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1-50 of 1,380
- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Eliza Dushku was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Judith (Rasmussen),
a political science professor, and Philip R. Dushku, a teacher and
administrator. Her father is Albanian and her mother is American (of
Danish, Irish, English, and German descent). She was discovered at the
end of a five-month search throughout the United States for the perfect
girl to play the lead role of Alice opposite
Juliette Lewis in the film
That Night (1992). Since then, she has
been in several films and has worked with actors such as
Robert De Niro,
Ellen Barkin,
Leonardo DiCaprio,
Paul Reiser, and
Jim Belushi. Born in Boston on December
30, 1980, she has studied the piano, drums, and several types of dance
(jazz, tap, and ballet). Her previous acting experience includes
numerous amateur presentations at the Watertown Children's Theater
where she was part of the company since she was in the first grade. In
addition to acting, she is sometimes seen on stage at the Children's
Theater signing for the deaf.- Actress
- Producer
Kristin Kreuk was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Deanna Che, who is of Chinese ancestry, and Peter Kreuk, who is of
Dutch descent. Her parents are landscape architects. She attended and graduated from Eric Hamber Secondary School. Although she did some stage work in school, she focused more on her studies. She described herself as shy and boring.
For her first professional work, she went to an open casting audition for Edgemont (2000), a teen drama series aired on CBC Television in Canada. She plays the role as "Laurel Yeung". Laurel was the last main character to be cast because the casting director was having a problem finding an actress. Fortunately, for them (and us), they found Kristin just in time.
Her career was set to take off when she landed on the highly acclaimed serial drama series for The WB, Smallville (2001). It follows the story of "Clark Kent" in his pre-Superman days in a small town of Smallville, Kansas. Kreuk played the role as "Lana Lang", Clark Kent's object of desire before he meets "Lois Lane".
Smallville (2001) proved to be a giant step for Kristin's acting career, as she landed several interviews with several magazines, including YM (Young and Modern) and Rolling Stone. She also did a commercial for Neutrogena, popular for its skin care products.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Lucy Punch grew up in London and was a member of the National Youth Theatre in her late teens before going to University College London to read History. While she was there she auditioned for TV roles and eventually dropped out to concentrate on acting.
She learned a lot, she says, from working on the short-lived TV series Let Them Eat Cake (1999) with Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French and although she has played many serious roles on TV and in film since, it's her comic skills that have shone.
After several years of steady TV and film work at home, she moved to Los Angeles in the mid-2000s and soon found work there on another short-lived comedy show, The Class (2006) and has stayed in the US ever since, appearing on TV and in movies to increasing acclaim.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Sheryl Lee Ralph was born December 30, 1956 in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA. She is known for her roles in Moesha (1996), Its A Living (1980), and Instant Mom (2013). Her Career Began in the late 1970s. She has been Married to Vincent Hughes since July 30, 2005 a Pennsylvania state senator. She was previously married to Eric Maurice.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman) is a multiple award-winning television, stage and film actress who performs as a comedian, singer, dancer, as well as works as a screenwriter, producer, director, author, and businesswoman.
She holds dual British and American citizenship.
Ullman's early appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows A Kick Up the Eighties (with Rik Mayall and Miriam Margolyes) and Three of a Kind (with Lenny Henry and David Copperfield). After a brief singing career, she appeared as Candice Valentine in Girls on Top with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
She emigrated from the United Kingdom to the United States where she starred in her own network television comedy series, The Tracey Ullman Show, from 1987 until 1990. She later produced programmes for HBO, including Tracey Takes On... (1996-99), for which she garnered numerous awards. Ullman's sketch comedy series, Tracey Ullman's State of the Union, ran from 2008 to 2010 on Showtime. She has also appeared in several feature films. Ullman was the first British woman to be offered her own television sketch show in both the United Kingdom and the United States and in 2016 stars in her own BBC sketch comedy show Tracey Ullman's Show, her first project for the broadcaster in over thirty years.- Actress
Faye Marsay was born on 30 December 1986 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Pride (2014), Game of Thrones (2011) and Andor (2022).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
George Newbern is an American actor from Little Rock, Arkansas known for voicing Superman in various DC cartoons and video games starting with 2001's Justice League and playing Charlie from Scandal. He also acted in Father of the Bride and provided the voice of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts II.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Caitlin Marie Lotz (born December 30, 1986) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is known for her roles as Stephanie Horton in Mad Men (2007), Officer Kirsten Landry in the MTV mockumentary series Death Valley (2011), as Annie in The Pact (2012), and as Sara Lance/White Canary in The CW's Arrowverse television series, where she has appeared in Arrow (2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016), The Flash (2014), and Supergirl (2015). She is also a co-founder of SheThority, a women empowerment organization.
Lotz started her career as a dancer, touring with Avril Lavigne and Lady Gaga, and starring in music videos including Lady Gaga: Paparazzi (2009) and Lady Gaga: LoveGame (2009), David Guetta Feat. Estelle: One Love (2009), Selena Gomez: Tell Me Something I Don't Know (2008), Faith Evans' "Mesmerized", T-Pain's "Freeze", JoJo: Baby It's You (2004), Cascada: Evacuate the Dancefloor (2009), Kaci Brown's "Instigator (album)", and Leehom Wang's "Gai Shi Ying Xiong". Lotz appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005) season 8, as Lady Gaga's back-up dancer for the song "LoveGame". Her Avril Lavigne tour performance was released on the video Avril Lavigne: The Best Damn Tour - Live in Toronto (2008).
Lotz appeared in adverts for Jack in the Box, Reebok, and T-Mobile, danced in the web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, toured with the hip hop theatre production Groovaloo, and stunt-doubled in films including Step Up 3D.
In 2005, Lotz joined the girl group Soccx. In 2006, the group released their debut single "From Dusk Till Dawn (Get the Party Started)", which they followed up in 2007 with the single "Scream Out Loud", both of which reached the top 10 in Germany. Their debut album, Hold On, was also released in 2007, and their third single, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", was released in 2008.
Lotz has model-led for Men's Health and Esquire, the latter in conjunction with the website Me in My Place.
Lotz did her acting training at Sanford Meisner for two years. Lotz began her acting career in 2006 with a small role in the cheer-leading film Bring It on: All or Nothing (2006). She followed that up in 2010 with a part in the third episode of Law & Order: LA (2010) and a recurring role in the fourth season of the AMC drama Mad Men (2007) as Stephanie, Anna Draper's niece. In 2011, Lotz starred as Officer Kirsten Landry, one of the main characters in the MTV horror, black comedy mockumentary series Death Valley (2011). Lotz performs all her own stunts on the show.
In 2012, Lotz had roles in Live at the Foxes Den (2013), Battle of the Year (2013) alongside Josh Holloway and alongside Casper Van Dien and Agnes Bruckner in the supernatural thriller The Pact (2012), which debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and has been picked up for distribution. Lotz also appears starting in season 2 of Arrow (2012) as Sara Lance, a character believed dead who returns as a costumed vigilante known as The Canary.
