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- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tall (5'10"), lovely, statuesque Seattle native Jean Elizabeth Smart was born on September 13, 1951. The second of four children born to a teacher and his wife, she developed an early interest in acting and attended the University of Washington following her graduation from Seattle's Ballard High School. She attained a BA degree in fine arts there.
Jean's first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she went on to perform in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," among others. During the late 1970's she built up a strong resume in regional theater with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre ("Equus," "Fallen Angels"), ACT ("A Christmas Carol"), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (as Lady Macbeth), Alaska Repertory Theatre ("Terra Nova"), and Alliance Theatre ("A History of the American Film"). Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast.
Jean made a highly auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf" starring Jane Lapotaire, and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show, Piaf (1984), that brought about major Hollywood interest. A regular on the short-lived sitcoms Teachers Only (1982), Reggie (1983) and Maximum Security (1984), Jean hit pure gold in her fourth attempt as the delightfully ditzy Charlene Frazier on Designing Women (1986). The show was an instant hit and it was here that she would meet future husband Richard Gilliland, who played the recurring role of co-player Annie Potts' boyfriend J.D. for several seasons.
Feeling confined and fearing typecasting, Jean left the show in 1991 to find more challenging work. She drew major acclaim, giving a chilling portrayal of a true-to-life serial killer in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), long before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her equally chilling cinematic version. In other TV movies, Jean earned strong applause for her roles as a mentally challenged woman in The Yarn Princess (1994); as a concerned rural mother in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic The Yearling (1994); as an attorney involved in a high-profile murder case in Undue Influence (1996); as a wife who discovers her longtime husband is gay in A Change of Heart (1998); co-starring with real-life husband Richard Gilliland in Audrey's Rain (2003) as new parents after her sister commits suicide; and as an FBI profiler in Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong (2003).
On stage, Jean she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman classic comedy farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane. The Broadway show was later made as a TV movie, The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), with both Lane and Smart.
Having made her debut with a small role in the crimer Hoodlums (1980), films would never be as strong a venue for Jean as the stage or TV. She did, however, show off her versatility in both comedy and drama with secondary roles with such films as Flashpoint (1984), the Goldie Hawn vehicle Protocol (1984), Fire with Fire (1986), Project X (1987), Mistress (1992), Edie & Pen (1996) and The Odd Couple II (1998). Jean topped the decade off well with two independent films -- earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as Sarah Polley's ill-natured mother in Guinevere (1999), and first-billed in the mother/daughter road trip dramedy Forever Fabulous (1999) co-starring Jennifer Elise Cox.
Remaining extremely busy into the millennium, Jean went on to win bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier (1993) and earned two more Emmy nominations for her potent perms in the crime drama 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. She also graced a host of other series with regular/recurring roles on the romantic comedy In-Laws (2002); the crimer The District (2000); the family comedy Center of the Universe (2004) (co-starring John Goodman); the animated program Kim Possible (2002) (as the voice of Dr. Ann Possible); the mystery comedy Samantha Who? (2007) starring Christina Applegate; the revamped crimer Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (as the governor); the crime dramedy Harry's Law (2011); the dark thriller Fargo (2014); the action sci-fi drama Legion (2017); and the detective series Mare of Easttown (2021).
More recent films include Youth in Revolt (2009), Barry Munday (2010), Hope Springs (2012), Waking (2013), Warren (2014), Miss Meadows (2014), The Accountant (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Brampton's Own (2018).
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She has two children with her late husband Richard, son Connor and adopted son (from China) Forrest.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Lili Reinhart was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and at an early age, developed a passion for the performing arts. Lili took dance classes for 10 years and also performed in many local musicals before she signed with her first agency in Cleveland when she was 11. She traveled from Ohio to New York almost once a month for over a year to audition for numerous projects that she and her Mom found on online casting websites. It was in New York where she met her manager, Dara Gordon, in 2011. After meeting Gordon, Lili soon signed with ICM. She later switched to UTA.- Mitch Holleman was born in Auburn, Alabama, USA on Tuesday, September 13th, 1994. He began begging to be on television at the tender age of two. His family moved to Naples, Florida, USA and he signed with a Miami, Florida, based talent agency. By four, he had booked two national commercials for Nickelodeon and Burger King. A trip with his mother to New York resulted in numerous commercials and a guest-starring role on The Sopranos (1999). His big break came at age five when he landed a series regular role on Daddio (2000). Since then, he has also appeared in the feature film comedy The Animal (2001) starring Rob Schneider & the big screen comedy program of Bubble Boy. Then he earned the character role of "Jake Hart", on Reba (2001)'s weekly series starring Reba McEntire's third and youngest child & only son. His two elder sibling sister character first names were "Cheyenne" & "Kyra".
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jacqueline Bisset has been an international film star since the late '60s. She received her first roles mainly because of her stunning beauty, but over time she has become a fine actress respected by fans and critics alike. Bisset has worked with directors John Huston, François Truffaut, George Cukor and Roman Polanski. Her co-stars have included Anthony Quinn, Paul Newman, Nick Nolte, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Kenneth Branagh and Marcello Mastroianni.
