the flamboyant and controversial gent who dared to be different was rewarded with the BAFTA (British TV Award). This triumph led to the equally fascinating success as the cruel and crazed Roman emperor Caligula in the epic television masterpiece I, Claudius (1976), followed by another compelling interpretation as murderous student Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment (1979).
A resurgence occurred on film as a result. Among other unsurpassed portraits on his unique pallet, the chameleon in him displayed a polar side as the gentle, pathetically disfigured title role in The Elephant Man (1980), and as a tortured Turkish prison inmate who befriends Brad Davis in the intense drama Midnight Express (1978) earning Oscar nominations for both. Mainstream box-office films were offered as well as art films. He made the most of his role as a crew member whose body becomes host to an unearthly predator in Alien (1979). With this new rush of fame came a few misguided ventures as well that were generally unworthy of his talent. Such brilliant work as his steeple chase jockey in Champions (1984) or kidnapper in The Hit (1984) was occasionally offset by such drivel as the comedy misfire Partners (1982) with Ryan O'Neal in which Hurt looked enervated and embarrassed. For the most part, the craggy-faced actor continued to draw extraordinary notices. Tops on the list includes his prurient governmental gadfly who triggers the Christine Keeler political sex scandal in the aptly-titled Scandal (1989); the cultivated gay writer aroused and obsessed with struggling "pretty-boy" actor Jason Priestley in Love and Death on Long Island (1997); and the Catholic priest embroiled in the Rwanda atrocities in Shooting Dogs (2005).
Latter parts of memorable interpretations included Dr. Iannis in Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), the recurring role of the benign wand-maker Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), the tyrannical dictator Adam Sutler in V for Vendetta (2005) and the voice of The Dragon in Merlin (2008). Among Hurt's final film appearances were as a terminally ill screenwriter in That Good Night (2017) and a lesser role in the mystery thriller Damascus Cover (2017). Hurt's voice was also tapped into animated features and documentaries, often serving as narrator. He also returned to the theatre performing in such shows as "The Seagull", "A Month in the Country" (1994), "Afterplay" (2002) and "Krapp's Last Tape", the latter for which he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.
A recovered alcoholic who married four times, Hurt was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen in 2004, and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. That same year (2015) he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In July of 2016, he was forced to bow out of the father role of Billy Rice in a then-upcoming London stage production of "The Entertainer" opposite Kenneth Branagh due to ill health that he described as an "intestinal ailment". Hurt died several months later at his home in Cromer, Norfolk, England on January 15, 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Mariette Hartley was born Mary Loretta, a name she dislikes, in Weston,
Connecticut. She was raised in accordance with the principles espoused
by her behavioral psychologist grandfather, John B. Watson, who
believed that children should never be held or cuddled. She says that
the lack of warmth at home is what drove her to the theatre. She
studied with John Houseman at the
Repertory Stratford and with
Eva Le Gallienne at
Lucille Lortel's White Barn Theatre. It
took her six years to get her first movie,
Ride the High Country (1962)
with Joel McCrea. She then made a series of
TV appearances and sitcoms.
She is most known, however, for her series of Polaroid commercials with
James Garner. Mariette's father committed
suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot in 1962. Her family kept it a
secret for 25 years, but she eventually revealed the incident. This
brought her considerable acclaim for speaking out about her
devastation. She co-founded a suicide prevention foundation based on
her own past situation. She continues to work in the theatre and, in
2000, was hosting the syndicated
Wild About Animals (1995).
Her children, Justine E. Boyriven
(b. 1978) is an actress and singer, and
Sean Boyriven (b. 1975) is a film-school
graduate.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Chuck Norris is familiar to fans worldwide as the star of action films
such as The Hitman (1991),
The Delta Force (1986) and
Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990).
He also starred in
Missing in Action (1984) and
its sequels, Firewalker (1986) and
Sidekicks (1992). He was an executive
producer of
Walker, Texas Ranger (1993)
as well as the star.
Chuck Norris was born in Ryan, Oklahoma, to Wilma (Scarberry) and Ray
Norris, who was a truck driver, mechanic, and bus driver. The eldest of
three children, he helped his mother raise his two younger brothers in
Torrance, CA, where his family moved when he was 12. Norris attended
North Torrance High School from its inception in September, 1955 until
his graduation in June, 1958. He is one of several storied alumni from
the school. Other NHS alumni include Bob Hite (1943-1981), who was the
lead singer of "Canned Heat," Chris Demaria, who was a professional
baseball player in the Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers
organizations, Chris Mortensen, an analyst with ESPN, Hip-Hop DJ
"Key-Kool" (Kikuo Nishi), and Wee-Man (Jason Acuna) of "JackAss fame."
Norris joined the Air Force after graduating from high school. During a
stint in Korea, he began to study the Asian martial art of Tang Soo Do.
After returning home, he worked for Northrop Aviation and moonlighted
as a karate instructor. Two years later he was teaching full-time and
running a number of martial-arts schools. His students included
Steve McQueen,
Priscilla Presley and the Osmonds.
Norris's fight career lasted from 1964-1974. Norris started off by
losing his first three tournaments but, by 1966, he was almost
unbeatable. Among the numerous titles he won were The National Karate
Championships (1966), All-Star Championships (1966), World Middleweight
Karate Championship (1967), All-American Karate Championship (1967),
Internationals (1968), World Professional Middleweight Karate
Championship (defeating Louis Delgado on 24 November 1968),
All-American Championship (1968), National Tournament of Champions
(1968), American Tang Soo Championship, and the North American Karate
Championship. Norris compiled a fight record of 65-5 with wins over
champions Joe Lewis, Skipper Mullins, Arnold Urquidez,
Ronald L. Marchini, Victor Moore,
Louis Delgado, and Steve Sanders. Of the five men to beat Norris, three
were Allen Steen, Joe Lewis, and Norris's last career defeat to Louis
Delgado in 1968. Norris retired as undefeated Professional Full-Contact
Middleweight Champion in 1974.
Norris, who was urged to get into acting by his friend
Steve McQueen, skillfully
incorporates his martial-arts knowledge into his series and feature
film projects, stressing action and technique over violence. He is the
author of the books "The Secret of Inner Strength" and "The Secret
Power Within - Zen Solutions to Real Problems". He works for many
charities, including the Funds for Kids, Veterans Administration
National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, the United Way, Make-a-Wish
Foundation and KickStart, a nonprofit organization he created to help
battle drugs and violence in schools. He also starred in the television
movie Blood In, Blood Out (1993),
broadcast on CBS.
He lives on a ranch when not filming.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his
movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream
North American and European cinema and audiences the way it has over the past four decades. The influence of East Asian martial arts cinema can be seen today in so many other film genres including comedies, action, drama, science fiction, horror and animation... and they all have their roots in the phenomenon that was Bruce Lee.
Lee was born Lee Jun Fan November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, the son of Lee Hoi Chuen, a singer with the Cantonese Opera. Approximately one year later, the family returned to Kowloon in Hong Kong and at the age of five, a young Bruce begins appearing in children's roles in minor films including The Birth of Mankind (1946) and Fu gui fu yun (1948). At the age of 12, Bruce commenced attending La Salle College. Bruce was later beaten up by a street gang, which inspired him to take up martial arts training under the tutelage of Sifu Yip Man who schooled Bruce in wing chun kung fu for a period of approximately five years. This was the only formalized martial arts training ever undertaken by Lee. The talented and athletic Bruce also took up cha-cha dancing and, at age 18, won a major dance championship in Hong Kong.
However, his temper and quick fists got him in trouble with the Hong Kong police on numerous occasions. His parents suggested that he head
off to the United States. Lee landed in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1959 and worked in a close relative's restaurant. He eventually made
his way to Seattle, Washington, where he enrolled at university to study philosophy and found the time to practice his beloved kung fu
techniques. In 1963, Lee met Linda Lee Cadwell (aka Linda Emery) (later his wife) and also opened his first kung fu school at 4750 University Way. During the early half of the 1960s, Lee became associated with many key martial arts figures in the United States, including kenpo karate expert Ed Parker and tae kwon do master Jhoon Rhee. He made guest appearances at notable martial arts events including the Long Beach Nationals. Through one of these tournaments Bruce met Hollywood hair-stylist Jay Sebring who introduced him to television producer William Dozier. Based on the runaway success of Batman (1966), Dozier was keen to bring the cartoon character the Green Hornet to television and was on the lookout for an East Asian actor to play the Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato. Around this time Bruce also opened a second kung fu school in Oakland, California and relocated to Oakland to be closer to Hollywood.
Bruce's screen test was successful, and The Green Hornet (1966) starring Van Williams aired in 1966-1967 with mixed success. His fight scenes were sometimes obscured by unrevealing camera angles, but his dedication was such that he insisted his character behave like a perfect bodyguard, keeping his eyes on whoever might be a threat to his employer except when the script made this impossible. The show was canceled after only one season (twenty-six episodes), but by this time Lee was receiving more fan mail than the series' nominal star. He then opened a third branch of his kung fu school in Los Angeles and began providing personalized martial arts training to celebrities including film stars Steve McQueen and James Coburn as well as screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. In addition he refined his prior knowledge of wing chun and incorporated aspects of other fighting styles such as traditional boxing and Okinawan karate. He also developed his own unique style Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist). Another film opportunity then came his way as he landed the small role of a stand over man named Winslow Wong who intimidates private eye James Garner in Marlowe (1969). Wong pays a visit to Garner and proceeds to demolish the investigator's office with his fists and feet, finishing off with a spectacular high kick that shatters the light fixture. With this further exposure of his talents, Bruce then scored several guest appearances as a martial arts instructor to blind private eye James Franciscus on the television series Longstreet (1971).
With his minor success in Hollywood and money in his pocket, Bruce returned for a visit to Hong Kong and was approached by film producer
Raymond Chow who had recently started Golden Harvest productions. Chow was keen to utilize Lee's strong popularity amongst young Chinese fans, and offered him the lead role in The Big Boss (1971). In it, Lee plays a distant cousin coming to join relatives working at an ice house, where murder, corruption, and drug-running lead to his character's adventures and display of Kung-Fu expertise. The film was directed by Wei Lo, shot in Thailand on a very low budget and in terrible living conditions for cast and crew. However, when it opened in Hong Kong the film was an enormous hit. Chow knew he had struck box office gold with Lee and quickly assembled another script entitled Fist of Fury (1972). The second film (with a slightly bigger budget) was again directed by Wei Lo and was set in Shanghai in the year 1900, with Lee returning to his school to find that his beloved master has been poisoned by the local Japanese karate school. Once again he uncovers the evildoers and sets about seeking revenge on those responsible for murdering his teacher and intimidating his school. The film features several superb fight sequences and, at the film's conclusion, Lee refuses to surrender to the Japanese police and seemingly leaps to his death in a hail of police bullets.
