Birthdays: June 26
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- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Ariana Grande was born Ariana Grande-Butera on June 26, 1993 in Boca Raton, Florida to Joan Grande, a chief executive officer for Hose-McCann Communications & Edward Butera, a graphic designer, photographer, artist and Ibi Designs Inc. owner/founder. She starred in the 2008 musical, 13 before becoming a household name through her roles on Nickelodeon. She appeared as Cat Valentine in the network's sitcoms Victorious (2010) and Sam & Cat (2013), lent her voice to the character Diaspro in Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club (2004), and was part of the main cast for the Nick TV movie "Swindle". She has since appeared in other theatre and television roles.
Ariana's music career began in 2011 with the soundtrack album "Music from Victorious". In 2013, she released her first studio album Yours Truly, which entered atop the US Billboard 200. The album's lead single, The Way, opened in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with critics comparing her wide vocal range to that of Mariah Carey.
Ariana's second studio album, My Everything (2014), entered at number one in the US and charted in the top 10 in 24 other countries. With the lead single, Problem and several other singles, she was continuously in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for 34 weeks and had the most top 10 singles of any artist in 2014. The next year, she gave her first world tour, The Honeymoon Tour, to promote My Everything. In 2016, she released her third studio album Dangerous Woman, which charted at number two on the Billboard 200. The title track debuted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first person in the history of that chart to have the lead singles from each of their first three albums debut within the top 10 in the US. In 2017, Ariana gave her international Dangerous Woman Tour.
As of June 2017, Ariana's music videos had been viewed a total of more than nine billion times online. Her accolades include three American Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards, an MTV Video Music Award and four Grammy Award nominations. All three of her albums have been certified platinum by the RIAA. She has supported a range of charities and has a large following on social media. In 2016, Time named Ariana one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual list.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Aaron Jackson starred on the NBC live-action musical comedy series, California Dreams, where he played Mark Winkle, one of the band's lead singers.
Prior to landing his role on California Dreams, he did a wide range of theatrical productions, including Bye-Bye Birdie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Tea and Sympathy, Torch Song Trilogy, Guys and Dolls, Rumors, and, the critically acclaimed, Bobby Socs It To Ya. Aaron has recently returned to the stage, starring in Arsenic and Old Lace, Owl and the Pussycat, Mousetrap, and Harvey at the Cultural Arts Theatre.
Other television credits include Silk Stalkings and a pilot called Impact, a talk show for teens. Aaron is starring as Raoul in the upcoming TV pilot, Coney Island.
Film credits include Lorenzo's Oil, From Venus, and Children of the Corn: Fields of Terror (based on the book "Children of the Corn" by Steven King.) Other film credits include Wicked Spring, Heaven's Neighbor, and Tangy Guacamole, Captain, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (a remake of the 1962 Academy Award winning film), The Pain Within, and Biophage.
Aaron has also directed the films Cross to the other and Ghost Story Chronicles. He recently finished directing the award winning film, Fighting a War of My Own and is currently producing The Bar Mitzvah.
Aaron has also done a variety of national commercials, including a P.S.A. on AIDS for which he received the "Ace Award".
Aaron is most proud of the work he has done helping aspiring actors break into the acting industry. He travels the country coaching up and coming talent in the art of acting, specializing in monologue and audition prep, scene study, character breakdown, and improvisation.
Aaron has been a motivational speaker for 18 years. His company, Dangerous Curves Productions, was founded in 2007. His primary focus is to help students make positive choices in their lives. He speaks to students across the country on the dangers of drug and alcohol use, the negative effects of bullying and how to set achievable goals. He also works hand-in-hand with non-profit organizations, such as D.A.R.E., Make-A-Wish, St. Jude's Hospital, Special Olympics, the Love Ride for MDA, and the Ami Thom Foundation, just to name a few.- Adrianna Costa is an international TV personality known for covering everything from breaking entertainment news at CNN Headline News, and a live reality competition series on Fox, to the glamorous red-carpets for iconic entertainment shows like Extra (1994) and Access Hollywood (1996).
Adrianna's hosting duties brought her to Las Vegas where she helped grow the news bureau for "Extra". She quickly became the go-to entertainment correspondent on the scene. Throughout her career, she has scored some of the most-coveted interviews with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Johnny Depp, JLo, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, George Clooney, and a personal milestone, a 30-minute exclusive with Dave Matthews.
Despite a packed schedule, Adrianna still finds time to explore other projects. Every year, she hosts several award shows for Dick Clark Productions including the American Music Awards and, most recently, 2015's Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2015 (2014).
Adrianna has crossed several media platforms becoming the first TV correspondent to make her way to the Taxicabs of Las Vegas. She's the face of a new lifestyle show, Taxi TV playing in every taxi on an interactive TV monitor. Since joining the show, viewer-retention rate has skyrocketed, making Adrianna one of the most recognizable faces.
Earlier in her career, Adrianna became a part of the Fox family, when she hosted a primetime reality show, On the Lot (2007), a competition series created by Steven Spielberg, Mark Burnett and DreamWorks.
After wrapping "On the Lot", Adrianna worked at TV Guide Network and has co-hosted the Live Red Carpet Pre-shows for three seasons including the Emmys, SAG Awards, Golden Globes, Grammys and Oscars.
Adrianna has become a poster child for healthy living through diet and exercise. She was just featured in Us Weekly's Hot Bodies Issue. She was also listed as one Maxim's Red Hot, Red-Carpet Reporters and tops the list of FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World". Bebe took notice and selected her as the new face and body of their "Yes You Can" health campaign. There, Adrianna graced billboards modeling the brand's new fitness line. This is hardly a departure, considering Adrianna grew up with a father as one of the leading Nutrition Experts in the world and New-York Times best-selling author.
In 2014 Adrianna became a new mom and loves every minute of it so she launched her own successful website, www.HauteMomsLife.com which focuses on celebrating the Hottie In Every Mommy.
Adrianna has contributed to Perezhilton, Cocoperez and Life and Style Magazine and even started her own weekly column for 944 Magazine called "Fashion or Fiction: A Lifestyle Guide to What's Hot and What's Not".
She then parlayed her love of fashion into other ventures including a relationship with Justfab.com where she serves as a style expert. She's also made several appearances on the Style Network's Emmy-Nominated show, How Do I Look? (2004).
And most recently, her love of style has transcended into the bridal world. TLC took notice and featured her recent nuptials as their premiere of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta (2010).
By 24, Adrianna was serving as Entertainment Anchor for CNN Headline News (1982). Based in Atlanta, she presented morning segments on one of the network's highest-rated programs, Robin and Company and was also appointed as a correspondent on CNN/HN's hit evening entertainment show, Showbiz Tonight (2005).
Adrianna exploded onto the entertainment scene in 2004, corresponding for Access Hollywood (1996), while working weekends as a feature reporter for Fox-11 News: Good Day LA, and spending early morning hours during the week as an entertainment reporter for CBS in Palm Springs, California.
Over the years, Adrianna has also expanded her body of work by jumping on board at places like MSNBC to host their shows, Hot List and At The Movies. She also became a familiar face on the E! Network, reporting for E! News, and covering special events like US Weekly's Young Hot Hollywood Award Show. Adrianna also hosted her own one-hour E! Special called 20 Hippest Hot Spots, wherein she offered viewers an inside look at the hottest restaurants & clubs around the country. She's also hosted programs for AT&T U-verse where she went behind-the-scenes profiling shows like Headcase on Starz.
Adrianna is very active in social media, on twitter under the verified account, @AdriannaCosta instagram, facebook.
She's also active in different charities including Etta, Boys and Girls Club of America and Teen with a Dream where she participates in hosting events, fundraisers and Toy Drops to local Children's Hospitals.
Adrianna graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in May 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Film Studies. - Agustín Orión has been married to Paula since 19 May 2006. They have three children.
- Casting Department
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Aijia Grammer is a Los Angeles native who's family all works in and around the entertainment industry. She is the wife of singer-songwriter Andy Grammer and the niece of singer and actress EG Daily. Aijia studied Vocal Jazz at California State University, Northridge. She has appeared in numerous TV shows and commercials, whether on camera or by lending her voice, since the age of 10.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Alberto Rabagliati was born on 26 June 1906 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He was an actor, known for The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (1966), The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and Tea with Mussolini (1999). He was married to Maria Antonietta Tonnini. He died on 7 March 1974 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Alex Harrouch is a fully bilingual Montreal-born actor, best known for his 12 episode ark as Alli's abusive boyfriend, Leo, in Season 13 of DEGRASSI (TeenNick). Video game fans may also recognize him from Ubisoft's hugely successful FAR CRY 3.
Since moving to Toronto, Alex has appeared on several hit series for various networks such as Nickelodeon, ABC, Hallmark Channel and National Geographic.
In 2018, he appeared in a recurring role on the Crave TV hit, LETTERKENNY, as well as an episode of the Emmy-winning series, THE HANDMAID'S TALE, opposite Elisabeth Moss.
His film credits include Canadian Film Fest winner HOW TO PLAN AN ORGY IN A SMALL TOWN, BUFFALOED and THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY, as well as two full-length SYFY originals.
He is also a skilled voice actor, having dubbed the role of Sam in MYTHOMANIAC (Netflix) and voicing the Great Inca in children's animated film, PACHAMAMA.
In 2023, Alex received an Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast nomination at the Dora Awards, for his work in "Les Zinspiré.e.s Dix-Joncté.e.s", an original play by the Théâtre Français de Toronto.
