Arkansas in Show Business
Entertainers from The State of Nature
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- Michael Beck was born on 4 February 1949 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is an actor, known for The Warriors (1979), Xanadu (1980) and Megaforce (1982). He has been married to Carolyn Louise Brendel since September 1980. They have two children.
- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Beth Brickell began her film career as an actress, training in New York with Sanford Meisner Lee Strasberg, and was accepted into the legendary Actors Studio. She performed in leading roles in over 25 stage productions in and out of the city, including "Thurber Carnival" with Jean Stapleton, "Room Service" with Bill Macy, and "Take Her, She's Mine" with Walter Pidgeon.
Moving to Hollywood, she starred for two seasons in the popular CBS series, Gentle Ben (1967), with Dennis Weaver. Subsequently, she appeared in some 100 TV shows and movies, receiving Emmy consideration for guest roles on Bonanza (1959) and Hawaii Five-O (1968). Film roles include Posse (1975) with Kirk Douglas and Bruce Dern, Death Game (1977) with Sondra Locke and Seymour Cassel and The Only Way Home (1972) with Bo Hopkins.
While teaching film acting for three years at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York and Los Angeles, she developed an interest in directing. She put her acting career aside to accept a Director Fellowship at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, from which she graduated with an MFA in film directing and screen writing. She has written, produced and/or directed a dozen films. She wrote, produced and directed A Rainy Day (1979) starring Mariette Hartley and Tracey Gold. It The film received seven top festival awards, including First Place at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, and was broadcast on PBS. Summer's End (1985), also written, produced and directed by Beth, won 16 film festival awards, including a Blue Ribbon at the American Film & Video Festival in New York, a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival, and Second Place at the San Francisco International Film Festival. The film was broadcast on Showtime, A&E, Nickelodeon and PBS. She wrote, produced ad directed Mr. Christmas (2004), which was awarded "Best Family Film" at the Hollywood Moondance International Film Festival and received the "Award of Excellence" by the Film Advisory Board of Los Angeles. The movie was broadcast on PBS.
Beth has directed episodes of the CBS series Knots Landing (1979) and two dramas, Little Boy Blue (1975) starring Chynna Phillips and Robert Walden, and To Tell the Truth (1987). She developed the story for a CBS movie, "A Family Matter" and a miniseries for PBS, "Susan B.", about Susan B. Anthony and the women's suffrage movement.
Beth graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BA in political science and has been active in state and national politics. As a Field Organizer in 1988 for the Michael Dukakis for President campaign, she organized and supervised some 500 volunteers to get out the vote in 50 Beverly Hills precincts. In 1992 she organized and supervised a project that raised $250,000 for the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. In that year she also managed the campaign for Blanche Lincoln, who was running in a congressional primary against a 26-year incumbent in Arkansas. She won the primary and the election as a US Senator from Arkansas.
Another interest, newspaper writing, resulted in a 18-article front-page investigative series for the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Arkansas Gazette" in Little Rock. The series, entitled "Mystery at Camden", uncovered a motive for the murder of attorney Maud Crawford--a one-time associate of US Sen. John L. McClennan--who disappeared in 1957 in Camden, Arkansas. That crime remains unsolved to this day.
Beth's civic activities have included Chair of the Director's Guild of America (DGA) Women's Steering Committee, member of the DGA Special Projects Committee, Board of Directors for Women in Film, Emmy Awards Panel for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Actors Studio-West Executive Steering Committee, and Screening Committee for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
She has been honored with membership in the Southwest theater Association Hall of Fame.
