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- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Brenton Thwaites is an Australian actor. He played Luke Gallagher on the Fox8 teen drama series SLiDE (2011) and Stu Henderson on the Australian soap opera hit Home and Away (1988). His films include Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Oculus (2013), Maleficent (2014), and The Giver (2014). He starred in Gods of Egypt (2016) and will headline Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), with Johnny Depp.
Brenton was born in Cairns, Queensland, to Fiona Middleton and Peter Thwaites.Ethan Wate- Actress
- Soundtrack
Christa B. Allen was born on 11 November 1991 in Wildomar, California, USA. She is an actress, known for 13 Going on 30 (2004), Revenge (2011) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009).Lena Duchannes- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Viola Davis is a critically revered actress of film, television, and theater and has won rave reviews for her multitude of substantial and intriguingly diverse roles. Audiences across the United States and internationally have admired her for her work- including her celebrated, Oscar-nominated performances in The Help (2011), Doubt (2008), and her Oscar winning performance in Fences (2016). In 2015, Davis won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her work in ABC's How To Get Away With Murder, making her the first black woman in history to take home the award. In addition to acting, Viola currently produces alongside her husband and producing partner, Julius Tennon, through their JuVee Productions banner. Together they have produced award-garnering productions across theater, television, and film.Amma- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Sarah Gadon was born in a quiet residential area in Toronto, Ontario, to a teacher mother and a psychologist father. She grew up with the support and encouragement of her parents and older brother, James, and with this was inspired to go headlong into acting and dance alike. Sarah spent much of her adolescence training as a performer as a Junior Associate at the National Ballet School of Canada and as a student at the Claude Watson School for the Performing Arts. She also studied cinema at the prestigious University of Toronto.
She is known for her roles in the films A Dangerous Method (2011), Antiviral (2012), Enemy (2013), and Indignation (2016), and the mini-series 11.22.63 (2016).Olivia Durand- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Steven Strait was born on March 23, 1986 in New York City, New York, the son of Jean (Viscione) and Richard Dyer Strait. He is of half English and half Italian descent. As a child, Steven grew up in Greenwich Village with his family. He attended Xavier High School and enrolled himself at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting to pursue his dream as an actor.
But before he was recognized as an actor, Steven got early recognition as a model while he was a teenager. Steven modeled for Details, Pop, Spoon, Surface and even Vogue as a teen model. He's also worked with famous photographers such as Bruce Weber, Ellen Von Unwerth and also Herb Ritts. Working with Weber got Steven featured in his 2001 book, "All-American: Short Stories".
Acting didn't come naturally for Steven. Even though most actors out there knew that they wanted to act as a kid, Steven actually didn't enjoy acting. He first learned about acting when he was with a family member at the age of eleven. Steven's parents thought acting could very well be Steven's career and they decided to enroll him in classes at the Village Community School.
Not too long later, Steven caught the acting bug. He eventually got the chance to perform live and that was when Steven thought he could actually make something he enjoyed a lifetime career. This passion eventually brought him to work at the Stella Adler Acting Studio and the Black Nexus Acting Studio, which are both situated in New York City.
When he turned 18, Steven graduated from Xavier High School and he moved to California with hopes of pursuing a real career in acting. It was only a matter of time. When Steven went to his first audition, he received an acting job which was a role in the movie, Sky High (2005). "Sky High" marked Steven's acting debut in the movie industry.
Steven then signed on to do the movie, Undiscovered (2005), about a group of teenagers who aspire to be famous. "Undiscovered" wasn't a big hit at the box-office but critics enjoyed watching Steven playing the role of "Luke Falcon". The movie also starred another movie newcomer, songstress Ashlee Simpson.
The time finally came when Steven was asked to star in the horror movie, The Covenant (2006), playing the role of "Caleb Danvers", a prep school student who comes from a wealthy family. In the cast, Steven worked with actors Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Sebastian Stan, and Chace Crawford. The Covenant (2006) was a big hit in certain parts of the globe and fans got to learn more about Steven's acting talent. The critics were also impressed with Steven.
The year 2008 is probably Steven's busiest year since he started acting. Steven signed on to do a couple of movies in 2007 and promotion work for his movies will start from March 2008 onwards. Critics are also already excited to see Steven's work in the movie, 10,000 BC (2008), also starring Camilla Belle. He appeared in the MTV Production movie, Stop-Loss (2008), as "Michael Colson". Steven recently completed working on a movie named City Island (2009) in New York.
Aside from participating in fashion and acting, Steven is also known to most people as a singer. Steven has performed a few songs in the soundtrack album of Sky High (2005) and Undiscovered (2005).