Alex trains in the hands of Salvatore Antonio (Core Actor's Approach Master Class) and is represented by Daniel Birnbaum (Talent House) in Toronto.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ana Ularu is a Romanian born actor and director. She began acting at the age of 9 in French productions like "Meurtres par procuration" and "Passion Mortelle". Since graduating with a B.A. and M.F.A. in Acting from the National University of Theatre and Film "I.L.Caragiale" (UNATC) in Bucharest, she has appeared in more than 50 short films, TV films, TV series and feature films. She is also an award winning theatre actress, appearing at the moment in 4 productions in her native Bucharest.. She acted in local films by Romanian New Wave directors like Cãlin Peter Netzer, Cristian Mungiu and Radu Muntean, but also in international productions by Academy Award winners Francis Ford Coppola, Susanne Bier and Ron Howard. In 2010, Ana received the 'Boccalino d'Oro' in Locarno and the 'Best Actress' award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival , as well as the "Best Actress Award" at the "Cinema City" Festival In Novi Sad for her portrayal of Matilda in Outbound (2010). She plays the Wicked Witch of the West in the NBC TV series Emerald City (2016). She starred in Siberia alongside Keanu Reeves. She now plays Eva Stellenbosch in the Amazon series Alex Rider and will be seen next in the Netflix production Tribes of Europa.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Ashley Galvan was born on 26 June 1990 in Visalia, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Fame (2009), Girl Walks Into a Bar (2011) and Zumanity (2003). She has been married to Dylan Moriarity since 25 September 2021. They have one child.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress and comedian known for her deadpan style. She portrayed April Ludgate on Parks and Recreation (2009), and after appearing in supporting roles in several films, had her first leading role in the 2012 comedy Safety Not Guaranteed (2012).
Plaza began her career as an intern. After performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, she appeared in the web series The Jeannie Tate Show (2007). She later appeared in films such as Funny People (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Life After Beth (2014).- Actor
- Director
- Music Department
Ben Speer was born on 23 June 1930 in Double Springs, Alabama, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Journey to the Sky (2004), Gaither's Pond (1997) and A Christmas Homecoming (1993). He was married to Rebekah. He died on 7 April 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Benjamin Helstad (born 1987, Oslo, Norway) is one of Norway's most highly regarded young actors. After his big screen breakthrough in King of Devil's Island (2010) alongside Stellan Skarsgård, for which he received an Amanda nomination for Best Actor, he's appeared in a series of critically acclaimed production on both stage and screen. He graduated from the prestigious Norwegian Academy of Performing Arts in 2012, after being the first student to ever be accepted to the school twice (he dropped out to accept the role in Kongen av Bastøy). With no less than 4 film premieres in 2016, including the epic historical blockbuster The Last King (2016) which has already been sold to over 60 countries, Benjamin is well poised to confirm his position as his generation's brightest talent.- Producer
- Executive
Bibi Ballandi was born on 26 June 1946 in Baricella, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. He was a producer and executive, known for Satyricon (2001), Ballando con le stelle (2005) and Facciamo che io ero (2017). He was married to Lella. He died on 15 February 2018 in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.- Writer
- Producer
- Script and Continuity Department
Bob Ross was born on 26 June 1908 in New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Andy Griffith Show (1960), The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). He died on 18 August 1970 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Brittney Karbowski was born on 26 June 1986 in Sugar Land, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Parasyte: The Maxim (2014), Fairy Tail (2009) and Heaven's Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork (2011). She has been married to Matthew Hernandez since 11 October 2013. They have one child.
- Producer
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Carmen Finestra was born on 26 June 1947 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Cosby Show (1984), Home Improvement (1991) and Where the Heart Is (2000).- Producer
- Cinematographer
Academy Award nominee Céan Chaffin is a film producer and cinematographer best known for producing the films of David Fincher, her partner ever since the early 1990's.
She met Fincher while producing Coca-Cola: Blade Roller (1993), a commercial of which he was the director. From then on, their partnership resulted in a handful of music videos and several of Fincher's films such as The Game (1997), tt0137523 tt0258000 tt0443706], The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014) and Mank (2020); and the series Mindhunter (2017).- Ricardo 'chiqui' Pereyra is known for Buenos Aires tango (1982), Botica de tango (1982) and Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand (1968).
- Chloe Alexa Ibanez was born in Athens, Ohio, USA. Chloe Alexa is an actor, known for Beerfest (2006), Into the West (2005) and Suspect Zero (2004).
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Producer
Chris Isaak was born on 26 June 1956 in Stockton, California, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Wild at Heart (1990) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Christopher Eugene O'Donnell was born on June 26th, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois, to Julie Ann (Rohs) and William Charles O'Donnell, Sr., who managed a CBS radio station, WBBM-AM. He is the youngest child in his family, with four sisters and two brothers. His father had Irish ancestry and his mother's lineage includes German, English, and Swiss.
O'Donnell first started modeling at the age of thirteen and continued until the age of sixteen, when he appeared in commercials. When he was seventeen, he was preparing to stop acting and modeling, but was asked to audition for what would be his first film, Men Don't Leave (1990). He didn't want to go to the audition, but his mother bribed him by saying she would buy him a new car if he went and he duly got the role.
Ever since that moment in his life, Chris has appeared in some major motion pictures including Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Scent of a Woman (1992), Mad Love (1995) and Vertical Limit (2000). He played a part in Kinsey (2004), which appeared in theaters in the year 2004.
Chris took time off from acting to spend time with his wife, Caroline, son, Chris Jr., and his daughter Lilly. He also spent two months in New York performing in Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck".- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Christina Fulton was born on 26 June 1967 in Boise, Idaho, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Doors (1991), Snake Eyes (1998) and The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (1995).- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
His father was the renowned violinist and music teacher Michelangelo Abbado. He is the brother of the composer Marcello Abbado and therefore uncle of the conductor Roberto Abbado. After school, Abbado studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan. From 1956 to 1968 he was married to Giovanna Cavazzoni. Together they became parents to the theater manager Alessandra Abbado and the opera director Daniele Abbado. In 1957 he moved to Vienna, where he went to school with conductor teacher Hans Swarowsky. In 1968, Abbado began working for the Milan opera house "Scala", where he worked in various functions until 1986. The conductor was committed to opening up the so-called "high culture" to the common people, who had once been the audience and protagonists of traditional Italian opera.
From 1979 to 1988, Abbado was also principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Replaced by Riccardo Muti at the helm of La Scala in Milan, Abbado moved to Vienna in 1986 to take over the management of the State Opera until 1991. From 1990 to 2002 he was chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. However, cancer interrupted Abbado's artistic career in the late 1990s. After his recovery, the internationally celebrated conductor only appeared at concerts sporadically. In spring 2004, Abbado's guest appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic was a great success. In the spring of 2005, Abbado conducted Mozart's "Magic Flute" for the first time, with which he celebrated great success in Baden-Baden and Italy. At the end of May 2005, the maestro gave three concerts in Berlin to sold-out houses.
Abbado was considered a supporter of young musicians, for whom he founded the European Union Youth Orchestra in 1978, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1988, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in 1997 and finally the Mozart Orchestra in 2004. The youth orchestras support the training of young talent with scholarships. In 2003 he was honored with the Praemium Imperiale. In August 2005, Abbado, after Vienna, was also made an honorary citizen of Lucerne, whose music festival he was closely associated with. For the 250th year of Mozart's birth, Abbado designed numerous Mozart Orchestra initiatives in 2006. In 2008 he received the Wolf Prize. On August 30, 2013, Claudio Abbado was appointed senator for life by President Giorgio Napolitano. In the same year, his book "My World of Music" was named science book of the year in Austria.
Claudio Abbado died on January 20, 2014, at the age of eighty, in Bologna after a long battle with cancer.- Actor
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
Clive Francis was born on 26 June 1946 in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for A Clockwork Orange (1971), Official Secrets (2019) and The Lost City of Z (2016). He has been married to Natalie Ogle since May 1989. They have two children. He was previously married to Polly James.- Daisy Keith was born on 26 June 1969 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Heartland (1989). She was married to Scott Sampson. She died on 16 April 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
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- Producer
Dany Boon was born on 26 June 1966 in Armentières, Nord, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Welcome to the Sticks (2008), Joyeux Noel (2005) and R.A.I.D. Special Unit (2016).- With a dedication to his craft, and consummate appetite for the world and people around him, Dave Baez has built a career on character study and cultivated a passion to share his experience with a new generation of theater and film actors.
Born in the old New England fishing town of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Dave grew up in a multi-ethnic family, deeply rooted in Portuguese and Puerto Rican culture. Raised with unwavering support from his parents, Dave developed a passion for the arts, leading him to the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. There, he majored in Theater Studies, performing in several plays as well as establishing a program for students called, "The Experimental Stage," a creative outlet for free speech and the performing arts on campus.
After college, Dave moved to Miami, and was cast in his first professional theater production as King Philip of France, in "A Lion In Winter." A chance encounter with Frances Grill, founder of the CLICK modeling agency led to a meeting with fashion photographer Bruce Weber, who booked Dave for ads for Versace, Ralph Lauren, Brooks Bothers among others. Dave's focus, however, remained on acting as he used his newfound opportunity to move to New York and enroll in the acclaimed Herbert Bergdorf studio, studying under the late, celebrated actor, William Hickey, as well as an acceptance into the "Absolute Theater Company," which produced off Broadway plays. After benefiting from a donation from Al Pacino, the Company was able to produce a showcase in Los Angeles, which in turn, allowed Dave to make his destined move out west.
With experience and a solid resume, Dave quickly booked a role in the final installment of the Crow franchise, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, for Dimension Films in 2005, opposite Danny Trejo and Dennis Hopper. Several parts in film and television followed, including recurring roles in NBC's "Miss Match," alongside Alicia Silverstone and Ryan O'Neil, "Las Vegas," opposite Josh Duhamel and Vanessa Marcil, and a five-episode arc on Showtime's "Dexter," where Dave played Gabriel, the boyfriend to the title character's sister.
Dave can also be seen in the feature Mothers and Daughters, opposite Sharon Stone, Susan Sarandon, Selma Blair, Christina Ricci, and Courteney Cox, playing a doctor who develops a personal relationship with Selma Blair's character, as she struggles to make a tough decision regarding an unexpected pregnancy.