She divides her time between a home in Beverly Hills and a 103-acre rural retreat west of Little Rock.- Tess Harper attended Southwest Missouri State University, now known as Missouri State University, in Springfield, MO. During the late 1960s, she did "street" acting in the theme parks, Dogpatch, USA, in Jasper, AR, and Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. She was discovered while doing theater work in Dallas, TX. After being turned down at an audition for a Chuck Norris movie, Harper was recruited to come do a reading for "Tender Mercies" with Robert Duvall, for which she was selected to play the supporting role, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Harry Thomason was born in 1940 in Hampton, Arkansas, USA. He is a producer and director, known for So Sad About Gloria (1973), Designing Women (1986) and The Fall Guy (1981). He has been married to Linda Bloodworth-Thomason since 23 July 1983.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason was born on 15 April 1947 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Designing Women (1986), Bridegroom (2013) and Evening Shade (1990). She has been married to Harry Thomason since 23 July 1983.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Johnny Cash was born February 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Arkansas, to Carrie Cash (Rivers) and Raymond Cash. He made his first single, "Hey Porter", for Sun Records in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Columbia Records. He had long periods of drug abuse during the 1960s, but later that decade he successfully fought his addiction with the help of singer June Carter Cash, whom he married in 1968. In 1971 he appeared in the western A Gunfight (1971) with 'Kirk Douglas (I)'. Cash made only a few films, but quite a few appearances on television, both in series and made-for-TV films, and was especially effective as a rural Southern sheriff in the 1930s determined to bring to justice a wealthy landowner who committed murder because he believed he was above the law in Murder in Coweta County (1983), a drama based on a true story. In 1975 Cash wrote his autobiography, "Man In Black", which is now out of print. In the late 1980s he moved from Columbia Records to Mercury, then in the next decade moved again to American Recordings. Amongst his biggest hit records were "I Walk the Line", "Ring of Fire" and "A Boy Named Sue". After several years of ill health, he died of complications from diabetes on 12 September 2003, only a few months after the death of his beloved wife.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Glen Campbell was born on 22 April 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for True Grit (1969), Shindig! (1964) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). He was married to Kim Campbell, Sarah Jan Barg, Billie Jean Nunley and Diane Marie Kirk. He died on 8 August 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Frank Bonner was born on 28 February 1942 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), Equinox (1970) and The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991). He was married to Gayle Hardage, Catherine Sherwood, Lillian Garrett, Mary Alice Rings and Sharon Gray. He died on 16 June 2021 in Laguna Niguel, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, and raised in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Missy Crider began her journey in the arts at an early age (12) in New York City and Los Angeles while doubling high school in the small southern town, graduating with a 3.98 cumulative GPA. The eldest of three siblings and daughter of a CPA/college professor and interior designer, she began working as an award-winning singer and violinist in country music stage shows in Branson, Missouri, when an agency in New York signed her and she booked her very first audition for an NBC pilot. She spent seven years during high school working in musical theater and doing local plays while flying back and forth to Hollywood and New York. She relocated to Los Angeles in October of 1992, after having filmed six movies and miniseries for television, including the highly acclaimed original, "Lonesome Dove" (1989), opposite Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Diane Lane, and Angelica Huston, which secured her Screen Actors Guild membership.
Crider received an Emmy nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her leading role opposite Tom Everett Scott in the CBS drama, "Love in the Dark Ages" (#11.3)" (1994). Shortly thereafter, John McNaughton cast her as an aspiring singer who lands a record deal. McNaughton asked Crider to sing the vocal tracks for the film in Showtime's campy drive-in cinema remake classic, "Girls in Prison" (1994) (TV), co-starring Anne Heche and Ione Skye. She made the transition to film when writer/director Mitch Marcus cast her as his female lead, "Cindy Wells", opposite Scott Caan, James Caan and Elliott Gould in "A Boy Called Hate" (1995). The gritty road movie captivated filmgoers and critics alike, winning The Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Crider followed this role by being cast as a southern woman caught in a cycle of small-town violence with a sensitive portrayal of a student who finds compassion for fellow empath, Sean Patrick Flanery, in Disney's beloved feature film, "Powder" (1995), co-starring Jeff Goldblum and Mary Steenburgen.
It was this winsome portrayal that brought her to the attention of renowned television producer Steven Bochco, who cast her opposite Anthony LaPaglia and Mary McCormack, as inscrutable murder defendant "Sharon Rooney" for a seven-episode run in the second season of his highly acclaimed ABC series, "Murder One" (1996). The 1990s proved busy with several other works: ABC's "A Mother's Revenge" (1993) (TV), opposite Shirley Knight and Lesley Ann Warren; a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, "Jane's House" (1994) (TV) opposite James Woods and Anne Archer; Peter Benchley's eight-hour miniseries for NBC, "The Beast" (1996) (TV), opposite William Petersen; Stephen King's "Quicksilver Highway" (1997) (TV), opposite Christopher Lloyd; Paramount Pictures "Sins of the Mind" (1997) (TV); "Conversations in Limbo" (1998); and the quirky independent film, "Stand-ins" (1997), in which Crider drones in German alto octave when portraying Marlene Dietrich's savvy, wise-cracking double, spewing 1930s banter with fellow stand-ins Bette Davis, Jean Harlow, Mae West, Rita Hayworth and Greta Garbo.
