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1-8 of 8
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II was born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, to Betty Sue Palmer (née Wells), a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. He was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one named 'The Kids'. When he married Lori A. Depp, he took a job as a ballpoint-pen salesman to support himself and his wife. A visit to Los Angeles, California, with his wife, however, happened to be a blessing in disguise, when he met up with actor Nicolas Cage, who advised him to turn to acting, which culminated in Depp's film debut in the low-budget horror film, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where he played a teenager who falls prey to dream-stalking demon Freddy Krueger.
In 1987 he shot to stardom when he replaced Jeff Yagher in the role of undercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular TV series 21 Jump Street (1987). In 1990, after numerous roles in teen-oriented films, his first of a handful of great collaborations with director Tim Burton came about when Depp played the title role in Edward Scissorhands (1990). Following the film's success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyncratic performer, consistently selecting roles that surprised critics and audiences alike. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increasing popularity by appearing in many features before re-joining with Burton in the lead role of Ed Wood (1994). In 1997 he played an undercover FBI agent in the fact-based film Donnie Brasco (1997), opposite Al Pacino; in 1998 he appeared in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), directed by Terry Gilliam; and then, in 1999, he appeared in the sci-fi/horror film The Astronaut's Wife (1999). The same year he teamed up again with Burton in Sleepy Hollow (1999), brilliantly portraying Ichabod Crane.
Depp has played many characters in his career, including another fact-based one, Insp. Fred Abberline in From Hell (2001). He stole the show from screen greats such as Antonio Banderas in the finale to Robert Rodriguez's "mariachi" trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). In that same year he starred in the marvelous family blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), playing a character that only the likes of Depp could pull off: the charming, conniving and roguish Capt. Jack Sparrow. The film's enormous success has opened several doors for his career and included an Oscar nomination. He appeared as the central character in the Stephen King-based movie, Secret Window (2004); as the kind-hearted novelist James Barrie in the factually-based Finding Neverland (2004), where he co-starred with Kate Winslet; and Rochester in the British film, The Libertine (2004). Depp collaborated again with Burton in a screen adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and later in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Dark Shadows (2012).
Off-screen, Depp has dated several female celebrities, and has been engaged to Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey, Winona Ryder and Kate Moss. He was married to Lori Anne Allison in 1983, but divorced her in 1985. Depp has two children with his former long-time partner, French singer/actress Vanessa Paradis: Lily-Rose Melody, born in 1999 and John Christopher "Jack" III, born in 2002. He married actress/producer Amber Heard in 2015, divorcing a few years later.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee was perhaps the only actor of his generation to have starred in so many films and cult saga. Although most notable for personifying bloodsucking vampire, Dracula, on screen, he portrayed other varied characters on screen, most of which were villains, whether it be Francisco Scaramanga in the James Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), or Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), or as the title monster in the Hammer Horror film, The Mummy (1959).
Lee was born in 1922 in London, England, where he and his older sister Xandra were raised by their parents, Contessa Estelle Marie (Carandini di Sarzano) and Geoffrey Trollope Lee, a professional soldier, until their divorce in 1926. Later, while Lee was still a child, his mother married (and later divorced) Harcourt George St.-Croix (nicknamed Ingle), who was a banker. Lee's maternal great-grandfather was an Italian political refugee, while Lee's great-grandmother was English opera singer Marie (Burgess) Carandini.
After attending Wellington College from age 14 to 17, Lee worked as an office clerk in a couple of London shipping companies until 1941 when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Following his release from military service, Lee joined the Rank Organisation in 1947, training as an actor in their "Charm School" and playing a number of bit parts in such films as Corridor of Mirrors (1948). He made a brief appearance in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948), in which his future partner-in-horror Peter Cushing also appeared. Both actors also appeared later in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their horror films together.
Lee had numerous parts in film and television throughout the 1950s. He struggled initially in his new career because he was discriminated as being taller than the leading male actors of his time and being too foreign-looking. However, playing the monster in the Hammer film The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) proved to be a blessing in disguise, since the was successful, leading to him being signed on for future roles in Hammer Film Productions.