Once more, Hong Kong streets were jammed with thousands of fervent Chinese movie fans who could not get enough of the fearless Bruce Lee, and his second film went on to break the box office records set by the first! Lee then set up his own production company, Concord Productions, and set about guiding his film career personally by writing, directing and acting in his next film, The Way of the Dragon (1972). A bigger budget meant better locations and opponents, with the new film set in Rome, Italy and additionally starring hapkido expert In-shik Hwang, karate legend Robert Wall and seven-time U.S. karate champion Chuck Norris. Bruce plays a seemingly simple country boy sent to assist at a cousin's restaurant in Rome and finds his cousins are being bullied by local thugs for protection.
By now, Lee's remarkable success in East Asia had come to the attention of Hollywood film executives and a script was hastily written pitching him as a secret agent penetrating an island fortress. Warner Bros. financed the film and also insisted on B-movie tough guy John Saxon starring alongside Lee to give the film wider appeal. The film culminates with another show-stopping fight sequence between Lee and the key villain, Han, in a maze of mirrors. Shooting was completed in and around Hong Kong in early 1973 and in the subsequent weeks Bruce was involved in completing overdubs and looping for the final cut. Various reports from friends and co-workers cite that he was not feeling well during this period and on July 20, 1973 he lay down at the apartment of actress Betty Ting Pei after taking a headache medicine called Equagesic and was later unable to be revived. A doctor was called and Lee was taken to hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead that evening. The official finding was death due to a cerebral edema, caused by a reaction to the headache tablet Equagesic.
Fans worldwide were shattered that their virile idol had passed at such a young age, and nearly thirty thousand fans filed past his coffin
in Hong Kong. A second, much smaller ceremony was held in Seattle, Washington and Bruce was laid to rest at Lake View Cemetary in Seattle with pall bearers including Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Dan Inosanto. Enter the Dragon (1973) was later released in the mainland United States, and was a huge hit with audiences there, which then prompted National General films to actively distribute his three prior movies to U.S. theatres... each was a box office smash.
Fans throughout the world were still hungry for more Bruce Lee films and thus remaining footage (completed before his death) of Lee fighting several opponents including Dan Inosanto, Hugh O'Brian and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was crafted into another film titled Game of Death (1978). The film used a lookalike and shadowy camera work to be substituted for the real Lee in numerous scenes. The film is a poor addition to the line-up and is only saved by the final twenty minutes and the footage of the real Bruce Lee battling his way up the tower. Amazingly, this same shoddy process was used to create Game of Death II (1980), with a lookalike and more stunt doubles interwoven with a few brief minutes of footage of the real Bruce Lee.
Tragically, his son Brandon Lee, an actor and martial artist like his father, was killed in a freak accident on the set of The Crow (1994). Bruce Lee was not only an amazing athlete and martial artist but he possessed genuine superstar charisma and through a handful of films he
left behind an indelible impression on the tapestry of modern cinema.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
A new reigning 1960s international sex symbol took to the cinematic throne as soon as Raquel Welch emerged from the sea in her purposely depleted, furry prehistoric bikini. Tantalizingly wet with her garb clinging to all the right amazonian places, One Million Years B.C. (1966), if nothing else, captured the hearts and libidos of modern men (not to mention their teenage sons) while producing THE most definitive and best-selling pin-up poster of that time.
She was born Jo Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940 in Chicago, Illinois, the first of three children of Bolivian-born Armando Carlos Tejada, an aerospace engineer, and his wife, Josephine Sarah (Hall). The family moved to San Diego, California (her father was transferred) when Raquel was only two. Taking dance lessons as a youngster, she grew up to be quite a knockout and nailed a number of teen beauty titles ("Miss Photogenic," "Miss La Jolla," "Miss Contour," "Miss Fairest of the Fair" and "Miss San Diego").
With her sights set on theater arts, she studied at San Diego State College on a scholarship starting in 1958 and married her first husband, high school sweetheart James Welch, the following year. They had two children: Damon Welch (born 1959), who later became an actor/production assistant, and actress Tahnee Welch (born 1961). Tahnee went on to take advantage of her own stunning looks as an actress, most notably with her prime role in Cocoon (1985).
Off campus, she became a local TV weather girl in San Diego and eventually quit college. Following the end of her marriage in 1962 (although Raquel and James Welch didn't divorce until 1964), she packed up her two children and moved to Dallas, Texas, where she modeled for Neiman-Marcus and worked as a barmaid for a time.
Regrouping, she returned to California and made the rounds of film/TV auditions. She found work providing minor but sexy set decoration on the small screen (Bewitched (1964), McHale's Navy (1962) and The Virginian (1962)) as well as the large screen (Elvis Presley's Roustabout (1964) and Doris Day's Do Not Disturb (1965)). Caught in the midst of the "beach party" craze, it's not surprising to find out that her first major film role was A Swingin' Summer (1965), which concentrated more on musical guests The Righteous Brothers and Gary Lewis & The Playboys than on Welch's outstanding assets. But 20th Century-Fox certainly took notice and signed her up.
With her very first film under contract (actually, she was on loan out to Britain's Hammer Studios at the time), she took on One Million Years B.C. (1966) (the remake of One Million B.C. (1940), in the role originated by Carole Landis), and the rest is history. Welch remained an international celebrity in her first few years of stardom. In England, she was quite revealing as the deadly sin representing "lust" for the comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in their vehicle Bedazzled (1967), and as the title secret agent in the spy spoof Fathom (1967). In Italy, she gained some exposure in primarily mediocre vehicles opposite such heartthrobs as Marcello Mastroianni.
Back in the U.S., however, she caused quite a stir in her groundbreaking sex scenes with black athlete Jim Brown in the "spaghetti western" 100 Rifles (1969), and as the transgender title role in the unfathomable Myra Breckinridge (1970). Adapted from Gore Vidal's novel, she created some unwelcome notoriety by locking horns with septuagenarian diva Mae West on the set. The instant cult movie certainly didn't help Welch's attempt at being taking seriously as an actress.
Box office bombs abounded. Try as she might in such films as Kansas City Bomber (1972) and The Wild Party (1975), which drew some good reviews for her, her sexy typecast gave her little room to breathe. With determination, however, she partly offset this with modest supporting roles in larger ensemble pieces. She showed definite spark and won a Golden Globe for the swashbuckler The Three Musketeers (1973), and appeared in the mystery thriller The Last of Sheila (1973). She planned on making a comeback in Cannery Row (1982), even agreeing to appear topless (which she had never done before), but was suddenly fired during production without notice. She sued MGM for breach of contract and ultimately won a $15 million settlement, but it didn't help her film career and only helped to label her as trouble on a set.
TV movies became a positive milieu for Welch as she developed sound vehicles for herself such as The Legend of Walks Far Woman (1980) and Right to Die (1987), earning a Golden Globe nomination for the latter project. She also found a lucrative avenue pitching beauty products in infomercials and developing exercise videos (such as Jane Fonda).
Welch took advantage of her modest singing and dancing abilities by performing in splashy Las Vegas showroom acts and starring in such plausible stage vehicles as "Woman of the Year" and "Victor/Victoria". She spoofed her own image on occasion, most memorably on Seinfeld (1989). Into the millennium, she co-starred in the Hispanic-oriented TV series American Family (2002) and the short-lived comedies Welcome to the Captain (2008) and Date My Dad (2017), along with the movies Tortilla Soup (2001), Legally Blonde (2001), Forget About It (2006) and How to Be a Latin Lover (2017).
Her three subsequent marriages were to producer/agent Patrick Curtis (who produced her TV special, Raquel (1970)), director André Weinfeld (who directed her in several fitness videos), and pizza parlor owner Richie Palmer, who was 14 years her junior. All these unions ended in divorce.
She died at 2:25 a.m. on February 15, 2023, aged 82, at her Los Angeles home after suffering a cardiac arrest. She had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Raul Julia was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Olga
Arcelay, a mezzo-soprano singer, and Raúl Juliá, an electrical
engineer. He graduated from Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola High School
in San Juan. Here he studied the rigorous classical curriculum of the
Jesuits and was always active in student dramatics. Julia was
discovered while performing in a nightclub in San Juan by actor
Orson Bean who inspired him to move to the
mainland to pursue other projects. Julia moved to Manhattan, New York
City in 1964 and quickly found work by acting in small and supporting
roles in off-Broadway shows. In 1966, Julia began appearing in
Shakespearean roles, creating a deliciously conniving Edmund in "King
Lear" in 1973 and a smoldering Othello in 1979. Julia also made his
mark on the musical stage playing one of the "Two Gentlemen of Verona"
during its run in 1971, and a chilling role of Mack the Knife in "The
Threepenny Opera" in 1976 and as a Felliniesque film director in "Nine"
in 1982. The stage successes led to his movie works where he is better
known.
One of his best movie roles is a passionate political prisoner in
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985).
Julia also appeared as dramatic heroes and memorable villains in a
number of films and made-for-TV-movies. His later roles included the
crazy macabre Gomez Addams in two Addams Family movies. With his health
declining from 1993 onward after he underwent a surgical operation for
stomach cancer, Julia kept on acting, where he traveled to Mexico
during the winter of 1993-1994 to play the Brazilian Amazon forest
activist Chico Mendes in
The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994),
for which he posthumously won a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award. His
last theatrical movie was filmed shortly after The Burning Season: The Chico Mendes Story (1994) when
he traveled to Australia to shoot all of his scenes for
Street Fighter (1994), based on
the popular video game where he played the villainous General M. Bison.
His last role was a supporting part in another made-for-TV movie titled
Down Came a Blackbird (1995).
On October 16, 1994, the weakened and gaunt Raul Julia suffered a
stroke in New York City where he fell into a coma a few days later and
was put on life support. He was transferred to a hospice in nearby
Manhasset, Long Island where his weakened body finally gave up the
struggle on October 24, at age 54. His body was flown back to Puerto
Rico for burial where thousands turned out for his state funeral to
remember him. Two honoring ceremonies were held at Colegio San Ignacio
de Loyola High School, and at the Headquarters of the Institute of
Puerto Rican Culture prior to his burial.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Brian De Palma is one of the well-known directors who spear-headed the new movement in Hollywood during the 1970s. He is known for his many films that go from violent pictures, to Hitchcock-like thrillers. Born on September 11, 1940, De Palma was born in Newark, New Jersey in an Italian-American family. Originally entering university as a physics student, De Palma became attracted to films after seeing such classics as Citizen Kane (1941). Enrolling in Sarah Lawrence College, he found lasting influences from such varied teachers as Alfred Hitchcock and Andy Warhol.