Other credits include the Daytime Episodic, "Days of Our Lives," CBS' "The Mentalist," The CW fantasy-drama, "The Secret Circle," the long-running Paramount comedy, "All of Us," co-created by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and the popular IFC series "Maron" in 2015, along with countless commercials for brands such as, Bud Light, Craftsman, Honda, Toyota, Buick, Caress, Verizon and AT&T, among others.
For Dave, acting is a companion to his natural thirst for life and intense reflection into his own soul. He is keenly aware that an actors journey never ends, the craft never perfected, but only built layer upon layer. This intense passion has led Dave to a new endeavor as he transitions into teaching the craft as well, sharing his experience, trade-craft and unique insights of the industry that has fulfilled him for over a decade. - Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Dave Grusin was born on 26 June 1934 in Littleton, Colorado, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Firm (1993) and The Graduate (1967). He was previously married to Edith Ruth Price, Sara Jane Tallman and Barbara Jo Davidson.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
David Brisbin was born on 26 June 1952 in Andrews, Texas, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Leaving Las Vegas (1995). He has been married to Laura Innes since 1988. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
David Steen was born on 26 June 1954 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019), Django Unchained (2012) and The Corndog Man (1999). He has been married to Bobbie Eakes since 4 July 1992.- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Derek Jeter was born on 26 June 1974 in Pequannock, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Other Guys (2010), Anger Management (2003) and History's Greatest Warriors. He has been married to Hannah Jeter since 9 July 2016. They have four children.- Make-Up Department
- Additional Crew
- Special Effects
Dick Smith was born on 26 June 1922 in Larchmont, New York, USA. He is known for The Exorcist (1973), Altered States (1980) and Scanners (1981). He was married to Jocelyn DeRosa. He died on 30 July 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Edwin Hodgeman was born on 26 June 1935 in Alberton, South Australia, Australia. He is an actor, known for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Shine (1996) and Tracks (2013).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Eleanor Jean Parker was born on June 26, 1922, in Cedarville, Ohio, the last of three children born to a mathematics teacher and his wife. Eleanor caught the acting bug early and began performing in school plays. She was was so serious about becoming an actor, that she attended the Rice Summer Theatre on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, beginning when she was 15 years old. She was offered her first screen test by a 20th Century-Fox talent scout while attending Rice, but turned the opportunity down to gain professional stage experience in Cleveland after graduating from high school.
She moved on to California to continue her acting studies at the Pasadena Playhouse. It was there, while sitting in the audience of a play being put on at the Playhouse, that she was again offered a screen test - this time from a Warner Brothers' scout - and again declined, wanting to finish her first year at the Playhouse. When the year was up, Eleanor contacted Warner Brothers to take them up on their offer of a screen test and was signed as a contract player two days after it was shot.
She was cast in Raoul Walsh's They Died with Their Boots On (1941), but her performance was left on the cutting room floor.
She was then cast in short subjects and given other assignments typical of novice film actors, to enable them to learn their craft, such as voice-acting and appearances in other actors' screen tests. Finally, she was promoted to the B-picture unit, making her feature debut in Busses Roar (1942).
Her beauty meant she was not forgotten, and she was cast in one of Warner Brothers' biggest productions for the 1943 season, the pro-Soviet Mission to Moscow (1943), directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Walter Huston as the U.S. ambassador to the USSR. Eleanor played his daughter in the film, which became notorious in the McCarthy era for its glorification of "Uncle Joe" Stalin. The film proved significant to Eleanor, as she met a future husband on the set, Navy Lieutenant. Fred L. Losse, Navy dentist. The marriage was a brief wartime affair, lasting from March 21, 1943, to December 5, 1944.
She went back to the B's with The Mysterious Doctor (1943), then bounced back to the A-list for Between Two Worlds (1944), a remake of the Leslie Howard vehicle Outward Bound (1930) in which she played Paul Henreid's fiancee (both die from suicide, but in Hollywood logic that didn't mean they couldn't frolic together on the silver screen). Eleanor then made two more B-quickies in 1944, Crime by Night (1944) and The Last Ride (1944), before graduating to the A-list for good with Pride of the Marines (1945) with John Garfield.
In the 1946 Warner Bros. remake of Of Human Bondage (1946), she took the role that Bette Davis had made good in 1934 (ironically, at rival RKO). Though Parker would be gaining kudos and Oscar nominations by the beginning of the next decade, her portrait of Mildred was weak in comparison with Davis's dynamic performance.
Parker received the first of her three Best Actress Oscar nominations for playing a prisoner in Caged (1950), and won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival. She was also nominated the next year for playing the cop's wife who shared a secret with the neighborhood abortionist in William Wyler's Detective Story (1951). Her third and last Oscar nod came for Interrupted Melody (1955), wherein she played an opera singer struck down by polio. She could easily have been nominated that same year for her portrayal of Frank Sinatra's faux crippled wife in Otto Preminger's brooding masterpiece The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), adapted from the novel by Nelson Algren.
Parker proved herself to be a supremely talented and very versatile lead actress. The versatility was likely one of the reasons she never quite became a major star. Audiences attending a movie starring Parker never knew quite what to expect of her; if they even remembered she was the same actress they had seen before in a different type of role in another picture. Her turns in Detective Story (1951) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) could not have been more different. Parker's stardom and subsequent fame (and remembrance) suffered from her focusing on being a serious actress and creating a character who fit the motion picture she was in, rather than playing a character over and over, as most actors do. She probably best remembered for the relatively tame part as the Baroness in The Sound of Music (1965).
She received an Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy nomination in 1963 for her appearance in The Eleventh Hour (1962) episode Why Am I Grown So Cold? Despite the success of The Sound of Music (1965) being completely attributed to #1 box office sensation Julie Andrews, it's probably Parker's best-remembered role.
Her appearances in such fare as The Oscar (1966) (the cast of which the Playboy Magazine reviewer derided as "has-beens and never-will-bes") and the movie adaptation of Norman Mailer's indescribable existential potboiler An American Dream (1966) with fellow Oscar-nominee Stuart Whitman signaled that Miss Parker was now inscribed on the list of the has-beens.
She had one last hurrah, winning a Golden Globe nomination in 1970 as best lead actress for her role in the TV series Bracken's World (1969), but unfortunately times had changed during the tumultuous 1960s. Her last film role was in a Farrah Fawcett bomb, Sunburn (1979). Subsequently, she appeared very infrequently on TV, most recently in Dead on the Money (1991).
Eleanor Parker retired far too soon for those who were her fans, and those who appreciated a superb actress.- Enzo Apicella was born on 26 June 1922 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He was married to Sophie Jegado. He died on 30 October 2018 in the UK.
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Eric Nelsen was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for 1883 (2021), A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014) and The Affair (2014). He has been married to Sainty Nelsen since 29 November 2013. They have one child.- Firulete was born on 26 June 1923 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He died on 26 July 2004 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Frank Vickery was a writer and actor, known for Wales Playhouse (1990), The Lifeboat (1994) and The District Nurse (1984). He died on 19 June 2018 in Wales, UK.- "Fearless" Freddie Mills was born on June 26, 1919 in Bournemouth, England. In 1936, at the age of 17, he began a highly successful and colorful professional boxing career which made him the "darling" of the British fight scene. At 5' 10" and 175lbs., Mills was noted for his hard-charging, straight ahead style of brawling. It took 6 years for him to break into the world rankings. But in 1942 at the height of World War II, he knocked out Len Harvey in 2 rounds to capture the British Commonwealth Light heavyweight Championship. He went on to win the European 175 pound title with a knockout over Pol Goffaux, and in 1948 defeated Gus Lesnevich to win the World Light heavyweight Boxing Championship. Mills boxing career and championship days were numbered however. Noted for a "fast" lifestyle of enjoying the night-life, he was finished at 31 years old and after losing his World Championship to Joey Maxim on January 24, 1950, he retired. Mills was extremely popular even in retirement and ran a highly successful nightclub. He also had character roles in a number of films and was a presenter on the early BBC TV music show, Six-Five Special (1957). He died of gunshot wounds on July 25, 1965 under a cloud of mystery. Although he had tax problems and the official verdict was suicide, many people believe he was murdered.
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Gedde Watanabe was born on 26 June 1955 in Ogden, Utah, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Sixteen Candles (1984), UHF (1989) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).- Music Artist
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Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Minister of Culture in the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Gil's musical style incorporates an eclectic range of influences, including rock, Brazilian genres including samba, African music, and reggae.
Gil started to play music as a child and was a teenager when he joined his first band. He began his career as a bossa nova musician and grew to write songs that reflected a focus on political awareness and social activism. He was a key figure in the Música popular brasileira and tropicália movements of the 1960s, alongside artists such as longtime collaborator Caetano Veloso. The Brazilian military regime that took power in 1964 saw both Gil and Veloso as a threat, and the two were held for nine months in 1969 before they were told to leave the country. Gil moved to London, but returned to Bahia in 1972 and continued his musical career, as well as worked as a politician and environmental advocate.- Actor
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Gino Vento was born on 26 June 1986 in Queens, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Mayans M.C. (2018), Bosch (2014) and Bloodline (2015).- Actress
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Gretchen Wilson was born on 26 June 1973 in Pocahontas, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for Footloose (2011), Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Harley Quinn Smith was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, to Jennifer Schwalbach and Kevin Smith. At the age of two, Smith and her family moved to Los Angeles. Smith had intentions to become a professional bass guitarist, but later fell in love with acting.
She has been seen in several films, including in Yoga Hosers (2016), which she stars in opposite Lily-Rose Depp. Smith made her acting debut in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and had cameos in the drama film, Jersey Girl (2004), and in the comedy film, Clerks II (2006).- Art Department
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Hiroyuki Morita was born on 26 June 1964 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director, known for The Cat Returns (2002), Akira (1988) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004).- Actor
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- Camera and Electrical Department
Ian Tracey was born on 26 June 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is an actor and director, known for Continuum (2012), Open Range (2003) and Timecop (1994).- Producer
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Irv Gotti was born on 26 June 1970 in Hollis, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Romeo Must Die (2000), The Fast and the Furious (2001) and Rush Hour (1998). He is married to Debbie Lorenzo. They have two children.- Director
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Director James Kicklighter spent the first eighteen years of his life in Bellville, Georgia, population 123. Since then, he has gone on to become a multi-award winning film director and producer. His work has been recognized by the world's press, including The Hollywood Reporter, The Times of India, Film Courage and FilmInk Australia.