Steven, so far, has proved that he is a multi-tasking star in the business. Even though he may seem to be famous, Steven claims that he tries to keep himself grounded from all the fame. At 22, this star has already impressed most entertainment critics, whether in modeling, acting or singing.John Breed- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
The Canadian actor started out as a national gymnast and diver. He is also fluent in French and German. He received his first break when cast in the starring role of the Nickelodeon movie Spectacular! (2009), opposite Victoria Justice. He is the new celebrity face of Versace, in conjunction with Lady Gaga for women's wear. Funk is mostly known to teens for playing bad boy Collin on Awkward. (2011) or to indie watchers for the scandalous and critically controversial Paul Schrader/Bret Easton Ellis film The Canyons (2013), or to sci-for junkies in the latest Riddick (2013) opposite Vin Diesel for Universal. Nolan revived the role of Conrad Birdie in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway, where we was deemed excellent by "The New Yorker", and played Jennifer Lawrence's love interest in Relativity's House at the End of the Street (2012). He played Glee (2009) warbler captain Hunter, and is a former Nickelodeon star of Spectacular! (2009). Nolan received critical acclaim for his rendition of "Whistle" by Flo Rida on "Glee." The Canyons (2013) was screened at the Venice International Film Festival. He will be featured in the indie film Wildlike (2014), on which Christine Vachon served as executive producer, from Killer Films opposite Brian Geraghty, which makes its festival run later this year. He also starred in American Romance (2016), opposite Daveigh Chase (Big Love (2006)); Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy (2008)); and John Savage (The Deer Hunter (1978)).Link- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Emma Thompson was born on April 15, 1959 in Paddington, London, into a family of actors - father Eric Thompson and mother Phyllida Law, who has co-starred with Thompson in several films. Her sister, Sophie Thompson, is an actor as well. Her father was English-born and her mother is Scottish-born. Thompson's wit was cultivated by a cheerful, clever, creative family atmosphere, and she was a popular and successful student. She attended Cambridge University, studying English Literature, and was part of the university's Footlights Group, the famous group where, previously, many of the Monty Python members had first met.
Thompson graduated in 1980 and embarked on her career in entertainment, beginning with stints on BBC radio and touring with comedy shows. She soon got her first major break in television, on the comedy skit program Alfresco (1983), writing and performing along with her fellow Footlights Group alums Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. She also worked on other TV comedy review programs in the mid-1980s, occasionally with some of her fellow Footlights alums, and often with actor Robbie Coltrane.
Thompson found herself collaborating again with Fry in 1985, this time in his stage adaptation of the play "Me and My Girl" in London's West End, in which she had a leading role, playing Sally Smith. The show was a success and she received favorable reviews, and the strength of her performance led to her casting as the lead in the BBC television miniseries Fortunes of War (1987), in which Thompson and her co-star, Kenneth Branagh, play an English ex-patriate couple living in Eastern Europe as the Second World War erupts. Thompson won a BAFTA Award for her work on the program. She married Branagh in 1989, continued to work with him professionally, and formed a production company with him. In the late 80s and early 90s, she starred in a string of well-received and successful television and film productions, most notably her lead role in the Merchant-Ivory production of Howards End (1992), which confirmed her ability to carry a movie on both sides of the Atlantic and appropriately showered her with trans-Atlantic honors - both an Oscar and a BAFTA award.
Since then, Thompson has continued to move effortlessly between the art film world and mainstream Hollywood, though even her Hollywood roles tend to be in more up-market productions. She continues to work on television as well, but is generally very selective about which roles she takes. She writes for the screen as well, such as the screenplay for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995), in which she also starred as Elinor Dashwood, and the teleplay adaptation of Margaret Edson's acclaimed play Wit (2001), in which she also starred.
Thompson is known for her sophisticated, skillful, though her critics say somewhat mannered, performances, and of course for her arch wit, which she is unafraid to point at herself - she is a fearless self-satirist. Thompson and Branagh divorced in 1994, and Thompson is now married to fellow actor Greg Wise, who had played Willoughby in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995). Thompson and Wise have one child, Gaia, born in 1999. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to drama.Mrs. Lincoln- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Ashley Victoria Benson was born on December 18, 1989 in Anaheim Hills, California, to Shannon (Harte) and Jeff Benson. She has Irish, English, and German ancestry. She has been dancing competitively since she was 2 with hip hop, jazz, ballet, tap and lyrical. She has been singing since she was about 5 and she hopes to pursue that, along with her acting. Ashley started modeling at the age of 5 for dance catalogs. Ashley was then pursued by The Ford Modeling Agency at the age of 8. She worked steadily in print and is still with the Agency. At the age of 10, she wanted to pursue acting. Ashley went on to do 35 commercials, and then on to theatrical roles. Acting was now Ashley's passion. Ashley put all her focus into acting, which left little time for modeling and dancing, anymore. Ashley's most recent role is "Hanna Marin" on ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars (2010). Ashley also had a cameo in Romeo Miller (aka Lil Romeo) and Solange's music video for the song "True Love". She did a photo shoot with Britney Spears for Vogue Magazine. She is in NLT's music video, "That Girl".Ridley Duchannes- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Charisma Carpenter first made her television debut with a guest spot on Baywatch (1989), before receiving a call from legendary producer Aaron Spelling and subsequently being cast on the prime time soap opera, Malibu Shores (1996). But her big break - and the one that would forever change the trajectory of her life - came shortly thereafter when she was cast as Cordelia Chase on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), a role she would portray for three seasons before migrating to its spin-off series, Angel (1999), and continuing on for four more seasons. In total, Carpenter portrayed Cordelia in 140 episodes across both franchises. The former series has been ranked by Time, The Hollywood Reporter, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly among their lists of greatest television series' of all time.
Carpenter went on to recur on Charmed (1998) as the demon Kyra and on Veronica Mars (2004) as gold digging stepmother Kendall Casablanacas as well as Greek (2007) and, most recently, CW's Pandora (2019). While working as a series regular on ABC Family's The Lying Game (2011), Carpenter subsequently served as host and producer of Investigation Discovery's Surviving Evil (2013), a series featuring survivors who fought back against their attackers. Additional guest starring roles include CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Burn Notice (2007), Supernatural (2005), Blue Bloods (2010), Sons of Anarchy (2008), Scream Queens (2015), Chicago P.D. (2014), Lucifer (2016), and 9-1-1 (2018).