At first, his films comprised of such black-and-white films as To Bridge This Gap (1969). He then discovered a young actor whose fame would influence Hollywood forever. In 1968, De Palma made the comedic film Greetings (1968) starring Robert De Niro in his first ever credited film role. The two followed up immediately with the films The Wedding Party (1969) and Hi, Mom! (1970).
After making such small-budget thrillers such as Sisters (1972) and Obsession (1976), De Palma was offered the chance to direct a film based on Stephen King's classic novel "Carrie". The story deals with a tormented teenage girl who finds she has the power of telekinesis. The film starred Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie and John Travolta, and was for De Palma, a chance to try out the split screen technique for which he would later become famous.
Carrie (1976) was a massive success, and earned the two lead females (Laurie and Spacek) Oscar nominations. The film was praised by most critics, and De Palma's reputation was now permanently secured. He followed up this success with the horror film The Fury (1978), the comedic film Home Movies (1979) (both these films featured Kirk Douglas), the crime thriller Dressed to Kill (1980) starring Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson, and another crime thriller entitled Blow Out (1981) starring John Travolta.
His next major success was the controversial, ultra-violent film Scarface (1983). Written by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino, the film concerned Cuban immigrant Tony Montana's rise to power in the United States through the drug trade. While being a critical failure, the film was a major success commercially.
Moving on from Scarface (1983), De Palma made two more movies before landing another one of his now-classics: The Untouchables (1987), starring old friend Robert De Niro in the role of Chicago gangster Al Capone. Also starring in the film were Kevin Costner as the man who commits himself to bring Capone down, and Sean Connery, an old policeman who helps Costner's character to form a group known as the Untouchables. The film was one of De Palma's most successful films, earning Connery an Oscar, and gave Ennio Morricone a nomination for Best Score.
After The Untouchables (1987), De Palma made the Vietnam film Casualties of War (1989) starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. The film focuses on a new soldier who is helpless to stop his dominating sergeant from kidnapping a Vietnamese girl with the help of the coerced members of the platoon. The film did reasonably well at the box office, but it was his next film that truly displayed the way he could make a hit and a disaster within a short time. The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) starred a number of well-known actors such as Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman, however it was still a commercial flop and earned him two Razzie nominations.
But the roller coaster success that De Palma had gotten so far did not let him down. He made the horror film Raising Cain (1992), and the criminal drama Carlito's Way (1993) starring Al Pacino and Sean Penn. The latter film is about a former criminal just released from prison that is trying to avoid his past and move on. It was in the year 1996 that brought one of his most well-known movies. This was the suspense-filled Mission: Impossible (1996) starring Tom Cruise and Jon Voight.
Following up this film was the interesting but unsuccessful film Snake Eyes (1998) starring Nicolas Cage as a detective who finds himself in the middle of a murder scene at a boxing ring. De Palma continued on with the visually astounding but equally unsuccessful film Mission to Mars (2000) which earned him another Razzie nomination. He met failure again with the crime thriller Femme Fatale (2002), the murder conspiracy The Black Dahlia (2006), and the controversial film Redacted (2007) which deals with individual stories from the war in Iraq.
Brian De Palma may be down for the moment, but if his box office history has taught us anything, it is that he always returns with a
major success that is remembered for years and years afterwards.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Sir Michael Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland, to Mary (Hoare),
a seamstress, and Edward Gambon, an engineer. After joining the
National Theatre, under the Artistic Directorship of Sir
Laurence Olivier, Gambon went on to
appear in a number of leading roles in plays written by
Alan Ayckbourn. His career was catapulted
in 1980 when he took the lead role in
John Dexter's production of
"Galileo". Since then, Gambon has regularly appeared at the Royal
National Theatre and the RSC. Roles include, King Lear, Othello, Mark
Anthony and Volpone. He was described by the late Sir
Ralph Richardson as being "The
Great Gambon" and he is now considered to be one of the British
theatre's leading lights. He was made a CBE in 1992.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Sam Waterston was born on 15 November 1940 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Killing Fields (1984), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Law & Order (1990). He has been married to Lynn Louisa Woodruff since 26 January 1976. They have three children. He was previously married to Barbara Rutledge Johns.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
René Murat Auberjonois was born on June 1, 1940 in New York City, to Princess Laure Louise Napoléone Eugénie Caroline (Murat), who was born in Paris, and Fernand Auberjonois, who was Swiss-born. René was born into an already artistic family, which included his grandfather, a well-known Swiss painter, and his father, a Pulitzer-nominated writer and Cold War-era foreign correspondent. The Auberjonois family moved to Paris shortly after World War II, and it was there that René made an important career decision at the age of six. When his school put on a musical performance for the parents, little René was given the honor of conducting his classmates in a rendition of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?". When the performance was over, René took a bow, and, knowing that he was not the real conductor, imagined that he had been acting. He decided then and there that he wanted to be an actor. After leaving Paris, the Auberjonois family moved into an Artist's Colony in upstate New York.
At an early age, René was surrounded by musicians, composers and actors. Among his neighbors were Helen Hayes, Burgess Meredith and John Houseman, who would later become an important mentor. Houseman gave René his first theater job at the age of 16, as an apprentice at a theater in Stratford, Connecticut. René would later teach at Juilliard under Houseman. René attended Carnegie-Mellon University and studied theater completely, not only learning about acting but about the entire process of producing a play. After graduating from CMU, René acted with various theater companies, including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum. In 1969, he won a role in his first Broadway musical, "Coco" (with Katharine Hepburn), for which he won a Tony Award.
Throughout his life, René acted in a variety of theater productions, films and television presentations, including a rather famous stint as Clayton Endicott III on the comedy series Benson (1979), not to mention seven years on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) as Odo. René also performed dramatic readings of a variety of books on tape, and appeared in projects like The Patriot (2000), starring Mel Gibson, Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000), and NBC's Frasier (1993) and ABC's The Practice (1997).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12
his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine.
In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him
of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in
advertising. In the political turmoil in the 60's, Gilliam feared he would
become a terrorist and decided to leave the USA. He moved to England
and landed a job on the children's television show Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967) as an animator. There he met meet his future collaborators in Monty Python: Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin. In 2006 he renounced his
American citizenship.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sharon Farrell was born on 24 December 1940 in Sioux City, Iowa, USA. She was an actress, known for Can't Buy Me Love (1987), Night of the Comet (1984) and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983). She was married to Dale Trevillion, Steve Salkin, John Boyer, Ron De Blasio and Andrew Prine. She died on 15 May 2023 in Orange County, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dan Hedaya is a familiar face from his work in films and on TV, where
he often plays a villain (although he had a good comic turn as the
charmingly sleazy Nick Tortelli, Carla's ex-husband, in Cheers (1982) and its
short-lived spin-off The Tortellis (1987)). He has also done much stage work,
appearing opposite Alien Resurrection (1997) star Sigourney Weaver in "The Conjuring an Event" at
the American Place Theater. Other stage performances include Broadway
roles such as "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" and many New York
Shakespeare Festival productions.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
John Mahoney was an award-winning American actor. He was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, the seventh of eight children of Margaret and Reg, a baker. His family was evacuated to the sea-side resort to avoid the Nazi bombing of their native Manchester. The Mancunian Mahoneys eventually returned to Manchester during the war. Visiting the States to see his older sister, a "war bride" who had married an American, the young Mahoney decided to emigrate and was sponsored by his sister. John eventually won his citizenship by serving in the U.S. Army.
Long interested in acting, Mahoney didn't make the transition to his craft until he was almost forty years old. Mahoney took acting classes at the St. Nicholas Theater and finally built up the courage to quit his day job and pursue acting full time. John Malkovich, one of the founders of the Second City's distinguished Steppenwolf Theatre, encouraged Mahoney to join Steppenwolf, and in 1986, Mahoney won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves (1987).
Mahoney made his feature film debut in 1980, but he was best known for playing the role of the father of the eponymous character Frasier (1993) from 1993 until 2004. He later concentrated on stage work back in Chicago, and appeared on Broadway in 2007 in a revival of Prelude to a Kiss (1992).
John died on February 4, 2018, in Chicago, Illinois.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Actor Austin Pendleton was born March 27, 1940 in Warren, Ohio to Frances and Thorn Pendleton. He graduated from Yale University. He later became an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, and acted in several of the theater's productions. His first film appearance was in Petulia (1968), a minor and uncredited role. Since, he has made over 100 appearances in television and film.- Jo Ann Pflug was born on 2 May 1940 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for M*A*S*H (1970), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) and The Fall Guy (1981). She has been married to Charles Stuck Young since 14 May 1988. She was previously married to Chuck Woolery.
- Wilhelm Von Homburg (A.K.A. Norbert Grupe) was born in Berlin, Germany. He started out his career as a wrestler during the fifties in Germany where he earned his fame. He also toured the States. Homburg's stage name was Prinz Wilhelm Von Homburg. In the early sixties, he shifted from wrestling to boxing. Between 1962 and 1970, he was in the light heavyweight and the heavyweight class.
In Hollywood, he made his debut on the popular television show "Gunsmoke", as "Otto". The director Andrew V. McLaglen, had writer John Meston write the episode inspired by Wilhelm's life as a boxer. The production flew Wilhelm in from Germany to the U.S. for a special appearance of the "Gunsmoke" episode "The Promoter". Later, Wilhelm had a recurring role on Television show "The Wild Wild West".
Wilhelm is best known for playing "Vigo the Carpathian" in the big hit movie "Ghostbusters ll". His other movies includes, to name a few, "Die Hard", "Diggstown", "The Package", "Eye of The Storm", "In The Mouth of Madness", "The Devil's Brigade", "The Wrecking Crew", and "Stroszek".
Wilhelm made headlines after his controversial appearance on German T.V. at the Z.D.F. Sport Studio, after the reporter Rainer Günzler had made some rude, snide remarks about his boxing career and his private life.
In 2000, German film-maker Gerd Kroske produced a prize-winning documentary on Wilhelm's life called Der Boxprinz (2002).
In his later years, Wilhelm lived in the beautiful Malibu/Santa Monica Mountains, together with his dog 'Kiss'. Wilhelm Von Homburg died of prostate cancer in March, 2004 on the Villa Estate of his close friend in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Michael Parks is known as an actor's actor by his peers with a breadth of astonishing range that has allowed him to portray stunning contrasts--sometimes in the same film, like in Tusk (2014), starring in dual roles as an erudite serial killer opposite Justin Long, and as a feeble rube opposite Johnny Depp. In Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). Parks portrayed spot-on contrasting roles as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw and the heavily accented Esteban Vihaio opposite Uma Thurman. Writers/directors, including Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino, wrote roles specifically for Parks, claiming all they need to do is "turn on the camera" to elicit a masterful performance.
