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- Actress
- Producer
Caylee Cowan (born Catherine Caylee Cowan) is an American film actress born on March 19, 1998 in Los Angeles, California. She began her on screen acting career after starring in the feature film Sunrise in Heaven (2020). She is known for portraying Penelope in Frank and Penelope (2022), acting opposite Nicolas Cage in Willy's Wonderland (2021), and supporting roles in Spinning Gold (2023) and Divinity (2023). She produced a documentary on refugees titled The Peace Between (2019). Before acting in film, Caylee worked on various theatre performances such as; Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Danny in the Deep Blue Sea by John Patrick Shanley, and Miss Julie by August Strindberg. In June of 2018, Caylee Cowan made her film debut as Jan Hurst in Sunrise in Heaven (2020) which was released to the public on April 9th, 2019 and a year later on Netflix on April 1st, 2020. In October of 2019, she was cast as Holly Martins in Bad Detectives (2021). She played the role of "Becca" in Incision (2020) and "Kathy" in Willy's Wonderland (2021) starring opposite Nicolas Cage. In the summer of 2021, she was cast in Frank and Penelope (2022) directed by Sean Patrick Flanery alongside Johnathon Schaech, Lin Shaye, and Kevin Dillon which premiered in 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival. She played a supporting role as "Felicity" in Divinity (2023) which was in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.- Rachel attended Havergal College, an all girls school in Toronto. After high school she went on to attend Queens university in Kingston, Ontario Canada. To prepare for her role as Cher in the Clueless (1996) TV series, Rachel actually did go to some high schools in L.A. where she was surprised to find out that the scene was somewhat like the movie portrayed. Rachel is an avid hockey fan, and also enjoys rock climbing. She has a brother and a sister.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Actor and musician Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking or hard-edged characters, often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD.
Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, to a German mother, Marlene Kassel, and an American father, David Andrew Willis (from Carneys Point, New Jersey), who were then living on a United States military base. His family moved to the U.S. shortly after he was born, and he was raised in Penns Grove, New Jersey, where his mother worked at a bank and his father was a welder and factory worker. Willis picked up an interest for the dramatic arts in high school, and was allegedly "discovered" whilst working in a café in New York City and then appeared in a couple of off-Broadway productions. While bartending one night, he was seen by a casting director who liked his personality and needed a bartender for a small movie role.
After countless auditions, Willis contributed minor film appearances, usually uncredited, before landing the role of private eye "David Addison" alongside sultry Cybill Shepherd in the hit romantic comedy television series Moonlighting (1985). His sarcastic and wisecracking P.I. is seen by some as a dry run for the role of hard-boiled NYC detective "John McClane" in the monster hit Die Hard (1988), in which Willis' character single-handedly battled a gang of ruthless international thieves in a Los Angeles skyscraper. He reprised the role of McClane in the sequel, Die Hard 2 (1990), set at a snowbound Washington's Dulles International Airport as a group of renegade Special Forces soldiers seek to repatriate a corrupt South American general. Excellent box office returns demanded a further sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), this time co-starring Samuel L. Jackson as a cynical Harlem shop owner unwittingly thrust into assisting McClane during a terrorist bombing campaign on a sweltering day in New York.
Willis found time out from all the action mayhem to provide the voice
of "Mikey" the baby in the very popular family comedies Look Who's Talking (1989), and its sequel Look Who's Talking Too (1990) also starring John Travolta and
Kirstie Alley. Over the next decade, Willis starred in some very successful films, some very offbeat films and some unfortunate box office flops. The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Hudson Hawk (1991) were both large scale financial disasters that were savaged by the critics, and both are arguably best left off the CVs of all the actors involved, however Willis was still popular with movie audiences and selling plenty of theatre tickets with the hyper-violent
The Last Boy Scout (1991), the darkly humored Death Becomes Her (1992) and the mediocre police thriller Striking Distance (1993).
During the 1990s, Willis also appeared in several independent and low budget productions that won him new fans and praise from the critics for his intriguing performances working with some very diverse film directors. He appeared in the oddly appealing North (1994), as a cagey prizefighter in
the Quentin Tarantino directed mega-hit Pulp Fiction (1994), the
Terry Gilliam directed apocalyptic thriller 12 Monkeys (1995), the Luc Besson directed sci-fi opus The Fifth Element (1997) and the M. Night Shyamalan directed spine-tingling epic The Sixth Sense (1999).
Willis next starred in the gangster comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000),
worked again with "hot" director M. Night Shyamalan in the less than
gripping Unbreakable (2000), and in two military dramas, Hart's War (2002)
and Tears of the Sun (2003) that both failed to really fire with movie audiences or critics alike. However, Willis bounced back into the spotlight in the critically
applauded Frank Miller graphic novel turned movie Sin City (2005), the voice of "RJ" the scheming raccoon in the animated hit Over the Hedge (2006) and "Die Hard" fans rejoiced to see "John McClane" return to the big screen in
the high tech Live Free or Die Hard (2007) aka "Die Hard 4.0".
Willis was married to actress Demi Moore for approximately thirteen years and they share custody to their three daughters.- Actress
- Soundtrack
The quintessential jet-set Euro starlet, Ursula Andress was born in the Swiss canton of Berne on March 19, 1936, one of six children in a strict German Protestant family. Although often seeming icily aloof, a restless streak early demonstrated itself in her personality, and she had an impetuous desire to explore the world outside Switzerland. (For instance, she was tracked down by Interpol for running away from boarding school at 17 years old.) The stunning young woman found work as an art model in Rome and did walk-on parts in three quickie Italian pictures before coming to Hollywood in 1955 and getting nowhere professionally; a four-month fling with rising star James Dean brought her good publicity but not much else. That same year, still just 19, she met and had an affair with fading matinée idol John Derek, who left his wife Pati Behrs and two kids for Ursula even though she spoke almost no English at the time. In 1957 they eloped to Las Vegas, and the new bride put her acting aspirations on hold for a few years thereafter.
1962 saw the relatively unknown Swiss beauty back on the set, playing opposite Sean Connery in the first movie version of Ian Fleming's fanciful "James Bond" espionage novels, Dr. No (1962). Andress' role as bikini-clad Honey Ryder was somewhat brief, and her Swiss/German accent so thick that her entire performance had to be dubbed by a voiceover artist. Nevertheless, her striking looks and smoldering screen presence made a strong impression on moviegoers, immediately establishing her as one of the most desired women in the world and as an ornament to put alongside some of the most bankable talent of the era, such as Elvis Presley in Fun in Acapulco (1963) and Dean Martin in 4 for Texas (1963). In 1965, she was one of several European starlets to co-star in What's New Pussycat (1965) -- a film that perhaps sums up mid-'60s pop culture better than any other -- written by Woody Allen, starring Allen and Peter Sellers, with music by Burt Bacharach, a title song performed by Tom Jones and much on-screen sexual romping.