Carpenter has also segued into movies, with a supporting role as Lacey in The Expendables (2010) and its sequel, The Expendables 2 (2012), as well as roles in over 12 made for television movies for Lifetime, Syfy and more.
Offscreen, Carpenter is the proud founder of MyCon, a platform intended to lift the spirits of socially isolated fans throughout the pandemic by connecting them with their favorite actors. Additionally, she works closely with the Thirst Project, an international water charity bringing safe, clean drinking water to the most vulnerable people around the world, as well as The Ronan Thompson Foundation, which is dedicated to researching pediatric cancer. In addition to her first love, that of a devoted mother, Carpenter spends much of her time working as a philanthropist, political activist, and social justice advocate. So passionate about these causes, she recently completed a course on administrative justice.Sarafine- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Martin was born on February 17, 1992, in Las Vegas, Nevada. A fan of musical theater, she performed in several community theater productions in Las Vegas. She began modeling at the age of five. As a child, she worked consistently in a variety of national and international commercials, including Barbie and Cabbage Patch Dolls.
She starred in the sequel, "Mean Girls 2", as the lead character, Johanna 'Jo' Mitchell, an outsider trying to fit in the social scene of high school. Alloy hired her for the lead role in the series "Wendy", a contemporary fantasy take on Peter Pan told from Wendy's point of view.
Martin is best known for her lead role in "10 Things I Hate About You," she played the role of Bianca Stratford, a girl who knows how to strategize, put a plan in motion and navigate the minefield that is high school.
Martin's first TV film was her role as the beautiful yet bossy Tess Tyler, queen bee of the hottest clique in camp, in Disney Channel's Original Movie "Camp Rock." Martin reprised her role of Tess in the successful "Camp Rock 2." Recently, she filmed "Geography Club", "Senior Project", "Safelight" and "The Good Mother" which premiered on Lifetime. Meaghan's other film projects include the lead role as Megan in the independent film "Dear Lemon Lima" and Aubrey in "Sironia."
She is recurring on MTV's, critically acclaimed "Awkward", and "Melissa and Joey." She has also guest starred on TBS's "Wedding Band", Fox's "House," CBS' "Close to Home," Disney Channel's "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," and Nickelodeon's "Just Jordan." She did her first professional theater debut in the Los Angeles production of the Jason Robert Brown musical, "13." Martin also sang a version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" for the 2009 DVD/Blu Ray release of Disney's "Pinocchio."
She has attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, completing courses in both Contemporary Drama and Shakespeare.Emily Asher- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Becca Tobin was born on 18 January 1986 in Marietta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Glee (2009), A Song for Christmas (2017) and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020). She has been married to Zach Martin since 3 December 2016. They have one child.Savannah Snow- Actor
- Producer
- Director
British actor Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, a small island off the south coast of England. He is the son of Barbara Anne Brereton (Sharpe) and Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant. Young Jeremy didn't prove very fond of figures. He visited mainland England only once a year. He wound up being grounded when his family settled down in Hertfordshire. At the age of 13 he enrolled in Sherborne School, Dorset, where he could practice his favorite sport, horse-riding. Before becoming an actor, he had considered a veterinarian surgeon's career.
He trained at the Bristol Old Vic School for two years, then joined Bristol Old Vic repertory company where he gained experience working in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas. He moved to London in 1971 and had a number of jobs before landing the role of "John the Baptist" in the hit musical "Godspell". He went on to have a successful early career in the West End theatre and on TV, and debuted on-screen in Nijinsky (1980). In the early 80s, he gained international attention with his starring role in the Granada Television serial adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel Brideshead Revisited (1981), after which he was much in demand as a romantic leading man. He went on to a steady film career. In 1984, he debuted on Broadway opposite: Glenn Close in Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" and, in the mid-80s, he appeared in three lead roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Once described as 'the thinking woman's pin up', he has made his name in thought provoking films such as David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988), for which he won the New York Critics Best Actor Award. He gained a Golden Globe Award in addition to an Oscar for Best Actor in 1990 for his role as Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune (1990) alongside Glenn Close. Among his many achievements, his role as Professor Higgins in Loewe-Lerner's famous musical "My Fair Lady" mustn't be forgotten. It was in London, back in 1987.
He is married to actress Sinéad Cusack, with whom he appeared in Waterland (1992) and in the Royal Shakespeare Company plays. He appeared with his son Samuel Irons and his father-in-law Cyril Cusack in the film Danny the Champion of the World (1989). His son Max Irons is also an actor.Macon Ravenwood- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress and author. She is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. She also starred as Amanda Wurlitzer in The Bad News Bears (1976), followed by Nickelodeon (1976), and Little Darlings (1980). O'Neal later appeared in guest roles in Sex and the City, 8 Simple Rules and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. From 2006 to 2007, she portrayed Blythe Hunter in the My Network TV drama series Wicked Wicked Games.Aunt Del- Taylor Geare was born on 19 September 2001. She is an actress, known for Brothers (2009), Inception (2010) and Dream House (2011).Ryan
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Roark Critchlow was born on 11 May 1963 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for V (2009), Mr. Deeds (2002) and Arrow (2012). He was previously married to Maria Brewer.Barclay Kent- Actor
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Jeremy Robert Myron Sumpter was born on February 5, 1989 in Monterey, California, to Sandra (Johnson) and Gary Sumpter. He was raised in his mother's hometown, Mount Sterling, Kentucky. At a young age, he enjoyed mountain climbing and play with his friends like any other normal kid, but when he went to Lexington, Kentucky, to model, he won the numerous awards and met his manager Mark Robert. Soon after that, Jeremy, his twin sister Jessica Sumpter, his little sister Gigi Sumpter, and his mom and dad moved to Los Angeles, California.