Parks has played in more than 100 films and TV shows over a 50-year career. He started as a contract player in 1961 with the portrayal of the nephew of the character George MacMichael on the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys (1957). He played Adam in John Huston's 1966 movie The Bible in the Beginning... (1966). His other early roles includes appearances in two NBC series: Too Many Strangers (1962) as "Larry Wilcox" and as "Dr. Mark Reynolds" in Pressure Breakdown (1963). He also starred in The China Lake Murders (1990) and Stranger by Night (1994), playing a police officer in both.
From 1969-70 he starred in the series Then Came Bronson (1969), in which he was the only recurring character. He sang the theme song for the show, "Long Lonesome Highway", which became a #20 Billboard Hot 100 and #41 Hot Country Songs hit. Albums he recorded under MGM Records (the label of the studio which produced the series) include "Closing The Gap" (1969)," Long Lonesome Highway" (1970) and "Blue". He also had various records of songs included on these albums. He played Philip Colby during the second season (1986-87) of ABC's Dynasty (1981) spin-off series The Colbys (1985). He played the antagonist Irish mob boss Tommy O'Shea in Death Wish: The Face of Death (1994) (1994), French-Canadian drug runner Jean Renault in the ABC television series Twin Peaks (1990), Dr. Banyard in Deceiver (1997), Texas Ranger Earl McGraw in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and Ambrose Bierce in From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (1999). After playing Earl McGraw in the "Kill Bill" film series he reprised the role in both segments of the film Grindhouse (2007). In Red State (2011) as villain Abin Cooper, quoting the Bible and issuing homicidal directives in the same gently insinuating voice, Parks plays a disturbingly soft-spoken psycho making the talk all the more convincing and scary with his brilliant delivery affecting a folksy "down-home" accent , knowing just how to modulate his remarks for maximum effect; most reviewers agreed with "Hollywood Reporter" writer Todd McCarthy that he is mesmerizing as he spews Cooper's hate in a way that brooks no argument . In "Tusk" as Howard Howe, a real-life ancient mariner (a role Kevin Smith tailor-made for him), "Parks has such light in his eyes, fire in his belly and a mellifluous purr in his voice" that "Variety" wrote, "it would probably be a pleasure to watch him recite the Manitoba phone book".- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Howard Hesseman was a leading counter-culture figure since the late 1960s. He was a member of the improv group, "The Committee", for a decade in the 1960s/1970s. A character actor for many years on different television shows since the 1960s, he took small parts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Dragnet 1967 (1967), Soap (1977), and Sanford and Son (1972). The role that brought him to prominence was Howard Johnson in the cult classic Billy Jack (1971).
He was a frequent guest star on The Bob Newhart Show (1972) but would become best-known for his role on the classic series WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), as anti-disco hipster DJ "Dr. Johnny Fever". Also in the 1970s, he appeared in The Sunshine Boys (1975), Tunnel Vision (1976), Silent Movie (1976) and The Big Bus (1976). After the cancellation of WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), he went on to star as the husband of Ann Romano in One Day at a Time (1975). After that series was cancelled, Hesseman starred in This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Doctor Detroit (1983), Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985), Clue (1985), and Flight of the Navigator (1986).
He then starred as history teacher Charlie Moore in Head of the Class (1986). He left that show in 1990 and appeared in a steady stream of television guest roles. In 1987, he appeared in Amazon Women on the Moon (1987). In 1991, he starred in Rubin and Ed (1991). Afterward, he appeared in other films, including Gridlock'd (1997) (with Tupac Shakur). His work in later years concentrated mostly on television, where he took mostly small guest roles, in such shows as That '70s Show (1998), Touched by an Angel (1994), The Practice (1997), and Crossing Jordan (2001).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Peter Henry Fonda was born in New York City, to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario, Canada-born New York socialite Frances Brokaw (born Frances Ford Seymour). He was the younger brother of actress and activist Jane Fonda and the father of actress Bridget Fonda.
Fonda made his professional stage debut on Broadway in 1961 in Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole, for which he received rave reviews from the New York Critics, and won the Daniel Blum Theater World Award and the New York Critics Circle Award for Best New Actor. He began his feature film career in 1963, playing the romantic lead in Tammy and the Doctor and joined the ensemble cast of the World War II saga, The Victors.
Shortly thereafter, Fonda began what would become a famous association with Roger Corman, starring in Wild Angels, as the ultra-cool, iron-fisted leader of a violent biker gang, opposite Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, and Diane Ladd. Fonda starred in Corman's 1967 psychedelic film The Trip, also starring Dern and Susan Strasberg. His next project was the seminal 1969 anti-establishment film Easy Rider, which he produced and co-scripted, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
His acting credits included the feature films Outlaw Blues, an expose of the country music business; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry; Race with the Devil; Robert Rossen's Lilith; Split Image; Robert Wise's Two People; and the cult films Love and a .45 and Nadja. He appeared in Grace of My Heart (directed by Alison Anders), and John Carpenter's Escape from L.A., starring Kurt Russell. He made a cameo appearance in Bodies, Heat & Motion, which starred his daughter Bridget Fonda.
Fonda won critical acclaim for his portrayal of Ulee Jackson, the taciturn beekeeper in the 1997 film Ulee's Gold, earning him both a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and the New York Film Critics Award, as well as an Oscar nomination. Following this, he published his autobiography, Don't Tell Dad, and was then seen in the NBC movie The Tempest, for which he had been nominated for another Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Mini-Series. Fonda then appeared with Helen Mirren in the Showtime telefilm The Passion of Ayn Rand, where he won the Golden Globe for outstanding supporting actor in a mini-series or movie made for television and was nominated for both an Emmy and SAG Award. He co-starred in Steven Soderbergh's 1997 film The Limey. Following this, he appeared in Thomas and the Magic Railroad for director Britt Allcroft, starring Alec Baldwin.
Fonda directed his first feature film, The Hired Hand, in 1971. A critically acclaimed western in which he also starred, the film debuted with a restored version at the 2001 Venice Film Festival; it then screened at the Toronto Film Festival before reopening in theaters in 2003. Other directing credits include the science fiction feature Idaho Transfer, starring as a gambler who wins Brooke Shields in a poker game.
Fonda co-starred in HBO's The Laramie Project, based on the true story of openly gay college student Matthew Shepard, killed in an act of senseless violence and cruelty, which attracted national attention. Fonda starred in The Maldonado Miracle, directed by Salma Hayek for Showtime Networks, and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for his role. Fonda also starred opposite Kris Kristofferson in Wooly Boys, which was released in March 2004, and the television drama Back When We Were Grownups, opposite Blythe Danner and Faye Dunaway. Fonda was seen in Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve and appeared in Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider, opposite Nicolas Cage.
Fonda's last projects included director Ron Maxwell's Civil War-era drama Copperhead, alongside Billy Campbell and Angus MacFadyen, The Ultimate Gift directed by Michael Landon Jr., and John McNaughton's The Harvest, with Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon.
Peter Fonda died on August 16, 2019, in Los Angeles.- Actress
- Producer
Blonde, buoyant Donna Mills began acting in local amateur and professional productions in her home town of Chicago. Donna made her Broadway bow as a harem girl in Woody Allen's play "Don't Drink the Water," then played recurring roles on the Manhattan-based TV soap operas The Secret Storm (1954) and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967). Her first film was The Incident (1967), a hard-hitting drama which co-starred fellow up-and-comers Martin Sheen and Beau Bridges. After playing Clint Eastwood's imperiled girlfriend in the cult thriller Play Misty for Me (1971), Mills guest-starred on numerous top-rated series and carved a niche for herself in made-for-TV movies, usually typecast as a damsel in distress. On the big screen, she scored another coup when she acted with Don Stroud in Murph the Surf (1975). Donna forever altered her on-screen image from trembling helplessness to calculating truculence in the role of Abby Cunningham Ewing, second wife of Dallas (1978) "black sheep" Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford), in the nighttime serial Knots Landing (1979); coincidentally, Mills had co-starred with J. R. Ewing himself (aka Larry Hagman) on the short-lived sitcom The Good Life (1971). Three times she won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Villainess: 1986, '88, and '89. She also earned a Soap Opera Digest nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial. After nine years as Abby, Mills decided to leave the long-running hit in pursuit of other opportunities. She continued to headline a range of television films, several of which she produced, often highlighting important social issues. These including Outback Bound (1988), The World's Oldest Living Bridesmaid (1990), Runaway Father (1991), In My Daughter's Name (1992) and My Name Is Kate (1994). Mills returned to Knots Landing for its final episode in 1993, and again for the reunion miniseries Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997). In between she had a brief recurring guest role as Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett)'s mother on Melrose Place (1992). In 2014, Donna joined ABC's General Hospital (1963) as yet another wealthy troublemaker, Madeline Reeves. For this role, she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series. Donna has since appeared in the feature films Joy (2015) and Nope (2022), and starred in the reality show Queens of Drama (2015).
Donna has long been a supporter of various political and human rights causes, including Easter Seals, Women in Film, and ECO (Earth Communications Office). Unmarried, she adopted a daughter, Chloe, in 1994. She lives in Beverly Hills with her longtime boyfriend, Larry Gilman. She was previously in a long-term relationship with Richard Holland.- Actress
- Soundtrack
An incredible piece of 1960s eye candy, Jill St. John absolutely smoldered on the big screen, a trendy presence in lightweight comedy, spirited adventure and spy intrigue who appeared alongside some of Hollywood's most handsome male specimens. Although she was seldom called upon to do much more than frolic in the sun and playfully taunt and tempt as needed, this tangerine-topped stunner managed to do her job very, very well. A remarkably bright woman in real life, she was smart enough to play the Hollywood game to her advantage and did so for nearly two decades before looking elsewhere for fun and contentment.
Jill St. John was actually born Jill Oppenheim in 1940 in Los Angeles. On stage and radio from age five, she was pretty much prodded by a typical stage mother. Making her TV debut in The Christmas Carol (1949), Jill began blossoming and attracting the right kind of attention in her late teens. She signed with Universal Pictures at age 16 and made her film debut as a perky support in Summer Love (1958) starring then-hot John Saxon. Moving ahead, she filled the bill as a slightly dingy love interest in such innocuous fun as The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), Holiday for Lovers (1959), Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963), Who's Minding the Store? (1963) and Honeymoon Hotel (1964).
Whether the extremely photogenic Jill had talent (and she did!) or not never seemed to be a fundamental issue with casting agents. By the late '60s she had matured into a classy, ravishing redhead who not only came equipped with a knockout figure but some sly, suggestive one-liners as well that had her male co-stars (and audiences) more than interested. She skillfully traded sexy quips with Anthony Franciosa in the engaging TV pilot to the hit series The Name of the Game (1968) and scored a major coup as the ever-tantalizing Tiffany Case, a ripe and ready Bond girl, in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) opposite Sean Connery's popular "007" character. She also co-starred with Bob Hope in the dismal Eight on the Lam (1967), but the connection allowed her to be included in a number of the comedian's NBC specials over the years. A part of Frank Sinatra's "in" crowd, she worked with him on both Come Blow Your Horn (1963) and Tony Rome (1967).