In 2024, Kicklighter will release The American Question. What is the glue that holds a society together? Following numerous subjects since December 2016, The American Question examines the root of American polarization and the repercussions of eroded civic institutions, public trust and leadership - revealing pathways forward to solve the problem. Guided by an all-star lineup of experts, including Amy Chua (Day of Empire), Colin Woodard (American Nations), Yuval Levin (The Fractured Republic) and Yascha Mounk (The People vs. Democracy), we examine the broader arc of history and discover new revelations about the shared values system that binds society together in times of triumph and turmoil.
Kicklighter directs The American Question with a creative team including producer Guy Seemann, an international political consultant, director of photography Jonathan Pope (Emmy® Award Nominee, The Social Dilemma (2020), editors Mohamed El Manasterly (Emmy® Award Winner, The Square (2013), J.D. Sievertson ("Cosmos") and Carlos Puga (Emmy® Award Winner, "True Life").
In 2021, Kicklighter released The Sound of Identity (2020), winner of the 2020 Outshine Film Festival's prestigious Programmers Award of Excellence. The Sound of Identity (2020) captures Lucia Lucas on the cusp of international stardom, profiling the moment in an artist's career when everything could fall apart or come together. Showcasing the collaborative process between Lucas and her mentor, prolific and renowned composer Tobias Picker, Mozart's Don Giovanni comes to life as Lucas, a world-renowned baritone, takes the spotlight and all the pressures that come with it. Taking place at the height of her career, Lucas becomes the first transgender Opera performer to have a leading role on the American stage, revealing the professional risk she is taking and what it means for those who follow. Exploring the role that identity plays in our personal and professional lives, The Sound of Identity (2020) provides a nuanced look at voice and gender, in a documentary film The Independent Critic calls "director James Kicklighter's best film yet."
Directed by James Kicklighter, The Sound of Identity (2020) is a production from the Emmy Award-winning team of Russ Kirkpatrick & Andy Kinslow (Boomtown: An American Journey, Unlikely Family), and is executive produced by Golden Globe®-winner and Academy Award®-nominated Joshua Bachove (Minari (2020), The Little Hours), with Jonathan Pope (The Social Dilemma (2020) as the Director of Photography.
In 2019, Kicklighter produced Every 9 Hours (2019), the directorial debut of novelist Jim St. Germain (A Stone of Hope) and Emmy-award winner Adam Margolis. Every 9 Hours (2019) is a modern-day exploration of skin color and gender and how they affect one's ability to participate in relationships and society. Every 9 Hours (2019) stars Philip Smithey ('Code Black,' 'Grace and Frankie'), Elisabeth Ferrara ('Lethal Weapon'), Kahyun Kim ('American Gods'), and legendary actor Danny Trejo ('Machete', 'Predators').
In 2018, Kicklighter directed Angel of Anywhere (2018), the story of an empathetic stripper who plays therapist to his many damaged clientele and co-workers. Angel of Anywhere (2018) stars Briana Evigan (Step Up Movie 2: The Streets), Ser'Darius Blain (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), and introduces Axel Rockham as Angel. Earning numerous critical accolades, the film won Best Narrative Short at the 2018 Macon Film Festival. Additionally, Angel of Anywhere (2018) screened at nearly two dozen global film festivals, including the Academy Award®-qualifying Hollyshorts and Sidewalk Film Festivals. Angel of Anywhere (2018) was distributed internationally by Hewes Pictures on broadcast television through ShortsTV. It was also acquired in 2019 by the digital platform Omeleto for its four million subscribers.
Immediately after Kicklighter's twenty-fifth birthday, his first feature film, Desires of the Heart (2013), was released theatrically by Luminosity Pictures in India. Desires of the Heart (2013) was an official selection of the 2014 Cannes Marché Du Film and winner of Best Foreign Film at the 2013 Los Angeles Femme Film Festival. Desires of the Heart (2013) is the story of Dr. Kris Sharma (Val Lauren, Interior. Leather. Bar., Sal) a psychiatrist from India practicing in Savannah, Georgia when he meets Madeline (Alicia Minshew, "All My Children"), a local artist with a mysterious past. As their relationship begins to blossom in America, Kris is summoned home by his brother (Gulshan Grover, I Am Kalam) to marry the woman chosen by his parents. As Kris begins to make decisions about his future, he discovers centuries old secrets that may seal the fate of his destiny. Desires of the Heart (2013) was filmed on location with an international cast and crew in Rajasthan, India and Savannah, Georgia.
Additionally, Kicklighter was the Film Director for Hillary Clinton's 2016 Presidential Campaign in Virginia, directing content featuring Sen. Tim Kaine, Sean Astin, Lena Dunham, Kate Walsh, Bellamy Young, Constance Wu, Miley Cyrus, Michelle Kwan, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, and other public and political figures. However, his favorite memories include directing profiles private citizens, including American heroes like Sgt. Jimmy Ochan.
He serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University, his Alma mater, where he was chosen out of over 30,000 living graduates to be listed on the inaugural "40 Under 40 Alumni" for "impact in business, leadership, community, educational and/or philanthropic endeavors."
He resides in Los Angeles, California and still can't believe he gets to work across the country and around the globe.- Actor
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Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore, and has gone on to appear in seven other Anderson films: The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023). His other film roles include Spun (2003), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Marie Antoinette (2006), and Klaus (2019). Schwartzman starred in the television series Bored to Death (2009-11) and appeared in the fourth season of the FX anthology series Fargo (2020). He was an executive producer on the Amazon Prime show Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18), a series he also acted in. Schwartzman has released three albums through his solo project Coconut Records, having previously been drummer in the rock band Phantom Planet.- Additional Crew
Jean Royer was born on 26 June 1938 in Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse, Québec, Canada. He is known for Marie Uguay (1982) and La nuit de la poésie 15 mars 1991 (1991). He was married to Micheline La France. He died on 4 July 2018 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.- Jeanne Eagels, one of the most intriguing stars of late silent films and the early talkies, was born Amelia Jean Eagles on June 26, 1890 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Edward and Julia Sullivan Eagles. Young Jean was part of an impoverished family of eight, with three brothers and two sisters. She likely stopped going to school when she was 11 years old.
As a girl, she decided to become an actress after appearing in a Shakespearen play. Of that performance, she said, "I played the grave-digger in 'Hamlet,' first, at the age of seven. They gave me the chance to play Shakespeare because nobody else of the tender age of seven would do so. They wouldn't say the rather amazing words...the other kiddies. I took it all quite seriously and said ALL the words without a quiver. Once I had begun I could not be stopped. I was ill when I was not on the stage. It seemed to me I couldn't breathe in any other atmosphere."
She followed up the experience up by playing bit parts in local theatrical productions. When she was 12 years old, she became a member of the Dubinsky Brothers' traveling stock company, appearing at first as a dancer, but eventually working her way into speaking roles. Eagels soon was playing leading roles in the stock company's repertory, including "Camille," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Later, a myth arose that Eagels' began her career as a circus performer. The 1957 biographical film "The Jeanne Eagels Story" erroneously depicts Eagels' beginning as a hootchie-kootchie dancer in a carnival. The Dubinsky Brothers did use a tent to put on their shows, but they did not present carnival acts but performed popular comedies, musicals, and dramas. The tent was only used during the spring and summer months, while during the colder months, the company performed in theaters and halls in the Midwest.
Jeanne Eagels married the scion of the Dubinsky family, Morris, the oldest of the brothers. She was likely in her teens, and probably had a baby by Morris. Stories about Eagels' past diverge, and in one account, the child was adopted by family friends, while in another, Eagels' baby boy died in infancy, triggering a nervous breakdown for the bereft mother. Eagels and Dubinky separated, likely due to his infidelity. Jeanne eventually left the Dubinksy company and joined another touring stock company, which eventually brought her to New York City.
Eagels decided to make herself over in New York as she fought her way up in the fiercely competitive theatrical world. A brunette, Eagels dyed her hair blonde and said that she was of Spanish and Irish lineage, and that her surname was originally "Aguilar," which loosely translates into English as "eagle." She changed the spelling of her name from "Eagles" to "Eagels," reputedly as she thought it looked better on a marquee. Eliminating her past, she presented herself as an ingÃffÃ'©nue rather than as a divorced woman and mother of a dead infant. She also adopted an English accent as David Belasco, the legendary theatrical impresario, had commented that she spoke like an "earl's daughter."
She began her climb up the greasy pole of Broadway stardom by appearing as a chorus girl. She even served a stint as a Ziegfield girl, but Eagels was determined to establish herself as a dramatic roles, wining bit parts in the plays "Jumping Jupiter" and "The Mind the Paint Girl."
Eagels took a trip to Paris, where she likely studied acting with Beverly Sitgreaves, an expatriate American actress who had appeared with Sarah Bernhardt, Eagels' idol. After Jeanne Eagels' death, there arose a myth that she was a "raw," untrained talent who just happened to have the spark of genius on stage. This is demonstrably false as she had a thorough grounding in technique in her six-year apprenticeship in regional stock companies. She also studied acting with Sitgreaves and with acting coaches in New York. The myth likely is rooted in the biography of Eagels' stage co-star Leslie Howard that was written by his children. Howard was of the opinion that Eagels was untrained, but that likely was rooted in English snobbery vis-ÃffÃ'Â -vis America actors as he had the same opinion of the great Bette Davis. What Howard likely meant that the emotionally erratic Eagels was undisciplined rather than untrained. George Arliss, considered one of the great stage actors at the time he appeared on Broadway with Eagels, would hardly have chosen her to appear in three of his productions if she were not trained and up to giving a fine performance. Arliss was full of praise for Eagels.