In the fall of 1999, Crider's manager received a phone call from Steven Spielberg. He shared that he had recently seen her work on ABC's "Strange World" (1999) and wanted to write a leading role specifically for her in his NBC/Dreamworks one-hour drama series, "The Others" (2000). The role had originally been written as an elderly American Indian woman and was rewritten for Crider to play "Satori", a gifted psychic, opposite fellow telepaths Bill Cobbs, Julianne Nicholson, and Gabriel Macht. The series in the vein of the cult-following film, "Dead Poets Society" (1989), aired for 14 episodes on Saturday nights in 2000 and 2001. Proving equally adept with humor, Crider completed a co-starring role in producer/director Mike Binder's award-winning feature film comedy, "The Sex Monster" (1999), joining an ensemble cast including Mariel Hemingway, Kevin Pollak and Stephen Baldwin, winning Best Picture at the 1999 Aspen Comedy Festival. Crider plays "Diva", a beautiful young secretary who becomes the unwitting object of both her employer's and his wife's affections. Bill Paxton met Crider at a screening of "The Sex Monster" (1999) and cast her in his feature-film directorial debut set in rural Texas, "Frailty" (2001), playing Matthew McConaughey's southern pregnant wife.
After playing Matthew McConaughey's wife, Crider landed a coveted role in David Lynch's acclaimed feature film, "Mulholland Drive" (2001), as "Diane/Betty", a smart, hip, mysterious waitress who dreams of becoming an actress and served as the projection of Naomi Watts' character's fragile identity. During this period, Crider also joined an all-star cast opposite Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, and Christopher Walken in Revolution Studios' romantic comedy, "Gigli" (2003), written and directed by Martin Brest, cast by Ellen Lewis. She joined the cast of the suspense indie ensemble, "Reeseville" (2003) when Director Gregory Hatanaka also offered her the lead role of "Mina" in his ensemble indie film about the challenges of Hollywood couples, "Until the Night" (2004), in which she plays the girlfriend of hopeful cinematographer Norman Reedus. Crider was also offered the female lead in an original Hallmark Channel telefilm, "Out of the Woods" (2005) (TV), opposite Jason London and Edward Asner shot in the Redwoods in Northern California.
In the 2000s, Crider starred, guest starred, and was delighted to be invited to recur in numerous hit films and TV shows. FOX offered Crider the role of "Rita Brady" during the height of their highly acclaimed TV show, "24" (2001), opposite Kiefer Sutherland. FOX invited her back to recur for 4 consequent episodes: "Day 6: 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. (#6.5)" (2007), "Day 6: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (#6.6)" (2007), "Day 6: 12:00 p.m.- 1:00 p.m. (#6.7) (2007)", "Day 6: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. (#6.8)" (2007). The highly successful TV producer, Dick Wolf, personally invited Crider to rejoin the Law & Order family in New York when she shot an episode of "Law & Order: SVU: Catfishing Teacher (#17.10)" (2016), opposite Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay, ten years after Wolf had originally cast her in a lead guest star role in "Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Bedfellows (#6.5)" (2006), opposite Vincent D'Onofrio, Katie Erbe, and Rip Torn. Other works during this period included: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Burked (#2.1)" (2001), "Instinct to Kill" (2001), "CSI: Miami: Lost Son (#3.1)" (2004), Showtime's "Huff: A Cornfield Grows in L.A. (#2.8)" (2006), "Huff: Tapping The Squid (#2.11)" (2006), "Seclusion" (2006), "House: Role Model (#1.17) (2005), "Criminal Minds: Pay It Forward (#8.19)" (2013), "Mistresses: Open House (#2.3)" (2014), "The Guardian: Solidarity (#1.16)" (2002), "Without a Trace: One and Only (#5.22)" (2007), "Along the Way" (2007), the CW's "90210: Zero Tolerance (#1.23)" (2009), "Butterfly Dreaming" (2008), "The Cry of the Butterfly" (2014) opposite Dee Wallace Stone, and more.