Andress appeared in many more racy-for-their time movies in both the United States and Europe, including The 10th Victim (1965), in which she wore a famously ballistic bra, and The Blue Max (1966), where she was aptly cast as the sultry, insatiable wife of an aristocratic World War I German general. She was also featured in Casino Royale (1967), a satirical foray into the world of James Bond, and gave a sparkling performance in the T&A-filled crime caper Perfect Friday (1970). Roles as a prostitute kidnapped by outlaws in Red Sun (1971), a stewardess living on the edge in Loaded Guns (1975), and a bombshell nurse hired to titillate a doddering millionaire to death in The Sensuous Nurse (1975) all provided plenty of excuses to throw her clothes to the wind. In Slave of the Cannibal God (1978), she was notoriously stripped and slathered in orange paint by a pair of nubiles. Then she took on the sophisticated role of Louise de la Valliere, slinky, conspiratorial mistress of King Louis XIV (Beau Bridges) in The Fifth Musketeer (1979).
As for her personal life, Andress separated from Derek in 1964 and got divorced two years later, after falling in love with French superstar Jean-Paul Belmondo on the Malaysian set of Up to His Ears (1965). (Ron Ely, John Richardson and Marcello Mastroianni kept her company during interim.) The relationship with Belmondo hit a wall in 1972, and she was next attached to her leading man from Stateline Motel (1973), Italian heartthrob Fabio Testi. When that didn't work out, Andress jumped into the dating pool, sporadically involved with a host of Lotharios including (but by no means limited to) Dennis Hopper, Franco Nero, John DeLorean and Ryan O'Neal. In 1979, she began what would be a long-term romance with Harry Hamlin, her handsome young co-star from Clash of the Titans (1981) (in which she was cast, predictably, as "Aphrodite"). While subsequently traveling in India, Andress' belly began to swell out of her clothing, and she felt very nauseous. What at first seemed a severe case of "Delhi Belly" turned out to be pregnancy, her first and only, at age 43. Hamlin encouraged her to have the baby, and on May 19, 1980, the international sex symbol gave birth to a boy named Dimitri Hamlin amid much hoopla.
After the birth of her son, Andress scaled back her career, which now focused on slight European productions, as she was raising Dimitri in Italy. This meant turning down a big-budget Mel Brooks film in lieu of Red Bells (1982) (starring old flame Nero). Occasional television stints on the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981) and critically lauded miniseries Peter the Great (1986) helped maintain her visibility as an actress. Dumped by Hamlin in 1983, she started seeing Fausto Fagone, a Sicilian student three decades her junior, in 1986. In 1991, she met a new man when things dwindled with Fagone -- karate master Jeff Speakman. Since the breakup of that relationship, her love life has gone undocumented. She last worked on a film in 2005. Apparently retired from acting, Ursula makes the rounds of charity events and pops up on foreign talk shows every now and then. She divides her time between family in Switzerland, friends in Virginia and Spain, and her properties in Rome and L.A.- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Virginia Williams gained critical acclaim playing the dual roles of 'Debbie/Dana' in the Netflix original series, "Teenage Bounty Hunters." The comedy marked Jenji Kohan's third Netflix series after "Orange is the New Black" and "GLOW," and received top honors as a top 20 show in 2020 on Forbes, New York Times, and Hollywood Reporter lists. She also shined in season 2 of Marc Cherry's "Why Women Kill" as fan favorite 'Grace.' Virginia played the role of 'Charity' through Season 1 of the CW's "Charmed" reboot and played beloved 'CJ' on Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the Netflix worldwide breakout hit, "Fuller House." Virginia is also well-known for her starring roles as 'Lauren Reed' on "Fairly Legal" for USA network and the starring role of 'Bianca' on the Lifetime original series "Monarch Cove." Appearing in well over 100 episodes of primetime television, she has held noteworthy recurring roles on hits such as "How I Met Your Mother," "NCIS," "Modern Family," "Drop Dead Diva," "Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce," and the cult-classic "Strangers With Candy," to name a few. Additionally, she's held memorable roles in the films "Woodlawn," "The Culling," "Honeymoon With Mom," "Reading, Writing, & Romance," and the People's Choice award winner "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" as bride "Caitlyn McNabb."
Virginia is also an accomplished vocalist performing lead female vocals on the soundtrack for the independent film, "Choosing Signs." FOUR of Virginia's songs made the 2020 Oscar list of just 75 songs in the running for "Best Original Song," alongside Elton John, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift.
Williams was the first spokesperson and 'face' of "La Fresh," an eco-friendly beauty line. For this endorsement deal, she was at the forefront of the natural skincare company's national advertising and marketing campaigns.
Virginia earned a B.A. in Theatre Performance from Fordham University at Lincoln Center and studied Shakespeare at Oxford University as well as the British American Drama Academy in London. Hailing from Memphis, TN, she resides in Los Angeles with her husband, talent/literary manager and producer, Bradford Bricken, her 6 and 4 year old sons, and her labradoodle, Elvis.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ebon Moss-Bachrach is an American actor best known for playing the role of David Lieberman in The Punisher and Desi Harperin in Girls. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is the son of Renee Moss and Eric Bachrach, who run a music school in Springfield, Massachusetts. He attended high school at Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts and graduated from Columbia University in 1999.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Eight time Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Mary H. "Bettine" (Moore) and William Taliaferro Close (William Close), a prominent doctor. Both of her parents were from upper-class families.