On camera, Jill's glossy femme fatales had a delightfully brazen, tongue-in-cheek quality to them. Off-camera, she lived the life of a jet-setter and was known for her romantic excursions with such eligibles as Jack Nicholson, David Frost, Joe Namath, Bill Hudson, Roman Polanski and even Henry Kissinger. Of her four marriages, which included laundry heir Neil Dubin, the late sports car racer Lance Reventlow, son of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton, and easy-listening crooner Jack Jones, she seems to have found her soulmate in present husband Robert Wagner, whom she married in 1990 after an eight-year courtship. Jill first met Wagner when they were both just beginning their careers as contract players at 20th Century Fox. The couple share credits on several productions, notably Banning (1967) as well as the top-tier TV movies How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967) and Around the World in 80 Days (1989).
Abandoning acting out of boredom, she has returned only on rare occasions. She played against type as a crazed warden in the prison drama The Concrete Jungle (1982) and has had some fun cameos alongside Wagner both on film (The Player (1992)) and even TV (Seinfeld (1989)). In the late 1990s they started touring together in A.R. Gurney's popular two-person stage reading of "Love Letters." Jill's lifelong passion for cooking (her parents were restaurateurs) has turned profitable over the years. She has written a cookbook and appeared as a TV chef and "in-house" cooking expert on Good Morning America (1975). She also served as a food columnist for the USA Weekend newspaper. On the philanthropic front, she is founder of the Aunts Club, a Rancho Mirage-based group of special women who contribute at least $1,000 per year to provide financial support for a child.
She was glimpsed more recently in the films The Calling (2002) and The Trip (2002) and she and Wagner had small roles as Santa and Mrs. Claus in the TV movie Northpole (2014). The Wagners make their home in Aspen.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Highly influential, and always controversial, African-American
actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language
during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple
marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by
many modern comic artist's as a key influence on their careers, and
Pryor's observational humor on African-American life in the USA during
the 1970s was razor sharp brilliance.
He was born Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Gertrude L. (Thomas) and LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor. His mother, a prostitute, abandoned him when he was ten years of age, after
which he was raised in his grandmother's brothel. Unfortunately, Pryor
was molested at the age of six by a teenage neighbor, and later by a
neighborhood preacher. To escape this troubled life, the young Pryor
was an avid movie fan and a regular visitor to local movie theaters in
Peoria. After numerous jobs, including truck driver and meat packer,
the young Pryor did a stint in the US Army between 1958 & 1960 in which
he performed in amateur theater shows. After he left the services in
1960, Pryor started singing in small clubs, but inadvertently found
that humor was his real forte.
Pryor spent time in both New York & Las Vegas, honing his comic craft.
However, his unconventional approach to humor sometimes made bookings
difficult to come by and this eventually saw Pryor heading to Los
Angeles. He first broke into films with minor roles in
The Busy Body (1967) and
Wild in the Streets (1968).
However, his performance as a drug addicted piano player in
Lady Sings the Blues (1972),
really got the attention of fans and film critics alike.
He made his first appearance with
Gene Wilder in the very popular
action/comedy Silver Streak (1976),
played three different characters in
Which Way Is Up? (1977) and
portrayed real-life stock-car driver "Wendell Scott" in
Greased Lightning (1977).
Proving he was more than just a comedian, Pryor wowed audiences as a
disenchanted auto worker who is seduced into betraying his friends and
easy money in the Paul Schrader
working class drama
Blue Collar (1978), also starring
Yaphet Kotto and
Harvey Keitel. Always a strong
advocate of African-American talent, Pryor next took a key role in
The Wiz (1978), starring an all
African-American cast, including Diana Ross
and Michael Jackson, retelling
the story of
The Wizard of Oz (1939). His
next four screen roles were primarily cameos in
California Suite (1978);
The Muppet Movie (1979);
Wholly Moses! (1980) and
In God We Trust (or Gimme That Prime Time Religion) (1980). However,
Pryor teamed up with Gene Wilder once more
for the prison comedy
Stir Crazy (1980), which did strong
box office business.
His next few films were a mixed bag of material, often inhibiting
Pryor's talent, with equally mixed returns at the box office. Pryor
then scored second billing to
Christopher Reeve in the big budget
Superman III (1983), and starred
alongside fellow funny man John Candy in
Brewster's Millions (1985)
before revealing his inner self in the autobiographical
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986).
Again, Pryor was somewhat hampered by poor material in his following
film ventures. However, he did turn up again in
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
with Gene Wilder, but the final product was
not as sharp as their previous pairings. Pryor then partnered on-screen
with two other very popular African-American comic's. The legendary
Redd Foxx and 1980s comic newcomer
Eddie Murphy starred with Pryor in
the gangster film
Harlem Nights (1989) which was also
directed by Eddie Murphy. Having contracted multiple sclerosis in 1986,
Pryor's remaining film appearances were primarily cameos apart from his
fourth and final outing with Gene Wilder in
the lukewarm Another You (1991), and
his final appearance in a film production was a small role in the
David Lynch road flick
Lost Highway (1997).
Fans of this outrageous comic genius are encouraged to see his live
specials
Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1971);
the dynamic
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979);
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)
and
Richard Pryor... Here and Now (1983).
In addition,
The Richard Pryor Show (1977)
is a must-have for any Richard Pryor fans' DVD collection.
Unknown to many, Pryor was a long time advocate against animal cruelty,
and he campaigned against fast food chains and circus shows to address
issues of animal welfare. He was married a total of seven times, and
fathered eight children.
After long battles with ill health, Richard Pryor passed away on
December 10th, 2005.- Actress
- Soundtrack
This gorgeous Teutonic temptress was one of Hollywood's most
captivating imports of the 1960s. Blonde and beautiful, Berlin-born
Elke Sommer, with her trademark pouty lips, high cheekbones and
sky-high bouffant hairdos, proved irresistible to American audiences,
whether adorned in lace or leather, or donning lingerie or lederhosen
.
She was born in Berlin-Spandau on November 5, 1940 with the unlikely
name of Else Schletz-Ho to a Lutheran minister and his wife. The family
was forced to evacuate to Erlangen, during World War II in 1942, a
small university town in the southern region of Germany. It was here
that her parents first introduced her to water colors and her lifelong
passion for painting was ignited. Her father's death in 1955, when she
was only 14, interrupted her education and she relocated to Great
Britain, where she learned English and made ends meet as an au pair.
She eventually attended college back in Germany and entertained plans
to become a diplomatic translator but, instead, decided to try
modeling.
After winning a beauty title ("Miss Viareggio Turistica") while on
vacation in Italy, she caught the attention of renowned film
actor/director Vittorio De Sica and
began performing on screen. Her debut film was in the Italian feature,
Uomini e nobiluomini (1959),
which starred DeSica and was directed by
Giorgio Bianchi. Following a few more
Italian pictures, which included her first starring role in
Love, the Italian Way (1960), also
directed by Bianchi, Elke began making a name for herself in German
films, as well, and gradually upgraded her status to European sex
symbol. A pin-up favorite, she appeared fetchingly in both dramas and
comedies, with such continental features as
Daniella by Night (1961),
Sweet Violence (1962) and her
first English-speaking picture,
Why Bother to Knock (1961),
to her credit.
Hollywood naturally became intrigued and she moved there in the early
1960s to try and tap into the American market. Her sexy innocence
made a vivid impression in the all-star, war-themed drama,
The Victors (1963), the
Hitchcock-like thriller,
The Prize (1963), for which she won a
"Best Newcomer" Golden Globe Award, and, especially,
A Shot in the Dark (1964), the
classic bumbling comedy where she proved a shady and sexy foil to
Peter Sellers' Inspector
Clousseau. She grew in celebrity, which was certainly helped after
showing off her physical assets, posing for spreads in Playboy
Magazine. In the meantime, she was appearing opposite the hunkiest of
Hollywood actors including
Paul Newman,
James Garner,
Glenn Ford and
Stephen Boyd.
Always a diverting attraction in spy intrigue or breezy comedy, she was
too often misused and setbacks began to occur when the quality of her
films began to deteriorate. The tacky Hollywood entry,
The Oscar (1966), the
Bob Hope misfire,
Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966),
the tired Dean Martin "Matt Helm"
spy spoof,
The Wrecking Crew (1968), and
her title role in the tasteless Cold War comedy,
The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968),
starring Hogan's Heroes (1965)
alumnus, Bob Crane,
Werner Klemperer and
Leon Askin, proved her undoing.
The multilingual actress, whose career took her to scores of different
countries over time and benefited from speaking seven languages
fluently, resorted to a number of low-budget features in Europe,
including two Italian horror movies directed by
Mario Bava that have now gone on to become
cult classics:
Baron Blood (1972)
and The Exorcist (1973) rip-off,
Lisa and the Devil (1973). The
latter movie actually was a guilty pleasure. "Lisa" was re-released in
1975 as "The House of Exorcism" and added more footage of a demonic
Elke, Linda Blair style, spewing
frogs, insects, green pea soup and a slew of cuss words! In England,
she good-naturedly appeared in the "comedy" films,
Percy (1971), and its equally cheeky
sequel, It's Not the Size That Counts (1974),
which starred Hywel Bennett (later
Leigh Lawson) as the first man to
have a penis transplant(!). She also showed up in one of the later
"Carry On" farces, entitled
Carry on Behind (1975).
Elke fared better on television, where she appeared in the television
pilot, Probe (1972), opposite
Hugh O'Brian, as well as the well-made
1980s miniseries,
Inside the Third Reich (1982),
Jenny's War (1985),
Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986)
and Peter the Great (1986). In addition, she made a few TV guest appearances on such popular shows as "Fantasy Island," "The Love Boat" and "St. Elsewhere."
A delightful personality on the talk show circuit, the lovely Elke also
made appearances as a cabaret singer and, in time, put out several
albums. She found a creative outlet on stage too with such vehicles as
"Irma la Douce", "Born Yesterday", "Cactus Flower", "Woman of the Year"
and "Same Time, Next Year".
Dividing her time between here and in Germany in later years, she added her usual charm to films both here (Lily in Love (1984), Severed Ties (1992)), and in Germany (Himmelsheim (1988), Flashback (2000), Life Is Too Long (2010)).
The veteran actress has since focused more time on book writing and
painting than she has on acting. Holding her first one-woman art show
at the McKenzie Galleries in Beverly Hills in 1965, her artwork bears
an exceptionally strong influence to
Marc Chagall and she, at one point, hosted
a mid-1980s PBS series ("Painting with Elke"), that centered on her
artwork, which has now exhibited and sold for more than 40 years.