Her somewhat French-sounding name has led many to assume that she is from France, but she was brought up in England and had to study to learn French. Her mother was French and was an attorney before being married. As a child Jacqueline studied ballet. During her teenage years her father left the family when her mother was diagnosed with disseminating sclerosis; Jacqueline worked as a model to support her ailing mother and eventually her parents divorced, an experience she has said she considered character-strengthening. She took an early interest in film, and her modeling career helped pay for acting lessons.
In 1967 Bisset gained her first critical attention in Two for the Road (1967), and that same year appeared in the popular James Bond spoof Casino Royale (1967), playing Miss Goodthighs. In 1968 her career got a boost when Mia Farrow unexpectedly dropped out of the shooting of The Detective (1968); Farrow's marriage to co-star Frank Sinatra was on the rocks, and her role was eventually given to Bisset, who received special billing in the film's credits. In the following year she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer for The Sweet Ride (1968) and gained even more attention playing opposite Steve McQueen in the popular action film Bullitt (1968). In 1970 she was featured in the star-studded disaster film Airport (1970) and had the main role in The Grasshopper (1970). Then she co-starred with Alan Alda in the well-reviewed but commercially underperforming horror movie, The Mephisto Waltz (1971). In 1973 she became recognized in Europe as a serious actress when she played the lead in Truffaut's Day for Night (1973). However, it would be several years before her talents would be taken seriously in the US. Though she scored another domestic hit with Murder on the Orient Express (1974), her part in it, as had often been the case, was decorative. She did appear to good effect in Believe in Me (1971), Le Magnifique (1973), The Sunday Woman (1975) and St. Ives (1976).
Jacqueline's stunning looks and figure made quite a splash in The Deep (1977). Her underwater swimming scenes in that movie inspired the worldwide wet T-shirt craze, and Newsweek magazine declared her "the most beautiful film actress of all time." The film's producer, Peter Guber, said "That T-shirt made me a rich man." However, she hated the wet T-shirt scenes because she felt exploited. At the time of filming she was not told that the filmmakers would shoot the scenes in such a provocative way, and she felt tricked. On the plus side, the huge success of the picture made Bisset officially bankable. She was next seen in high-profile roles in The Greek Tycoon (1978), a thinly disguised fictionalization of the marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy.
In the early '80s, Bisset starred in the box office disasters When Time Ran Out... (1980) and Inchon (1981), but her well-received turn opposite Candice Bergen in Rich and Famous (1981) between those two films helped gain her recognition as a serious actress from American audiences. She rebounded neatly with Class (1983) and Under the Volcano (1984), getting a Golden Globe nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the latter. She also earned praise for her work in the excellent made-for-cable WWII drama Forbidden (1984), then appeared on network TV in adaptations of Anna Karenina (1985) with Christopher Reeve and Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987) with Armand Assante. In 1989 she co-starred in the raunchy yet witty comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989) and the erotic thriller Wild Orchid (1989), neither of which fared too well, but her output remained consistent. As she transitioned seamlessly out of her ingenue years, smaller-scale productions such as CrimeBroker (1993) and Leave of Absence (1994) would provide Bisset with plum roles, even if they went largely unseen.
In 1996 she was nominated for a César Award, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for her performance in Claude Chabrol's La Cérémonie (1995). She held roles in period pieces like Dangerous Beauty (1998), as well as the Biblical epics Jesus (1999) and In the Beginning (2000). Other notable credits included the miniseries Joan of Arc (1999) alongside Leelee Sobieski, which gained her an Emmy nomination, and The Sleepy Time Gal (2001), which premiered at Sundance but unfortunately was not picked up for theatrical distribution. In 2005 Jacqueline was back on the big screen, playing Keira Knightley's mother in the Domino Harvey biopic Domino (2005) for Tony Scott. In 2006 she appeared in the fourth season of Nip/Tuck (2003) as the ruthless extortionist "James." Bisset then turned in strong performances in Boaz Yakin's disturbing independent drama Death in Love (2008) and the telepic An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (2008), garnering accolades for both. In 2013 she appeared in BBC's program Dancing on the Edge (2013), for which she finally won her first Golden Globe. She followed that up with the movies Welcome to New York (2014) with Gérard Depardieu and Miss You Already (2015) with Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette.
2016 saw the long-awaited release of Linda Yellen's comedy The Last Film Festival (2016), where Jacqueline was a riot as a washed-up Italian diva alongside Dennis Hopper in his final role. Since then she's kept busy on the indie circuit, appearing in Backstabbing for Beginners (2018) with Ben Kingsley, Here and Now (2018) with Sarah Jessica Parker, and Asher (2018) with Ron Perlman and Famke Janssen, as well as the Amazon original movie Birds of Paradise (2021) and a title role in Loren & Rose (2022).
Bisset has never married, but has been involved in long-term romantic relationships with Canadian actor Michael Sarrazin, Moroccan entrepreneur Victor Drai, Russian ballet dancer Alexander Godunov, Swiss actor Vincent Perez and Turkish martial arts instructor Emin Boztepe. She continues to make numerous films, and frequently participates in film festivals and award ceremonies around the world.- Actor
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Towering 7' 2" tall actor who cornered the market on playing giants, intimidating henchmen, bayou swamp monsters and steel toothed villains! Kiel worked in numerous jobs including as a night club bouncer and a cemetery plot salesman, before breaking into film & TV in several minor roles in the late 1950s / early 1960s. Noted among these was the alien "Kanamit" in the classic The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "To Serve Man", and terrorizing Arch Hall Jr. while clad in a loincloth in the prehistoric caveman meets virile teenage drama Eegah (1962).