She stars as Sara Lance/White Canary in DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016), an Arrow spin-off. She had the lead role in the science fiction film The Machine (2013), which had its UK release on March 21, 2014 and had its US release on April 25, 2014. In May 2014, she reprized her role as Stephanie in the seventh season of Mad Men. She also played Dr. Emily McTier in the TV film 400 Days (2015), along with co-star on Legends, Brandon Routh in 2016.
Lotz is a martial artist, with some training in taekwondo, wushu, Krav Maga, kali martial arts and muay Thai. She is also a practitioner of parkour and tricking. Lotz has trained with Steve Terada and Wayne Dalglish.- Meredith Leigh Monroe was born in Houston, Texas, and was raised in Hinsdale, Illinois. Before acting, Meredith appeared on packaging for such products like a Conair hair crimper and was on five book covers in the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys series. She made her TV debut in 1996 with a commercial for Tylenol Sinus. Her appearance as Tracey Daiken on ABC's Dangerous Minds (1996) secured her first role in a television series. Her exposure resulted in her landing the part of Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder in Beyond the Prairie, Part 2: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2002). Although the completed project was not released until 2002, Meredith was not absent from television screens for long, playing the part of troubled teenager Andie McPhee in 1998 on the WB's Dawson's Creek (1998) for three seasons (Episodes 201 to 407). Although Meredith left the show in 2000, when her character left to spend a year in Italy before attending Harvard University on early acceptance; her character was so well-received that she returned later in the season to film the graduation episode (Episode 422). Since her departure, Meredith has enjoyed success in film (ABC'S The One (2003) and a small appearance in Minority Report (2002)), and has now landed a major part in ABC's TV series, Married to the Kellys (2003), where she co-stars with Road Trip (2000) star, Breckin Meyer.
- Joanna Pacula was born on 30 December 1957 in Tomaszów Lubelski, Lubelskie, Poland. She is an actress, known for Tombstone (1993), Gorky Park (1983) and The Kiss (1988).
- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
A marvelous character actor with intense eyes, a sly grin and somewhat grizzled appearance, Golden Globe-winner Fred Ward had nearly 90 appearances under his belt in many tremendous films and television programs. He first became interested in acting after serving three years in the US Air Force and studied at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio. Ward then went to Europe, where he dubbed many Italian movies, and first appeared on-screen in two films by Roberto Rossellini. He then returned to the United States, and got his first decent role alongside Clint Eastwood in the nail-biting prison film Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Ward's looks often saw him cast as law enforcement or military characters, and he put in noteworthy performances in Southern Comfort (1981), Uncommon Valor (1983), as astronaut Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff (1983) and scored the lead in the interesting spy/martial arts movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985), which unfortunately was not as successful as had been the mega-selling series of Remo Williams books.
However, during "Remo", Ward demonstrated a great knack for comedic timing and satirical performance, and this ability was used to great effect in several films, including playing Kevin Bacon's fellow giant-worm-fighting handyman in the light-hearted sci-fi hit Tremors (1990), as "Walter Stuckel" in Robert Altman's The Player (1992), as TV anchorman "Chip Daley" in Tim Robbins' razor-sharp political satire Bob Roberts (1992) and as a vicious, but incompetent, gangster menacing Leslie Nielsen in Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994).
Ward's abilities as both a supporting player and truly versatile character actor ensured that he would be in steady demand, and he continued to turn up in a wide variety of roles utilizing his skills. Keep an eye out for Fred Ward in the action-filled The Chaos Factor (2000), as David Spade's dad in Joe Dirt (2001), in the tongue-in-cheek Corky Romano (2001) and in the Reese Witherspoon romantic tale Sweet Home Alabama (2002). His last three films were more action-oriented, Armored (2009), [link=tt1622547, and 2 Guns (2013), and he subsequently mostly retired from acting until his death in 2022.- Actress
- Producer
Kelli Maroney is an American actress whose career spans several decades, with 72 production
credits, including 31+ films and over 540 hours of television.
She first came to recognition as the bad seed Lolita "Kimberly Harris" in the ABC
Daytime drama Ryan's Hope, winning the plum role only two weeks after arriving in NYC to
attend classes at The National Shakespeare Company Conservatory. She soon found herself
acting opposite the likes of Joan Fontaine and Christopher Reeve as they made guest appearances
on the show. She went on to take over the role of sex-kitten manipulator "Tina Lord" on ABC's
One Life to Live.
Kelli also gained notice for her portrayal of the exasperated cheerleader "Cindy Carr/Spirit
Bunny" in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a film that for many
epitomized the 80s. Today Kelli's cheerleader costume is on display in the Universal Studios
Museum. Strong female leading roles, notably MAC-10-toting cheerleader "Samantha Belmont"
in the zombie apocalypse classic Night of The Comet, the sweet Killbot-slaying "Alison
Parks" in Choppin Mall, "Jamie" in the underground slasher The Zero Boys, teen
psychotic-killer "Jolene" in Slayground, and several other well-received films quickly
earned Kelli her seat at the table as a Final Girl in the horror genre.
She also guest-starred in a variety of prime-time ABC, NBC, and CBS shows, including the
ever-popular Murder, She Wrote. Kelli has said that her most fulfilling role to date is the
schizophrenic femme fatale "Merrie/Meredith" in Showtime's noir thriller Face Down
(written and directed by Night of the Comet's Thom Eberhardt), playing opposite Joe
Mantegna, J.K. Simmons, and Adam Ant. Other streaming highlights include Kelli's channeling
Tammy Faye Baker on HBO's True Blood and playing herself in Adult Swim's Tim and
Eric's Awesome Show-Great Job! alongside Patrick Duffy.
Current on-demand films include Scare Package II on Shudder, The Wild Man, and Exorcism at 60,000 Feet (with horror icons Lance
Henriksen, Adrienne Barbeau, and Bill Moseley), The Deep Ones (a modernized film adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story) Night Caller, (the 70s-inspired shocker with Steve Railsback
and Lew Temple), and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama II.
Slated for release in 2023 include The Wild Man, Scalper, The Old Ones, and Staycation, a
film in which she both appears and has a co-producer credit. Kelli's first job as executive co-producer was the 1999 festival award-winning short film Sam and Mike (in which she also
co-starred). The experience ignited her love of film festivals, and she remains deeply committed
to championing independent filmmakers. Her work from 2019 to the present has garnered
festival awards in and for short films and full-length features which include Best Actress (Kelli
Maroney) Best Ensemble Cast, Best Film, and other department-specific awards
for creative teams.
Kelli is featured in CNN's The Movies: The 80s! She is also interviewed in six
documentaries: In Search of Darkness: I, II, and III; Time Warp: The
Greatest Cult Films of All Time; Direct to Video: A Study of the Independent Film Scene
of the 1990s; and Mental Health and Horror: A Documentary, debuting in 2023.