Glenn was a noted Broadway performer when she was cast in her award-winning role as Jenny Fields in The World According to Garp (1982) alongside Robin Williams. For this role, a breakthrough in film for Close, she later went on to receive an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The following year she was cast in the hit comedy The Big Chill (1983) for which she received a second Oscar Nomination, once again for Supporting Actress in the role of Sarah Cooper. In her third film, Close portrayed Iris Gaines a former lover of baseball player Roy Hobbs portrayed by Robert Redford, in one of the greatest sports films of all time, The Natural (1984). For a third time, Close was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Close went on to star in films like The Stone Boy (1984), Maxie (1985) and Jagged Edge (1985). In 1987 Close was cast in the box office hit Fatal Attraction (1987) for which she portrayed deranged stalker Alex Forrest alongside costars Michael Douglas and Anne Archer. For this role she was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress. The following year Close starred in the Oscar Winning Drama Dangerous Liaisons (1988) for which she portrayed one of the most classic roles of all time as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil, starring alongside John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. For this role she was nominated once again for the Academy Award and BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress. Close was favorite to win the coveted statue but lost to Jodie Foster for The Accused (1988). Close had her claim to fame in the 1980s. Close starred on the hit Drama series Damages (2007) for which she has won a Golden Globe Award and two Emmy Awards. In her career Close has been Oscar nominated eight times, won three Tonys, an Obie, three Emmys, two Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.- Actress
- Producer
Josie Loren was born on 19 March 1987 in Miami, Florida, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for 17 Again (2009), Make It or Break It (2009) and 21 & Over (2013). She has been married to Matt Leinart since 26 May 2018. They have two children.- Aria Mia Loberti makes her acting debut in the leading role of Marie-Laure Leblanc in Netflix's adaptation of All The Light We Cannot See. She landed the part after a global casting search, beating out thousands of submissions to secure the role, despite no acting training. A doctoral student at Penn State, Loberti received her Masters in 2021 from Royal Holloway University of London as a Fulbright Scholar and earned her undergraduate degrees in 2020 from the University of Rhode Island. She is also an advocate for disability equity.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Born in America, and raised in Ireland and England, actor Patrick McGoohan rose to become the
number-one British TV star in the 1950s to 1960s era. His parents moved
to Ireland when he was very young and McGoohan acquired a neutral
accent that sounds at home in British or American dialogue. He was an
avid stage actor and performed hundreds of times in small and large
productions before landing his first TV and film roles. McGoohan is one
of few actors who has successfully switched between theater, TV, and
films many times during his career. He was often cast in the role of
Angry Young Man. In 1959, he was named Best TV Actor of the Year in
Britain. Shortly thereafter, he was chosen for the starring role in the
Secret Agent (1964) TV series (AKA
'Secret Agent in the US), which proved
to be an immense success for three years and allowed the British to
break into the burgeoning American TV market for the first time.
By the series' 3rd year, McGoohan felt the series had run its course and was beginning to repeat itself. McGoohan and Lew Grade - the president of ITC (the series' production company), had agreed that McGoohan could leave Danger Man to begin work on a new series, and turned in his
resignation right after the first episode of the fourth year had been
filmed ("Koroshi"). McGoohan set up his own production company and
collaborated with noted author and script editor
George Markstein to sell a brand new
concept to ITC's Lew Grade.
McGoohan starred in, directed, produced, and wrote many of the
episodes, sometimes taking a pseudonym to reduce the sheer number of
credits to his name. Thus, the TV series
The Prisoner (1967) came to
revolve around the efforts of a secret agent, who resigned early in his
career, to clear his name. His aim was to escape from a fancifully
beautiful but psychologically brutal prison for people who know too
much. The series was as popular as it was surreal and allegorical, and
its mysterious final episode caused such an uproar that McGoohan was to
desert England for more than 20 years to seek relative anonymity in LA,
where celebrities are "a dime a dozen."
During the 1970s, he appeared in four episodes of the TV detective
series "Columbo," for which he won an Emmy Award. His film roles lapsed
from prominence until his powerful performance as King Edward I
(Longshanks) in Mel Gibson's
production of Braveheart (1995). As
such, he has solidified his casting in the role of Angry Old Man.- Actress
- Producer
Simmone Mackinnon was born on 19 March 1973 in Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. She is an actress and producer, known for McLeod's Daughters (2001), Attila (2001) and Dark Waters (2003).- Actress
Abby Brammell was born on 19 March 1979 in Kentucky, USA. She is an actress, known for Jobs (2013), The Unit (2006) and Fastlane (2002). She has been married to Stefan Bishop since 22 January 2010. They have one child. She was previously married to Jake La Botz.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A mining engineer's daughter, blond, blue-eyed Betty Compson began in show business playing the violin in a Salt Lake City vaudeville establishment for $15 a week.
Following that, she went on tour, accompanied by her mother, with an act called 'The Vagabond Violinist'.
Aged eighteen, she appeared on the Alexander Pantages Theatre Circuit, again doing her violin solo vaudeville routine, and was spotted there by comedy producer Al Christie.
Christie quickly changed her stage name from Eleanor to Betty.
For the next few years, she turned out a steady stream of one-reel and two-reel slapstick comedies, frequently paired with
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle.
In 1919, Betty was signed by writer-director George Loane Tucker to co-star opposite Lon Chaney as Rose in The Miracle Man (1919).
The film was a huge critical and financial success and established Betty Compson as a major star at Paramount (under contract from 1921 to 1925).
One of the more highly paid performers of the silent screen, her weekly earnings exceeded $5000 a week at the peak of her career.
She came to own a fleet of luxury limousines and was able to move from a bungalow in the hills overlooking Hollywood to an expensive mansion on Hollywood Boulevard.
From 1921, Betty also owned her own production company.
She went on to make several films in England between 1923 and 1924 for the director Graham Cutts.
During the late 1920's, Betty appeared in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles.
She received good reviews acting opposite George Bancroft as a waterfront prostitute in The Docks of New York (1928), and was even nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of a carnival girl in The Barker (1928).
She gave a touching performance in The Great Gabbo (1929), directed by her then husband James Cruze, as the assistant of a demented ventriloquist (Erich von Stroheim), with whom she is unhappily in love. That same year, she appeared in RKO's first sound film, Street Girl (1929), and was briefly under contract to that studio, cast in so-called 'women's
pictures' such as The Lady Refuses (1931) and Three Who Loved (1931).
The stature of her roles began to diminish from the mid 1930s, though she continued to act in character parts until 1948.
Betty's personal fortunes also declined. This came about primarily as a result of her marital contract to the alcoholic Cruze, whom she had divorced in 1929. For several years, Cruze had failed to pay his income tax and Betty (linked financially to Cruze) ended up being sued by the federal government to the tune of $150,000. This forced her to sell her Hollywood villa, her cars and her antiques.
In later years, Betty Compson developed her own cosmetics label and ran a business in California producing personalized ashtrays for the hospitality industry.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Renée Taylor was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA to Frieda
(née Silverstein) and Charles Wexler. She worked as a comedian in the
early 1960s at the New York City nightclub Bon Soir. Her opening act
was a then unknown Barbra Streisand.
She earned notice for her portrayal of
Eva Braun in
Mel Brooks's
The Producers (1967), and continued
to act in several film, television, and theater productions. However,
despite an impressive, 60-year resume, she is better remembered as
Sylvia Fine, the overbearing, classic Jewish mother of
Fran Drescher's title character in
The Nanny (1993).- Marjorie Monaghan was born on 19 March 1964 in Orange County, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Regarding Henry (1991), Babylon 5 (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995). She has been married to Grant Rosenberg since 2 February 2011.