Kiel turned up in two episodes of the classic horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974). On one occasion playing a Native American evil spirit with the ability to transform into various animals. On his second appearance, Kiel was unrecognizable as a Spanish moss covered, Louisiana swamp monster brought to life by a patient involved in deep sleep therapy.
However, his biggest break came in 1977 when he was cast as the unstoppable, steel toothed henchman "Jaws" in the finest Roger Moore film of the Bond series The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Such was Kiel's popularity with movie audiences, that his character was brought back for the next Bond outing Moonraker (1979). However, audiences were quite split on opinions when Kiel's "Jaws" character changes sides near the film's conclusion and assists 007, Roger Moore, in saving the Earth.
Over the next few years, Kiel appeared in relatively non-demanding comedy or fantasy type films taking advantage of his physical stature and presence. Kiel then decided to try his hand behind the camera and co-wrote and produced, plus took the lead role, in the well received family movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1990). Demand for Kiel's unique attributes dropped very sharply in the 1990's, leading to only a handful of roles including reprising his "Jaws" character in the Matthew Broderick film Inspector Gadget (1999). In 2002, Kiel penned his informative autobiography entitled "Making it BIG in the movies". He passed away in 2014.- Actress
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Louise Lombard lived and breathed the arts from an early age, and projected extreme versatility in many arenas. A trained dancer and actress from childhood, Lombard displayed a remarkable predilection for emotionally and psychologically challenging characters. After appearing in the BBC series Casualty and Bergerac, the ITV show Capital City, and the ITV movies Catherine Cookson's A Black Velvet Gown, and Perfect Scoundrels: Sweeter Than Wine, Lombard landed a leading role in the TV series Chancer, opposite Clive Owen. Lombard then broke through to national fame in 1991, with the lead role of Evangeline Eliott in the three-season House of Eliott series on the BBC. For the remainder of the 1990s, Lombard sought out a series of highly individualized and intelligent projects, including taking the role of Lady Macbeth in a BBC production of Macbeth, Elizabeth Gill's 1997 ensemble drama Gold in the Streets and the ITV series Bodyguards (as one of the toughs of the title). After two years as a literature student at Cambridge University (as well as studying photography and print work at St. Martin's College), Lombard spent the first few years of the new millennium branching out into more internationally oriented roles, including After the Rain (a harrowing story set in South Africa during apartheid) Ellen Brachman in the movie Claim (2000), and the role of Kath in My Kingdom (2001), a highly modernized adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear with Richard Harris. American viewers, however, will most closely associate Lombard with the romantic lead of Lady Anne Davenport in the Viggo Mortensen period adventure saga Hidalgo (2004), and the role of Dr. Harriet Fellows, a physician who assists crash survivor Alec Baldwin, in the TNT movie Second Nature (2003). In 2004 Louise began the recurring role of Sophia Curtis in CSI. Louise remained on CSI until 2008, when she left to shoot a TV pilot for ABC, playing the title role in Judy's got a Gun. Louise then returned to the UK to play the lead role in the BBC movie, Kiss of Death. She recently played Macy in NCIS for CBS and Robert Carlyle's dying wife in Stargate Universe.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Barbara Bain was born in Chicago, graduating from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. She then relocated to New York City where she gained work as a dancer and high-fashion model. Ms. Bain studied with Martha Graham, permanently cementing her love of dance; however, it was with Lee Strasberg at the prestigious Actors Studio that she discovered her true first love - acting. She is probably best known for her work in the landmark television series Mission: Impossible (1966), created by Bruce Geller, where she created the pivotal role of Impossible Missions Force Agent "Cinnamon Carter", and, in the process, became the first actress in the history of television to receive three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Dramatic Actress. Ms. Bain followed with the role of "Dr. Helena Russell" in the now classic British syndicated science fiction television series Space: 1999 (1975), created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson. Her stage work has garnered her Los Angeles Critic's Circle and DramaLogue Awards for her work on Arthur Kopit's "Wings", Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" and Eugène Ionesco's "The Chairs". Ms. Bain has worked on behalf of numerous charitable causes and is the founder of the Screen Actors Guild's "BookPals" Program which currently has some 300 of her colleagues reading to children in Los Angeles schools. Following the success of the program there, she helped the program to develop in other major cities throughout North America.- Actor
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Louis Mandylor is most recognized for his leading credits in a variety of highly acclaimed, award-winning films and television series, including the Academy Award-nominated box office smash hit comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), and its sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016).
Additionally, he is known for his leading credits in the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated series CSI: Miami (2002) and CSI: NY (2004), in Friends (1994) as "Joey's Twin," in the ALMA Award-winning drama sports film Price of Glory (2000), in the CBS hit show Martial Law (1998) with Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, and in Can't Hurry Love (1995) with Mariska Hargitay and Nancy McKeon; also, recently claiming some praise reviews for The Debt Collector (2018).