Kelli is a strong advocate for mental health awareness and animal welfare. She lives in Los
Angeles with her husband, Dan Ulin, and two rescue cats.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Daniel Sunjata (born Daniel Sunjata Condon on December 30, 1971) is an American actor who performs in film, television and theater. He is best known for his role as "Franco Rivera" in the FX television series, Rescue Me (2004). Sunjata also starred as "Paul Briggs" in USA Network's series, Graceland (2013). Sunjata was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is the adopted son of Bill and Catherine Condon, a police dispatcher and a civil rights worker. He is of mixed African American, Irish, and German ancestry.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jeff Ward was born on 30 December 1986 in Washington, DC, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Girlfriend Game (2015), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013) and Manson's Lost Girls (2016).- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Russ wasn't discovered, he discovered show business at the age of 5 when, with other youngsters at Inglewood, California, he went to Saturday matinees at the Granada Theatre. One afternoon while waiting for the show to start he got on the stage and did an impromptu dance which the kids loved. He repeated it the following week and became so popular that when he didn't appear there was almost a riot. The theater manager spoke to his parents and his mother let him take dancing lessons. Once started on a career he expanded his talents to take in singing and acrobatics performing his first back flip at 10. He later added juggling, a magic act, piano, and drums to his talents which made him a regular performer at local clubs. He made his stage debut with a small theater group directed by Lloyd Bridges which in turn led to his film debut in 'The Boy With Green Hair' followed by a part in 'Samson and Delilah' and the title role in 'The Kid From Cleveland.' He earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for 'Peyton Place' receiving high praise from both director Mark Robson and choreographer Michael Kidd, who was a close friend of Jerome Robbins, and who'd worked with Russ on 'Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.' Summoned for both a dancing and acting screen test with Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins he was cast as Riff the leader of the Jets in the Oscar winning film 'West Side Story.' In his films up to 1952 he was credited as Rusty Tamblyn and Russ Tamblyn after that.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
C.S. Lee has been creating memorable characters for the screen for the past 20 years. Known mainly as a character actor for his in depth roles and commitment to story he has continued to create characters that have long lasting impressions. He's been on many hit shows including Chuck, Fresh Off The Boat, and Nora From Queens. He is best known for playing the weird and charming Masuka on Showtime's hit series Dexter which lasted eight seasons and was nominated numerous times for the Sag, Emmy, and Golden Globe Awards. He is classically trained at the Yale School of Drama where he received the Carol Dye Acting Award.- Ashley Zukerman was born on 30 December 1983 in Santa Monica, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Fear Street: Part One - 1994 (2021), Manhattan (2014) and Succession (2018).
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jack Lord will probably be best remembered as Steve McGarrett in the
long running television series
Hawaii Five-O (1968), but he
was much more than that however. He starred in several movies, directed
several episodes of his show, was in several Broadway productions, and
was an accomplished artist. Two of his paintings were acquired by New
York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum of Modern Art
by the time he was twenty. Lord was also known for being a very
cultured man who loved reading poetry out loud on the set of his TV
show and as being somewhat reclusive at his Honolulu home. He met his
son from his first marriage, who was killed in an accident when he was
thirteen, only once as a baby.- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Tyrese Darnell Gibson was born December 30, 1978 in Watts, Los Angeles, California, where he was raised. He is an R&B singer, songwriter, actor, author, television producer and model. He is well known for his actor role as Roman Pearce in the The Fast and Furious movie franchise. Other popular movies Tyrese has acted in are Death Race, Transformers, Baby Boy and Legion. Tyrese has been married twice, and has two daughters. He continues to pursue his career.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in 1911, Jeanette Nolan began her acting career in the Pasadena Community Playhouse. While still a student at Los Angeles City College, she made her radio debut in 1932, aged 20, in "Omar Khayyam", the first transcontinental broadcast from station KHJ. Her film debut was probably also her best part: Lady Macbeth opposite director/actor Orson Welles's Macbeth (1948). Her final film role was as Tom Booker (Robert Redford)'s mother, Ellen Booker, in The Horse Whisperer (1998).
She appeared in more than 300 television shows, including episode roles in Perry Mason (1957), I Spy (1965), MacGyver (1985), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), and as a regular on The Richard Boone Show (1963) and The Virginian (1962). She received four Emmy nominations.
Nolan died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, in 1998, aged 86, following a stroke.- Lyliana Wray was born on 30 December 2004. She is an actress, known for Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Strange Angel (2018) and Maximum Ride (2016).
- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Tory Kittles is an American actor, writer, and director who stars opposite Queen Latifah on CBS's hit series The Equalizer. Kittles also starred opposite Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies in the action-drama series, "Colony", and was seen in Dee Rees' HBO Emmy-winning film, "Bessie", with Queen Latifah. His other television credits include the first season of HBO's "True Detective"; BBC's "Intruders"; Lifetime's Emmy-nominated television remake of "Steel Magnolias"; FX's "Sons of Anarchy"; and "House M.D."
On the big screen, Kittles can be seen in Taylor Sheridan's upcoming action thriller "Those Who Wish Me Dead" with Angelina Jolie; alongside Siena Miller and Diego Luna in Sundance 2020's "Wander Darkly", and as Frederick Douglass in the Cynthia Erivo Academy Award nominated "Harriet". He also starred with Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn in S. Craig Zahler's "Dragged Across Concrete" (Venice Film Festival 2018). Other credits include "Man Down" (Venice Film Festival 2015), directed by Dito Montiel, Antoine Fuqua's "Olympus Has Fallen"; "The Sapphires" (Cannes Film Festival 2012); Spike Lee's "Miracle At St. Anna"; Kimberly Peirce's "Stop-Loss"; Jim Sheridan's "Get Rich Or Die Tryin"; Lee Tamahori's "Next"; and Joel Schumacher's "Tigerland".
Among a host of other theater credits, he mostly recently played Paul Robeson in the Sir Richard Eyre directed production of Nicholas Wright's 8 Hotels (2019 Chichester Festival), and Bolingbroke in Erica Schmidt's production of Shakespeare's Richard II (2018 The Old Globe).- Actor
- Soundtrack
American actor. In 2010, Noon began his career on the television show Boardwalk Empire, portraying Thomas Darmody. In 2019, he played Thor in the comedy film Good Boys, before voicing Greg Heffley in the 2021 animated Disney+ film Diary of a Wimpy Kid and its 2022 sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. In 2021, he played Evan Morrow in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, followed by an appearance in the 2022 comedy film Marry Me as George and in Netflix's Family Switch as Wyatt. In 2023, he was cast as Raphael in the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. In September 2021, he was cast as Lucas Hollister for the upcoming western film Rust, but by April 2023 he was replaced by Patrick Scott McDermott, due to the production shutting down for over a year caused by the film's shooting incident.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sophie Ward was born on 30 December 1964 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Book of Blood (2009) and Jane Eyre (2011). She has been married to Rena Brannan since 2000. She was previously married to Paul Hobson.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Maureen Flannigan was born on 30 December 1973 in Inglewood, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Out of This World (1987), Starved (2005) and Northern Exposure (1990).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jason Nathaniel Behr was born on December 30, 1973 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, to Patricia Ann (Steiner) and David Paul Behr. His ancestry includes Swiss-German, German, Austrian, Irish, English, and Danish. Jason began
acting at the age of five, appearing in a number of theatrical
productions, commercials, voice overs and modeling. Jason continued to
perform throughout his school years. At the age of nineteen, following
his graduation from Richfield Senior High School, Jason moved out to
Los Angeles. Shortly after his arrival, Jason began a series of guest
roles on popular television shows such as
Step by Step (1991),
JAG (1995),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997),
7th Heaven (1996) and
Dawson's Creek (1998). In
1998, Jason made his film debut in the film
Pleasantville (1998), starring
Reese Witherspoon,
Tobey Maguire and
William H. Macy. This role was followed
up by another role in the indie film
Rites of Passage (1999),
opposite James Remar and
Dean Stockwell, where Jason garnered
praised for his portrayal of a young homosexual male. Jason was cast in
his first leading role on the television series
Roswell (1999) playing "Max Evans".