In Paris, Eagels attracted the attention of Julian Eltinge, the famous Broadway female impersonator, though they were not introduced. Ironically, when he returned to New York, Eltinge found out that Eagels was to be his co-star in what turned out to be a long tour of the play "The Crinoline Girl." The two became good friends.
Eagels won the role of a prostitute who becomes a faith-healer in the touring company of the play "Outcast" by modeling herself after the play's star, Elsie Ferguson, for her audition. She won the part, and also won great reviews during the tour's swing through the South. When the touring company returned to New York for an off-Broadway engagement, some critics were there to see if Eagels actually did live up to the road reviews of her "Outcast" performance. She did, and the critics were suitably impressed.
The Thanhouser Film Co. cast Eagles in the film of "Outcast" in 1916, which was entitled The World and the Woman (1916) upon its release. Eagels was working during the daytime in films and at night on the stage. Suffering from fatigue and insomnia, she sought treatment and likely became hooked on drugs during this period. With the aid of physician-prescribed dope, Jeanne Eagels continued her hectic dual-career of making movies during the day while acting on stage at night. The routine continued until 1920. Suffering from chronic sinusitis and other maladies, Eagels descended the slippery slope of self-medicating her ills, an unfortunate situation exacerbated by her fondness for drink.
Eagels received great reviews when she starred with George Arliss in the Broadway hit "The Professor's Love Story" in 1917. She followed up their joint triumph with two more co-starring ventures with Arliss, "Disraeli" and the even-more-popular play "Hamilton." Of his co-star, Arliss said that each of the three distinctly different parts she acted were "played with unerring judgment and artistry."
In 1918, she appeared in Belasco's production of "Daddies," an original play about the plight of war orphans starring George Abbott. She quit the hit show either due to exhaustion or because, as rumor had it, she was fed up with Belasco's sexual harassment, though she praised him as a producer.
"Often in the theater there is a feeling of commercialism in every detail; it may not touch one directly, but it is there, and the consciousness that the financial success of the play is perhaps of first importance is decidedly unpleasant. Now, Mr. Belasco puts acting, like every other element of a production, upon an artistic basis. He makes you feel that a thing is important artistically or not at all. Money seems never to be a consideration, yet the making of it follows as a result of making the production as nearly perfect as possible.... That point of view on the producer's part means a great deal to the actor; it leaves him free to do so much, and is an incentive to work toward a faithful portrayal of character. To me everything about Mr. Belasco's theater points toward that one ideal of his -- perfection."
She next appeared in the comedy "A Young Man's Fancy" (1919), followed up by "The Wonderful Thing" (1920). By the time she appeared in the latter, a modest success that played for 120 performances, she had become a true Broadway diva, having to wait for the applause to die down after her entrance before she could deliver her lines. She had her own distinctive ideas on how to give a fresh impression to the audience for each performance:
"Audiences mean as much to an actress as the acoustics of a concert hall mean to a musician. The musician must vary his playing according to his acoustics--according to the sort of room in which his concert is given.... A sort of sixth sense enables me to discern the character of an audience within a few minutes after I have begun to play, and it is only the people for whom I am making this lovable girl live at that one performance that matter. Former audiences are swept from my thought as though they had never been. As far as the audience of the moment is concerned others have never been. What I have done, or have not done, for them doesn't matter to the folk who have come to see the play to-night. I am so very conscious of this that I am able to play to them as though I were creating the part for the first time... I do wrong in speaking of 'playing to an audience,' however. A true artist never 'plays to the audience.' Rather he or she keeps his or her own vision true, and the creation evolves itself."
Her next Broadway appearance, "In the Night Watch" (1921), was another modest success, but she soon was to appear in the play that would make her lasting reputation. The opportunity came her way when another actress turned down the role of the prostitute Sadie Thompson in the theatrical adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's short story "Rain."
On the road in Philidelphia, the play received discouraging reviews, necessitating a rewrite of the second act. By the time the rewritten "Rain" debuted on Broadway on November 7, 1922, at Maxine Elliott's Theatre, all the kinks had been worked out, and the play was a smash, running for 256 performances. When the company returned to Broadway after the road show, re-opening at the Gaiety Theatre on September 1, 1924, "Rain" starring Jeanne Eagels ran for another 648 performances, transferring to the New Park Theatre on December 15, 1924. "Rain" elevated Jeanne Eagels into the pantheon of American theater greats.
John D. Williams, the director of "Rain" said, "In my score of years in the theater Miss Eagels was one of the two or three highest types of interpretive acting intelligences I have met. To work with her on a play was once more to feel one's self in the theater when it was in its finest estate; when a play was not a 'show,' nor even a performance, but a work, which because it had something to say that might clarify life, was a living thing and simply demanded to be heard. It was then that somebody, known or unknown, wrote something that deserved fanatically true fulfillment--and somebody else of magic touch acted it.... Miss Eagels had that touch of magic in character interpretation- the quick exchange of ideas as to the sense of the scene. And then would come the superbly tragic entrance, for example, of Sadie Thompson in the last act of 'Rain,' with its flawless blend of bitter disillusionment, irony, revenge, terror."
Eagels' great performance was acknowledged as responsible for the great success of the play, and although Gloria Swanson had some success playing Sadie in the silent movie version of the play in 1928, Joan Crawford did less well in the role in the 1931 talkie version. Both Swanson and particularly Crawford were upstaged by their leading men, Lionel Barrymore and Walter Huston, respectively. Rita Hayworth's version in 1953, opposite José Ferrer, is barely remembered. Sadie Thompson belonged to Jeanne Eagels, and the touring company of "Rain" toured for four years.
In 1917, Eagels had said, "I am timid and afraid of men and far too busy to become well acquainted with them. My work fills my life, and I should not care to fall in love or marry before I am very, very old -- about thirty-five -- because a woman gives too much of herself when she loves, and that would interfere with her career."
By the time Eagels married her second husband, the stockbroker Edward H. Coy, in 1925 at the age of 35, she had developed a reputation as a temperamental actress who was a hard drinker. Coy had achieved Ivy League gridiron immortality as a 6-foot, 195-pound fullback at Yale, where he was named an All-American in 1908 and 1909 but had turned to the sauce for solace now that the cheers had faded. The incompatibility between the two did nothing to ameliorate her problems with her mood swings or with drink.
After "Rain," she took time off, either turning down offers such as the role of Roxie Hart in "Chicago" (1926) or quitting plays she did sign up for during rehearsals. Finally, she made her Broadway return in the George Cukor-directed light comedy "Her Cardboard Lover" (1926) opposite Leslie Howard. Broadway critics and audiences had grown accustomed to Eagels in more substantial fare, and on opening night, it was Leslie Howard whom the audience cheered, calling for Howard to take curtain calls. Controversially, Eagels took Howard's curtain calls, thanking the audience "on behalf of my Cardboard Lover." The critics, too, wound up praising Howard rather than Eagels.
Eagels fondness for medicating herself and for drink caused problems during the run of the show. Her on-stage behavior could be egregious, as when she stepped out of character and, thirty for the sauce, asked Howard's character for a drink of "water." This caused the stage manager more than once to bring down the curtain during a performance, and Howard left the stage in a huff at one point.
About bad acting, Eagels blamed it on "...[N]ot being a good listener. So few people are. For instance, when you and I are talking here and I say 'no' very deeply and quietly, your reply will be 'yes' with something of a rising inflection, a lighter modulation. You have listened to me and have made a correct tonal reply. On the stage, most of the actors and actresses know their cue words and take their cues, but they haven't listened to the speech preceding their own. The result is a correct enough answer as to word, but not as to tone. There is not tonal intelligence in the reply. Good listeners...so rare."
John D. Williams, her director in "Rain," attributed her greatness on the stage to her great ability to listen while on stage.
"First off, she knew to perfection, and adhered to as to a religion, the art of listening in acting. At every performance, whether the first, or the hundredth, the speeches of the character addressing her were not merely heard but listened to. Hence there was always thought and belief and conviction behind every speech and scene of her own-- the essence of theater illusion."
The drink and drugs apparently were eroding that greatness. However, despite her on-stage antics, "Her Cardboard Lover" was another modest success, playing for 152 performances. After shooting the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Man, Woman and Sin (1927) with John Gilbert, she toured with the play in the large cities.
Eagels' behavior during the filming of Man, Woman and Sin (1927) was atrocious. Gilbert, whom she reportedly had an affair with, said Eagels was the most temperamental actress he had ever worked with. She would appear late at the studio, and once, she disappeared for several days. The Hollywood trade press credited Eagels disappearance to a drink binge, and at one point, she took off on a two-week vacation to Santa Barbara without informing her director, Monta Bell. Bell asked studio management to terminate Eagels' contract, which they did. Fortunately, there was enough footage so Bell could salvage the film without re-shooting.
John Gilbert said of Eagels, "She seemed to hate the movies for a popularity they could not give her....[The] blind, unreasoning adulation of the movie fans was a type of popularity she spurned. Fundamentally, Jeanne was much superior to us. Movie actors are crazy to be worshiped. Jeanne Eagels wanted to be understood and appreciated."
When the film was released, Eagels' performance received mixed reviews, but the picture was a failure primarily due to the poor reviews garnered by Gilbert. Critics rejected the great lover playing a naive mama's boy in this film. Gilbert's career was salvaged shortly thereafter by the release of his second film with Great Garbo, Love (1927), which was a smash hit at the box office.
When Eagels began touring the East Coast in "Her Cardboard Lover," the Boston engagement was cut in half to one week as Eagels reportedly was ill. After the play moved to Chicago with a revivified Eagels, she divorced Coy in 1928, citing physically abuse and accusing him of breaking her jaw. Eagels claimed that Coy had threatened to wreck her budding movie career by ruining her face. Coy, a heavy boozer like his soon-to-be ex-wife, pleaded no contest and the divorce was granted.