Crider is an award-winning actor, singer, writer, producer, and child welfare advocate who has worked as a lead actress and singer in over 60 American films, TV series, and miniseries. In 2010, she was awarded the Norman Mailer Award by the Norman Mailer Writer's Colony and The National Council of Teachers of English in the category of nonfiction for a memoir that she penned about her grandmother. In 2018, she achieved her BA degree in Psychology, SAA, as an honors graduate at Argosy University. Her body of work, children's stories, and novels: The Interims, Semilla Swamp, and Little House War are found at MLCrider.com and CriderInk.com.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Best known as Prison Break (2005)'s General Jonathan Kranz (Padman) and the Malibu police chief in The Big Lebowski (1998), Russom was, for 22 years, a New York stage actor whose day job was soaps, with long tenures as Joe Taylor on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967), Willis Frame on Another World (1964), and Jack Darling on All My Children (1970). The feature No Way Out (1987) brought Russom to Los Angeles in 1987.
A year later, after starring opposite Carol Burnett in Hostage (1988), he moved to LA permanently to star in NBC's TV 101 (1988). Emmy-nominated for Long Road Home (1991), Russom has continued his theatrical activity in Los Angeles (and on Broadway) while establishing himself as a presence in episodic television and feature films, including True Grit (2010), his second film with Joel and Ethan Coen.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Levon Helm was in the right place at the right time. He saw the birth of rock and roll and, though he was too much of a gentleman to say it, his role in helping to keep that rebellious child healthy was more than just instrumental.
On May 26, 1940, Mark Lavon Helm was the second of four children born to Nell and Diamond Helm in Elaine, Arkansas. Diamond was a cotton farmer who entertained occasionally as a musician. The Helms loved music and often sang together. They listened to The Grand Ole Opry and Sonny Boy Williamson and his King Biscuit Entertainers regularly on the radio. A favorite family pastime was attending traveling music shows in the area. According to his 1993 autobiography, "This Wheel's On Fire", Levon recalled seeing his first live show, Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, at six years old. His description: "This really tattooed my brain. I've never forgotten it." Hearing performers like Monroe and Williamson on the radio was one thing; seeing them live made a huge impression.
Levon's father bought him his first guitar at age nine. At ten and 11, whenever he wasn't in school or at work on the farm, the boy could be found at KFFA's broadcasting studio in Helena, Arkansas, watching Sonny Boy Williamson do his radio show, "King Biscuit Time". Helm made his younger sister Linda a string bass out of a washtub when he was 12 years old. She would play the bass while her brother slapped his thighs and played harmonica and guitar. They would sing songs learned at home and popular hits of the day, and billed themselves as "Lavon and Linda." Because of their fresh-faced good looks, obvious musical talent and Levon's natural ability to win an audience with sheer personality and infectious rhythms, the pair consistently won talent contests along the Arkansas 4-H Club circuit.
In 1954 Levon was 14 years old when he saw Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins do a show at Helena. Also performing was a young Elvis Presley, with Scotty Moore on guitar, and Bill Black on stand-up bass. They did not have a drummer. The music was early jazz-fueled rockabilly, and the audience went wild. In 1955 he saw Elvis once more, before Presley's star exploded. This time Presley had D.J. Fontana with him on drums and Black was playing electric bass. Helm couldn't get over the difference and thought it was the best band he'd seen. The added instruments gave the music solidity and depth. People jumped out of their seats dancing to the thunderous, heart-pumping rhythms. The melting pot that was the Mississippi Delta had boiled over and evolved. Its magnificently rich blues was uniting with all the powerful, new, spicy-hot sounds and textures that became rock and roll.
Natural progression led Levon to form his own rock band as a high-school junior, called The Jungle Bush Beaters. While Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis were making teens everywhere crazed, Levon would practice, play, watch and learn. After seeing Jerry Lee's drummer Jimmy Van Eaton, he seriously began thinking of playing the drums himself. Around this same time the 17-year-old musician was invited by Conway Twitty to share the stage with Twitty and his Rock Housers. He had met Twitty when "Lavon and Linda" opened for him at a previous show. Helm was a personable, polite teen who took his music seriously, so Twitty allowed him to sit in whenever the opportunity arose.