Lee's association with Hammer Film Productions brought him into contact with Peter Cushing, and they became good friends. Lee and Cushing often than not played contrasting roles in Hammer films, where Cushing was the protagonist and Lee the villain, whether it be Van Helsing and Dracula respectively in Horror of Dracula (1958), or John Banning and Kharis the Mummy respectively in The Mummy (1959).
Lee continued his role as "Dracula" in a number of Hammer sequels throughout the 1960s and into the early 1970s. During this time, he co-starred in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), and made numerous appearances as Fu Manchu, most notably in the first of the series The Face of Fu Manchu (1965), and also appeared in a number of films in Europe. With his own production company, Charlemagne Productions, Ltd., Lee made Nothing But the Night (1973) and To the Devil a Daughter (1976).
By the mid-1970s, Lee was tiring of his horror image and tried to widen his appeal by participating in several mainstream films, such as The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge (1974), and the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
The success of these films prompted him in the late 1970s to move to Hollywood, where he remained a busy actor but made mostly unremarkable film and television appearances, and eventually moved back to England. The beginning of the new millennium relaunched his career to some degree, during which he has played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and as Saruman the White in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee played Count Dooku again in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), and portrayed the father of Willy Wonka, played by Johnny Depp, in the Tim Burton film, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
On 16 June 2001, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to drama. He was created a Knight Bachelor on 13 June 2009 in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama and charity. In addition he was made a Commander of the Order of St John on 16 January 1997.
Lee died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on 7 June 2015 at 8:30 am after being admitted for respiratory problems and heart failure, shortly after celebrating his 93rd birthday there. His wife delayed the public announcement until 11 June, in order to break the news to their family.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
A gifted poet, playwright and wit, Oscar Wilde was a phenomenon in 19th-century England. He was illustrious for preaching the importance of style in life and art, and of attacking Victorian narrow-mindedness.
Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1854. He studied at Trinity College in Dublin before leaving the country to study at Oxford University in England when he was in his early 20s. His prodigious literary talent was recognized when he received the Newdegate Prize for his outstanding poem "Ravenna". After leaving college his first volume of poetry, "Patience", was published in 1881, followed by a play, "The Duchess of Padua", two years later. It was around this time that Wilde sparked a sensation.
On his arrival to America he stirred the nation with his flamboyant personality: wearing long silk stockings--an unusual mode of dress--long, flowing hair that gave the impression to many of an effeminate and a general air of wittiness, sophistication and eccentricity. He was an instant celebrity, but his works did not find recognition until the publication of "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" in 1888. His other noted work was his only novel, was "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1890), which caused controversy as the book evidently attacked the hypocrisy of England. It was later used as incriminating evidence at Wilde's trial, on the basis of its obvious homosexual content.
Wilde was a married man with children, but his private life was as a homosexual. He had an affair with a young snobbish aristocrat named Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry, did not approve of his son's relationship with the distinguished writer, and when he accused Wilde of sodomy, Wilde sued the Marquess in court. However, his case was dismissed when his homosexuality--which at the time was outlawed in England--was exposed. He was sentenced to two years hard labor in prison. On his release he was a penniless, dejected man and soon died in Paris. He was 46.
Wilde is immortalized through his works, and the stories he wrote for children, such as "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant", are still vibrant in the imagination of the public, especially "The Picture of Dorian Gray", the story of a young handsome man who sells his soul to a picture to have eternal youth and beauty, only to face the hideousness of his own portrait as it ages, which entails his evil nature and degradation. The book has been interpreted on stage, films and television.- Actor
- Producer
Kollywood star, Sathyaraj, might have been the very first screen villain to have impressed Tamil audiences by being a cultured, flamboyant antagonist, and it was the audiences' liking for him that eventually led him to becoming one of the leading heroes of Tamil cinema like Rajini Kanth and Kamal Hassan.
Sathyaraj hailed from a well-to-do landlord family. He finished up to tenth standard in his high school education, and passed S.S.L.C., scoring first rank marks in history and geography at his school level. He joined Government Arts College and completed B.Sc. in botany.