Jeremy's first movie was Frailty (2001), in which he played young Adam Meeks, opposite Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey. "Bill had been one of my favorite actors so to be able to work with him was unbelievable," says Jeremy. The adult Adam Meeks was played by Matthew McConaughey. His next movie was Local Boys (2002).
Jeremy was chosen by Danny Glover to play Henry Sturbuck in the Showtime original film Just A Dream. "Working with Danny was great, we had a great time filming in a small town in Utah," explains Jeremy. Jeremy received the "Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special - Leading Young Actor" from the Young Artist Awards. Jeremy was able to use his surfing skills on his next film, "Local Boys." This coming of age film was shot on location in southern California. "This was a hard film to shoot since we were surfing at the beach almost everyday and there were all these girls around in bikinis," jokes Jeremy.
After a worldwide search, Jeremy was chosen to play "Peter" in the P.J. Hogan film Peter Pan (2003). This was one of the most coveted roles in films for a teen actor in recent years. "It was a part that I really wanted," says Jeremy, "since I'd be able to fight pirates and fly around the stage on wires." Jeremy trained extensively in sword fighting and gymnastics prior to shooting the movie in Australia. Clubhouse (2004) was Jeremy's first television series, a dream role since he had always loved baseball and played little league when he was younger. Jeremy was cast in the role of Justin in Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life. After wrapping, he immediately went on to star in The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang in Oregon. A lot of the people from Napoleon Dynamite were involved in the film and it was a lot of fun for him to shoot. Jeremy shot "Calvin Marshall" in Oregon.
Jeremy Sumpter shot the Warner Bros./New Line big budget film "Into the Storm" and the independent feature film "Animal."
"The Squeeze," a feature film which was released in 2015 and starred Jeremy and Christopher McDonald. They teed off in a high stakes gambling matches careening throughout the South and landing in Las Vegas. Jeremy was also Co-Producer.
Jeremy recently shot Take Down" which is being distributed around the world.
In the future, Jeremy hopes to also work behind the camera as a director and producer. In his spare time, he surfs, plays basketball, football, golf and shoots pool.Larkin Kent- Actor
- Producer
Gale Harold was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. After studying photography and printmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute, Harold began studying acting at the suggestion of writer and producer Susie Landau Finch, who at the time was working at American Zoetrope. After three years of training and theatre work, Harold was cast and starred for five years as "Brian Kinney", the lead character in the Showtime adaptation of the British series "Queer As Folk".
Harold's film credits include Wake, Particles of Truth (Tribeca Film Festival), Rhinoceros Eyes (Toronto Film Festival), Fathers and Sons, The Unseen, and Falling For Grace.
Along with executive producer David Bowie and producer Mia Bays, Gale co-produced the film Scott Walker: 30th Century Man, directed by Stephen Kijak. The film's world premiere was at the London Film Festival, and debuted internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film's U.S. premiere was at the South By Southwest Film Festival.
Harold appears as Connor Lang in Rockne S. O'Bannon and Kevin Murphy's SYFY series, "Defiance".
Gale recently had regular roles on the series "The Secret Circle" and 'Hellcats". He has recurred on Emmy and Golden Globe award winning shows including "Deadwood", "Desperate Housewives", and "Grey's Anatomy". He has made guest appearances on "Street Time" "The Unit", "Law and Order SVU", and "CSI: NY".
Harold's stage credits include Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer opposite Carla Gugino and Blythe Danner for the Roundabout Theatre Company, Williams' Orpheus Descending directed by Lou Pepe at Theater/Theatre. Harold's performance was called "brilliant" by the LA Times. The play received the McCulloh Award For Revival from the Los Angeles Dramatic Critics Circle 2011. He has also performed in Austin Pendelton's Uncle Bob at the Soho Playhouse, Gillian Plowman's Me and My Friend at The Los Angeles Theatre Center, and various productions with A Noise Within Repertory Company.Hunting Ravenwood- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, perhaps Canada's greatest thespian, delivered outstanding performances as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), the iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A Beautiful Mind (2001), the kindly and clever mystery writer in Knives Out (2019), and as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). It was this last role that finally brought him recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, when he was nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, one of three Academy Award nominations he received in the 2010s, along with All the Money in the World (2017) (as J. Paul Getty) and Beginners (2010); he won for the latter role. He will also likely always be remembered as Captain Von Trapp in the atomic bomb-strength blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965), a film he publicly despised until softening his stance in his autobiography "In Spite of Me" (2008).
Christopher Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the only child of Isabella Mary (Abbott), a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University, and John Orme Plummer, who sold securities and stocks. Christopher was a great-grandson of John Abbott, who was Canada's third Prime Minister (from 1891 to 1892), and a great-great-great-grandson of Presbyterian clergyman John Bethune. He had Scottish, English, Anglo-Irish, and Cornish ancestry. Plummer was raised in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal, at his maternal grandparents' home.