Nevertheless, on occasion, she tackles an acting role, often in her
native Germany. Divorced from writer and journalist
Joe Hyams, whom she met when he interviewed
her for a Hollywood article (he recently died in November 2008), she
has been married since 1993 to hotelier Wolf Walther.- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Known for timeless classics such as "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy
Days and Mondays," "Evergreen," "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song," and
"Rainbow Connection," Paul Williams is responsible for what will remain
part of our popular culture for many years to come. His music has been
recorded by some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry.
Three Dog Night's versions of "Just an
Old Fashioned Love Song," "Out in the Country," and "Family of Man" have
sold millions of copies, worldwide.
Karen Carpenter's rich vocals
made "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Let Me Be the
One," and "I Won't Last a Day Without You," a part of our lives.
Elvis Presley,
Frank Sinatra,
Ella Fitzgerald,
Barbra Streisand,
Willie Nelson,
Kermit the Frog and
Luther Vandross are among the hundreds
of artists who have recorded Paul's songs.
Neal McCoy recently recorded Paul's "Party On," while Diamond Rio recorded and took "You're Gone" to the top of the charts. The video for "You're Gone"
became Pick of the Week on Country Music Television. In 1997, Paul went
back into the recording studio and recorded his CD, "Back to Love
Again," which includes remakes of some of Paul's more classic hits such
as "Rainbow Connection" and "I Won't Last a Day Without You," as well
as new songs which contain the same quality, passion and depth that was
heard and felt in his hits from the past.
Richard Carpenter and
Graham Nash appear as guest artists
on the album, bringing to it a richness and a quality all its own.
Critics, fans and the most famous in the music industry have all had
positive reactions and reviews to the album.
No one sings a song like the songwriter who wrote it, and the same
holds true for Paul's music. No one captures the emotion within the
songs the way he can and does time and time again. Paul is one of the
most celebrated songwriters of our time having won Academy, Grammy and
Golden Globe Awards. His most recent accomplishments include his
induction into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Paul's reputation as a motion picture songwriter took hold in 1973,
with an Academy Award nomination for "Nice to Be Around" (co-written
with John Williams) from
Cinderella Liberty (1973).
1975 brought Paul's second nomination for the soundtrack from
Brian De Palma's cult classic,
Phantom of the Paradise (1974).
He not only wrote the words and music and produced the album for the
rock cantata, but also held the audience captive with his devious
portrayal of the evil Swan.
Paul went on to become the Music Supervisor for
A Star Is Born (1976), bringing
with it the challenge of working with three different composers to
produce its award-winning score. Williams and
Kenny Ascher won a Golden Globe Award for
"Best Motion Picture Score." "Evergreen," co-written with
Barbra Streisand, won the 1976 Oscar
for "Best Song of the Year." In 1980, Paul was once again nominated by
the Academy for the score from the box office smash hit,
The Muppet Movie (1979), for
"Best Original Score" as well as the song "Rainbow Connection" being
nominated for "Best Song." "The Muppet Movie" soundtrack went on to win
two Grammy Awards and became the biggest soundtrack album of the year,
exceeding sales of one million units. Paul reunited with Henson
Productions for the Disney feature film,
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
He wrote and produced the songs for the soundtrack which brought with
it yet another Grammy Award nomination for "Best Musical Album for
Children."
Paul's other film credits include the songs and score for
Bugsy Malone (1976), which starred
Jodie Foster and
Scott Baio. "Bugsy Malone" continues to be a
favorite of children's playhouses and theaters, worldwide. He co-wrote
the title song for "Flying Dreams" from
The Secret of NIMH (1982),
which was recently recorded as a duet by
Kenny Loggins and
Olivia Newton-John, and has written
songs for The End (1978),
Rocky IV (1985) and
Ishtar (1987). Paul collaborated with
Jerry Goldsmith on the title song for
The Sum of All Fears (2002).
The song is featured in the beginning of the movie with a Latin
translation and again at the end in English, performed by Electra
recording artist, Yolanda Adams.
This may very well be the first time in entertainment history where a
song has been presented in a film in two different languages. Paul
Williams began his career as an actor with his portrayal of a
12-year-old prodigy in
The Loved One (1965), playing
opposite Jonathan Winters. He
is probably best-known for his roles as Little Enos in the "Smokey and
the Bandit" movies, as well as the orangutan Virgil in
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).
In 1995, Paul received stellar reviews for his starring role as a
wheelchair-bound hostage in
Headless Body in Topless Bar (1995).
Paul is also remembered for his roles in
Oliver Stone's
The Doors (1991),
People Like Us (1990)
(the NBC miniseries based on the
Dominick Dunne bestseller), as the
fun-loving amphibian Gus in
Frog (1988) and
Frogs! (1993) and Freddie the
Bomb in Solar Crisis (1990). He
rarely passes up the opportunity to return to his early roots of acting
and played an emergency room doctor in
Roger Avary's
The Rules of Attraction (2002).
Paul is no stranger to the small screen. He has appeared on
Picket Fences (1992),
Dream On (1990),
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show (1997),
Boston Common (1996),
Walker, Texas Ranger (1993)
and
The Bold and the Beautiful (1987).
Many people are unaware that Paul has provided voice-overs for
countless animated series, some of which include his role as the
Penguin in
Batman: The Animated Series (1992),
and his recurring appearances in
Phantom 2040 (1994). Having
obtained his certification from UCLA as a drug and alcohol counselor,
Paul is very active on the speaker's circuit across the country.
Speaking from his personal experiences with his own addiction and the
knowledge that he gained through his education and his experience as a
counselor, Paul continues to touch the lives and hearts of many people
whose lives have been affected by drug abuse and/or alcoholism. He is
actively involved with the Musician's Assistance Program and is on the
Board of Directors for Community High School, a sober high school in
Nashville, Tennessee which offers the teens assistance with their
recovery as well as the education that they both strive for and
deserve.
Paul has appeared on
Prime Time Country (1996),
The Geraldo Rivera Show (1987) and
Primetime (1989), talking
about the devastating effects of drugs and alcohol and the increased
use of them amongst teens and pre-teens. Paul has been presented with
the Global Arts Award from the Friendly House for his efforts on their
behalf, the Spirit of Youth Award from the Pacific Boys Lodge for his
efforts and contributions and the "Celebration of Hope" award given to
him by Hazelden for his overall contribution in the recovery field.
Recovery is not simply a field that Paul is active in, it is one that
he is passionate about... this is just one way in which Paul gives of
himself to others.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Burly, talented character actor who remained consistently busy playing "rough edged" or scary characters, often on the wrong side of the law. Young was born on April 30, 1940, in New York City, the son of a high school shop teacher. He is of Italian descent. Young received his dramatic arts training under acting coach Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
Young first gathered notice playing tough thugs in such films as The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Across 110th Street (1972), Chinatown (1974) and The Gambler (1974). Director Sam Peckinpah cast Young as the getaway driver/assassin, "Mac", in The Killer Elite (1975), and Young came to the attention of newcomer Sylvester Stallone, who cast him as future
brother-in-law "Paulie" in the 1976 sleeper hit Rocky (1976).
Young was nominated for an Oscar, and has gone on to reprise the role in all five "Rocky" sequels to date! Peckinpah re-hired him to play renegade trucker "Pigpen" in the moderately successful Convoy (1978) (watch for "Pigpen's" Mack truck where the writing on the door states "Paulie Hauling"!).
Young also appeared in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).- A virile, beefcake blond of the late 1960s and 1970s small screen,
Dennis Cole certainly had it all going for him, but tragic
circumstances prevented an all-out successful career. A rugged TV
version of Robert Redford, his
tan, chiseled, surfer-fit looks were ideally suited for crime action
and adventure stories and he gained ground by appearing everywhere --
daytime soaps, prime-time series, mini-movies -- you name it.
The Detroit-born and -raised stunner was the son of Joseph C. Cole, a
musician during the 1940s and 1950s. His parents, both alcoholics,
divorced when he was young (his father later committed suicide). Dennis
was first noticed on the pages of physique magazines serving the likes
of Robert Henry Mizer (aka Bob Mizer)
and his Athletic Models Guild as well as other photographers. Paying
his dues as a motion picture and television stuntman, Cole also
appeared in an occasional bit part and in the background of a few movie
musicals. His photogenic appeal could not be denied for long and
eventually he took a front-and-center position, launching his acting
career on the short-lived daytime soap
Paradise Bay (1965) as a spoiled
rich boy who causes tongues to wag after falling for a Mexican girl.
However, it was the subsequent nighttime police series
The Felony Squad (1966) alongside
veterans Howard Duff and
Ben Alexander (of
Dragnet (1951) fame) that set Cole's
TV career in high gear. As hunky rookie detective Jim Briggs, Dennis
was able to ride high on the fame his two-and-a-half season series
offered.
With this success came two very short-lived series: the glossy ensemble
drama Bracken's World (1969)
and opposite Rod Taylor as a
trouble-prone stud in the more adventurous
Bearcats! (1971). Females couldn't
get enough of Cole and his athletic skills had males idolizing from
afar. Guest appearances on
Medical Center (1969),
Barnaby Jones (1973),
Police Story (1973),
Love, American Style (1969),
The Love Boat (1977),
The Streets of San Francisco (1972)
and Police Woman (1974) kept him
highly visible in between series runs. During this career peak, he made
his Broadway debut in "All the Girls Came Out to Play" in 1972. He also
decided to tap into his musical side and dabbled in his own musical
revue, which showcased on the Sunset Strip and in Las Vegas. A guest TV
appearance on
Charlie's Angels (1976) led
to his meeting and, in 1978, marrying "Angel"
Jaclyn Smith. As one of Hollywood's
more beautiful couples, they kept cameras flashing for a number of
years until their breakup and divorce in 1981.
The early 1980s started off well for Cole as replacement "Lance
Prentiss" in the soap-opera
The Young and the Restless (1973)
in 1981. Very much a product of TV, he was unable to permanently
transition into films; he appeared occasionally in dismissible
low-budget action fare such as
Amateur Night (1986),
Death House (1988),
Pretty Smart (1987),
Dead End City (1988) and
Fatal Encounter (1990). He
continued showing up on all the popular series of the day, including
Silk Stalkings (1991),
Murder, She Wrote (1984),
Pacific Blue (1996) and
Baywatch Nights (1995), among
others, while appearing in such legit stage plays as "The Tender Trap",
"Lovers and Other Strangers", "The Boys in the Band", and the British
farces "Run for You Life" and "Out of Order". Very much involved with
charity work, his endeavors over the years have included an
over-two-decade involvement with the Cancer Society (Honorary
Chairman), as well as the Arthritis and Cystic Fibrosis foundations.