The show ran from 1999 to 2002. In 2001, Jason appeared alongside
Kevin Spacey,
Cate Blanchett and
Judi Dench in
The Shipping News (2001). The
role earned him a Movieline Award for Standout performance. Jason
continued to appear in indie films such as
Happily Even After (2004), an
independent film which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New
York City. More indie films followed, including
Happily Even After (2004),
Shooting Livien (2005),
Man of God (2005),
Senseless (2008) and
The Tattooist (2007). In 2005,
Jason starred opposite former "Buffy" star
Sarah Michelle Gellar in the
supernatural thriller
The Grudge (2004). Most recently,
Jason finished two unaired pilots for the Fox and NBC networks,
respectively. He completed another indie film, 'The Last International
Playboy", which played at both the Slamdance and Gen Art film festivals
and was released in select theaters on July 12, 2009.
Jason married actress KaDee Strickland in 2006. The couple have a son, Atticus.- Born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, Morgan Kohan spent most of her childhood dancing competitively. Her focus quickly shifted to acting once she was accepted into the Triple Threat Program at Randolph Academy in Toronto and upon graduating, she set her sights on film and television.
Since then, Kohan has quickly risen in the industry. In 2019 alone, she starred in three feature films: The Marijuana Chronicles, which screened in competition at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Jade's Asylum which premiered at the 2019 Fantasia Festival and the quirky comedy, Kitty Mammas set for release in 2020.
On the TV side, Kohan is most recognized for her work as "Lillian Walsh" in the Hallmark original series, When Hope Calls. Other television credits include guest starring turns in Netflix's YA series, Creeped Out, Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access), The Bold Type (Freeform), Kim's Convenience (Netflix) and a major recurring role as "Evie Beaumont" in CBS's Ransom. - Actor
- Writer
- Director
Before signing with director Stanley Donen
to play Michael Caine's libidinous
best friend in
Blame It on Rio (1984), Joe
Bologna netted rave reviews for his
Sid Caesar send-up in the well-received
comedy My Favorite Year (1982)
with Peter O'Toole. Well known as
both a writer and an actor, Bologna dates his interest in the theater
from his student days at Brown University, when a casting notice called
for "non-actor" types to fill roles in a stage production of "Stalag
17." He landed the leading part but did not act again for ten years.
Bologna graduated from Brown with a degree in art history, and a tour
with the Marines followed. When he was discharged from the service, he
started directing short films and writing special comedy material. "A
monologue is the hardest thing in the world to write, because you're
only as good as your last joke," explains Bologna. "That's why
comedians are so neurotic." Bologna made his Broadway debut as the star
and co-author of the comedy smash "Lovers and Other Strangers."
Together with his wife
Renée Taylor, he wrote and starred
in
Made for Each Other (1971).
His other film credits include roles in
Cops and Robbers (1973),
Honor Thy Father (1973),
The Big Bus (1976) and
Chapter Two (1979). He also
co-starred with Taylor in the Emmy-winning television special Acts of Love and Other Comedies (1973), which they wrote together, and then starred in the made-for-television movie
Torn Between Two Lovers (1979)
with Lee Remick, before reuniting with Taylor
in the critically acclaimed Broadway hit "It Had To Be You." From there
it was back to television for the CBS TV movie
One Cooks, the Other Doesn't (1983)
with Suzanne Pleshette. In 1991 he
starred with Matt LeBlanc in
Top of the Heap (1991), a
spin-off from the hit series
Married... with Children (1987),
but it didn't click with audiences the way "MWC" did and was canceled
rather quickly.- Actor
- Producer
Vance is best known for his lead role as Frank Martin in Transporter: The Series. Vance is also remembered for his role as Whistler in the FOX series Prison Break and Jack Gallagher in the FOX series Mental as well as others.
Bit of background... Vance was born unto a very loving Irish family and raised in the UK. He signed youth football contracts with West Bromwich Albion and Bristol Rovers, donned his skimpy shorts and tromped his way around more muddy pitches in mid-winter than he should have, given his present state of enlightenment.
Vance graduated from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne with an honors degree in Civil Engineering, passing tests that he probably couldn't pass anymore, and yet he is generally more proud of a blurry recollection that he played for an England Students football team somewhere along the way.
Vance embarked on his acting career at age 25, and was breathtakingly awful in his first role, that of Paris in a production of Romeo & Juliet in Oxford. When he wasn't engaged in delivering lines that one can count on one hand, he was firmly committed to moving furniture around the stage for other actors to sit on. If he knew then what he does now, he might surely have questioned his efforts, but the draw of storytelling in all its forms draws a deep cut in Vance, thus to this day he still persists...
Next up Vance firmly, wholeheartedly, and most passionately butchered numerous roles on the London Fringe and in small Reparatory Theatres, grasping experience where it was badly needed. During this time he also launched his own theatre company, writing, directing and producing plays. Fond note: The company was funded, for the most part; by him selling anything and everything that could be considered personal possessions, in compensation for the dire lack of bums on theatre seats.
Vance's efforts, or solid determination, were rewarded with him landing his first real gig at the Royal National Theatre in a touring version of the play "Closer." After treading the back-stages of Europe and Russia for several months, Vance returned to London for a role in the play "Speer," by David Edgar, once again at the National Theatre, under the ever-treasured guidance of Sir Trevor Nunn.
Good times... but not enough for Vance, who ventured further thus...
He made his British television debut in a show called Kavanagh QC. Such was his bearing on the industry at the time, that Vance was more than enthusiastic when called upon to appear stark-naked for a less than critical one-liner in the story. To clear up any misunderstanding, Vance was keen to work, but not keen to liberate his tackle on a cold London set, that should have been a 'closed' London set. But no harm done... the leading actress, the grips, the gaffers, camera, lighting, make-up ladies, and caterers all got more than they bargained for in his humble opinion.
Vance also made guest appearances in the British television shows Peak Practice, The Bill, Doctors and Family Affairs.
At about age 30 Vance moved to Australia and performed in several television series there, including Stingers, Blue Heelers and The Secret Life of Us. His first series-regular role in TV was Dr. Sean Everleigh in the medical drama/soap All Saints, in which Vance performed from 2005 to 2007.
Somewhere around then Vance also relished a small role in the feature Macbeth, directed by the very talented Jeffery Wright.
In 2007 Vance moved to the U.S. when he booked a regular role in the third and forth seasons of the (afore mentioned) hit TV series Prison Break, for 20th Century Fox in which he played James Whistler within a cast of peers who outdid him entirely.