Ronnie Hawkins came into Levon Helm's life in 1957. A charismatic entertainer and front-man, Hawkins was gathering musicians to tour Canada, where the shows and money were steady. He had a sharp eye for talent. He needed a drummer and Levon fit the bill. Fulfilling a promise to Nell and Diamond to finish high school, Levon joined Ronnie and his "Hawks" on the road. The young Arkansas farm boy, once a tractor driving champion, found himself driving Hawkins' Cadillac to gigs, happily aware that all the unknown adventures of rock and roll would soon be his destiny.
In 1959 Ronnie got The Hawks signed to Roulette Records. They had two hits, "Forty Days" and "Mary Lou", sold 750,000 copies and appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1952). Hawkins and Helm recruited four more talented Canadian musicians in the early 1960s--Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson. Under Ronnie's tutelage they would often perform until midnight and rehearse until four in the morning. Other bands began emulating their style; now they were the ones to watch and learn from.
Eventually the students surpassed their teacher. Weary of Ronnie's strict regulations and eager to expand their own musical interests, the five decided to break from Hawkins. They called themselves "Levon and the Hawks."
About 1965 Bob Dylan decided to change his sound. He was ready to "go electric" and wanted Levon and The Hawks to help him fire it up. The boys signed on to tour with Dylan, but unfortunately Dylan's die-hard folk fans resisted. Night after night of constant booing left Levon without the pleasure of seeing his audience enjoy themselves. He called his drummer's stool "the best seat in the house," because he could see his fellow musicians and his audience simultaneously. What pleased him most, always, was that his audience had a good time. He temporarily left the group and eventually landed back home in Arkansas. Dylan and the rest of the band took up residence in Woodstock, NY. They rented a large, pink house where they wrote and rehearsed new material. Danko called for Helm to join them when Capitol Records gave them a recording contract.
Woodstock residents called them "the band," so they kept the moniker. The name The Band fit. The sound was no-frills rock-and-roll, but far from simplistic. They fused every musical influence they were exposed to over the years as individuals and as a unit. The result was brilliant. Their development as musicians was perfected by years of playing. Living together at "Big Pink" allowed complete collaboration of their artistic expression. Americana and folklore themes, heart-wrenching ballads filled with naked emotion, majestic harmonies, hard-driving rhythms and exquisite instrumentation made critics, peers and fans realize that this music was unlike any heard before. Their first album, "Music from Big Pink", released in July of 1968, made them household names, and as a result they were invited to appear on Ed Sullivan's The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in autumn of '69. Following "Big Pink"'s success the next album, called simply "The Band", is considered by some as their masterpiece. They made seven albums total, including one live recording in 1972, "Rock of Ages". Many of their hits--such as "The Weight", "W.S. Walcott's Medicine Show" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"--were spawned from stories of Levon's beloved South.
Helm was working in Los Angeles in 1974, at a Sunset Blvd. hotel, when he spotted a beautiful young brunette taking a dip in the pool. Her name was Sandra Dodd and when she looked up at him smiling, she didn't recognize him at first. The charming musician offered to take the lovely lady for sushi and never looked back. They were married on September 7, 1981, in Woodstock.
The barn and studio Helm built in Woodstock, which became his permanent home, was just about complete in 1975. He invited Muddy Waters to his new studio and they recorded "Muddy Waters in Woodstock". To the delight of everyone involved, it won a Grammy.
The Band held a farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco on Thanksgiving 1976. It was a bittersweet time for many, who felt the group's demise was too soon. They called it "The Last Waltz", which included Ronnie Hawkins,Dr. John, Muddy Waters, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and an all-star guest list of peers and friends that read like the "Who's Who" of rock and roll. The event eventually sold as a triple album and was also filmed--The Last Waltz (1978) became the first historical "rockumentary."
Group members went on to individual pursuits. Levon cut his debut album, "The RCO All-Stars", in 1977. His next effort was the self-titled "Levon Helm", followed by "American Son", released in 1980. That same year was pivotal, as Helm turned his attention to acting. He played Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), winning great reviews for his first film appearance. He did another self-titled album and Hollywood again came knocking in 1983, giving him a role in The Right Stuff (1983). The authenticity he brought to his characters earned him numerous movie roles from 1980 until 2009. Levon gave a sensitive, convincing portrayal of a destitute blind man in the 2005 Tommy Lee Jones vehicle, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005). In 2007 he filmed Shooter (2007) with Mark Wahlberg. His last role was in 2009. where he portrayed Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood in In the Electric Mist (2009), again with his friend Tommy Lee Jones.