- Producer
- Actress
During the 1950s and 1960s, she made dozens of guest appearances on
such television programs as The Twilight Zone (1959), Dr. Kildare (1961), The Felony Squad (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), Daniel Boone (1964), and Mannix (1967). She had a short role as
Doris Schuster on Peyton Place (1964). She also appeared on daytime's Bright Promise (1969) as Ann Boyd Jones (1970-1972). Kobe began to work behind the camera as supervising producer and associate producer on such daytime
programs as The Edge of Night (1956) and Return to Peyton Place (1972). In 1982 she
became executive producer of Texas (1980) during its final few months. She
then became executive producer of Guiding Light (1952) where she stayed from
1982 to 1987.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Garrett Clayton was born on 19 March 1991 in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Hairspray Live! (2016), King Cobra (2016) and Teen Beach Movie (2013). He has been married to Blake Knight since 4 September 2021.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Nick Hendrix was born and raised near Windsor in Berkshire. After studying drama at Exeter University, he spent a further three years at RADA. He has worked extensively in London theatre, including the National Theatre and West End. His work includes Black Mirror, The White Queen, Call the Midwife, Marcella, and Midsomer Murders on TV, and Legend, Suffragette, and Captain America on film.- Actor
- Producer
Connor Trinneer was born on 19 March 1969 in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Star Trek: Enterprise (2001), American Made (2017) and Stargate Origins (2018). He was previously married to Ariana Navarre.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Veteran character player Roy Roberts proudly claimed over 900
performances in a 40-year career. He might not have been known
necessarily by name, but the face was distinct and obviously
familiar. The prototype of the steely executive, the no-nonsense mayor,
the assured banker, the stentorian leader, Roberts looked out of place
without his patented dark suit and power tie. His silvery hair,
perfectly trimmed mustache, nonplussed reactions and take-charge
demeanor reminded one of the "Mr. Monopoly" character from the classic
board game.
Roberts was born Roy Barnes Jones on March 19, 1906, in Tampa, Florida,
the youngest of six children. The year 1900 is given as his birth date
in several reference books, which seems compatible with his noticeably
aged appearance in the last decade or so of his life, but his final
resting stone bears the year 1906. His early career was on the Broadway
stage, gracing such plays as "Old Man Murphy" (1931), "Twentieth
Century" (1932), "The Body Beautiful" (1935) and "My Sister Eileen"
(1942). In 1943 he made a successful switch to films, debuting as a
Marine officer in Guadalcanal Diary (1943). Usually billed around tenth in the credits,
he played a reliable succession of stalwart roles (captains, generals,
politicians, sheriffs, judges, et al.). He was also a semi-standard
presence in film noir, appearing in such classics as Force of Evil (1948), He Walked by Night (1948)
and The Enforcer (1951) as both good cop and occasional heavy.
When Roberts made the move to TV he began to include more work in
comedies. The 1950s and 1960s would prove him to be a most capable foil
to a number of prime sitcom stars, including Gale Storm and Lucille Ball. His
patented gruff and exasperated executives often displayed their
prestige by the mere use of initials, such as "W.W." and "E.J." While
he never landed the one role on film or TV that could have led to top
character stardom, he nevertheless remained a solid and enjoyable
presence, a character player who added stature no matter how far down
the credits list.
A stocky man for most his life, Roberts gained considerable girth in
the late 1960s, which made his characters even more imposing. He died
of a heart attack on May 28, 1975, in Los Angeles and was buried in
Fort Worth, Texas. He was survived by his wife, actress
Lillian Moore.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Frederick "Fred" Stoller (born March 19, 1965) is an American stand-up
comedian, actor, writer, voice artist, and comedian, best known
for his frequent guest starring as Gerard on the CBS sitcom
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).
He has also made guest appearances on several additional television series, as
well as having written two episodes of
Seinfeld (1989). Stoller is also
known as the voice of Stanley in the
Open Season (2006) franchise.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Jorma Taccone's theatrical debut took place at Saint Mary's College-High School in Berkeley, California in 1993. He played one of the townspeople in The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt. His father, Berkeley Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Tony Taccone, attended his son's performance in spite of a recent surgery that had left him partially immobile with his leg in a cast.- Actor
- Writer
Theo's podcast, This Past Weekend, is one of the top comedy podcasts, garnering 5m listens a month on audio alone. Theo has a Netflix special titled No Offense from 2015.
Theo has appeared numerous times on Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, regularly on Joey Diaz's The Church of What's Happening Now, and was voted guest of the year on The Fighter and The Kid by TFATK listeners in both 2017 and 2018. Previously, Theo was the host of TBS's hidden camera show Deal With It from EP Howie Mandel, which ran for three seasons. He also hosted Yahoo's popular daily recap show Primetime in No Time - one of the most-watched shows on the web with nearly one million views per day. Theo also made appearances on Inside Amy Schumer, Why? with Hannibal Buress, Arsenio, Last Comic Standing, was the winner of Comedy Central's Reality Bites Back, and Live at Gotham.
Theo can be seen in season 4 of Comedy Central's This Is Not Happening, episode premiered in March 2018. He also co-hosts The King and the Sting with his friend, comedian Brendan Schaub.
Theo lists his favorite entertainers as Joe Rogan, Tom Segura, Chris D'elia, Bill Burr, Jerry Clower, and Richard Pryor; and his role models as Joe Rogan, Jocko Willink, Maurice Clarett, Dustin Poirier, and his brother Zefferino vonKurnatowski.- Jan Shepard was born on 19 March 1928 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966), Then Came Bronson (1969) and Waterfront (1954). She was previously married to Ray Boyle.
- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Harvey Weinstein was born on March 19, 1952, in Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, USA, the first of two boys born to Max and Miriam Weinstein. He is a film producer, known for Pulp Fiction (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Gangs of New York (2002). He has been married and divorced twice; most recently from Georgina Chapman and previously from Eve Chilton.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Craig Lamar Traylor was born on 19 March 1989 in San Bernardino County, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Malcolm in the Middle (2000), Matilda (1996) and Fred & Vinnie (2011).- De'aundre Bonds was born on 19 March 1976 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Tales from the Hood (1995), Gangster Squad (2013) and Dope (2015).
- Kwak Dong-yeon is a South Korean actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the hit TV series Unexpected You (2012) for which he received Best Young Actor Award at the Korea Drama Awards.
He then starred in Adolescence Medley (2013), Modern Farmer (2014) and gained further recognition with historical drama Moonlight Drawn by Clouds (2016). He also well known for his roles in My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018), My Strange Hero (2018), Never Twice (2019), and Vincenzo (2021). - Actor
- Producer
- Director
Matthew Leitch was born on 19 March 1975 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Band of Brothers (2001), The Dark Knight (2008) and Sabor tropical (2009).- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Nicholas Stoller is an English-American screenwriter and director. He
is known best for directing the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall,
and writing/directing its 2010 spin-off/sequel, Get Him to the Greek.