The following year, Vance landed his first leading role in TV, playing Dr. Jack Gallagher in Mental, for Fox, which was filmed in Bogota Columbia.
In 2011 Vance was approached to play Frank Martin in the television series based on the Transporter films created by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. Not one to turn down a challenge, especially one filled with fast cars, pretty women and snappy one-liners, Vance embarked on the adventure and brought his own take on the character of Frank to the fast-paced action series.
In between leading roles, Vance has also guest-starred on Fairly Legal, Burn Notice, Dexter, Rizzoli and Isles, Supergirl, Hawaii 5-O, and Bosch, most often because he loves what he does and cherishes the people he meets along the journey...
Due to the COVID pandemic and the years 2020/21, Vance was Vaccinated, locked himself in his home outside LA and got stuck into writing a passion project that has been on and off for many a year; a series of novels bound firmly in historical fiction and fairy-tale.- Director
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Bennett Miller is an American film director, best known for Capote (2005), Moneyball (2011), and Foxcatcher (2014). He began his film career directing the 1998 documentary The Cruise.
In 2006 Miller directed the Bob Dylan music video "When the Deal Goes Down" starring Scarlett Johansson.
Miller has directed 6 actors to Oscar nominations: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener for Capote, Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill for Moneyball, and Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher. Hoffman won the Oscar for his work in Capote.- Actress
- Producer
Actress and philanthropist Jena Michelle Sims was born on December
30th, 1988 in Winder, Georgia USA. This small town beauty queen has
shared the screen with Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Jeremy Renner, to name a few. Her internationally award-winning non-profit organization holds events, called "Pageants of Hope", giving children facing challenges the chance to escape the hospital life and celebrate inner-beauty, crowning everyone Prince or Princesses. She is best- known for Last Vegas (2013), Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader (2012) and Dead Reckoning (2013).- Leila Farzad was born on 30 December 1982 in Westminster, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for I Hate Suzie (2020). She was previously married to James Henry Maizels.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Scott Haze was named one of Variety's 10 Actors To Watch For 2013.
Since its inception 15 years ago, Variety's "10 Actors to Watch"
program has become a key showcase celebrating the finest acting talents
from all corners of the globe. Past talented that have been spotlighted
include Adrien Brody, Melissa Leo, Andrew Garfield, Christoph Waltz,
Jennifer Lawrence and Octavia Spencer.- Michael Burns is a former child actor who went on to a distinguished
career as a historian, writer, and college professor. He is now retired
and raising thoroughbred horses in Kentucky. He was familiar to
television audiences of the early 1960s as the teenage character,
"Barnaby West", on the popular
Wagon Train (1957) series. After
other TV and film credits in his late teens and early 20s, Burns left
acting to pursue his interest in history, graduating from the
University of California. He earned a Ph. D. from Yale University in
1977 and wrote an acclaimed history book, "Dreyfus", about the Dreyfus
Affair. Between 1980-2002, Burns was a professor of history at Mount
Holyoke College in Massachusetts. - Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Davy Jones left home to become a
jockey. While he was an apprentice, he was encouraged to go into acting
and got a role in a production of "Peter Pan". From there, he played on
Coronation Street (1960)
and
The Pickwick Papers (1952)
before landing the role of "The Artful Dodger" in "Oliver!". This job
took him to America's Broadway, where he was discovered by
Ward Sylvester and brought to Los
Angeles. From there, he was given a role in
The Monkees (1965). With this
sitcom, he made 58 television episodes, 9 albums, a television special,
and a movie before calling it quits in the early 1970s. In the
mid-1970s, Davy rejoined fellow Monkee
Micky Dolenz and songwriters
Tommy Boyce and
Bobby Hart to make an album and do
some touring. Davy had gone on to perform in more plays, including "The
Real Live Brady Bunch" and "Oliver!" (again), and had also fulfilled
his dream of becoming a jockey. He rejoined
The Monkees for touring from 1986-89 and
1996-97. Davy Jones died at age 66 of a heart attack on February 29,
2012.- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Dominic Fike was born on 30 December 1995. He is an actor and composer, known for Barbie (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) and Euphoria (2019).- Anna Wood was born on 30 December 1985 in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, USA. She is an actress, known for Chronicle (2012), The Following (2013) and Brothers & Sisters (2006). She has been married to Dane DeHaan since 30 June 2012. They have two children.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Louis Greatorex was born on 30 December 1996 in Derby, England, UK. He is an actor and director, known for Masters of the Air (2024), Last Tango in Halifax (2012) and Layla (2024).- Character actress Concetta Tomei was born on December 30, 1945, and
raised in her hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin, the only child of a
policeman who was a talented artist on the sly. She came from a long
line of educators and was likely drawn to that career at an influential
age. She attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she
earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education. After teaching school
in a Milwaukee suburb for four years, however, she abruptly quit to
pursue her acting dream. She became a student of the famed Goodman
School of Drama in Chicago where she received a another degree, a
Bachelor of Fine Arts, in theater arts. She also trained at the Alley Theatre in Houston.
Concetta (unrelated to actress Marisa Tomei) eventually moved to New York and began on the stock and repertory stages where she gathered a formidable list of early credits, appearing in such plays as "A Streetcar Named Desire, "Candida," "Blithe Spirit" and "The Corn Is Green." Appearing off-Broadway in such plays as "Cloud Nine" and "The Normal Heart," she made her debut on Broadway replacing Carole Shelley in "The Elephant Man" playing the actress/grande dame Mrs. Kendal. She continued in her role when a subsequent tour went out starring David Bowie.
Seeking on-camera experience, she moved out West in the 1980s and found
substantial work on TV with her all-controlling, severe-looking femmes,
which culminated in the critically acclaimed Vietnam War drama China Beach (1988)
in which she played a hard-as-nails major. She continued with a host of
guest parts on "L.A. Law," "Murphy Brown," "Picket Fences" and "Wings,"
among many others. Not readily known for her film work, she has
nevertheless offered occasional arch support (since 1991) in such
pictures as Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Twenty Bucks (1993), Out to Sea (1997) Deep Impact (1998), The Muse (1999) and View from the Top (2003).
Another hard-edged series TV role came with Providence (1999), in which she played a
chain-smoking mom.
Plentifully seen on film and TV into the millennium, Concetta has been spotted in Purpose (2002), View from the Top (2003), The List (2007) and Reach (2018), while her offbeat TV guest credits include "Judging Amy," 7th Heaven," "The King of Queens," "Numb3rs," "Cold Case," "Nip/Tuck" and "Arrested Development." - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Costume Designer
Jessica Lee Keller was born on December 30, 1992 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA but raised in Stillwater, Minnesota, USA. She is an American dancer and actress. She was one of the original members of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in New York City, USA for over 5 years. She co-choregraphed Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015) and has recently been a part of the ensemble of Rent: Live (2019) alongside Jordan Fisher.- Patricia was raised in Westport, Connecticut and Louisville, Kentucky.