Louis Mandylor as Sue in The Debt Collector (2018): ". . . I thought Mandylor's monologue about why he drinks was one of the finest acting moments of his career and was genuinely moving. . . ." -Theactionelite.com
". . . Mandylor stands tall next to Adkins as French's grizzled and burnt out guide through this new shady world he finds himself in. The two have a genuine chemistry that makes every scene they play off each other feel fun and breezy. . . ." -Aintitcool.com
". . . Mandylor's grizzled veteran collector is the perfect foil to the fresh-faced Brit. . . ." -Cityonfire.com
Mandylor also just finished filming Doom: Annihilation (2019) for Universal.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Ann Dusenberry is the daughter of Bruce and Katie Dusenberry. Dusenberry studied theater arts for four years, first at the University of Arizona, then Occidental College, where she earned her degree. She got her first role by circulating her resume and photograph within the Universal Studios offices using internal envelopes obtained by her boyfriend, a truck driver for Universal. She then signed a seven-year contract with Universal.
Dusenberry made her acting debut in 1975 with a small role as a barmaid in the film White Line Fever. She gained attention in 1978 for the role of Tina Wilcox in the horror film Jaws 2, the sequel to Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic. Dusenberry was hired as a contract actress by Universal for the role. Due to the long shooting time away from her home in Los Angeles, she actually had no interest in playing the role. While the film originally directed by John D. Hancock, he was fired after a short time of shooting and replaced by Jeannot Szwarc. This also resulted in the dismissal of many actors who had already signed on. Dusenberry's role, Tina Wilcox, however, was still expanded during script changes and she received co-starring credit. She had another success in 1978 with the role of Amy March in the miniseries Little Women, an adaptation of the novel of the same name. She also took on the role in the short-lived 1979 television series based on it, which failed to match the miniseries' success and was canceled after 4 episodes.
Dusenberry's best-known film appearances in the 1980s include her role as Stevie in Heart Beat alongside Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek, and as Valerie in Cutter's Way alongside Jeff Bridges. In the 1986 film The Men's Club, she again starred alongside Roy Scheider, her co-star from Jaws 2. In addition to her appearances in films, she mainly played roles for television. In 1977 she starred alongside Harrison Ford, shortly before the latter's breakthrough with Star Wars, in the television thriller The Possessed. Other television roles included that of Amory (aka Angel Collins) in Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977) and the dual role of Joy Morgan and Elaine Steel in Killjoy (1981) alongside Kim Basinger. She also appeared in numerous successful series of the period, including Magnum, P.I. (1982), Remington Steele (1983) and Murder, She Wrote (1986 and 1987). In 1986, she starred as the daughter of Lucille Ball's character in the short-lived series Life with Lucy.
After co-starring in the 1992 thriller Play Nice and a guest appearance in the series The Commish (1992), she retired from acting in front of the camera in the early 1990s. However, Dusenberry continues to be active as a stage actress. Among other roles, she played Mrs. Gibbs in the play Our Town (1998). Other plays have included 2014's Noises Off and 2021's Ripcord.
She is married to composer Brad Fiedel, with whom she lives in Santa Barbara, California. They have two daughters named Alixandra and Zoe. She received an MA degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and works as Artistic Director of the Actors' Conservatory Theatre in Santa Barbara.- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of the brightest film stars to grace the screen was born Emilie Claudette Chauchoin on September 13, 1903, in Saint Mandé, France where her father owned a bakery at 57, rue de la République (now Avenue Général de Gaulle). The family moved to the United States when she was three. As Claudette grew up, she wanted nothing more than to play to Broadway audiences (in those days, any actress or actor worth their salt went for Broadway, not Hollywood). After her formal education ended, she enrolled in the Art Students League, where she paid for her dramatic training by working in a dress shop. She made her Broadway debut in 1923 in the stage production of "The Wild Wescotts". It was during this event that she adopted the name Claudette Colbert.
When the Great Depression shut down most of the theaters, Claudette decided to make a go of it in films. Her first film was called For the Love of Mike (1927). Unfortunately, it was a box-office disaster. She wasn't real keen on the film industry, but with an extreme scarcity in theatrical roles, she had no choice but to remain. In 1929 she starred as Joyce Roamer in The Lady Lies (1929). The film was a success and later that year she had another hit entitled The Hole in the Wall (1929). In 1930 she starred opposite Fredric March in Manslaughter (1930), which was a remake of the silent version of eight years earlier. A year after that Claudette was again paired in a film with March, Honor Among Lovers (1931). It fared well at the box-office, probably only because it was the kind of film that catered to women who enjoyed magazine fiction romantic stories. In 1932 Claudette played the evil Poppeia in Cecil B. DeMille's last great work, The Sign of the Cross (1932), and once again was cast with March. Later the same year she was paired with Jimmy Durante in The Phantom President (1932). By now Claudette's name symbolized good movies and she, along with March, pulled crowds into the theaters with the acclaimed Tonight Is Ours (1933).