Aside from the youngest member of the Barrymore siblings (which counted Oscar-winners Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore in their number), Plummer was the premier Shakespearean actor to come out of North America in the 20th century. He was particularly memorable as Hamlet, Iago and Lear, though his Macbeth opposite Glenda Jackson was -- and this was no surprise to him due to the famous curse attached to the "Scottish Play" -- a failure.
Like another great stage actor, Richard Burton, early in his career Plummer failed to connect with the screen in a way that would make him a star. Dynamic on stage, he didn't succeed as a younger leading man in films. Perhaps if he had been born earlier, and acted in the studio system of Hollywood's golden age, he could have been carefully groomed for stardom. As it was, he shared the English stage actors' disdain -- and he was equally at home in London as he was on the boards of Broadway or on-stage in his native Canada -- for the movies, which did not help him in that medium, as he has confessed. As he aged, Plummer excelled at character roles. He was always a good villain, this man who garnered kudos playing Lucifer on Broadway in Archibald Macleish's Pulitzer Prize-winning "J.B.".
Plummer won two Emmy Awards out of seven nominations stretching 46 years from 1959 and 2011, and one Genie Award in six nominations from 1980 to 2009. For his stage work, Plummer has racked up two Tony Awards on six nominations, the first in 1974 as Best Actor (Musical) for the title role in "Cyrano" and the second in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), in "Barrymore". Surprisingly, he did not win (though he was nominated) for his masterful 2004 performance of "King Lear", which he originated at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and brought down to Broadway for a sold-out run. His other Tony nominations show the wide range of his talent, from a 1959 nod for the Elia Kazan-directed production of Macleish's "J.B." to recognition in 1994 for Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land", with a 1982 Best Actor (Play) nomination for his "Iago" in William Shakespeare's "Othello".
Until the 2009 Academy Awards were announced, it could be said about Plummer that he was the finest actor of the post-World War II period to fail to get an Academy Award. In that, he was following in the footsteps of the late great John Barrymore, whom Plummer so memorably portrayed on Broadway in a one-man show that brought him his second Tony Award. In 2010, Plummer finally got an Oscar nod for his portrayal of another legend, Lev Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). Two years later, the first paragraph of his obituary was written when the 82-year-old Plummer became the oldest person in Academy history to win an Oscar. He won for playing a senior citizen who comes out as gay after the death of his wife in the movie Beginners (2010). As he clutched his statuette, the debonaire thespian addressed it thus: "You're only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?"
Plummer then told the audience that at birth, "I was already rehearsing my Academy acceptance speech, but it was so long ago mercifully for you I've forgotten it." The Academy Award was a long time in coming and richly deserved.
Plummer gave many other fine portrayals on film, particularly as he grew older and settled down into a comfortable marriage with his third wife Elaine. He continued to be an in-demand character actor in prestigious motion pictures. If he were English rather than Canadian, he would have been knighted. (In 1968, he was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor and one which required the approval of the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II.) If he lived in the company town of Los Angeles rather than in Connecticut, he likely would have several more Oscar nominations before winning his first for "The Last Station".
As it is, as attested to in his witty and well-written autobiography, Plummer was amply rewarded in life. In 1970, Plummer - then a self-confessed 43-year-old "bottle baby" - married his third wife Elaine Taylor, a dancer, who helped wean him off his dependency on alcohol. They lived happily with their dogs on a 30-acre estate in Weston, Connecticut. He thanked her from the stage during the 2012 Oscar telecast, quipping that she "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life." Although he spent the majority of his time in the United States, he remained a Canadian citizen. He died in his Weston, Connecticut home on February 5, 2021 at age 91.
His daughter, with actress Tammy Grimes, is actress Amanda Plummer.Abraham Ravenwood- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden and is the eldest son of famed actor Stellan Skarsgård. Among his siblings are actors Gustaf Skarsgård, Bill Skarsgård, and Valter Skarsgård. For most of his formative years, his father was an acclaimed actor in Europe but had not yet achieved the international fame that came after his star turn in Breaking the Waves (1996). Young Alexander was raised under modest circumstances in a working-class Swedish neighborhood as his parents wanted their children to have as normal an upbringing as possible. He began his acting career at the age of eight and continued working in films and on Swedish television until he turned sixteen and decided acting was not the career for him. Life under a microscope lost its charm and perhaps due to the influence of My Skarsgård, his physician mother, he stopped working as an actor, to continue his education.
Instead of continuing college, at the age of nineteen, he entered compulsory military service (military conscription). He used the time to contemplate his future. He studied at the Leeds Metropolitan University then moved to New York where he enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College to study theatre. After six months in New York, a romantic entanglement lured him back to Sweden but the relationship was short-lived. Despite having a broken heart, Alexander decided to stay in Sweden and, with a bit of life experience under his belt, began his acting career again. He appeared in a number of Swedish productions and became a star in his native country but was interested in broadening his horizons and working outside of Sweden. A visit to Los Angeles landed him both an agent and a part in the Ben Stiller movie, Zoolander (2001). After that Alexander returned to Sweden where he continued honing his acting in film and theatrical productions including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Bloody Wedding". He also co-wrote and co-directed an award-winning short, Att döda ett barn (2003), (To Kill a Child), which was shown at both the Tribeca and Cannes Film Festivals.