Studied acting at Indiana and Temple Universities after being
encouraged by her high-school drama teacher. She finished College with
a B.A. degree in theater and immediately started acting in major
regional and off-Broadway productions. Back in New York, where she was
born, she worked in numerous daytime soaps, commercials and theatrical
events. She received a nomination for the Outer Critics Circle Award
for her part in the long-running play "The Foreigner". She starred on
Broadway in Larry Shue's "The Nerd" and together with her husband,
Daniel Gerroll, in "Betrayal" at the Berkshire Theater. - Actor
- Composer
- Director
Kim Tae-Hyung known professionally as V is a South Korean singer, song-writer, dancer, actor and a member of the boy band BTS.
After graduating from Korean Arts High School in 2014, V enrolled in Global Cyber University, graduating in August 2020 with a major in Broadcasting and Entertainment. As of 2021, he is enrolled at Hanyang University, pursuing a Master of Business Administration in Advertisement and Media.
V became a trainee for Big Hit Entertainment after passing an audition in Daegu. The CEO of the label, Bang Shi-Hyuk revealed in interview that V was kept as a "hidden member" until the septet's debut in 2013 to avoid any chances of him being pursued by other music labels.
As a singer and song-writer, V is popularly known and critically acclaimed for his husky baritone, diverse range and the confidence to present something new with every solo release. As a performer, V is deemed as the "Textbook for Idols" due to his ability to embody any choreography, his duality, and for the sheer charm he presents on stage. V is also named as the "Idol of Idols" due to the amount of K-pop idols naming him as their inspiration.
In 2016, V made his acting debut with a supporting role in a historical drama Hwarang: The Poet Warrior. In 2019, he debuted as a music directed with his self-composed song "Winter Bear." Throughout his career, V has released commercially successful soundtracks for two Korean drama series along with collaborating with his fellow members and friends with self-composed hits. His official solo debut EP Layover released on September 8, 2023 received global critical acclaim for his authenticity and vocal performances and has set multiple records worldwide.
In 2018, V became one of the youngest recipient of the fifth-class Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit medal, awarded to him by the President of South Korea alongside the members of BTS for their role in the spread of Korean culture. Throughout his career, V has won various awards in areas such as singing, dancing, choreography and he also owns two Guinness World records for being the fastest artist to reach one and ten million followers on Instagram. In 2022, V was facilitated by the National Tax Services for being a Conscientious Taxpayer.- Actor
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Khalid Abdalla was born on 30 December 1980 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Kite Runner (2007), United 93 (2006) and The Square (2013). He is married to Cressida Trew.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
LeBron James is an American basketball player and film producer who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He is one of the most accomplished basketball players of the 21st century. He played himself in Space Jam: A New Legacy and Trainwreck. He is the owner of a film production company called SpringHill Company.- Jazmyn Simon was born in San Francisco, California, USA. Jazmyn is an actor, known for Ballers (2015), Ed (2017) and Acrimony (2018). Jazmyn has been married to Dulé Hill since 21 April 2018. They have one child.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Cleveland-born comedy actor Jack Riley (on December 30, 1935) switched his career interest
from baseball to acting after obtaining a radio job, writing and
performing skits while attending John Carroll University. He toured
military bases throughout the world in comedy shows after being drafted
in the Army in 1958.
Following his discharge, he returned to radio and became one of
Cleveland's top personalities before setting his sights on film and TV.
Receiving a break from old radio pal Tim Conway, Jack headed west and
began writing material especially for Tim for assorted TV guest
appearances. He also performed in radio commercials.
Soon Riley was working in front of the camera, his first role being a
regular part on the sitcom Occasional Wife (1966). Other parts soon came his way on
various '60s laughfests, including Hogan's Heroes (1965), I Dream of Jeannie (1965) and especially
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967) where both his writing and performing skills were utilized. It
was also on "Laugh-In" that he met future wife Ginger Lawrence, the
producer's assistant at the time. The slim actor sought out films in
the '70s with roles in Catch-22 (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), The Long Goodbye (1973), and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978). He also
became a minor staple in Mel Brooks's spoofs, with Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977) and
History of the World: Part I (1981) to his credit.
TV gave Jack his best shot, especially as the dry, terminally-depressed
Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show (1972), where his hilariously morose character proved
a constant scene-stealer. Along with continued guest roles in Night Court (1984),
Seinfeld (1989), and others, he appeared on stage occasionally; of note he played comedian Fred Allen in "Mr. Allen, Mr. Allen".
Into the millennium, Jack focused mostly on TV and voiceover work on cartoons and Rugrats video games. On-camera appearances included voicing the Stu Pickles character in two animated series: Rugrats (1991) and All Grown Up! (2003). He also had a recurring role on the sitcom Son of the Beach (2000) and made guest appearances on "Lucky," "That 70's Show," "Avenging Angel" and "Easy to Assemble." He last appeared on feature film in the horror thriller Room 6 (2006).
Jack passed away in Los Angeles from pneumonia at the age of 80. He was survived by his wife and two children.- Director
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carol Reed was the second son of stage actor, dramatics teacher and
impresario founder of the Royal School of Dramatic Art Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. Reed was one of Tree's six illegitimate children with
Beatrice Mae Pinney, who Tree established in a second household apart
from his married life. There were no social scars here; Reed grew up in
a well-mannered, middle-class atmosphere. His public school days were
at King's School, Canterbury, and he was only too glad to push on with
the idea of following his father and becoming an actor. His mother wanted no
such thing and shipped him off to Massachusetts in 1922, where his
older brother resided on--of all things--a chicken ranch.
It was a wasted six months before Reed was back in England and joined a
stage company of Dame Sybil Thorndike,
making his stage debut in 1924. He forthwith met British writer
Edgar Wallace, who cashed in on his
constant output of thrillers by establishing a road troupe to do stage
adaptations of them. Reed was in three of these, also working as an
assistant stage manager. Wallace became chairman of the newly formed
British Lion Film Corp. in 1927, and Reed followed to become his
personal assistant. As such he began learning the film trade by
assisting in supervising the filmed adaptations of Wallace's works.
This was essentially his day job. At night he continued stage acting
and managing. It was something of a relief when Wallace passed on in
1932; Reed decided to drop the stage for film and joined historic
Ealing Studios as dialog director for Associated Talking Pictures under
Basil Dean.
Reed rose from dialog director to second-unit director and assistant
director in record time, his first solo directorship being the
adventure Midshipman Easy (1935).
This and his subsequent effort,
Laburnum Grove (1936), attracted
high praise from a future collaborator, novelist/critic
Graham Greene, who said that once
Reed "gets the right script, [he] will prove far more than efficient."
However, Reed would endure the sort of staid, boilerplate filmmaking
that characterized British "B" movies until he left this behind with
The Stars Look Down (1940),
his second film with Michael Redgrave,
and his openly Hitchcockian
Night Train to Munich (1940),
a comedy-thriller with
Rex Harrison. It has often been
seen as a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938) with
the same screenwriters and comedy relief--Basil Radford and
Naunton Wayne, who would just about make
careers as the cricket zealots Charters and Caldicott, from "Vanishes".