The next year started a little on the slow side with the release of Four Frightened People (1934), where Claudette and her co-stars were at odds with the dreaded bubonic plague on board a ship. However, the next two films were real gems for this young actress. First up, Claudette was charming and radiant in Cecil B. DeMille's spectacular Cleopatra (1934). It wasn't one of DeMille's finest by any means, but it was a financial success and showcased Claudette as never before. However, it was as Ellie Andrews, in the now famous It Happened One Night (1934), that ensured she would be forever immortalized. Paired with Clark Gable, the madcap comedy was a mega-hit all across the country. It also resulted in Claudette being nominated for and winning the Oscar that year for Best Actress. IN 1935 she was nominated again for Private Worlds (1935), where she played Dr. Jane Everest, on the staff at a mental institution. The performance was exquisite. Films such as The Gilded Lily (1935), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and No Time for Love (1943) kept fans coming to the theaters and the movie moguls happy. Claudette was a sure drawing card for virtually any film she was in. In 1944 she starred as Anne Hilton in Since You Went Away (1944). Again, although she didn't win, Claudette picked up her third nomination for Best Actress.
By the late 1940s and early 1950s she was not only seen on the screen but the infant medium of television, where she appeared in a number of programs. However, her drawing power was fading somewhat as new stars replaced the older ones. In 1955 she filmed the western Texas Lady (1955) and wasn't seen on the screen again until Parrish (1961). It was her final silver screen performance. Her final appearance before the cameras was in a TV movie, The Two Mrs. Grenvilles (1987). She did, however, remain on the stage where she had returned in 1956, her first love. After a series of strokes, Claudette divided her time between New York and Barbados. On July 30, 1996, Claudette died in Speightstown, Barbados. She was 92.- Robbie Kay was born on 13 September 1995 in Lymington, Hampshire, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Once Upon a Time (2011) and Fugitive Pieces (2007).
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- Animation Department
Travis Knight was born on 13 September 1973 in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), ParaNorman (2012) and Missing Link (2019).- Actor
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Jeff Ross is an actor, writer, director, producer, and comedian, originally from Newark, New Jersey. Despite being a shlub, Ross has accomplished a lot in his life. He's done everything from roasting almost dead guys at the Friars Club, to playing a dead guy on a 2003 episode of the smash hit TV show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). As a stand-up comic, Jeff has appeared on dozens of TV shows including Late Show with David Letterman (1993), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), The View (2001), Real Time with Bill Maher (2003), Celebrity Poker Showdown (2003), Dinner for Five (2001), Pet Star (2002) Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1966).
He recently directed his first film, 'Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie (2005)' which chronicles his week-long trip entertaining U.S. soldiers stationed around Iraq's Sunni Triangle. The film has appeared at numerous festivals and won an honorable mention during the Hampton's International Film Festival's prestigious Films of Conflict and Resolution program.
His blistering performances at celebrity roasts for the likes of Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump, Jerry Stiller, Drew Carey, Shaquille O'Neal, New York Yankee's manager Joe Torre, Kelsey Grammer, and Rob Reiner, inspired New York Magazine to crown him The Meanest Man in Comedy.
Besides being a former board member of the Friars Club, Jeff has produced numerous celebrity roasts for Comedy Central and executive produced and hosted the highly rated and hilarious re-imagination of the roasts, MTV Bash: Carson Daly (2003) featuring stars Madonna, Eminem, Britney Spears, 'Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs', Justin Timberlake, Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Kid Rock, and Nelly bashing the guest of honor for charity.
In addition to Jeff's 2003 dramatic turn on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000) he has appeared on Six Feet Under (2001) and in the films, Stuck on You (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), National Security (2003) and The Aristocrats (2005).
Jeff has also written for some cool shows including the MTV Video Music Awards for hosts Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock and The Oscars for host Billy Crystal. He's also helped write the first season of The Man Show (1999) on Comedy Central and punches up movies for big shots like The Farrelley Brothers and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Recent acting roles include Fox's one hour drama pilot "Boomerang", produced by John Wells. Jeff is the creator and star of "The Burn With Jeff Ross" on Comedy Central as well as a producer and star of that network's wildly popular celebrity roast franchise. Recent writing credits include the screenplay "The Comedian" (co-written with Art Linson) and the book, "I Only Roast The Ones I Love" published by Simon & Schuster. Jeff also tours the world performing live as "The Roastmaster General".- Actor
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Bennett "Ben" Joseph Savage was born on September 13th, 1980, in Chicago, Illinois. Ben got his start in acting when he appeared in his first commercial at the tender age of 5. From there, his first major speaking role was in the comedy series, Dear John (1988), opposite Judd Hirsch and fellow Chicago-native, Isabella Hofmann. He starred in a handful of made-for-TV movies and other films, most significantly Wild Palms (1993), until being cast in the lead role in the series Boy Meets World (1993), which catapulted him into stardom. Ben didn't put aside his studies in the course of his acting career, graduating in 2004 from the famed Stanford University with a degree in Political Science. In the summer of 2003, he got an internship with the office of US Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and seems to be well on his way to another chapter in his life.- Actress
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Chiara Aurelia is an American actress widely known for her starring role as 'Jeanette Turner' in the series Cruel Summer, for which she received a Critics' Choice Nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Her breakout performance also garnered Aurelia a Best Actress nomination from Women's Image Network (WIN) and the Hollywood Critics Association (HCA), with the show winning Best Cable Series in the HCA's Drama category. Cruel Summer Season 1 was the highest rated new cable drama series among women ages 18-34, scoring the highest ratings of any original series in the platform's history. Aurelia will next be seen playing 'Jordy' in the highly anticipated Peacock series, Hysteria!, which follows a high school heavy metal band of outcasts who find themselves at the center of a witch hunt after mysterious events unfold in their small town.