He also wrote The Muppets and directed the Seth Rogen comedy,
Neighbors. He is a frequent creative partner of Jason Segel.- Michael Drayer was born on 19 March 1986 in Staten Island, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Louie (2010), Mr. Robot (2015) and Sneaky Pete (2015).
- Actor
- Producer
Dermot Crowley was born on 19 March 1947 in Cork, Ireland. He is an actor and producer, known for Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023), The Death of Stalin (2017) and The Foreigner (2017). He has been married to Suzanne Smith since 3 July 1982.- Actress
Vida Guerra was born on 19 March 1974 in Havana, Cuba. She is an actress, known for CHIPS (2017), Mercy for Angels (2015) and Scarface: The World Is Yours (2006).- Actress
- Writer
- Casting Department
Amanda Kloots was born on 19 March 1982 in Canton, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Irishman (2019), Fit for Christmas (2022) and Ted 2 (2015). She was previously married to Nick Cordero and David Larsen.- A statuesque and striking actress with vaguely reptilian aspects, at once sinister and alluring; a smile never more than a whisker away from a sneer and a commanding, imperious presence suggesting innate superiority. Difficult to cast, Patricia Laffan seemed destined to portray the villainous or the eccentric. The daughter of Irish rubber planter Arthur Charles Laffan (1870-1948) and London-born Elvira Alice née Vitali (1896-1979), Patricia was schooled at the Institut français du Royaume-Uni in London and trained in dramatic arts at the prestigious Douglas-Webber School. She emerged on stage in 1937 and made her screen debut by 1945. In between a cluster of nondescript or uncredited roles, we remember her for two indelible cinematic performances: first, as that sumptuously decadent, scheming, malicious Empress Poppaea in MGM's epic blockbuster Quo Vadis (1951) -- sardonic and disdainful in her delivery, at times running close to overshadowing even the great Peter Ustinov in his most famous role as Nero. One of her lavish outfits included a 14 carat gold dress designed by Herschel McCoy. A contemporary BBC interview with Laffan also recounts an incident during the making of Quo Vadis. In this, the actress, while reclining on a divan next to a couple of cheetahs at the end of a love scene with Robert Taylor, was set upon by one of the not so tame cats but managed to escape with a torn dress (the gold one ?) -- "on the other hand, the lions in the arena scene were so bored that they went to sleep in the shade instead of looking hungrily at the Christians".
Laffan's other fondly remembered showing on screen was in the campy Devil Girl from Mars (1954), a typically low-budget Danziger Brothers attempt at emulating the success of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Justifiably derided at the time (for such valid reasons as inane writing, lacklustre direction and props acutely reminiscent of kitchen appliances), it has become a surprising cult touchstone for sci-fi aficionados. Why? Certainly because of the picture's sole meritorious component: Patricia Laffan as the Martian invader Nyah, exotically made up, outfitted in PVC jumpsuit, miniskirt, Darth Vader-style cape and skullcap and making the most of her scenes, delivering her lines with practised cold, languid authority.
Sadly underused, there were to be few other roles of note for this commanding actress in the wake of 'Devil Girl', except, perhaps, for an integral bit in the enjoyable psychological thriller 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). Subsequent TV appearances saw her mostly confined to conventional aristocratic ladies in period or crime dramas. Patricia Laffan retired from the screen in 1965, apparently to a quiet life in Chelsea, London, where she may have pursued her passions for fast cars, story-writing and breeding bull terriers. - Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Dana was born in Los Angeles, California and raised between New York and Los Angeles. She is an actress and writer most known for her role as a Young Emily Dickinson in Wild Nights with Emily (2018), the Netflix teen series Greenhouse Academy (2017), and the award winning short film Waiting to Die in Bayside, Queens (2017).
Dana began her career at eleven and picked up writing not too long after.- Nicole Muirbrook was born on 19 March 1983 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. She is an actress, known for Dark Blue (2009), How I Met Your Mother (2005) and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (2009). She has been married to Taylor Sheridan since 18 September 2013. They have one child. She was previously married to Christian Wagner.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Joe recently finished co-writing the film adaptation of the off Broadway play, Kid Champion, made famous by Christopher Walken during the 1970's.
His previous feature credits include: the Sundance darling, I Melt With You, as part of a dynamic cast which included Carla Gugino, Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe and BAFTA nominee Christian McKay. Joe's first experience with Sundance Film Festival was in 2005 where he made his debut starring in the Frank E. Flowers film Swallow, an Official Sundance Selection and multiple award-winning film. Immediately following the success of Swallow - Joe was cast in the controversial film titled Snuff Movie for cult director Bernard Rose. (Immortal Beloved). Joe played the memorable Pvt. Billy Babcock in George Romero's remake of The Crazies (directed by Breck Eisner).
Joe's feature credits range from serious dramatic roles to action, broad comedy and genre. He has worked with a wide range of industry heavyweights including Academy Award winners Holly Hunter, Gary Sinese, Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Annabella Sciorra -producers: Francis Ford Coppola, Rob Cohen, Neil Labute, and directors: Frank E. Flowers, Victor Salva, Eric Bross and Breck Eisner.
Joe recently recurred on Chicago PD for NBC and in Luc Besson's, Taxi Brooklyn for NBC. Joe has recurred and done multi-episode arcs on the majority of prime-time's top ranked shows. Several of these include: CSI, CSI:NY, CSI:Miami , Cold Case, Without A Trace, The Whole Truth, Castle, Hawaii 5-0, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and the ABC pilot, Edgar Floats. His comedy TV credits include The Next Generation Wayans for BET and Hollywood Heights for Nickelodeon. Joe is recently wrapped filming CSI:Cyber opposite Patricia Arquette.
Joe currently resides in Los Angeles and New York.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Woefully misused while in her prime screen years at Paramount during the late '30s and '40s, Patricia Morison, lovely and exotic with Rapunzel-like long, dark hair, nevertheless became a star in her own right -- as a supremely talented diva on the singing stage.
Born on March 19, 1915, in New York City, her father, William Morison, was a playwright and occasional actor who billed himself under the name Norman Rainey. Patricia's mother worked for British Intelligence during WWI. Graduating from Washington Irving High School in New York, Patricia studied at the Art Students League and proceeded to take acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse while also studying dance with the renowned Martha Graham. She earned a steady check at the time as a dress shop designer.