Dennis' later personal and professional lives suffered as a result of a
chronic alcohol problem, but an even greater setback occurred when his
only child, Joey (whom he named after his father), was murdered during
a 1991 robbery attempt in Venice, California. He continued to perform
on TV and stage (as the "Narrator" in a production of "Blood Brothers"
and the James Garner "King Marchan" role in
the first national tour of the musical "Victor/Victoria"). Severe
injuries suffered while performing in the latter show led to multiple
surgeries, a three-year convalescence and a new direction.
Dennis returned to school and started up his own real estate company,
setting up an office in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Married for several years
to his third wife Marjorie ("Ree"), Dennis filed for divorce in May of
2007, which became final on April 21, 2008. He died at age 69 on
November 15, 2009, in a Fort Lauderdale hospital of liver failure. - Julie Sommars was born in Fremont, Nebraska to a government grain inspector and schoolteacher. She attended schools in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. While a student in Onawa, Iowa, her father, without her knowledge, entered her name in a worldwide talent hunt. Fifteen-year-old Julie found herself in Chicago auditioning for Otto Preminger for the lead role in his film "Saint Joan." She didn't get that part, but as a high school senior she did win the American Legion State Oratory Contest in Aberdeen, South Dakota. She was the only female winner in all of, what was then, the 48 states.
After graduation from high school, Julie took the Greyhound bus to California for a summer job teaching horseback riding and swimming, and attended San Bernardino Valley College. Her appearance in the play, "Our Town" led to her playing Loretta Young's daughter in an episode of the "Loretta Young Show." She was 19.
Her big break came in another talent hunt. She competed for and won the female lead in Ross Hunter's talent hunt for unknowns to play in his 1966 black comedy, "The Pad and How to Use It," based on the Peter Shaffer play, "The Private Ear."
In 1969 she starred in the comedy series, "The Governor and J.J." playing Dan Dailey's daughter, J. J. In 1970 she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, tying with Carol Burnett, as well as the Best New Star Award from the Television Critics Association for her role as J. J.
Julie also starred with Dean Jones and Don Knotts in the Disney movie "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo." Episodic television work includes roles in "Get Smart," "Barnaby Jones," "Harry O," "The Rockford Files," "McMillan and Wife," "McCloud," and "Magnum P.I." In the 1970s Julie starred in many movies for television, including "The Harness," "Five Desperate Women," "Cave-In," and "Centennial."
From 1987-1994 Julie joined Andy Griffith in "Matlock," playing his love interest Assistant District Attorney, Julie March. In 1990 she received her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama for the role.
Upon retiring, from March 1999 to March 2000, she served as a public member on the California Judicial Performance Commission. From 2000 to 2003, she served as a public member on The Board of Governors for the State of California.
In 2021 Julie lives in California with John Karns, her husband of 38 years. Between them they have three children, Jacey Erwin, Mike Karns, and Bill Karns. - Born in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center (Queens, New York City) on April 15, 1940, the son of actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker Jr. certainly had the right pedigree to make the grade in Hollywood. His parents separated when Robert was only three. Six years later, his mother married powerful film mogul David O. Selznick who by this time had already taken firm control of Jones's career.
Walker Jr. began training at the Actors' Studio in the early 1960s. He also married wife Ellie Wood in the early 1960s and they had
three children. Walker Jr. preferred to find his own place in the entertainment field and tried to avoid the obvious comparisons, but his startling resemblance to his late father made it extremely difficult for film audiences to separate the two. He started his film career in good company and with two strong roles in The Hook (1963), a morality story set during the Korean war starring Kirk Douglas and Nick Adams, and The Ceremony (1963) in which he received a Golden Globe Award for "promising newcomer" as Laurence Harvey's brother. Walker Jr. also worked on TV and earned a Theatre World Award for his
two 1964 off-Broadway roles in "I Knock at the Door" and "Pictures in the Hallway."
Of slight build and boyishly handsome, Robert Walker Jr. seemed on his way when he was handed the biggest challenge of his film career taking over Jack Lemmon's Oscar-winning role as Ensign Pulver (1964) in the sequel to the popular service comedy Mister Roberts (1955). Unfortunately, his comparison to Lemmon paled significantly and the script had neither the charm nor wit of its predecessor. The film and Walker were torpedoed by the reviewers and Walker lost major ground in Hollywood. Despite his obvious talent, his subsequent films lacked the quality and promise of his first two, which included The Happening (1967),
The Savage Seven (1968), Killers Three (1968) and the title role in Young Billy Young (1969) starring Robert Mitchum. He and his wife Ellie appeared in roles in the hit cult film Easy Rider (1969).
Walker Jr. had guest roles in many popular television series from the 1960s through the early 1990s. In The Big Valley (1965) episode, "My Son, My Son" (aired November 3, 1965), Walker portrayed Evan Miles, an emotionally disturbed college dropout who becomes obsessed with childhood friend Audra Barkley. He played the title role and another emotionally disturbed character, a troubled actor who lived and performed on the streets and in circuses, in Naked City (1958) episode "Dust Devil on a Quiet Street" (aired November 28, 1962). He had a memorable role in Star Trek (1966) as "Charles 'Charlie' Evans" in the episode "Charlie X" (aired September 15, 1966). In addition, he played Billy the Kid in episode 22 of The Time Tunnel (1966), which originally aired on February 10, 1967. He portrayed Nick Baxter, an ill alien who caused the deaths of humans by touch, in the episode "Panic" in the television series The Invaders (1967) (aired April 11, 1967). He played Mark Cole in the October 29, 1967 episode of Bonanza (1959), titled "The Gentle Ones". He appeared in a pivotal role on the Columbo (1971) episode "Mind Over Mayhem" (1974) and in the 5th season of Combat! (1962) in the episode "Ollie Joe". His final television appearances were in the 1990s, in L.A. Law (1986), FBI: The Untold Stories (1991), Santa Barbara (1984), The New Lassie (1989), The New Adam-12 (1990), and In the Heat of the Night (1988). - Writer
- Director
- Producer
Dario Argento was born on September 7, 1940, in Rome, Italy, the
first-born son of famed Italian producer
Salvatore Argento and Brazilian
fashion model Elda Luxardo. Argento recalls getting his ideas for
filmmaking from his close-knit family from Italian folk tales told by
his parents and other family members, including an aunt who told him
frighting bedtime stories. Argento based most of his thriller movies on
childhood trauma, yet his own--according to him--was a normal one.
Along with tales spun by his aunt, Argento was impressed by stories
from The Grimm Brothers,
Hans Christian Andersen and
Edgar Allan Poe. Argento started his
career writing for various film journal magazines while still in his
teens attending a Catholic high school. After graduation, instead of
going to college, Argento took a job as a columnist for the Rome daily
newspaper "Paese Sera". Inspired by the movies, he later found work as
a screenwriter and wrote several screenplays for a number of films, but
the most important were his western collaborations, which included
Cemetery Without Crosses (1969)
and the Sergio Leone masterpiece
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
After its release Argento wrote and directed his first movie,
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970),
which starred Tony Musante and and British
actress Suzy Kendall. It's a loose
adoption on Fredric Brown's novel "The
Screaming Mimi", which was made for his father's film company. Argento
wanted to direct the movie himself because he did not want any other
director messing up the production and his screenplay.
After "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" became an international hit,
Argento followed up with two more thrillers,
The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971),
starring
'Karl Madlen' (qv" and 'James Fransiscus',
and
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
("Four Flies On Black Velvet"), both backed by his father Salvatore.
Argento then directed the TV drama
Testimone oculare (1973)
and the historical TV drama
The Five Days (1973). He
then went back to directing so-called "giallo" thrillers, starting with
Deep Red (1975), a violent
mystery-thriller starring
David Hemmings that inspired a
number of international directors in the thriller-horror genre. His
next work was Suspiria (1977), a surreal
horror film about a witch's coven that was inspired by the Gothic fairy
tales of the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson, which he also
wrote in collaboration with his girlfriend, screenwriter/actress
Daria Nicolodi, who acted in "Profondo
Rosso" ("Deep Red") and most of Argento's films from then to the late
1980s. Argento advanced the unfinished trilogy with
Inferno (1980), before returning to the
"giallo" genre with the gory
Tenebrae (1982), and then with the
haunting Phenomena (1985).
The lukewarm reviews for his films, however, caused Argento to slip
away from directing to producing and co-writing two
Lamberto Bava horror flicks,
Demons (1985) and
Demons 2 (1986).
Argento returned to directing with the "giallo" thriller
Opera (1987), which according to him was "a
very unpleasant experience", and no wonder: a rash of technical
problems delayed production, the lead actress
Vanessa Redgrave dropped out
before filming was to begin, Argento's father Salvatore died during
filming and his long-term girlfriend Daria broke off their
relationship. After the commercial box-office failure of "Opera",
Argento temporarily settled in the US, where he collaborated with
director George A. Romero on
the two-part horror-thriller
Two Evil Eyes (1990)
(he had previously collaborated with Romero on the horror action
thriller
Dawn of the Dead (1978)). While
still living in America, Argento appeared in small roles in several
films and directed another violent mystery thriller,
Trauma (1993), which starred his youngest
daughter Asia Argento from his long-term
relationship with Nicolodi.
Argento returned to Italy in 1995, where he made a comeback in the
horror genre with
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
and then with another version of "The Phantom of the Opera",
The Phantom of the Opera (1998),
both of which starred Asia. Most recently, Argento directed a number of
"giallo" mystery thrillers such as
Sleepless (2001),
The Card Player (2003) and
Ti piace Hitchcock? (2005),
as well as two gory, supernatural-themed episodes of the USA TV cable
anthology series
Masters of Horror (2005).
Having always wanted to make a third chapter to his "Three Mothers"
horror films, Argento finally completed the trilogy in 2007 with the
release of Mother of Tears (2007),
which starred Asia Argento as a young woman trying to identify and stop
the last surviving evil witch from taking over the world. In addition
to his Gothic and violent style of storytelling, "La terza madre" has
many references to two of his previous films, "Suspiria" (1997) and
"Inferno" (1980), which is a must for fans of the trilogy.
His movies may be regarded by some critics and opponents as cheap and
overly violent, but second or third viewings show him to be a talented
writer/director with a penchant for original ideas and creative
directing.- A sultry, doe-eyed brunette with high cheekbones, she was one of the top haute couture models of the 1960s and early 70s. Her face graced the covers of Vogue, Petra, Jardin des Modes and Cosmopolitan. She modeled for famous fashion brands like Nina Ricci and Jean Patou and also advertised exclusive accessories.