Aurelia is also known for her role as 'Young Ani', starring alongside Mila Kunis in the Netflix thriller Luckiest Girl Alive. Her depiction of 'Young Jessie' in Gerald's Game garnered Aurelia Best Supporting Young Actress by The BaM Awards and The Young Entertainer Awards, establishing her ability to portray emotionally demanding characters. Aurelia was born in Taos, New Mexico and began acting in theatre on stage- dancing, singing and acting at the age of four.- Actress
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Vella can be seen on season three of the critically acclaimed series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. For two seasons, Vella's character Heather has been the fan favorite/ standout comic relief alongside Golden Globe Winner Rachel Bloom. In season three, fans have been in shock when they saw Heather, the underachieving roommate of Rebecca (Bloom) change her tune and make big steps in both her professional and personal life. She has always been able to dish out her opinion to others, but this season, she's has made moves to work on herself. Unlike her character on the series, Vella is no underachiever. Most recently, Vella was seen in the smash hit THE BIG SICK, where she played Khadija, who Kumail's (Kumail Nanjiani) parents are trying to set him up with. Khadija is smart, funny, and grounded, and she has the opportunity to call Kumail out on his behavior. Continuing on the film side of things, Vella will have a supporting role alongside Molly Ringwald, Brian d'Arcy James, Jemima Kirke, in the independent film ALL THESE SMALL MOMENTS which is set for release in early 2018. In between shooting, Vella currently stars in FRIEND THERAPY, a web series she co- wrote and stars in alongside her best friend Clea Alsip (Broadway's M. Butterfly). Currently available on Chuckler, FRIEND THERAPY follows two best friends who work through their political differences after the 2016 election in a series of hilarious, awkward, and potentially disastrous therapy sessions. She is also part of an all-female sketch group called "Razor Burn" where they release video sketches. A graduate from the Juilliard School, Vella has a bachelor's degree from New York University. While at Julliard, she played Anna Mae in Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottages' "By The Way, Meet Vera Stark," and Lady Macbeth in an adaptation of "Macbeth." Vella has also acted in "The Bacchae" directed by JoAnne Akalaitis at Shakespeare in the Park and "The Great Recession" as well as "Kaspar Hauser" at The Flea Theater. At Williamstown Theatre Festival, she was seen in "A Streetcar Named Desire" directed by David Cromer, "When You're Here" by Samuel Hunter, and "Camp Monster," a new children's musical. Her past television credits include Girls and CollegeHumor Originals.- Animation Department
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- Producer
Don Bluth was one of the chief animators at Disney to come to the mantle after the great one's death. He eventually became the animation director for such films as The Rescuers (1977) and Pete's Dragon (1977). Unfortunately, the quality of animation that Disney was producing at this point was not up to par with the great works of Disney, and there was rumor that the production unit at Disney might be shut down indefinitely. In retaliation, Bluth and several other animators led a walkout, and went off to form their own independent animation firm. Bluth's first animated feature may still be his best. The Secret of NIMH (1982) was an animated film based on the children's book "Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of Nimh". The film dealt with a widowed field mouse named Mrs. Brisbee and her plight to move her house before the farmer plants his field. The rats of Nimh, an organization of super intelligent rats, band together to help her. "The Secret of NIMH" was a visually ravishing film that hearkened back to the glory days of Disney. While animation buffs raved, the film did little business at the box office. (The growing number of VCR's in America would help the film reach a cult status on home video). Undaunted, Bluth persevered. He created the video games Dragon's Lair (1983) and Space Ace (1983), both of which allowed the player to control an actual cartoon. He later teamed up with Steven Spielberg for the films An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). While Bluth's ambition to restore animation to its previous glory was being realized, the Disney studio, whose recent films had failed to match Bluth's at the box office, was finally ready to return to true quality. With the release of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), Bluth had to compete with a Goliath. After his next film, All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), received mixed opinions and failed to be more than a minor box office success, Bluth fell into a failing streak of films that were comparatively mediocre when placed alongside his previous work, including Rock-A-Doodle (1991), and Thumbelina (1994). Bluth later joined forces with 20th Century Fox where he made his first commercial hit in some time, Anastasia (1997). He followed up with the ambitious but hollow science fiction fantasy Titan A.E. (2000). While Bluth has yet to reach the glory of his earlier work, he nonetheless deserves credit as a champion of animation, and for surviving as an independent film maker.- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Isiah Whitlock Jr. was born on 13 September 1954 in South Bend, Indiana, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Da 5 Bloods (2020), Cedar Rapids (2011) and BlacKkKlansman (2018).- Actress
- Producer
Marlyne Barrett was born on 13 September 1978 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Night Call (2017), Chicago Med (2015) and Heist (2001). She has been married to Gavin Barrett since 15 May 2009. They have two children.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Frank was born in Glendale, California to musician Jack Marshall. He entered the film world when his parents invited him to a birthday party for the daughter of directing legend John Ford in 1966. There, he met Peter Bogdanovich and soon agreed to work on his first film, Targets (1968), later followed by collaborating on The Last Picture Show (1971) and many other films.