The Mid-Western tour of "Her Cardboard Lover" moved on to Milwaukee, but Eagels was a no-show at both the Milwaukee and the subsequent St. Louis performances. She claimed that she was suffering from ptomaine poisoning, but eye-witness accounts placed her in Chicago on a long boozing binge when she was supposed to have been in Milwaukee. Her indefensible and unprofessional behavior brought her an 18-month suspension from Actor's Equity, which banned her from performing on stage with any other Equity actor for the length of the suspension. The ban essentially ended her stage career in New York and the rest of the country, although it could not stop her from appearing by herself on stage in non-Equity venues. Eagels hit the vaudeville circuit, performing scenes from "Rain." She also appeared in movies as producers were desperate for trained stage people with the advent of sound, and she eventually made more money from the film industry and vaudeville than she ever had from the "legitimate" stage.
Ironically, it was Monta Bell, now working at Paramount's Astoria Studios in New York, who hired Jeanne Eagels for her film comeback. In 1929, Bell announced that even though Equity didn't want Eagels, he wanted her, for she had been the consummate professional during the making of Man, Woman and Sin (1927). The man who had urged the MGM brass to fire her now told the press that he had actually urged MGM to sign Eagels to long-term contract for more pictures.
The first movie Eagels made for Paramount was the Monta Bell-produced The Letter (1929), which reunited Eagels with W. Somerset Maugham. Katharine Cornell had had a Broadway hit with Maugham's play as the murderous adulteress, and Eagels delivered an electrifying, legendary performance in the role on film. After Eagels received rave reviews for her The Letter (1929), Paramount took Bell's advice and signed her to a contract for two more pictures, Jealousy (1929) and The Laughing Lady (1929).
She began shooting "Jealousy" (1929) with the English actor Anthony Bushnell, whom she had hand-picked to be her leading man, but during filming it was apparent that Bushnell's voice was not registering well on the sound equipment. Bushnell was replaced by the up-and-coming star Fredric March, who later said Eagels was "great" to work with, but that the movie they made together was a "stinker." There were rumors that Eagels had suffered a nervous breakdown while filming "Jealousy", but Paramount denied there had been any trouble with their new diva. However, Eagels asked to be let out of her contract for "The Laughing Lady" on the grounds that she was either ill or because she didn't like the script, and the studio obliged, replacing her with Ruth Chatterton.
About her management of her personal affairs, Eagels said, "I cannot bear to transact any of my own business or make any of my own professional arrangements. I have an aversion to it I cannot overcome. I can't read the papers, either. Mention of my personal life, even tho I expect it, acts terribly on my nerves. I suppose I'm an odd person."
It was reported that now that the Actors Equity ban was due to expire in the fall of 1929, Eagels was preparing to return to Broadway. In September, Eagles underwent successful surgery to treat ulcers on her eyes, a condition was caused by her sinusitis. Two weeks after surgery, on the night of October 3, 1929, as Eagels was preparing for a night out on the town, she fell ill and was taken to a private 5th Avenue hospital. In the hospital waiting room, she suffered a convulsion and died.
Three autopsies were conducted over the following three months and reached three different conclusions as to the cause of her death, which was variously attributed as an overdose of alcohol, the tranquilizer chloral hydrate, and heroin in the successive autopsy reports. All three substances likely were in her system when she died, and it was suggested that the unconscious Eagels had received a sedative from the first doctor to treat her, and that subsequently a second doctor, not knowing she had already been sedated, had unknowingly given the unconscious actress a second shot, thus causing the overdose that killed her.
When her estate went through probate, it was worth an estimated $52,000 (approximately $562,000 in 2005 dollars) after her debts and funeral costs were deducted. Dying intestate, the estate went to her mother. A wake was held at Campbell's funeral home in New York City, the same establishment that had handled Rudolph Valentino's funeral. Reportedly, her movie "Jealousy" was playing across the street from the funeral home as she lay in her casket, finally at peace. Her body was sent to Kansas City, where a Catholic mass and requiem was held, and she was laid to rest with her father and a brother.
Eagels was posthumously nominated for a 1929 Best Actress Academy Award for her role in "The Letter," the first actor to be so honored. She lost out to superstar Mary Pickford, one of the founders of the Academy, who took the Oscar home to Pickfair for her performance in "Coquette," her first talkie.
Jeanne Eagels' life was limned in the 1957 film _Jeanne Eagels_, which starred Kim Novak. This film is fictionalized biography that whitewashed the truth about Eagels' life. In recent years, there have been rumors that Eagels enjoyed same-sex relationships with other women, but the rumors remain unsubstantiated. In her lifetime, she was romantically linked to many famous men, including the conductor Arthur Fiedler, the gambler "Nick the Greek" Dandalos, and the theater critic Ward Morehouse. She was pursued by producer David Belasco, theater owner Lee Shubert, and the Prince of Wales, the future Duke of Windsor.
About actors, Jeanne Eagels was quoted as saying, "We are glorious, unearthly people, set above all others because of our genius, our capacity to sway others, to make them laugh and cry, or make them live a romance we but play." In the Academy Award-winning All About Eve (1950), writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz has the critic Addison DeWitt tell the great fictional diva Margo Channing (played by Leslie Howard's other great "untrained" co-star, Bette Davis), "Margo, as you know, I have lived in the theater as a Trappist monk lives in his faith. I have no other world, no other life -- and once in a great while I experience that moment of revelation for which all true believers wait and pray. You were one. Jeanne Eagels another."
The actor playwright Noël Coward said, "Of all the actresses I have ever seen, there was never one quite like Jeanne Eagels," while actress-playwright-Academy Award-nominated-screenwriter Ruth Gordon, a friend of Eagels, said of her, "Jeanne Eagels was the most beautiful person I ever saw and if you ever saw her, she was the most beautiful person YOU ever saw."
Kathleen Kennedy, her co-star in "Rain," said, "I sincerely doubt if Jeanne Eagels really knew, in spite of her pretensions, that she was a great actress. She was. Many times backstage I'd be waiting for my entrance cue and suddenly Jeanne would start to build a scene, and [we] would look up from our books at once. Some damn thing- some power, something- would take hold of your heart, you senses, as you listened to her, and you'd thrill to the sound of her."
John D. Williams, the director of "Rain," called her an acting genius. "Acting genius--that is, the power of enhancing a written character to a plane that neither author nor director can lay claim to -- Miss Eagels had at her beck and call, whether in tragedy or in comedy." - Actress
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Jennette McCurdy is a writer/director who specializes in character-driven pieces that explore serious subject matter in a funny, offbeat way. Her favorite themes to explore are family dysfunction, childhood, and disillusionment. She has directed several short films which has been recognized by several film festivals including the Oscar-Qualifying Florida Film Festival.- Director
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Jerry Schatzberg was born on 26 June 1927 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Scarecrow (1973), The Panic in Needle Park (1971) and Sweet Revenge (1976).- Writer
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Jimmy Chi was born in 1948 in Broome, Western Australia, Australia. He was a writer, known for Bran Nue Dae (2009), Mad Bastards (2010) and State of Shock (1989). He died on 26 June 2017 in Broome, Western Australia, Australia.- John Bailey was born on 26 June 1912 in Lewisham, London, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Celia (1949), Doctor Who (1963) and The Forsyte Saga (1967). He died on 11 February 1989 in Chelsea, London, England, UK.
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John Beasley was born on 26 June 1943 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Purge: Anarchy (2014), The Sum of All Fears (2002) and The General's Daughter (1999). He was married to Judy Beasley. He died on 30 May 2023 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.- Josef Sommer is a classically trained stage actor who has also been a prolific performer in films. He made his debut at the age of nine in a production of "Watch on the Rhine" with the Carolina Playmakers in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He trained as an actor at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. He performed with the Seattle Repertory Theater and made his Broadway debut in 1970. Sommer made his film debut in Don Siegel's classic Dirty Harry (1971) and also appeared in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). He is probably best remembered for his role as Harrison Ford's superior in the hugely successful Witness (1985).
- Joseph A. Mayer was born on 26 June 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for I Love Lucy (1951). He has been married to Ruth Adel Miller Salway since 1995.
- Juan Carlos Galván was born on 26 June 1932 in Buenos Aires City, Distrito Federal, Argentina. He was an actor, known for Estudio 1 (1965), Invasion (1969) and El pulpo negro (1985). He died on 30 January 2015 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Canadian actress Julia Benson (born June 26, 1979 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) finished her theatrical studies in 2001 before starting her professional acting career in 2003 around the age of twenty-four. Julia's screen credits include an impressive range of film shorts, feature-length films and recurring and episodic television roles. Most prominent in her work, is her role in the sports drama Road to Victory (2007). Among her plentiful list of television credits, Julia is also known for her role as 2nd Lieutenant Vanessa James in the sci-fi series SGU Stargate Universe Kino (2009) and Stargate Universe (2009). It is the latter series for which Julia received a 2010 Leo Award for Best Supporting Actress. Aside from acting, Julia is a skilled dancer in ballet, tap and jazz. To top off her physical talents, Benson is also a certified aerobics instructor.- Actress
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Julie Maddalena was born on 26 June 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Children of the Corn (1984), Ghost in the Shell (1997) and Everything, Everything (2017). She is married to Jay Kliewer.- Actress
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Best known at MGM for giving young Judy Garland competition over the attentions of Mickey Rooney in a couple of their famous let's-put-on-a-show musical films, this dimpled blonde cream puff was first and foremost an acrobatic dancer and contortionist. June Preisser was born in New Orleans in 1920, one of six children. Her outstanding physical agility was noticed early in the game and a vaudeville act was formed with one of her other sisters, Cherry, that showcased their amazing skills. Appearing everywhere from New Orleans to New York City, the sisters even reached the famous music halls of Paris, Berlin and London where they once performed for King George. In the mid-1930s they caught the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. who put them in his Follies shows in both 1934 and 1936. June and Cherry also appeared in the musical "You Never Know" on Broadway at the Winter Garden. With adorable kewpie-doll looks, curly locks and a sweet, cooing voice, it was the petite June, and not Cherry, who was snatched up by MGM for films. Toying with young Rooney in both Babes in Arms (1939) and Strike Up the Band (1940), she commonly played pretty girls of privilege who initially seemed to have everything that Garland lacked in attracting a boy. In the latter film, she was featured in the "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-de-Ay" number. Somehow the producers always found room for her unusual pretzel-like tumbling skills. In addition, she appeared in a couple of Rooney's "Andy Hardy" pictures. In 1942, June married a radio announcer and writer and bore him a son, Ricky. She also returned to Broadway that year in the musical "Count Me In." By the late 40s, however, she had been demoted to the "B" ranks, co-starring with Freddie Stewart in the "Teen Agers" musical series of mild but energetic bobbysoxer films over at Monogram Pictures. In her late-20s, June was still playing peppy school girls. The series of eight films included Junior Prom (1946), Sarge Goes to College (1947) and Campus Sleuth (1948). June's film career fell away after this and, following a stint in "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, retired from the business. Following a bitter divorce, she briefly opened a chain of dancing and acrobatics schools in California and when that folded, moved with her son to Florida and for a time worked in a stationery store. Not much was heard of her until September 19, 1984, when it was learned she and her son had been tragically killed in a car accident. She was 64.- Katie Cockrell is an American actress, dancer, and performer. She grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and started dancing at the age of 5. She's of mixed ethnic background, her mother is Chinese and her father is English and Irish. Katie has an identical twin sister, Kellie, who is also an actress. Katie's been in over 50 commercials and film projects; most notably playing a Catian alien twin opposite Chris Pine in Star Trek: Into Darkness.