The British liked these films and, significantly, so did America, where
Hollywood still wondered whether their patronage of the British film
industry was worth the gamble of a payoff via the US public. Dean was
just one of several powerhouse producers rising in Britain in the
1930s. Other names are more familiar:
Alexander Korda and
J. Arthur Rank stand out. For Reed, who
would wisely decide to start producing his own films in order to have
more control over them, finding his niche was still a challenge into
the 1940s. He was only too well aware that the film director led a team
effort--his was partly a coordinator's task, harmonizing the talents of
the creative team. The modest Reed would admit to his success being
this partnership time and again. So he gravitated toward the same
scriptwriters, art directors and cinematographers as his movie list
spread out.
There were more thrillers and some historical bios:
The Remarkable Mr. Kipps (1941) with Redgrave and
The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) with
Robert Donat. He did service and war effort
fare through World War II, but these were more than flag wavers, for
Reed dealt with the psychology of transitioning to military life. His
Anglo-American documentary of combat (co-directed by
Garson Kanin),
The True Glory (1945), won the
1946 Oscar for Best Documentary. With that under his belt, Reed was now
recognized as Britain's ablest director and could pick and choose his
projects. He also had the clout--and the all-important funds--to do
what he thought was essential to ensure realism on a location shoot,
something missing in British film work prior to Reed.
Odd Man Out (1947) with
James Mason as an IRA hit man on the
run did just that and was Reed's first real independent effort, and he
had gone to Rank to do it. All too soon, however, that organization
began subjugating directors' wishes to studio needs, and Reed made
perhaps his most important associative decision and joined Korda's
London Films. Here was one very important harmony--he and Korda thought
along the same lines. Though
Anthony Kimmins had scripted four films
for Reed, it was time for Korda to introduce the director to
Graham Greene. Their association
would bring Reed his greatest successes.
The Fallen Idol (1948) was based
on a Greene short story, with
Ralph Richardson as a
do-everything head butler in a diplomatic household. Idolized by the
lonely, small son of his employer, he becomes caught up in a liaison
with a woman on the work staff, who was much younger than his shrewish
wife. It may seem slow to an American audience, but with the focus on
the boy's wide-eyed view of rather gloomy surroundings, as well as the
adult drama around him, it was innovative and a solid success.
What came next was a landmark--the best known of Reed's films.
The Third Man (1949) was yet
another Greene story, molded into a gem of a screenplay by him, though
Reed added some significant elements of his own. The film has been
endlessly summarized and analyzed and, whether defined as an
international noir or post-war noir or just noir, it was cutting-edge
noir and unforgettable. This was Reed in full control--well, almost--
and the money was coming from yet another wide-vision producer,
David O. Selznick, along with Korda.
Tension did develop in this effort keep a predominantly Anglo effort in
this Anglo-American collaboration.
There were complications, though. For one thing, Korda--old friend and
somewhat kindred spirit of wunderkind director
Orson Welles--had a gentlemen's agreement
with the latter for three pictures, but these were not forthcoming.
Korda could be as evasive as Welles was known to be, and Welles had
come to Europe to further his inevitable film projects after troubles
in Hollywood. Always desperate for seed money, Welles was forced to
take acting parts in Europe to build up his bank account in order to
finance his more personal projects. He thus accepted the role of the
larger-than-life American flim-flam man turned criminal, Harry Lime.
The extended time spent filming the Vienna sewer scenes on location and
at the elaborate set for them at Shepperton Studios in London, entailed
the longest of the ten minutes or so of Welles' screen time. Here was a
potential source of directorial intimidation if ever there was one.
Welles took it upon himself to direct Reed's veteran cinematographer
Robert Krasker with his own vision of
some sewer sequences in London (after leaving the location shoot in
Vienna), using many takes. Supposedly, Reed did not use any of Welles'
footage, and in fact whatever there was got conveniently lost. Yet
Citizen Kane (1941)'s shadow was so
looming that Welles was given credit for a lot of camera work,
atmospherics and the chase scenes. He had referred to the movie as "my
film" later on and had said he wrote all his dialog. Some of the ferris
wheel dialog with its famous famous "cuckoo clock" speech (which Reed
and Greene both attributed to him) was probably the essence of Welles'
contributions.
Krasker's quirky angles under Reed's direction perfectly framed the
ready-made-for-an-art designer bombed-out shadows and stark, isolated
street lights of postwar Vienna and its underworld. Unique to cinema
history, the whole score (except for some canned incidental café music) was
just the brilliant zither playing of
Anton Karas, adding his nuances to every
dramatic transition. Krasker won an Oscar, and Karas was nominated for one.
Reed's attention to detailed casting also paid off, particularly in
casting German-speaking actors and background players. Selznick
insisted on Joseph Cotten as Holly
Martins, the benighted protagonist, and his clipped and sharp voice and
subterranean drawl were perfect for the part. Reed had wanted
James Stewart--definitely a
different perception than Americans of its leading men. Selznick parted
ways with Reed on other issues, however; there was a laundry list of
reasons for his re-editing and changing some incidentals for the
shorter American version, partly based on negative comments from sneak
preview responses. Perhaps it was the constant interruptions from the
other side of the Atlantic that drove Reed to personally narrate the
introduction describing Martins in the British version of the film
(given the basic tenets of noir films, the star always played narrator
to introduce the story and voice over where appropriate). Selznick
showed himself--in this instance, anyway--to have a better directorial
sense by substituting Cotten introducing himself in the American cut.
It made far more sense and was much more effective. On the other hand,
Selznick's editing of the pivotal railway café scenes with Cotten and
Alida Valli had continuity problems.
Nonetheless, the film was an international smash, and all the principal
players reaped the rewards. Reed did not get an Oscar, but he did win
the Cannes Film Grand Prix. Greene was motivated enough to take the
story and expand it into a best-selling novel. Even Welles, with his
minimum screen time--he was spending most of his time in Europe
trying to obtain financing for his newest project,
Othello (1956)--milked the movie for all it
was worth. He did not deny directorial influences (though in a 1984
interview he did), and even developed a Harry Lime radio show back
home.
However, the movie had its detractors. It was called too melodramatic
and too cynical. The short scenes of untranslated German dialog were
also criticized, yet that lent to the atmosphere of confusion and
helplessness of Martins caught in a wary, potentially dangerous
environment--something the audience inevitably was able to share. It
was all too ironic that Reed, now declared by some as the greatest
living director of the time, found his career in decline thereafter. Of
his total output, four were based on plays, three on stories and 15 on
novels. With less than half of them to go, he was to be disappointed
for the most part. His
The Man Between (1953) with James
Mason was too much of a "Third Man" reprise, and
A Kid for Two Farthings (1955)
was too sentimental.
By now Reed was being sought by enterprising Hollywood producers. He
had--as he usually did--the material for a first-rate movie with two
popular American actors, Burt Lancaster
and Tony Curtis for
Trapeze (1956). However, it suffered from
a slow script, as would the British-produced
The Key (1958), despite another
international cast. Things finally picked up with his venture into
another Greene-scripted film from his novel, with
Alec Guinness in the lead in the UK spy
spoof Our Man in Havana (1959)
with yet another winning international cast.
When Hollywood called again, the chance at such a British piece of
history as
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
with a mostly British cast and
Marlon Brando seemed bound for success. It
was the second version of the movie produced by MGM (the first being the
Clark Gable starrer
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)).