German-born Astrid Heeren began her career as a draftsperson for the BBC. She subsequently attended the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe but did not complete her studies. Moving to Paris, she began her modeling career with Vogue and was in due course spotted by the film maker Roger Vadim who cast her in his wartime drama Vice and Virtue (1963). Astrid made just three more films. Her best known role was as Steve McQueen 's girlfriend Gwen in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). After 1972, she continued to be involved with the fashion industry, as well as interior design, and has latterly resided in Manhattan, New York. - Actor
- Producer
- Writer
David Jason was born in Edmonton, London, in 1940. He has become one of
Britain's most famous, versatile and respected actors, who
is most famous for his role in Only Fools and Horses (1981) as Del Boy. He made his
debut in the series in 1981 and was still playing the same role up to
the Christmas special in 2002. His big break came in the 1967
children's comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967) starring alongside members of the Monty
Python team: Terry Jones; Eric Idle, and Michael Palin.
Sadly, in 1990, he spent time away from work to nurse Myfanwy Talog, the
Welsh actress who was his long time partner, before she died of cancer
at the age of 49. He has come a long way from his days as an
electrician and has won numerous awards for his work. He has managed to
combine the comedy aspect of his career with rather more serious roles,
such as that of Jack Frost in the highly-rated detective series A Touch of Frost (1992)
and has proved that he is a man of many talents. In the mid 1970s, he performed as Blanco, an elderly prisoner, in episodes of
Porridge (1974) with Ronnie Barker. He has also done voice work in children's TV.
He has not really concentrated on films, although he was very
impressive in the TV film All the King's Men (1999), playing Frank Beck, the
Commander of the Sandringham Company who mysteriously disappeared
whilst in action in The Great War campaign in Gallipoli in 1915.
He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife, Gill Hinchcliffe and their
daughter, Sophie Mae, who was born in 2001. His hobbies are a little
DIY and gardening. He was knighted in 2005, becoming Sir David Jason.- Phyllis Davis was one of the loveliest faces in Hollywood during the late 60s-early 80s. She grew up in Nederland, Texas. The family lived on the second floor of her parents' mortuary business. Phyllis and her two younger brothers learnt how to be quiet during services, as the floors would creak. Phyllis attended Lamar College briefly, then went to Los Angeles in the mid-'60s to pursue a career in film and TV. She attended acting classes at the Pasadena Playhouse. Phyllis' first break began with small parts in Elvis Presley movies. Love, American Style (1969) were holding auditions for the show. 200 actresses had already been tested and rejected. Phyllis put on a bathing suit and was hired on the spot. After a five season run with Love, American Style (1969), Phyllis started to get some small movie roles. Phyllis was hired - and actually signed a contract, for the James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever (1971), only to be told shortly afterwards the producers had dropped her, and hired Lana Wood to replace her. Still, Phyllis received residual checks for the film, as she had a signed contract. She had a chance encounter with Candy Spelling, wife ofAaron Spelling, who was then casting for a new TV series called, Vega$ (1978). Phyllis got the role of Beatrice, or Bea, for the series' run. After working on a regular series, Phyllis appeared in a few Aaron Spelling made-for-TV movies. Sadly, Phyllis kept her battle with cancer extremely private,, and after her passing away in 2013, there was some confusion as to which 'Phyllis Davis'had died.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Collins entered motion pictures as a stripper in the exploitation film, Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1966), and television, as a maid in the British drama series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971). In 1988, she starred in the one-woman play 'Shirley Valentine' in London, and soon after, brought the role to Broadway, winning a Tony Award. She collected a BAFTA Film Award and was nominated an Academy Award for her performance in the film version, Shirley Valentine (1989). Several stage, film and television performances followed.- Actor
- Producer
Richard Hugh Lynch was born on February 12, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York
City, to Irish immigrant parents. He was one of seven children. Before starting a career as an
actor, he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1958. He served for
four years where he made Corporal, and did a tour of the Middle East
with the Sixth Fleet. He began his training with
Herbert Berghof and
Uta Hagen at H.B. Studios in New York's
Greenwich Village, and later went on to train extensively with
Lee Strasberg at Carnegie Hall. In 1970,
he became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and spent years in the
New York theater community playing in dozens of on- and off-Broadway
productions. The more notable plays were: "The Basic Training of Pavlo
Hummel", "The Lion in Winter", "The Devils", "The Lady from the Sea",
"Action", "Live Like Pigs", "Richard III", "Offi on a Tangerine", "A
View from the Bridge", "The Man with the Flower in His Mouth", and
Shelley Winters' "One Night Stands of a
Noisy Passenger".
Lynch made his film debut in the classic film
Scarecrow (1973), winner of the Grand
Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His performance in Scarecrow
launched his film career and brought him to Hollywood, where he has
worked in film and television for over twenty years. His more prominent
film work has been in:
The Seven-Ups (1973),
Open Season (1974),
The Formula (1980),
Invasion U.S.A. (1985),
Bad Dreams (1988),
Little Nikita (1988), Dostoyevsky's
Crime and Punishment (2002),
and William Peter Blatty's
The Ninth Configuration (1980).
His performance as the evil King Cromwell, in the successful fantasy
film
The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982),
won him the Saturn Award for Best Actor from the Academy of Science
Fiction and Fantasy. Although best known for playing villains, he was
cast as the President of the United States in
Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy (2007).
He also starred in numerous television series and Movies of the Week,
such as
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (1980),
Sizzle (1981),
Vampire (1979),
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979),
Battlestar Galactica (1978),
and the
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
two-part episode "Gambit". His work in a variety of independent films
has won him a high profile internationally. He has also worked in
China, where he played in the first joint production between the Screen
Actors' Guild and the People's Republic of China, The Korean Project.
In his spare time, Richard enjoys fishing, the arts, architecture,
music and poetry. He is also fluent in several languages including
German and Italian.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
James L. Brooks was born on 9 May 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Broadcast News (1987), As Good as It Gets (1997) and Terms of Endearment (1983). He was previously married to Holly Holmberg Brooks and Marianne Catherine Morrissey.- Rugged-looking James Gammon first broke into the entertainment industry
not as an actor but as a TV cameraman. From there, his weatherbeaten
features, somewhat menacing attitude and a tough-as-nails voice--the
kind that used to be described in detective novels as
"whiskey-soaked"--reminiscent of
'40s noir icon Charles McGraw
got him work in front of the cameras in TV westerns (though he sounds
as if he's from Texas or Oklahoma, he was actually born and raised in
Illinois) and he made his film debut in 1967. Not the kind of guy you'd
see in a tuxedo in a Noël Coward
drawing-room comedy--unless he was one of a gang holding them
up--Gammon could play lighter parts also, as evidenced by his work as
the manager in the baseball comedy
Major League (1989) and in his
regular role as Don Johnson's
rambunctious father in Johnson's
Nash Bridges (1996) series. - Producer
- Writer
- Director
George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and his mother was Lithuanian. He grew up in New York until attending the renowned Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.
After graduation he began shooting mostly short films and commercials. He and his friends formed Image Ten Productions in the late 1960s and they all chipped in roughly $10,000 apiece to produce what became one of the most celebrated American horror films of all time: Night of the Living Dead (1968). Shot in black-and-white on a budget of just over $100,000, Romero's vision, combined with a solid script written by him and his "Image" co-founder John A. Russo (along with what was then considered an excess of gore), enabled the film to earn back far more than what it cost; it became a cult classic by the early 1970s and was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress of the United States in 1999. Romero's next films were a little more low-key but less successful, including The Affair (1971), The Crazies (1973), Season of the Witch (1972) (where he met future wife Christine Forrest) and Martin (1977). Though not as acclaimed as "Night of the Living Dead" or some of his later work, these films had his signature social commentary while dealing with issues--usually horror-related--at the microscopic level. Like almost all of his films, they were shot in, or around, Romero's favorite city of Pittsburgh.
In 1978 he returned to the zombie genre with the one film of his that would top the success of "Night of the Living Dead"--Dawn of the Dead (1978). He managed to divorce the franchise from Image Ten, which screwed up the copyright on the original and allowed the film to enter into public domain, with the result that Romero and his original investors were not entitled to any profits from the film's video releases. Shot in the Monroeville (PA) Mall during late-night hours, the film told the tale of four people who escape a zombie outbreak and lock themselves up inside what they think is paradise before the solitude makes them victims of their own, and a biker gang's, greed. Made on a budget of just $1.5 million, the film earned over $40 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films by Entertainment Weekly magazine in 2003. It also marked Romero's first work with brilliant make-up and effects artist Tom Savini. After 1978, Romero and Savini teamed up many times. The success of "Dawn of the Dead" led to bigger budgets and better casts for the filmmaker. First was Knightriders (1981), where he first worked with an up-and-coming Ed Harris. Then came perhaps his most Hollywood-like film, Creepshow (1982), which marked the first--but not the last--time Romero adapted a work by famed horror novelist Stephen King. With many major stars and big-studio distribution, it was a moderate success and spawned a sequel, which was also written by Romero.
The decline of Romero's career came in the late 1980s. His last widely-released film was the next "Dead" film, Day of the Dead (1985). Derided by critics, it did not take in much at the box office, either. His latest two efforts were The Dark Half (1993) (another Stephen King adaptation) and Bruiser (2000). Even the Romero-penned/Tom Savini-directed remake of Romero's first film, Night of the Living Dead (1990), was a box-office failure. Pigeon-holed solely as a horror director and with his latest films no longer achieving the success of his earlier "Dead" films, Romero has not worked much since, much to the chagrin of his following. In 2005, 19 years after "Day of the Dead", with major-studio distribution he returned to his most famous series and horror sub-genre it created with Land of the Dead (2005), a further exploration of the destruction of modern society by the undead, that received generally positive reviews. He directed two more "Dead" films, Diary of the Dead (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2009).
George died on July 16, 2017, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was 77.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
From February 2014 Dakin is taking on the iconic role of Mickey, the
grizzled no-mercy trainer in ROCKY, THE MUSICAL at Broadway's Winter
Gardens Theatre. This role was originally played by veteran screen
actor Burgess Meredith in the original 1976 movie and he received an
Academy award nomination for his achievement.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Stuart Margolin, the Emmy Award-winning actor and director, was born in
Davenport, Iowa. He won two Best Supporting Actor Emmies playing
James Garner's former cell-mate
"Angel" Martin in
The Rockford Files (1974).
Margolin made his debut in
The Gertrude Berg Show (1961)
before becoming a series regular on
Ensign O'Toole (1962) the
following year. His acting career has now spanned more than 50 years.
Most of Margolin's work has been on television, where he also has
worked as a director since he helmed an episode of
Love, American Style (1969)
in 1973. He has been directing episodic TV and made-for-TV movies for
37 years. He has been nominated twice for directing Emmies: in 1987 for
a Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music
Program for
The Tracey Ullman Show (1987)
and in 1999 and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a
Children's Special for
The Sweetest Gift (1998).