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Kellie Cockrell was born on 26 June 1988 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. She is an actress, known for Jack and Jill (2011), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) and The Hungover Games (2014).- Kelly Deadmon is a New York City-based actress and has appeared in many TV shows and films. The most recent film being The Greatest Ever, starting 4/4/24 on Amazon Prime. Kelly has also hosted many shows including the Food Network, Biography Channel, and Harper's Bazaar: The Younger Games.
Born in Va and raised in TN, Kelly lives in Upper Manhattan with a husband, a teen boy, a basset and a bearded dragon. - Larry Sharpe was born on 26 June 1950 in Paulsboro, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for WWF Championship Wrestling (1972), World Class Championship Wrestling (1972) and Spectrum Wrestling (1977). He died on 10 April 2017 in Woodbury, New Jersey, USA.
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Larry Taylor was born on 26 June 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Black Box (2005), Street Scenes (1970) and The Monkees (1965). He died on 19 August 2019 in Lake Balboa; California, USA.- Leo De Cecco is known for Attaque 77: Arrancacorazones (2004), Que sea rock (2006) and Más de un millón (2015).
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Personable, dynamic and versatile character actor Leo Rossi has been working profusely in both movies and TV shows alike from the mid-70s to the present day. Rossi was born in 1947 in Trenton, New Jersey and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Leo first began acting in community theater. Although often cast as mean, loutish and despicable characters (he's portrayed more than his fair share of made Mafia guys as well as a substantial number of cops and government agents), Rossi has shown on many occasions that he can play more appealing and sympathetic roles with equal skill and conviction. Leo was solid as crass'n'crude sexist pig "Budd" in Halloween II (1981). He has appeared in several movies for director Jonathan Kaplan: he was excellent as Bonnie Bedelia's character's insecure, but basically decent husband Jack Muldowney in the wonderful Heart Like a Wheel (1983) and memorably chilling as the vile jerk who cheers on Jodie Foster's barroom rape in the acclaimed The Accused (1988). Moreover, Leo has acted in three pictures for director William Lustig: very likable as antsy mob witness "Frank DeSalvo" in Hit List (1989), extremely engaging as eager beaver rookie homicide detective "Sam Dietz" in Relentless (1989) (Rossi reprised this part in three sequels and even co-produced the last two entries), and really funny as crazed serial killer "Turkell" in Maniac Cop 2 (1990). More recently, Rossi had a nice sizable supporting role as Robert De Niro's evil cousin "Carlo" in the hit comedy Analyze This (1999). Among the TV shows Leo Rossi has done guest spots on are ER (1994), Frasier (1993), Murder, She Wrote (1984), Tour of Duty (1987), 21 Jump Street (1987), Cagney & Lacey (1981), T.J. Hooker (1982), Amazing Stories (1985), Hunter (1984) and Hill Street Blues (1981).- Leonard Carow was born on 26 June 1994 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for War Horse (2011), The Diary of Anne Frank (2016) and Who Am I (2014).
- Lucía Guerrero was born in Madrid, Spain. Her first project as an actress was at the age of 15 for a TV movie filmed in Bogota, Colombia. Since then she began to combine her studies with her work in film and TV. After school, she studied Bilingual Media and Journalism in CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. Meanwhile she was shooting the TV series "Luna, El Misterio de Calenda" where she was offered her first lead role.
She believes her career has given her more discipline when it comes to work and has helped her develop the ability to focus and concentrate. It also allowed her to be constantly writing and reading which she is passionate about- especially when it's related to the Film Industry.
After graduating she started in the Spanish indie movie, "Demonios tus ojos", which has just been selected by Rotterdam Film Festival for its premiere. Afterwards she had no choice but to renounce to some projects in her native country, as she wanted to pursue her dream, which was to work and form herself in the US. Her first American project was "Money" in which she had a lead role with Jesse Williams, Kellan Lutz, Jaime Bamber and Jesse Weixler.
She has attended a variety of acting studios in NY to mention a few; Susan Batson, Anthony Abeson, T-Schreiber and Bob Krakauer. - Director
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Acknowledged as the founder of modern Chicano theatre and film, Luis Valdez was born to migrant farm workers Francisco and Armida Valdez and spent his early life traveling with the family, working in the fields himself. He eventually found himself at San Jose State College, where his play "The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa" was staged in 1964. He later joined the United Farm Workers and staged improvisational theatre with the help of union actors to further their causes. This work lead to the formation of his El Teatro Campesino, which produced most of Valdez' early plays in both the US and Europe. His account of racism in 1940s Los Angeles, Zoot Suit (1981), was released in 1982 to less than critical acclaim. Valdez continued to write and direct throughout the period; his film La Bamba (1987), the tragic story of Chicano singer Ritchie Valens, proved wildly successful and launched the screen careers of Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales. He continues to travel extensively while remaining true to his Chicano theatrical roots.- Cinematographer
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M. David Mullen was born on 26 June 1962 in Iwakuni, Japan. He is a cinematographer, known for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017), The Love Witch (2016) and Jennifer's Body (2009). He is married to Lisle Foote.- Actor
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Mark was born to Canadian diplomat Russell and architectural writer Chloe McKinney. Mark and his siblings spent much time traveling with their diplomat dad, and Mark attended schools in many cities around the world, including Trinidad, Paris, and Washington, D.C. His younger brother Nick is also a comedian; he appeared on the short-lived Comedy Central sketch-comedy show The Vacant Lot. Mark met Bruce McCulloch at the Loose Moose Theater Company, and the two joined two other comedians to form the comedy troupe 'The Audience,' which performed at Theatresports. Later, Mark and Bruce moved to Toronto and met David Foley and Kevin McDonald. They combined to form The Kids in the Hall. Later he starred in the TV cut sensation The Kids in the Hall (1988); after it was canceled in 1994, Mark joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975) from 1995 to 1997. He had roles in various movies including A Night at the Roxbury (1998), The Out-of-Towners (1999), The Ladies Man (2000), and Dog Park (1998), and Superstar (1999) which were both directed by Kids In The Hall co-star and friend Bruce McCulloch.- Producer
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Martin Guigui is an award-winning Filmmaker, Music Director, Producer, and Composer. Guigui has directed, written, and produced Feature Films, Music Videos, composed music for film and TV, worked on over 150 productions, produced over 50 music albums, toured extensively, and Music Directs high profile Broadcast Concert Events including the popular "Guitar Legends" and "America Salutes You" TV Series. Guigui is Co-Founder and President of Sunset Pictures, and EVP of Pacific Records. Born in Buenos Aires Argentina, son of renown Orchestra Conductor Maestro Efrain Guigui, Martin had an eclectic upbringing in New York City, Puerto Rico and Vermont. A music prodigy playing Violin at age four, his concert debut at age 12, now an accomplished Pianist and keyboard player.
As a Filmmaker Guigui has worked with Stars and Icons of the Entertainment industry including Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Dennis Quaid, Richard Dreyfuss, Charlie Sheen, and many more. As Music Director and Producer Guigui has shared the stage, recorded, and performed with music greats including Christina Aguilera, Billy Gibbons, Gary Clark Jr, Travis Tritt, Brad Paisley, Peter Frampton, Eric Church, Daryl Hall, Stephen Stills, Lady Gaga, Clint Black, Larkin Poe, Jelly Roll, Lecrae, Keb Mo, Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Lemmy Kilmister, Slash, James Cotton, Doobie Brothers, The Cars, Belinda Carlisle, Sammy Hagar, Dave Navarro, Jimmie Vaughan, George Thorogood, Walker Hayes, Kenny Loggins, Sheila E, Lyle Lovett, Smokey Robinson, David Byrne, Lucinda Williams, Joe Bonamassa, Jose Feliciano, Sam Moore, Sara Evans, Chris Janson, Southside Johnny, Grace Potter, Phish, Yolanda Adams, Nancy Wilson (Heart), Robby Krieger (The Doors), Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Blind Boys Of Alabama, Robert Randolph, Charlie Starr (Blackberry Smoke), Richie Sambora, Joan Osborne, Trace Adkins, Lee Greenwood, Jake Owen, The Gatlin Brothers, NRBQ, Bo Diddley, Steve Forbert, Bret Michaels, Billy Ray Cyrus, Julio Iglesias Jr, John Popper (Blues Traveler), Maggie & Tae, Maxi Priest, Don Felder (Eagles), Vernon Reid, Lauren Alaina, Chrissy Metz, Orianthi.