However, Brando's history of being temperamental was much in evidence
on location in Tahiti. Reed shot a small part of the picture but
finally left, having more than his fill of the star's ego (and,
evidently, being allowed too much artistic control by the studio) and
the film was finished by
Lewis Milestone. Reed would ultimately
be branded as a failure in directing historical movies, but it was an
unfair appraisal based on the random aspect of film success and such
forces of nature as Brando, not artistic and technical expertise.
The opportunity to make another film came knocking again with Reed and
American money forming the production company International Classics to
produce Irving Stone's best-selling story
of Michelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel,
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965).
Here is perhaps the prime example of Reed being given short shrift for
a really valiant effort at an historical, artistically significant and
cultural epic because it was a "flop" at the box office. Shot on
location in Rome and its environs, the film had a first-rate cast
headed by Charlton Heston doing his
method best as the temperamental artist with
Rex Harrison, an effortless
standout as the equally volatile Pope Julius II.
Diane Cilento did fine work as the
Contessina de Medici, with the always stalwart
Harry Andrews as architect rival Donato
Bramante. Most of the other roles were filled by Italians dubbed in
English, but they all look good.
Reed's attention to historical detail provided perhaps the most
accurate depiction of early 16th-century Italy--from costumes and
manners to military action and weapons (especially firearms)--ever
brought to the screen. The script by
Philip Dunne was brisk and always
entertaining in the verbal battle between the artist and his pontiff.
Yet by the 1960s costume epics were going out of style and bigger
flops, such as Cleopatra (1963) (talk
about agony) despite the wealth of stars which included Harrison,
tended to spread like a disease to those few that came later. Despite a
high-powered distribution campaign by Twentieth Century-Fox, Reed's
exemplary effort would ultimately be appreciated by art scholars and
historians--not the stuff of Hollywood's money mentality.
For Reed the only remaining triumph was, of all things, a musical--his
first and only--yet again he was working with children. However, the
adaptation of the great Charles Dickens
novel "Oliver Twistt" top the screen (as Oliver! (1968)) was a
sensation with a lively script and music amid a realistic 19th-century
London that was up to Reed's usual standards. The film was nominated
for no less than 11 Oscars, wining five and two of the big ones--Best
Picture and Best Director. Reed had finally achieved that bit of
elusiveness. He could never be so simplistically stamped with an uneven
career; Reed had always kept to a precise craftsman's movie-making
formula.
Fellow British director
Michael Powell had said that Reed
"could put a film together like a watchmaker puts together a watch". It
was Graham Greene, however, who gave Reed perhaps the more important
personal accolade: "The only director I know with that particular
warmth of human sympathy, the extraordinary feeling for the right face
in the right part, the exactitude of cutting, and not least important
the power of sympathizing with an author's worries and an ability to
guide him."- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Akosua Busia was born on 30 December 1966 in Accra, Ghana. She is an actress and director, known for The Color Purple (1985), Tears of the Sun (2003) and Low Blow (1986). She was previously married to John Singleton.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman never really wanted to make movies, he wanted to work in Broadway musicals. During his years in Yale he was introduced to "B" pictures and the works of
Roger Corman. Lloyd later got the
opportunity to executive-produce a short movie made by a fellow
student. The film, called "Rappacini", got him even more interested in
movies. He bought his own camera and took it with him to Chad, Africa,
were he spent his summer. There, he shot a 15-minute film of a pig
being slaughtered. That was his first movie, and was the birth of what
was later to become known as Troma Films. He showed the footage of the
squealing pig being killed to his family, and their reaction to
it made him wonder if making movies that shocked audiences would keep
them in their seats to see what would happen next.
He wanted to be a director right then and there, so he got a couple of
friends at Yale and made his second movie,
The Girl Who Returned (1969).
People loved it, and he went straight to work on other films, helping
out on projects like Joe (1970),
Rocky (1976) and
Saturday Night Fever (1977).
Lloyd put in a lot of long, hard hours in the film business, just to be
in the credits and to get money for his next project, a full-length
feature. It was a tribute to
Charles Chaplin,
Harold Lloyd and the classic era of
silent-film comedy. Even though Lloyd hated the movie when it was completed, people seemed to love it. He formed a studio called
15th Street Films with friends and producers
Frank Vitale and
Oliver Stone. Together, they made
Sugar Cookies (1973) and
Cry Uncle (1971), directed by
John G. Avildsen. A friend from Yale,
Michael Herz, saw Lloyd in a small scene in
"Cry Uncle" and contacted him to try to get into the film business. Kaufman took Herz in, as the company needed some help after
Oliver Stone quit to make his own
movies. Michael invested in a film they thought would be their biggest
hit yet,
Schwartz: The Brave Detective (1973)
(aka "Big Gus, What's the Fuss?"). It turned out to be a huge flop and
15th Street Films was ruined. Lloyd and Michael owed thousands of
dollars to producers and friends and family members who had invested in
the picture.
Lloyd, trying to find a quick way to pay off the bills, made
The Divine Obsession (1976),
and with Michael formed Troma Studios, hoping to make some decent
movies, since they only owned the rights to films they thought were
poor. They were introduced to
Joel M. Reed, who had an unfinished movie
called "Master Sardu and the Horror Trio". The film was re-edited and
completed at Troma Studios (which consisted of just one room)
during 1975, re-titled and released in 1976 as
Blood Sucking Freaks (1976)
(aka "Bloodsucking Freaks"). It was enough of a success to enable them
to pay the rent so they wouldn't lose the company.
Lloyd later got a call from a theater that wanted a "sexy movie" like
The Divine Obsession (1976),
but about softball (!). The resulting film,
Squeeze Play (1979), used up all the
money Troma had earned from "Bloodsucking Freaks" and, as it turned
out, no one wanted to see it--not even the theater owner who wanted it
made in the first place (he actually wanted a porno movie). Just when
things looked their darkest, they got a call from another theater which
was scheduled to show a film, but the distributor pulled it at the last
minute. Troma rushed "Squeeze Play" right over, and it turned out to be
a huge hit. Lloyd, Michael and Troma eventually made millions from it,
and had enough money to buy their own building (which remains as
Troma Headquarters). Troma then turned out a stream of "sexy"
comedies-- Waitress! (1982),
The First Turn-On!! (1983),
Stuck on You! (1983)--but there was
a glut of "T&A" films on the market. Lloyd noticed that a lot of
comedies were being made and decided to make one, but much
different than the rest. After reading an article that claimed horror
movies were dead, Lloyd got the idea to combine both horror and comedy,
and Troma came up with "Health Club Horror"--later re-titled and
released as
The Toxic Avenger (1984), a
monster hit that finally put Troma on the map.
Lloyd Kaufman and Troma have become icons in the cult-movie world, and
Troma has distributed over 1000 films. Lloyd has continued his career
as a director in addition to producing, and Troma has turned out such
films as
Monster in the Closet (1986),
Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986),
Combat Shock (1984),
Troma's War (1988), and
Fortress of Amerikkka (1989),
and
Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006),
which follows an army of undead chickens as they seek revenge on a fast
food palace.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Betty Aberlin was born on 30 December 1942 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968), Jersey Girl (2004) and Dogma (1999).