Continuing to branch out into the industry, he served as line producer on Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz (1978) and associate producer on Walter Hill's crime thriller, The Driver (1978). Marshall first worked as executive producer on Hill's cult classic The Warriors (1979). While producing the iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), he met Steven Spielberg and their future wife Kathleen Kennedy, and Frank himself was hired to join the Amblin Productions company in 1980.
He continued producing memorable films with Spielberg including Poltergeist (1982) and Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) (while Kennedy separately produced E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)). He worked as executive producer on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985) and the Back to the Future (1985) trilogy.
He married Kathleen Kennedy in 1987, and after producing numerous films, he made his feature directing debut with Arachnophobia (1990). Reacting to the success of his directorial debut, he left Amblin in 1991. In 1992, The Kennedy/Marshall Company was formed, and the next year they released its first film Alive (1993), directed by Marshall. Both Kennedy and Marshall signed deals with Paramount in 1992, at the same time the company was formed. His productivity has only increased since then, as he took over primary duties of the production company since Kennedy was named president of Lucasfilm in 2012.- Miku Martineau was born on 13 September 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is an actress, known for Kate (2021), Star Trek: Section 31 (2025) and Bet.
- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Geri Jewell was born on 13 September 1956 in Buffalo, New York, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Deadwood (2004), 21 Jump Street (1987) and The Facts of Life (1979). She was previously married to Richard Pimentel.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Her trademark sass complemented by a distinctively adenoidal voice that could out-snarl Eartha Kitt and Fran Drescher put together, short (4'11"), round, and robust Nell Carter was one indomitable, in-your-face firecracker...and it made her a star. She was born Nell Ruth Hardy in 1948 in Birmingham, Alabama and raised there, one of nine children born to Horace and Edna Hardy. She grew up listening to the sounds of Dinah Washington and Elvis Presley and developed an early interest in singing that led to performances in various youth groups, her church choir, on local radio and even the gospel circuit. This was a positive distraction from the major traumas suffered during her early life which included the tragic death of her father, who was electrocuted when he accidentally stepped on a live power line, and a rape at gunpoint when she was a young teenager.
By age 19, Carter had relocated to New York where she found work singing in assorted niteries (Rainbow Room, Sweeney's), cafés, and musical revues to her liking. Studying at Bill Russell's School of Drama from 1970 to 1973, she made her Broadway debut in "Soon", a two-act musical show that lasted two days, and included such up-and-comers as Richard Gere, Peter Allen and Barry Bostwick. Other musical roles came with "Dude" (1972), "Be Kind to People Week" (1975) and "Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope" (1976). Receiving further training in London, Carter, who continued to gain both in girth and talent, made a star-making leap when she was cast alongside Armelia McQueen, Charlayne Woodard, André De Shields and Ken Page in the 1978 ensemble revue, "Ain't Misbehavin'", a musical catalogue of Fats Waller songs. The stellar quintet ran for nearly four years and the scene-stealing Carter, with such show-stopping songs as "Mean to Me" and "Cash for Your Trash", received a multitude of awards, including the Theatre World, Drama Desk, Obie and Tony. The show was taped for TV in 1982 for which Carter also nabbed the Emmy, and a Broadway revival with all five performers reunited was restaged in 1988. Later musical vehicles included her own feisty version of "Dolly Levi" in a 1991 African-American revival.
Tough and temperamental with a larger-than-life presence, Carter was invariably drawn toward the small screen and was initially featured in the daytime soap Ryan's Hope (1975) and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (1979), the latter perfectly cast as a police sergeant. Audiences took to her immediately and, eventually, she was handed her own vehicle as the loving but no-nonsense housekeeper of a white family in the NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! (1981). That show, which ran for six seasons, earned her two additional Emmy nominations for "Best Actress in a Comedy". Following this, she co-starred on You Take the Kids (1990), which fizzled, and the already established Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992) as Mark Curry's boss. Other spunky guest shots over time included such popular programs as Amen (1986), 227 (1985), Touched by an Angel (1994), Ally McBeal (1997) and Reba (2001), as well as quiz show participations on Match Game (1990) and To Tell the Truth (1990). Her work in films, which included a standout musical song ("White Boys") in Milos Forman's film adaptation of Hair (1979) and a touching role as Piper Laurie's housekeeper in The Grass Harp (1995), was never fully engaged. Carter was notoriously opinionated and audaciously candid as a person, a true survivor in her off-stage life, which was riddled with misfortune. She endured constant weight problems and severe alcohol/cocaine habits (recovered) as well as two divorces, a suicide attempt, several miscarriages, bankruptcy, the death of a brother from AIDS and multiple surgeries after suffering a near-fatal brain aneurysm in 1992. She battled diabetes for much of her adult life and once collapsed on stage during a 1997 performance of "Annie", in which she played the boisterous "Miss Hannigan". To comfort and complete herself, she studied and adopted Judaism as her religion. In 1989 and 1990, she adopted two infant sons, Joshua and Daniel, to her family, which included daughter Tracey.