Guigui has won numerous "Best Director" Awards, Grammy nominated, Billboard Awards, ASCAP Awards, United Nations Award, Caesar Award, Golden Spirit Award, Estabrook Award, twice honored by City Of Los Angeles for artistic contributions to music education, Martin produces and music directs broadcast shows for Veteran causes, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, Endangered Species, and Prevention Of Child Abuse. Guigui helped organize and Music Directed the iconic "One America" Concert Event hosted by the 5 living U.S. Presidents raising $45 Million Dollars for Hurricane relief. Martin is a contributing author to the book "After Shock" (50th anniversary of "Future Shock"). Guigui was a standout High School basketball player and still passionately enjoys the game having played in the NBA Entertainment League with the likes of Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Jamie Foxx, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Kevin Hart.- Actor
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Matt Letscher attended the University of Michigan and received a BA in Theatre, but it was a pair of workshops with the legendary Uta Hagen that cemented his love of the craft. His career since has ranged from stage to screen, beginning with a role in Jeff Daniel's original play The Tropical Pickle, which premiered at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, MI. He's been honored to work with directors Spike Jonze, Atom Egoyan, James Mangold and Bart Sher and writers Lanford Wilson, Beth Henley, Neil Simon, and Greg Berlanti, among many others.
As a writer, his plays Sea Of Fools and Gaps In The Fossil Record received productions at The Purple Rose Theatre and Pacific Resident Theatre, respectively. His pilot, Gentrification(co-written with Nipper Knapp and Andrew Newberg) won the award for Best Writing at the 2010 New York Television Festival.- Michael Mayer was born on 26 June 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for I Love Lucy (1951).
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Michael Paul Chan was born on 26 June 1950 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Falling Down (1993), The Goonies (1985) and Spy Game (2001). He has been married to Christina Ann Chan since 11 January 1975. They have one child.- Actor
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Michael Vick is a former professional American football quarterback who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at Virginia Tech and was selected by the Falcons as the first overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. During his six years with the Falcons, Vick was regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities and was named to three Pro Bowls. He was the first NFL quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and holds the record for the most career rushing yards by a quarterback (6,109).
In 2009 Vick signed with the Eagles. As a member of the Eagles for five years, he enjoyed the greatest statistical season of his career and was named to a fourth Pro Bowl in 2010. In his final two seasons in the NFL, Vick played for the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers for one year each, primarily as a backup. He officially retired from professional football in 2017 after spending the entirety of the 2016 season in free agency.- Music Department
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Mick Jones was born on 26 June 1955 in Clapham, London, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Die Another Day (2002) and 500 Days of Summer (2009).- Mitchell Lewis was born on 26 June 1880 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), Salomé (1922) and The Mutiny of the Elsinore (1920). He was married to Rosabel Morrison and Nan Frances Ryan. He died on 24 August 1956 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Morgan Mason was born on 26 June 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), The Sandpiper (1965) and No Secrets (1991). He has been married to Belinda Carlisle since 12 April 1986. They have one child.- Actor
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Nick Offerman was born in Joliet, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Parks and Recreation (2009), The Founder (2016), 21 Jump Street (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014), We Are The Millers (2013), and Fargo (2014). He has been married to Megan Mullally since September 20, 2003.- Director
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Olivier Dahan was born on 26 June 1967 in La Ciotat, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He is a director and writer, known for La Vie En Rose (2007), La vie promise (2002) and Sold.- Oscar Goodman was born on 26 June 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for Casino (1995), Red Herring (2015) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000). He is married to Carolyn. They have four children.
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Pablo Sbaraglia is known for La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón (2003), Bad Girls (2004) and Nunca es tarde (2015).- Pamela Bellwood was born on 26 June 1944 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Airport '77 (1977), Dynasty (1981) and Serial (1980). She has been married to Nik Wheeler since 30 December 1984. They have one child. She was previously married to Peter Bellwood.
- Paolo Cannavaro has been married to Cristina Martino since 18 June 2003. They have three children.
- Paolo Cesare Maldini Ufficiale is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and center back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders and players of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years he was nicknamed "Il Capitano" ("The Captain"). Maldini held the record for most appearances in Serie A, with 647, until 2020, when he was overtaken by Gianluigi Buffon. He is also the player with the most appearances with the Milan shirt (902).
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Parry Shen was born on 26 June 1973 in Queens, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for General Hospital (1963), Ghost of Tsushima (2020) and Better Luck Tomorrow (2002). He has been married to Kim Hollands since 2 August 2002. They have two children.- Actress
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Sultry-voiced singer/songwriter Patty Smyth was born on June 26, 1957 in New York City. She's of Irish descent. Her show business enthusiast mother not only worked as a trapeze artist and onetime manager for legendary rock'n'roll guitarist Link Wray, but also ran and/or owned several prominent nightclubs in Greenwich Village. Patty performed her first stage music gig at age fifteen at New York's Folk City and honed her craft by playing musical sets at the club Catch A Rising Star. Smyth supported herself by working as a waitress in a steak house prior to landing her breakthrough gig as the lead singer of the rock band Scandal in 1981. Scandal released their self-titled debut EP in 1982; said EP beget the moderately successful hit songs "Goodbye to You," "Love's Got a Line on You," and "Hands Tied." This was followed by the full-length album "The Warrior" in 1984. The rousing titular track soared to #7 on the Billboard pop charts and the album sold over a million copies. Patty embarked on a solo career after Scandal broke up in the mid 80s. She released her first solo album "Never Enough" in 1987. Her self-titled second album came out in 1992 and went gold that same year. Smyth scored a substantial hit with "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough," a poignant duet with Don Henley which peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop charts. Patty sang and co-wrote the song "Look What Love Has Done" for the comedy "Junior;" this song was nominated for Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards. Smyth went on to co-write and sing the song "Wish I Were You" for the soundtrack of the blockbuster movie "Armageddon." In 2004 Scandal got back together; the group subsequently embarked on a small reunion tour in 2005. The former wife of punk rock icon Richard Hell, Patty has been married to actor husband John McEnroe since 1997 and is the mother of three children.- Producer
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Paul Donovan was born on 26 June 1954 in Canada. He is a producer and writer, known for Lexx (1996), DEFCON-4 (1985) and Norman's Awesome Experience (1988).- Director
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Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making 8 mm films, Anderson cut his teeth shooting films on video and editing them from V.C.R. to V.C.R.
Part of Anderson's artistic D.N.A. comes from his father, who hosted a late night horror show in Cleveland. His father knew a number of oddball celebrities such as Robert Ridgely, an actor who often appeared in Mel Brooks' films and would later play "The Colonel" in Anderson's Boogie Nights (1997). Anderson was also very much shaped by growing up in "The Valley", specifically the suburban San Fernando Valley of greater Los Angeles. The Valley may have been immortalized in the 1980s for its mall-hopping "Valley Girls", but for Anderson it was a slightly seedy part of suburban America. You were close to Hollywood, yet you weren't there. Would-bes and burn-outs populated the area. Anderson's experiences growing up in "The Valley" have no doubt shaped his artistic self, especially since three of his four theatrical features are set in the Valley.
Anderson got into film-making at a young age. His most significant amateur film was The Dirk Diggler Story (1988), a sort of mock-documentary a la This Is Spinal Tap (1984), about a once-great pornography star named Dirk Diggler. After enrolling in N.Y.U.'s film program for two days, Anderson got his tuition back and made his own short film, Cigarettes & Coffee (1993). He also worked as a production assistant on numerous commercials and music videos before he got the chance to make his first feature, something he liked to call Sydney, but would later become known to the public as Hard Eight (1996). The film was developed and financed through The Sundance Lab, not unlike Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). Anderson cast three actors whom he would continue working with in the future: Altman veteran Philip Baker Hall, the husky and lovable John C. Reilly and, in a small part, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who so far has been featured in all four of Anderson's films. The film deals with a guardian angel type (played by Hall) who takes down-on-his-luck Reilly under his wing. The deliberately paced film featured a number of Anderson trademarks: wonderful use of source light, long takes and top-notch acting. Yet the film was reedited (and retitled) by Rysher Entertainment against Anderson's wishes. It was admired by critics, but didn't catch on at the box office. Still, it was enough for Anderson to eventually get his next movie financed. "Boogie Nights" was, in a sense, a remake of "The Dirk Diggler Story", but Anderson threw away the satirical approach and instead painted a broad canvas about a makeshift family of pornographers. The film was often joyous in its look at the 1970s and the days when pornography was still shot on film, still shown in theatres, and its actors could at least delude themselves into believing that they were movie stars. Yet "Boogie Nights" did not flinch at the dark side, showing a murder and suicide, literally in one (almost) uninterrupted shot, and also showing the lives of these people deteriorate, while also showing how their lives recovered.
Anderson not only worked with Hall, Reilly and Hoffman again, he also worked with Julianne Moore, Melora Walters, William H. Macy and Luis Guzmán. Collectively, Anderson had something that was rare in U.S. cinema: a stock company of top-notch actors. Aside from the above mentioned, Anderson also drew terrific performances from Burt Reynolds and Mark Wahlberg, two actors whose careers were not exactly going full-blast at the time of "Boogie Nights", but who found themselves to be that much more employable afterwards.
The success of "Boogie Nights" gave Anderson the chance to really go for broke in Magnolia (1999), a massive mosaic that could dwarf Altman's Nashville (1975) in its number of characters.
Anderson was awarded a "Best Director" award at Cannes for Punch-Drunk Love (2002).- Actress
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Pauline Etienne was born on 26 June 1989 in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. She is an actress and director, known for The Nun (2013), Qu'un seul tienne et les autres suivront (2009) and Lost Paradise (2012).- Cinematographer
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Pawel Edelman was born on 26 June 1958 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. He is a cinematographer, known for The Pianist (2002), Oliver Twist (2005) and The Ghost Writer (2010).