At age 19 Patricia made her Broadway debut in the short-lived play "Growing Pains" and proceeded to understudy the legendary Helen Hayes in her classic role of "Victoria Regina". She never went on. In 1938, shortly after opening in the musical "The Two Bouquets" opposite musical star Alfred Drake, Paramount talent scouts, looking for exotic, dark-haired glamour types then to rein in their star commodity, Dorothy Lamour, scoped Patricia out and tested her. The blue-eyed beauty who indeed resembled Lamour was signed and made her film debut the following year, showing bright promise in the "B" film Persons in Hiding (1939).
Patricia's stock did not improve, however, despite such promise, and she was relegated to such second-string westerns as I'm from Missouri (1939), Rangers of Fortune (1940), Romance of the Rio Grande (1940), and The Round Up (1941). When things didn't improve with such stilted fare as Night in New Orleans (1942), Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942), and Are Husbands Necessary? (1942), she left Paramount. She freelanced in 'other woman' roles which included the Tracy/Hepburn vehicle Without Love (1945) and The Fallen Sparrow (1943), and played Empress Eugenie in The Song of Bernadette (1943), but the focus was seldom on her. Overlooked when cast in top leads at 'poverty row' programmers, her best chance at film stardom came as Victor Mature's despairing wife who takes her own life (which was to have been shown on screen) in Kiss of Death (1947), but her juicy role was excised from the film by producers (or, more likely, the Breen Commission) who felt audiences weren't ready for such shocking displays.
During the war years, Patricia had trained her voice and performed in USO tours. Cole Porter heard her sing in Hollywood one evening and decided she had the right tenacity, feistiness and vocal expertise to play the female lead in his new show. In 1948, over the objections of both the producer and director, stardom was clenched in the form of Porter's classic musical-within-a-musical "Kiss Me Kate." As the sweeping, vixenish Lilli Vanessi, a severe-looking stage diva whose own volatile personality coincided with that of her onstage role (Kate from "The Taming of the Shrew"), Patricia found THE role of her career, giving over 1,000 performances in all. Playing again alongside her former Broadway co-star Alfred Drake, Patricia basked in the multitude of glowing reviews, and such songs as "I Hate Men," "Wunderbar" and "So In Love" rightfully became signature songs. Following this triumph, film work never became a top priority again.
Patricia continued on successfully in the London version of "Kate" and went on to conquer other classic leads in the musicals "The King and I," "Kismet," "The Merry Widow," "Song of Norway" and Pal Joey," among others. Her last movie role was a cameo part as writer George Sand in the mildly received biopic Song Without End (1960) starring Dirk Bogarde as composer Franz Liszt.
On TV Patricia recreated her Kate role with Mr. Drake and made a few scattered but lively appearances over the years. One of her later guest shots was on a 1989 episode of "Cheers" and a 1991 episode of "Gabriel's Fire." In later years the never-married actress devoted herself to painting (an early passion) and enjoyed many showings in the Los Angeles area. The lovely lady with the trademark long hair died in L.A. at the age of 103, on May 20, 2018.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Rosalind Harris was born on 19 March 1950. She is an actress, known for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Cotton Club (1984) and Mrs. Santa Claus (1996).- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Actor, Writer, and Voiceover Artist, Mary Scheer's recent film credits include The Vortex with Billy Gardell. TV appearances: 3 Seasons on Paramount + iCarly Reboot (Mrs. Benson). Voiceover: Twin Mirror (Don'tNodProductions) Prime Time Glick and The Martin Short Show (Actor and WGA writer). Between 2 Ferns The Movie (with Zach Galafinakis) 2 Broke Girls, Life in Pieces, 47 Episodes of Penguins of Madagascar as Alice the Zookeeper and 2 Episodes of Seinfeld. Alumna of the Groundlings Theater Main Company where she performed for 6 years with Will Ferrell, Wendy MCclendon-Covey, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael Hitchcock and more. Original cast member MADtv (68 Episodes) Hey, Arnold! (Suzie Kokoshka, 14 Episodes) Family Guy and King of the Hill.- Philip Bolden was born on 19 March 1995 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He is an actor, known for Are We There Yet? (2005), Mystery Men (1999) and Little Nicky (2000).
- Ayoola Smart was born on 19 March 1994 in Schull, County Cork, Ireland. She is an actress, known for Juliet, Naked (2018), Cocaine Bear (2023) and Killing Eve (2018).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
This popular, baggy-eyed, bald-domed, big lug of a character actor had
few peers when called upon to display that special "slow burn" style of
comedy few others perfected. But perfect he did -- on stage, film and
TV. In fact, he pretty much cornered the market during the 50s and 60s
as the dour, ill-tempered guy you loved to hate.
Born Frederick Leonard Clark on March 19 1914, the son of Frederick
Clark, a county agriculture commissioner, and Stella (née Bruce) Clark,
in Lincoln, California, Fred's initial interest was in medicine and he
pursued his pre-med studies at Stanford University. A chance role in
the college play "Yellow Jack" change the coarse of his destiny.
Earning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he paid
his dues performing in local community theater and summer stock. By May
of 1938, at age 24, he was making his Broadway debut with the
short-lived comedy play "Schoolhouse on the Lot". He then returned to
Broadway a few months later to appear in the melodrama "Ringside Seat",
which also closed early.
Fred's nascent career was interrupted when America entered World War
II. He served as a Navy pilot in 1942 but later joined the Army and
spent nearly two years with the Third Army in Europe. Clark returned to
acting and in during the post-war years broke into films via Hungarian
film director Michael Curtiz who cast him
in the noir classic
The Unsuspected (1947). Able to
provide cold-hearted villainy in crime drama as well as dyspeptic humor
to slapstick comedy, film work came to Fred in no short order.
Ride the Pink Horse (1947),
Cry of the City (1948),
Flamingo Road (1949),
White Heat (1949),
Alias Nick Beal (1949),
Sunset Blvd. (1950),
The Jackpot (1950),
The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) and
Meet Me After the Show (1951)
all made the most of Fred's sour skills. Around this time (1952) he
married actress Benay Venuta, whom he met
while both were performing on stage in "Light Up the Sky" (1950). The
popular couple continued to work together from time to time, which
included a 1956 stage production of "Bus Stop" at the La Jolla
Playhouse.
Well-established on film by this point, Fred set his sights on TV and
earned raves providing weekly bombastic support to
George Burns and
Gracie Allen on their popular sitcom
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950).
Joining the cast into its second season (his role had already been
played by two other actors), Fred made the role of neighbor/realtor
Harry Morton his own, becoming the first definitive Harry on the show.
Investing his character with an amusing, child-like grumpiness, he was
ideally paired with comedienne
Bea Benaderet (as wife Blanche). Together
they provided perfect foursome chemistry with Burns and Allen, much in
the same way Vivian Vance and
William Frawley did for
Lucille Ball and
Desi Arnaz on
I Love Lucy (1951). Clark,
however, would leave the show in the fall of 1953 following a salary
dispute, and was replaced by a fourth Harry Morton,
Larry Keating, who managed to keep
the role until the end in 1958. Fred would find steady but lesser
success on TV after this.