His first big break was with the miniseries Generation Kill (2008). Alexander spent seven months broiling in the desert of Namibia but it was well worth it. His portrayal of Marine Sgt. Brad "Iceman" Colbert astonished critics and audiences, alike. Thanks to the writer's strike, after completing Generation Kill (2008), he was cast in the role of "Eric Northman", a 1,000-year-old Viking vampire on the hit series, True Blood (2008). The series was created by Alan Ball, the man behind Six Feet Under (2001). True Blood (2008) was adapted from the "Sookie Stackhouse' novels by Charlaine Harris' and rode to success on quality scripts, great acting and the public's obsession with the vampire genre. In addition to True Blood (2008), which begins its third season in 2010, Alexander has a number of film projects in the works including the remake of Straw Dogs (2011), Melancholia (2011), written and directed by Lars von Trier, action Sci-Fi film, Battleship (2012), and The East (2013), directed by Zal Batmanglij.Younger Macon- Actress
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Julie Benz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on May 1, 1972. Julie's father is a Pittsburgh surgeon and her mother is a figure skater. The family settled in nearby Murrysville, when Julie was two, and she started ice skating at age three. She competed in the 1988 U.S. Championships in junior ice dancing with her partner David Schilling, coming in 13th. Her older brother and sister, Jeffrey and Jennifer, were 1987 U.S. Junior Champions in ice dancing and competed internationally. When Julie was 14, she had a bad stress fracture and had to take time off.
By 1989, with her figure skating career over, Julie turned to acting and got involved in the local theater where she got a role in the play "Street Law". Her first movie role was a small credited speaking part in the Black Cat segment of the Dario Argento/George A. Romero co-direction horror flick, Two Evil Eyes (1990), playing in one scene alongside Harvey Keitel. A year later, she got a role on a TV show called Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991).
After graduating from high school, Julie entered New York University to study acting there. After graduation, Julie moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her career and landed some small roles in movies and TV shows including a guest appearance on Married... with Children (1987) and in the Aaron Spelling TV pilot Crosstown Traffic (1995).
In 1996, Julie auditioned for the role of "Buffy" in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), but lost out to Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, she was offered a small role as a vampire girl in which she did such a good job that her part was expanded to a few more episodes in playing the vampire "Darla". With that, Julie Benz's career had finally taken off. She reprised her role as "Darla" in the Buffy spin-off series Angel (1999) for two years and has had several small roles in various film productions. She also had a small, but memorable, role playing a receptionist in the movie As Good as It Gets (1997).
Even after her role on Angel (1999) wrapped up, Julie continued to find work on television in playing many guest staring roles in numerous popular TV shows from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), to Supernatural (2005), to playing the lead and supporting roles in various made-for-TV movies. She landed another notable role on the TV-cable series Dexter (2006) playing "Rita", a troubled divorcée and lover of the title character played by Michael C. Hall. Benz played a leading role in the TV series No Ordinary Family (2010) playing Stephanie Powell along with actors Michael Chiklis, Kay Panabaker, Jimmy Bennett, Autumn Reeser, Romany Malco, and Stephen Collins.
In 2013, she had the starring role in the sci-fi / fantasy breakout hit show Defiance (2013).Lila Evers Wate- Actor
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Neil Richard Flynn is an American actor and comedian, known for his role as "The Janitor", in the medical comedy-drama, Scrubs (2001). He currently portrays "Mike Heck" in the ABC sitcom, The Middle (2009). Neil was born in the south-side of Chicago. He is of Irish descent and was raised Catholic. He moved to Waukegan, Illinois at an early age. As a student at Waukegan East High School in 1978, he and partner Mike Shklair won an Illinois Individual Events state championship for "Humorous Duet Acting". After graduating from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, in 1982, Flynn returned to Chicago to pursue an acting career. Flynn participated on the nationally-renowned Bradley University Speech Team.Mitchell Wate- Actress
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The legendary actress set a record when at age 82, she appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005). Cloris Leachman was born on April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa to Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman and the former Cloris Wallace. Her father's family owned a lumber company, Leachman Lumber Co. She was of Czech (from her maternal grandmother) and English descent. After graduating from high school, Leachman attended Illinois State University and Northwestern University, where she majored in drama. After winning the title of Miss Chicago 1946 (as part of the Miss America pageant), she acted with the Des Moines Playhouse before moving to New York.
Leachman made her credited debut in 1948 in an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour (1948) and appeared in many television anthologies and series before becoming a regular on The Bob & Ray Show (1951) in 1952. Her movie debut was memorable, playing the doomed blonde femme fatale Christina Bailey in Robert Aldrich's classic noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Other than a role in Rod Serling's movie The Rack (1956) in support of Paul Newman, Leachman remained a television actress throughout the 1950s and the 1960s, appearing in only two movies during the latter decade, The Chapman Report (1962) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Though she would win an Oscar for Peter Bogdanovich's adaptation of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show (1971) and appear in three Mel Brooks movies, it was in television that her career remained and her fame was assured in the 1970s and into the second decade of the new millennium.
Leachman was nominated five times for an Emmy Award playing Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Tyler Moore's landlady and self-described best friend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and on the spin-off series Phyllis (1975). She won twice as Best Supporting Actress in a comedy for her "Mary Tyler Moore" gig and won a Golden Globe Award as a leading performer in comedy for "Phyllis", but her first Emmy Award came in the category Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1973 for the television movie A Brand New Life (1973). She also won two Emmy Awards as a supporting player for Malcolm in the Middle (2000).