However, acting was in Sathyaraj's blood and he got his first acting part in the film, 'Kodugal Illaatha Kolangal'. He earned his image as an actor with the film, 'Nooraavathu Naal', and gradually weaned his way in a successful manner as villains opposite protagonists in movies. He made his debut as the hero in the movie, 'Saavi', and from 'Iravu Pookkal' onwards, he was a regular protagonist in motion pictures.- Actor
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Professional actor Bruno Xavier has done a few American and Australian films and is a popular face in commercials. Born in Eritrea on October 13, of Sri Lankan parents, Bruno lived around the world before making Australia his home in 1987. He has done a few films like Garage Days (2002) and Fat Pizza (2003) and has made rare appearances on television, but so far, his biggest contribution as an actor was as the villain Ivan in the Tamil hit comedy, Nala Damayanthi (2003), starring Kollywood's Madhavan.- Cool young teenager with attitude, Kyal Marsh is a promising young Australian actor who currently plays the regular character, Boyd Hoyland, in the TV series, Neighbours (1985).
Born in Adelaide, Marsh received his education at St Luke's and at Wesley College, where he studied up to tenth standard. He got his first acting part in an advertisement for "Shell" when he was thirteen, and since then made minor appearances on television including the TV mini-series, _"Secret Life of Us, The" (2001). However, Marsh has firmly established his niche as an actor with the portrayal of Boyd Hoyland in the TV series, ("Neighbours" (1985)_, which has shot him to fame in Australia. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
An experienced actor who is in management both Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Mark Jensen is well noted for his performance as Michael in the Shakespeare-inspired, 'Eloise' (2002), and as a dying father in The Bobsy Boys (2004), for which he got the Best Actor award at Newcastle Film Festival. He has shown himself to be a very competent and dedicated actor in the Australian film industry, and aside from films, he has been active on television, commercials, radio, and in the theatre.
Jensen got into acting fairly late in his thirties after working on radio and television. He received acting tuition from a number of tutors for 12 years, during which he made appearances on TV programs such as "Home and Away" (1989 -) and "All Saints" (1998 -), and in many short-length films. By the time he was working on 'Eloise', he had done approximately 30 short films (of a total of about 60 that he has done so far).
'Eloise' was the modern version of the Shakespearean dramatization, `Othello', and had Mark Jensen in the lead as the Othello character Michael, paired with P.J. Parker as Bruce and Melanie Holt as the title heroine. The movie got the Best Australian Film Jury Prize at Aust Fest Film Festival.
In early 2003, he had a change of air from drama. He played the police inspector Hector in the Indian comedy film, 'Nala Damayanthi' (2003), which was his first foreign film that also starred India's heartthrob Madhavan. His part as the inspector got good reviews including one scene said to be one of the funniest two scenes in the motion picture, which must be the interrogation between the inspector and an Indian illegal immigrant with poor education. In this scene, the illegal immigrant (portrayed by Madhavan) tries to recount to the inspector how a bunch of baddies came and kicked his balls!!
'Nala Damayanthi' was an enriching experience for Jensen, for he got to learn the Indian side to filmmaking, and as he said in response to a question posed in the 'FilmInk Magazine', he thought that the "cultural differences [between India and Australia] add a wonderful spice to filmmaking and story telling." To Jensen, the film was the "most bizarre and wonderful acting experience" he had ever done.
By some coincidence, Mark Jensen got to work with his friend and fellow-actor, Bruno Xavier, on the set of 'Nala Damayanthi'. They had previously worked before in association with a group called Parnassus Den, in which they read scripts of films in pre-production before an audience of writers for the critical response. Both Xavier and Jensen think that this process is important in Australian filmmaking.
Currently Jensen is doing another foreign film in Korea, called 'Taepung' ('Typhoon'), in which he acts as a US ambassador to Korea. The film's due for release in Korea in 2006.- A part-time actor who has had a number of years experience on stage and on film and has excelled in the martial arts, which won him a role as one of the ninjas in the Hollywood blockbuster, 'Batman Begins' (2005). He lives in Australia and does a lot of theater work alongside his friend, Christo Newman, with whom he co-starred with in _Hating Alison Ashley (2004)_. He is a friend of Lindsay Lohan, whom he met on the set of 'Mean Girls' (2004).