With his trademark cigar, scowl, shiny baldness and pencil-thin
mustache, Fred continued to be high in demand in film, usually playing
some high-ranking military officer, gang boss, shifty politician or
executive skinflint. The Martin & Lewis comedy
The Caddy (1953),
Marilyn Monroe's
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953),
The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956),
Don't Go Near the Water (1957),
The Mating Game (1959),
Auntie Mame (1958),
Bells Are Ringing (1960),
Visit to a Small Planet (1960),
Boys' Night Out (1962) and
Move Over, Darling (1963), all
displayed Clark at his blustery best. And on TV he contributed to such
comedy shows as
The Beverly Hillbillies (1962),
I Dream of Jeannie (1965)
and
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961).
He also received some attention pushing potato chips in commercials.
Fred made a successful stage debut in London with
1963's "Never Too
Late" co-starring Joan Bennett
and Samantha Eggar, as a cranky
middle-aged father-to-be. He would also return infrequently to Broadway
with prime roles in "Romanoff and Juliet" (1957), Viva Madison Avenue!
(1960) and "Absence of a Cello" (1964). On a sad note, many of Fred's
final years were spent in inferior film. Movies such as
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965),
I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1969)
and the notorious bomb Skidoo (1968),
which was directed by Otto Preminger and
starred Jackie Gleason and
Carol Channing, were undeserving of his
talents.
Divorced from Ms. Venuta in August of 1962, Fred subsequently married a
model, Gloria Glaser, in 1966. Fred's sudden death of liver disease two
years later on December 5, 1968, at the untimely age of 54, had
Hollywood mourning one of its finest comic heavies -- gone way before
his time.- Actor
- Soundtrack
For a while in the 1970s, Fred Berry was one of the biggest stars on
American television. The former dancer, who became a star in the sitcom
What's Happening!! (1976)
ballooned until his weight became a threat to his health. He battled
with food, drink, drugs and women, marrying 6 times to 4 women in
total. Diabetes was diagnosed, he lost more than 100 pounds and turned
to religion. Born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1951, Berry danced with
The Lockers, but it was the sitcom deal in
1976 that gave him his big break. The series ran for three seasons.
After it was canceled, Berry struggled with personal problems and with
the search for another star vehicle. The series was popular through
reruns and a further series
(What's Happening Now! (1985)
was picked up in 1985 and ran for three years, after which Berry gave
up acting for religion. He returned to the screen in 1998 in the action
movie In the Hood (1998), and his
final role was a cameo in
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)
in 2003. Berry died on October 21, 2003, aged 52.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Acclaimed and highly discussed filmmaker Neil LaBute has made himself a force to be reckoned with and a name to watch. With his true-to-life cynical and self-absorbed characters and all-too-true social themes, he has firmly established himself as an unforgiving judge of the ugliest side of human nature.
LaBute was originally a playwright. He attended Brigham Young University and took theater as his major. Many say that Pulitzer-Prize
winner David Mamet was a strong influence on him. He chose to attack subjects that many people don't really want to talk
about and showed the way that people really talk among themselves. His first stage piece, an off-off-Broadway play which was entitled "Filthy Talk for Troubled Times", debuted in 1989 and it featured two men just sitting around a bar and making small talk and ridiculing women, minorities, homosexuals and their ways, in a manner not unlike the conversations in his In the Company of Men (1997). The foul-mouthed play was, not unsurprisingly, a hit with the critics.
After LaBute graduated from the University of Kansas and New York University, he got a scholarship to London's Royal Court Theatre in the
US in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. Then he got into cinema. He made his films like his plays: showing characters just sitting and talking and revealing how evil, scared, ignorant, arrogant, emotionally wounded, delusional, disillusioned and cynical they are.
LaBute made his first major mark with the low-budget (and frighteningly realistic) cautionary fable In the Company of Men (1997),
about two sexist male office co-workers fed up with what they believe is the way women have taken over American society and how it is no
longer a man's world. They set out to find a vulnerable woman - one looking for male attention - and wine her, dine her, then cruelly dump
her, just to gain some "dignity" for their gender. Shot for $25,000 in less than two weeks, the film won the Sundance Filmmaker's trophy,
awards for LaBute's screenplay and the star Aaron Eckhart's performance as a heartless and misogynist creep with ambition and cockiness to spare.
His next movie and sophomore cinema effort, Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), was considerably less well-received (a casualty of what is often referred to as "the sophomore jinx"). The film was about a group of six very different, but misanthropic people (three men and three women) connected by their relationships; when unhappy in them, they begin to shamelessly lie and cheat on one another with their lovers, and even with their friends. The movie got some strong reviews, but other reviewers felt LaBute was pretty much repeating himself. The prevailing attitude seeming to be that this time he had made an entire movie with all of its characters being nothing but villains, so why should anyone care about or want these six unlikable people to ever find happiness?
Nurse Betty (2000) was LaBute's next directorial effort, from a script he didn't write himself. It was was a radical departure from LaBute's other work, about a sweet-natured waitress obsessed with a particular soap opera and especially the show's star, George McCord (Greg Kinnear). The film received the Cannes Film Festival's Best Screenplay trophy for its authors. Renée Zellweger was honored with a Golden Globe Award. LaBute had finally made a good-nature, mainstream film, and a damn good one, but he didn't spend ALL his time basking - he had put out several other things that year, such as a TV movie based on his "Bash" plays and another original work entitled Tumble (2000), none of which got wide recognition.
In 2002 LaBute got himself noticed again with another less-caustic movie - a costume period piece called Possession (2002), based on the best-selling novel, which many believed to be about his love for early English culture. It starred LaBute stalwart Eckhart and Gwyneth Paltrow, who specializes in having the most authentic sounding British accent around. It wasn't a huge box-office success, but it did have many fervent admirers.
In 2003 LaBute brought to the screen another adaptation of his own work, a play he wrote and directed and had performed in England. He
brought his original cast (Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol and Frederick Weller) back to appear in this one. It
was entitled The Shape of Things (2003), about how a seductive art student, named Evelyn, takes Paul, a nerdy, insecure, out-of-shape guy, and begins molding him to look more and more desirable, much to the confusion of his friends. He enjoys being desirable, but is unaware of where all this remodeling will lead as Evelyn gets more and more possessive and controlling.