She was married to director-producer George Englund from 1953 to 1979. They had five children together. Cloris Leachman died of natural causes on January 27, 2021 in Encinitas, California.Prudence Jane- Actress
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Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Christine Tess (Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Logan White, a lighting company executive for the Crouse-Hinds Electric Company. She was of Danish, Greek, English, and Welsh descent.
Although she was best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and the ditzy Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985), Betty White had been in television for a long, long time before those two shows, having had her own series, Life with Elizabeth (1952) in 1952.
She was married three times, lastly for eighteen years, until widowed, to TV game-show host Allen Ludden.
She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and she was known for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.
Betty White died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 99.Mercy Lane- Actress
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Shelley Lee Long was born at 7:15 am on Tuesday, August 23, 1949 in Indian Village, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, the only child of Ivadine (Williams), a schoolteacher, and Leland Long, a teacher who had previously worked in the rubber industry. Shelley attended school at Kekionga Junior High for grades 6-9 and at South Side High School for grades 10-12. She enrolled at Northwestern University in 1967 as an undergraduate studying drama. Her first job was at the university as a meal plan checker. She left Northwestern to pursue a dual career in acting and modeling. She also had a brief marriage to her first husband that ended in divorce. In Chicago, she became a member of the celebrated Second City troupe, in addition to writing, producing and co-hosting a popular Chicago magazine program called "Sorting It Out" in 1975. The show ran for three years on a local NBC station and won three Emmy Awards for Best Entertainment Show.
She met her second husband, Bruce Tyson (a securities broker), on a blind date in 1979. They were married in October, 1981. In 1982, she played the character Diane Chambers in the new NBC comedy series, Cheers (1982). She played the part for five years, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983, winning Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983, for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 1985 and a Quality TV Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1986. She gave birth to a daughter, Juliana, on March 27, 1985. On her summer hiatus from "Cheers", Long made feature films, receiving a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress for Irreconcilable Differences (1984). In 1987, she starred in the hit comedy Outrageous Fortune (1987) with Bette Midler. Soon after, she left "Cheers" after five years to embark on a film career. However, her films Hello Again (1987) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989) were not hits, and she returned to television appearing in the final episode of Cheers in 1993. That same year, she appeared in her own television series "Good Advice" (1993) which was canceled. She returned to feature films playing Carol Brady in the The Brady Bunch Movie (1995). The film became a hit and spawned a sequel, A Very Brady Sequel (1996), which wasn't a hit. She returned to television playing the title role in "Kelly Kelly" (1998), which was canceled after a few episodes. She also played Diane Chambers a few times on "Frasier", the spinoff of Cheers. Her personal life took a huge blow when her husband divorced her in 2004 after more than 20 years of marriage. She recovered and continued on with her career, appearing in guest-starring roles on television, including a recurring role on Modern Family (2009). She supported her daughter Juliana Long Tyson's decision to follow in her footsteps as an actress. She also encouraged Juliana to get married, which she did in 2015, to management consultant Ryan Kissick. Shelley herself never remarried after her two divorces but continues to work in television.Grace Ann- Actress
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Eileen Atkins was born in a Salvation Army Women's Hostel in north London. Her father was a gas meter reader; her mother, a seamstress and barmaid. A drama teacher taught her how to drop her Cockney accent, and she studied Shakespeare and Greek tragedies. Her breakthrough role in "The Killing of Sister George" took her to Broadway.Arelia Valentin- Actress
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Amanda Peet was born and raised in New York City. She is the daughter of Penny (Levy), a social worker, and Charles Peet, a lawyer, and has an older sister. Her father was of mostly English and German ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany, Russia, and Hungary). Peet's great-grandfathers were politician Samuel Levy and showbiz impresario S.L. Rothafel.
Peet made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three, when she jumped onto the stage during a play. Yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University, where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period. During this time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by working as a waitress and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and, in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series Law & Order (1990).
Her feature film debut came in 1995 with the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while afterward, Amanda continued to find steady work but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up for distribution. She did, however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000), opposite Bruce Willis, took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by "People" Magazine.Caroline Evers- Actress
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The actress Wendie Malick was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1950 and attended Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she graduated in 1972. The 5-foot, 10-inch beauty was a Wilhelmina model in the 1970s, giving it up to go to work for Buffalo-area Congressman Jack Kemp. She quickly left Washington, DC, behind to act in the theater.
She appeared as Judith Tupper Stone in the early 1990s on the HBO comedy Dream On (1990) for which she won four CableACE Awards as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Malick has proved a gifted comedienne with great comic timing and reached the height of her career as one of the stars of the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997). Malick was hilarious as the beautiful fashion editor Nina Van Horn, a neurotic and pretentious ex-model struggling with middle age. For her work on the series, Malick won a Golden Globe and two Emmy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
On television, she has also had regular roles in the series Trauma Center (1983) and Good Company (1996) and recurring roles on NYPD Blue (1993), Anything But Love (1989), Baywatch (1989), Kate & Allie (1984), and Frasier (1993). She also starred in several made-for-TV movies, including Paper Dolls (1982), Dynasty: The Reunion (1991) and Perfect Body (1997). She also starred in North Shore Fish (1997) on cable TV, based on a role which she originated on stage. Malick's work has included roles in the movies The American President (1995), Scrooged (1988), and Bugsy (1991). With her distinctive voice, she is in high demand for voice-over work.Leah Ravenwood- Actress
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Cobie Smulders was born on April 3, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to a Dutch father and an English mother. As a girl, Cobie had set her sights on becoming a doctor or a marine biologist. In fact, it wasn't until high school that Cobie started to explore acting after appearing in several school productions. As a teenager, Cobie caught the eye of a modeling agency, which led to several years of world travel to places such as France, Japan, Italy, Greece, and Germany. Yet even as Cobie's modeling career was on the rise, she still managed to attend school, graduating from high school in 2000 with honors.