After a history of ups and downs, the 54-year-old singer/actress collapsed and died alone on January 23, 2003, in her Beverly Hills home, subsequently found by her 13-year-old adopted son, Joshua. The cause of death was not immediately established at the time but it was later established that she had suffered a fatal heart attack, complicated by her diabetes and obesity. She was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. At the time of her death, she was in rehearsals for another musical stage lead, this time in the Long Beach, California revival of the hit musical "Raisin". The musical opened a few days later as scheduled with Carter's understudy taking over the role.- Kathleen Lloyd was born on 13 September 1948 in Santa Clara, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Car (1977), The Missouri Breaks (1976) and Equal Justice (1990). She is married to John Steven Mansfield . She was previously married to Peter Joseph Jenvay.
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He had the manly good looks and rugged appeal to make it to top stardom in Hollywood and succeeded quite well as a sturdy leading man of standard action on film and TV. Born in Brooklyn on September 13, 1924, Irish-American Scott Brady was christened Gerard Kenneth Tierney (called Jerry) by parents Lawrence and Maria Tierney. His father, chief of New York's aqueduct police force, had always had show business intentions and later did print work after retiring from the force. Both Scott's older and younger brothers, Lawrence Tierney and Edward Tierney went on to become actors as well. Lawrence's promising film noir "bad guy" career was sabotaged by a severe drinking disorder that led to numerous skirmishes with the law. Scott himself faced a narcotics charge in 1957 (charges were dropped, Scott maintained that he was framed) and later (1963) was involved in illegal bookmaking activities. Fortunately, Scott was more cool-headed and wound up avoiding the pitfalls that befell his older brother, making a very lucrative living for himself in Hollywood throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.
Scott grew up in Westchester County and attended Roosevelt and St. Michael's High Schools. Like his older brother Lawrence, Scott he was an all-round athlete in school and earned letters for basketball, football and track and expressed early designs on becoming a football coach or radio announcer. Instead he enlisted before graduating from high school and served as a naval aviation mechanic overseas. During his term of duty he earned a light heavyweight boxing medal. He was discharged in 1946 and decided to head for Los Angeles where his older brother Lawrence was making encouraging strides as an actor. Toiling in menial jobs as a cabbie and day-time laborer, the handsome, blue-eyed looker was noticed having lunch in a café by producer Hal B. Wallis and offered a screen test. The test did not fare well but, not giving up, he enrolled in the Bliss-Hayden drama school under his G.I. Bill, studied acting, and managed to rid himself of his thick Brooklyn accent.
He signed with a minor league studio, Eagle-Lion, and made his debut of sorts in the poverty-row programmer In This Corner (1948) utilizing his boxing skills from his early days in the service. He showed more promise with his second and third films Canon City (1948) and He Walked by Night (1948), the latter as a detective who aids in nabbing psychotic killer Richard Basehart. Scott switched over to higher-grade action stories for Fox and Universal over time. Westerns and crime stories would be his bread-winning genres with The Gal Who Took the West (1949) opposite Yvonne De Carlo and John Russell and Undertow (1949), with Russell again, being prime examples. He frequently switched from hero to heavy during his peak years. In one film he would romance a Jeanne Crain in The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951) or a Mitzi Gaynor in Bloodhounds of Broadway (1952), while in the next beat Shelley Winters to a pulp in Untamed Frontier (1952). A favorite pin-up hunk in his early years, he hit minor cult status as a bad hombre, The Dancin' Kid, in the offbeat western Johnny Guitar (1954). He and the other manly men, however, were somewhat overshadowed in the movie by the Freudian-tinged gunplay between Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge. Other roles had him sturdily handling the action scenes while giving the glance over to such diverting female costars as Barbara Stanwyck, Mala Powers and Anne Bancroft.
Scott would mark the same territory in TV -- westerns and crimers -- finding steadier work on the smaller screen into the 1960s. He starred as the title hero in the western series Shotgun Slade (1959). Stage too was a sporadic source of income with such productions as "The Moon Is Blue", "Detective Story" and "Picnic" under his belt before making his Broadway bow as a slick card sharp opposite Andy Griffith in the short-lived musical "Destry Rides Again" in 1959. He later did the national company of the heavyweight political drama "The Best Man" with his portrayal of a senator.
The seemingly one-time confirmed bachelor decided to settle down after meeting and marrying Mary Tirony in 1967 at age 43. Prior to this he had been linked with such luminous beauties as Gwen Verdon and Dorothy Malone. The couple had two sons. Parts dwindled down in size in later years and he gained considerable weight as he grew older and balder, but he still appeared here-and-there as an occasional character heavy or hard-ass cop in less-important movies such as Doctors' Wives (1971), $ (1971), The Loners (1972) and Wicked, Wicked (1973). Minor TV roles in mini-movies also came his way at a fair pace. Towards the end he was seen in such high-profile big-screen movies as The China Syndrome (1979) and Gremlins (1984). Scott had a collapse in 1981 and was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive respiratory disease. He later relied on an oxygen tank. He died of the disease four years later and was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.