With pieces like "In the Company of Men" and Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), LaBute has proven that he has his hand on the pulse and minds of everyday and ordinary people (not heroes or villains), just average people who sound and behave horribly for no reason, and you cringe all the more because you know and identify with those characters. With "Nurse Betty" and "Possession", however, LaBute has shown that he has more than just one really incredibly note. He's no one-hit wonder. Here is a man whose entire body of work should be watched and studied by all.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Joy Suprano was born on 19 March 1980. She is an actress, known for Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022), Best Foot Forward (2022) and Hightown (2020).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Christmas trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, gained
experience in English repertory theatre in 1936, and had a principal
role in the London production of
Noël Coward's "Bitter Sweet" in the 1930s.
During the Second World War, he was a member of Royal Air Force
production units and performed in the RAF's Gang Show. After moving to
Canada in 1948, he started a long association with television comedians
Johnny Wayne and
Frank Shuster, playing the character Madam
Hooperdink. His own show "Christmas is Coming" toured Canada in the
1950s. He was artistic director at the Ottawa Repertory Company in 1954
and ran the Peterborough Summer Theatre that year. He began a long
association with Canada's Stratford Festival in 1957, performing in 12
seasons and 21 Shakespearean productions until 1970. It was Christmas
and a group of veteran actors like
William Hutt,
Tony Van Bridge,
Jean Gascon,
Douglas Rain,
Amelia Hall, and
Mervyn Blake (among others) who helped
define Stratford in its early years. His final appearance at Stratford
was 1987, when he played Dogberry in "Much Ado About Nothing."
Christmas also had associations over the years with the Canadian
Players, San Diego's Globe Theatre, and the drama department at the
University of California at San Diego. He and his first wife had two
children (Robin and Stephen) two children with his second wife, six grandchildren.- Actor
- Soundtrack
He was one of Hollywood's more interesting curiosities. Kent Smith, by
most standards, had the makings of a topflight '40s and '50s film star--handsome, virile, personable, highly dedicated, equipped with a rich stage background--and no slouch in the talent department. For some reason
all these fine qualities did not add up to stardom, which would remain
elusive in a career that nevertheless covered almost five decades.
Today, Smith's name and face have been almost completely forgotten. His
solid body of work on stage, screen and TV certainly defies such
treatment. Perhaps his looks weren't distinctive enough, perhaps he was
overshadowed once too often by his more popular female screen stars,
perhaps there was a certain lack of charisma or sex appeal for
audiences to latch onto, or perhaps a lack of ego or even an interest in
being a "name" star. Whatever the reason, this purposeful lead and
second lead's resume deserves more than a passing glance.
Christened Frank Kent Smith, he was born in New York City on March 19,
1907, to a hotelier. An early experience in front of a crowd happened
during childhood when he performed as an assistant to Blackstone the
magician. Kent graduated from boarding school (Philips Exeter Academy
in New Hampshire) and attended Harvard University, finding theater work
at various facilities during his time off. One such group, the
University Players in West Falmouth, Massachusetts, produced such
screen icons as James Stewart,
Henry Fonda and
Margaret Sullavan.
Kent made his theatrical debut in the short-lived play "Blind Window"
at the Ford's Theatre in Baltimore in 1929 in a cast that also featured
young hopeful Clark Gable. Taking his first
Broadway curtain call in "Men Must Fight" in 1932, a steady flow of
theater work came his way throughout the rest of the '30s, in which he
performed opposite some of the theater's finest grande dames: Lillian Gish,
Katharine Cornell,
Jane Cowl,
Blanche Yurka and
Ethel Barrymore. He proved equally adept
in both classic ("Caesar and Cleopatra," "Saint Joan," "A Doll's
House") and contemporary settings ("Heat Lightning," "The Drums
Begin").
Aside from an isolated appearance in
The Garden Murder Case (1936),
Kent's film output didn't officially begin until 1942. RKO took an
interest in the stage-trained actor and offered him a lead role in the
low-budget horror classic
Cat People (1942) as the husband of
menacingly feline Simone Simon. He
returned to his protagonist role in the sequel
The Curse of the Cat People (1944).
After a few more decent films, including
Hitler's Children (1943) and
This Land Is Mine (1943), Kent
joined the U.S. Army Air Force and appeared in several government
training films during his service, which ended in 1944.
He came back to films without a hitch during the post-war years, posting
major credits in
The Spiral Staircase (1946),
Magic Town (1947) ,
Nora Prentiss (1947),
My Foolish Heart (1949) and
The Fountainhead (1949),
although he tended to pale next to his illustrious female stars Dorothy McGuire,
Jane Wyman,
Ann Sheridan,
Susan Hayward and
Patricia Neal. Normally a third wheel in
romantic triangles or good friend/rival-to-the-star roles, he never found the
one big film role (or TV show) that could have put a marquee name to
the face.
Kent fared better on stage and in the newer medium of TV in the 1950s.
Among the highlights: He complemented
Helen Hayes both in the video
version of her stage triumph "Victoria Regina" and in her Broadway
vehicle "The Wisteria Tree", which was based on Chekhov's "'The Cherry
Orchard". He was also praised for his strong stage performances in
"The Wild Duck" and "The Autumn Garden" and appeared alongside
Elaine Stritch in the national touring
company of the musical "Call Me Madam". He was everywhere on TV,
guesting on such popular shows as "Wagon Train", "Naked City", "Alfred
Hitchcock Presents", "The Outer Limits" and "Peyton Place". In 1962, he
replaced Melvyn Douglas in the national
company of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man". Also
in the cast was actress Edith Atwater. The
couple married that same year. His first marriage to minor actress
Betty Gillette had ended earlier in divorce
after 17 years and one daughter.
The remainder of Kent's career remained quite steady, if unremarkable,
in both films and on TV. He lent able character support as assorted
gray-haired authoritarians usually upstanding in reputation but
certainly capable of shady dealings if called upon. The actor died at
age 78 of heart disease in Woodland Hills, California, just outside of
Los Angeles. His widow, Edith, died less than a year later of cancer.
Perhaps with such a common last name as "Smith" it was destined that
he would spend a lifetime trying to stand out. Nevertheless, with a career
as rich and respectable as his was, and with a wide range of roles that
included everything from battling evil cats to spouting Shakespeare at
Stratford, true recognition and reconsideration is long overdue.- Abby Ross is a Canadian actress from Vancouver. Abby had always knew she wanted to perform, with dreams of becoming a singer before she discovered acting. At the age of 8 she did a theatre camp in Calgary and that's when she decided she wanted to act as a career. It took years of classes, failed commercial auditions and background work before she convinced her parents to get a talent agent. Her first professional role was at 15 was a series regular, playing Anastasia Colborne on Citytv's 'Seed' for two seasons. She then went on to recur as a young Emma Swan in ABC's 'Once Upon a Time' and to make appearances in the likes of 'Supergirl', 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina', 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow', and many more. Abby still loves singing.