Once out of high school, Cobie continued modeling internationally until the opportunity arose to audition for film and television. It was not long before Cobie's natural ability as an actress impressed casting directors, landing her guest spots on television series such as Special Unit 2 (2001) and Jeremiah (2002). In addition, Cobie also appeared in the short Candy from Strangers (2001) directed by fellow Canadian rising star Eric Johnson.
Cobie got her big break just months later when she landed the role of Juliet Droil in the ABC program Veritas: The Quest (2003). The series marked her first series role for television.Thelma- Actress
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Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as Susan "Daisy" Lemay on the CBS series Guiding Light (1952) for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two other Young Artist Awards and a Soap Opera Digest Award. She then played the protagonist Meg Pryor on the NBC series American Dreams (2002) for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award and three Teen Choice Awards.
Snow's notable film roles include Kate Spencer in John Tucker Must Die (2006), Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray (2007), Donna Keppel in Prom Night (2008), Emma Gainsborough in The Vicious Kind (2009), and Chloe Beale in Pitch Perfect (2012).Reece- Actress
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Paula Patton was born in Los Angeles, California, to Joyce (Vanraden) and Charles Patton. Her father is African-American and her mother, who is caucasian, has German, English, and Dutch ancestry. Her family lived across the street from the 20th Century Fox lot when she was growing up and she was a fan of films from her earliest years. Her mother, who also appreciated good films, was a schoolteacher, and her father was a lawyer. Paula claims that as a girl she would escape by "pretending to be someone else" so it was not a surprise that she acted in high school plays at Hamilton Magnet Arts High School. Her favorite role was that of "Abigail" in "The Crucible". However, she went on to study film at the University of Southern California in a summer program, and won a 3-month assignment making documentaries for PBS. This led to her working as a production assistant for TV documentaries, and also for Howie Mandel's talk show. She progressed to actually producing documentary segments for Medical Diaries (2000) airing on Discovery Health Channel. Paula now professes that she liked what she was doing, but her dream remained the same as when she was small so she took acting lessons and shifted gears to become a performer. She was almost immediately successful and, within three years, had played parts in major features, Hitch (2005) and Idlewild (2006) and the female lead in Deja Vu (2006) opposite Denzel Washington.Marian Ashcroft- Actress
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Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on October 1, 1935, in England. Her mother, Barbara Ward (Morris), and stepfather, both vaudeville performers, discovered her freakish but undeniably lovely four-octave singing voice and immediately got her a singing career. She performed in music halls throughout her childhood and teens, and at age 20, she launched her stage career in a London Palladium production of "Cinderella".
Andrews came to Broadway in 1954 with "The Boy Friend", and became a bona fide star two years later in 1956, in the role of Eliza Doolittle in the unprecedented hit "My Fair Lady". Her star status continued in 1957, when she starred in the TV-production of Cinderella (1957) and through 1960, when she played "Guenevere" in "Camelot".
In 1963, Walt Disney asked Andrews if she would like to star in his upcoming production, a lavish musical fantasy that combined live-action and animation. She agreed on the condition if she didn't get the role of Doolittle in the pending film production of My Fair Lady (1964). After Audrey Hepburn was cast in My Fair Lady, Andrews made an auspicious film debut in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Andrews continued to work on Broadway, until the release of The Sound of Music (1965), the highest-grossing movie of its day and one of the highest-grossing of all time. She soon found that audiences identified her only with singing, sugary-sweet nannies and governesses, and were reluctant to accept her in dramatic roles in The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Torn Curtain (1966). In addition, the box-office showings of the musicals Julie subsequently made increasingly reflected the negative effects of the musical-film boom that she helped to create. Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) was for a time the most successful film Universal had released, but it still couldn't compete with Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music for worldwide acclaim and recognition. Star! (1968) and Darling Lili (1970) also bombed at the box office.
Fortunately, Andrews did not let this keep her down. She worked in nightclubs and hosted a TV variety series in the 1970s. In 1979, Andrews returned to the big screen, appearing in films directed by her husband Blake Edwards, with roles that were entirely different from anything she had been seen in before. Andrews starred in 10 (1979), S.O.B. (1981) and Victor/Victoria (1982), which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
She continued acting throughout the 1980s and 1990s in movies and TV, hosting several specials and starring in a short-lived sitcom. In 2001, she starred in The Princess Diaries (2001), alongside then-newcomer Anne Hathaway. The family film was one of the most successful G-Rated films of that year, and Andrews reprised her role as Queen Clarisse Renaldi in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). In recent years, Andrews appeared in Tooth Fairy (2010), as well as a number of voice roles in Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Enchanted (2007), Shrek Forever After (2010), and Despicable Me (2010).Twyla Valentin- Producer
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Bonnie Lynn Hunt is an American actress and comedienne who is known for her work in Rain Man, Beethoven, Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, The Green Mile and Cheaper by the Dozen. She voiced in the Disney films A Bug's Life, Zootopia, Monsters, Inc, Toy Story 3 and Cars. She was married to John Murphy but got separated in 2006.Mrs. English