Rick Danko and Levon reunited to play music after Danko had been living in California. Rick moved back to Woodstock and the friends did an acoustic tour in early 1983. In San Jose the following year, they received excellent reviews when Hudson and Manuel joined them for their first U.S. appearance as The Band since 1976. They continued playing together until the tragic death of their dear friend and comrade, the 42-year-old Manuel.
During the 1990s three more Band albums were recorded: "Jericho", "High on the Hog" and "Jubilation". In 1998 Levon was diagnosed with throat cancer and the famous voice with the rich Southern nuances was silenced to a whisper. He still played the drums, mandolin and harmonica, often performing with his daughter, Amy Helm, also a vocalist and instrumentalist. A great emotional support to her father during this time, Amy appeared with him regularly at Levon Helm Studios. In 1999 Helm endured another tragic loss when Rick Danko passed away 19 days before his 56th birthday. His death marked the end of an era.
Miraculously, Levon's voice slowly returned. He felt comfortable enough to sing again live. With imagination and vision, he conceived The Midnight Ramble Sessions, a series of live performances at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock. Named for the traveling minstrel shows of his youth, the first Midnight Ramble was held in January, 2004. It featured one of the last performances by great blues pianist Johnnie Johnson. Friends old and new joined Levon on his stage, including Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, John Sebastian, Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello, Phil Lesh, Jimmy Vivino, Hubert Sumlin, Little Sammy Davis, Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters, The Muddy Waters Band, The Swell Season, Donald Fagen, Steve Jordon, Hot Tuna, Kris Kristofferson, The Black Crowes, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Norah Jones, The Bacon Brothers, Robbie Dupree, My Morning Jacket, Shemekia Copeland, The Wood Brothers, Steve Earle, Jackie Greene, Sam Bush, Brewer & Shipley, Carolyn Wonderland, Ollabelle and The Alexis P. Suter Band. The monthly Rambles at "The Barn" were wildly successful, drawing a worldwide audience.
Releases produced by Levon Helm Studios from Helm's personal "vault," were Volume I and II of "The Midnight Ramble Sessions", plus a live RCO All-Stars performance from New Year's Eve 1977, at the Palladium. The vitality and magnetism of these recordings speak for themselves. In September of 2007, Dirt Farmer Music and Vanguard Records released "Dirt Farmer", Levon's first solo, studio album in 25 years. A project particularly close to his heart, the CD contains music reminiscent of his past, and songs handed down from his parents. "Dirt Farmer" was awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008 and landed Levon a spot in Rolling Stone's The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. That same year he was also recognized by the Recording Academy with a lifetime achievement award as an original member of The Band and was given the "Artist of the Year" Award by the Americana Music Association. In 2009 Levon released "Electric Dirt", which marked his highest debut in Soundscan era at #36 and spent six consecutive weeks at #1 on the Americana Radio Chart. He won a second Grammy for "Electric Dirt" in the inaugural category of Best Americana Album in 2010. In September 2008 Levon took "The Midnight Ramble" on the road to Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium. Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow, George Receli, Sam Bush and Billy Bob Thornton helped The Levon Helm Band create an evening of unforgettable musical joy. "Ramble at the Ryman - Live CD and DVD" (sold individually) won him his third consecutive Grammy, again as Best Album in the Americana category, in February 2012. Sadly, Levon's cancer returned shortly after this last triumph. He passed away on April 19, 2012. His funeral was a tearful, joyful, musical celebration of his life.
The intimacy of the shows performed at Levon's hearth offered a hospitality and warmth found in no other venue, not to mention the excellence of the performances themselves, hosted by a man whose gifts were truly legendary. Though always an enthusiastic and passionate performer, with sheer joy and gratitude, he effortlessly captivated his audience, young and old, with a rhythmic power all his own. During a career that spanned over five decades, Levon Helm nurtured a tradition of professionalism with a deep respect for his craft and remained refreshingly genuine in a world that often compromised integrity. He was a master storyteller who wove his tales with the magic thread of universality that ties us all. He beckoned us to come in, sit awhile and enjoy. We see ourselves in his stories and we are home.
--Dawn LoBue Copyright © 2006 ~ 2012 All Rights Reserved.- Actor
- Producer
Brandon Keener was born and raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA. As a collegiate actor he received and Irene Ryan scholarship and graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Drama. He is an actor, writer and producer, known for Mass Effect 3 (2012), The Purge: Anarchy (2014) and The Limey (1999). He is been married to Elizabeth Barnes. They have two children and live in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Producer
- Cinematographer
Josh Lucas was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Michele (LeFevre), a nurse midwife, and Don Maurer, an ER doctor.
Lucas' film career began by accident in 1979 when a small Canadian film production shot on the tiny coastal South Carolina island, Sullivan's Island, where Lucas and his family lived. Unbeknownst to the filmmakers, 8-year-old Lucas was hiding in the sand dunes watching filming during the climatic scene where teenage lovers engage in a lovesick fight. It was during this experience that Lucas decided to pursue a career in film which he has now done for nearly 3 decades. Born to young, radical politically active parents in Arkansas in 1971, Lucas spent his early childhood nomadically moving around the southern U.S. The family finally settled in Gig Harbor, Washington, where Lucas attended high school. The school had an award-winning drama/debate program and Lucas won the State Championship in Dramatic Interpretation and competed at the 1989 National Championship. Brief stints in professional theater in Seattle followed before Lucas moved to Los Angeles. After receiving breaks playing a young George Armstrong Custer in the Steven Spielberg produced Class of '61 (1993) and Frank Marshall's film Alive (1993), Lucas' career toiled in minor TV appearances. Frustrated, he decided to start over and relocated to New York City.
In NYC, Lucas studied acting for years under Suzanne Shepherd and worked in smaller theater productions like Shakespeare in the Parking Lot before receiving another break in 1997 when he was cast as Judas in Terrence McNally's controversial off-Broadway production Corpus Christi. The play led to his being cast in the films You Can Count on Me (2000) and American Psycho (2000). These films were followed by interesting performances in the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind (2001) and the box-office hit Sweet Home Alabama (2002).
Lucas has since worked with many of the film community's greatest talents. He starred alongside Jon Voight in Jerry Bruckheimer's Glory Road (2006), for which Lucas added 40 pounds to transform himself into legendary basketball coach Don Haskins. Lucas also starred with Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss in Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon (2006). He starred with Morgan Freeman and Robert Redford in Lasse Hallström's An Unfinished Life (2005). He also starred opposite Jamie Bell in David Gordon Green's Undertow (2004), which was also produced by Terrence Malick. Additionally, Lucas worked alongside Christopher Walken in Around the Bend (2004).
He performed with Jennifer Connelly and Eric Bana in Ang Lee's Hulk (2003). Other credits include Wonderland (2003), The Deep End (2001), American Psycho (2000), Session 9 (2001) and You Can Count on Me (2000).
Lucas' theater credits include the off-Broadway run of "Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell"; Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie", which appeared on Broadway in 2005; Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi" at the Manhattan Theater Club; Christopher Shinn's "What Didn't Happen"; and "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
Lucas has always been fascinated by documentaries and performed voice work with film legend Ken Burns on the documentary The War (2007), and also provided voice-over work for Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (2007), Trumbo (2007) and Resolved (2007). Lucas' first venture into production was Stolen (2009), in which he played the single father of a mentally challenged boy. The film was the first project to be produced through Lucas' production company, "Two Bridges".
In the past few years, Lucas' films include The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Daydream Nation (2010), Peacock (2010), as Charles Lindbergh in Clint Eastwood's film J. Edgar (2011), and the massive Australian box-office and critical success Red Dog (2011), for which Lucas won Australia's best actor award (The I.F. Award). He also played Beat Generation legend Neal Cassady in Big Sur (2013). He can be seen in Kevin Connolly's Dear Eleanor (2016), the Sundance Festival film Little Accidents and the NY indie film The Mend.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Laurence Luckinbill was born on 21 November 1934 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Cocktail (1988) and Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie (1993). He has been married to Lucie Arnaz since 22 June 1980. They have three children. He was previously married to Robin Strasser.- Actor
- Director
John Carter was born on 26 November 1927 in Center Ridge, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Andromeda Strain (1971), Celebrity (1998) and Badlands (1973). He was married to Kendall Thompson Friede (Fewel) and Barbara Jane Williams. He died on 23 May 2015 in New York City, New York, USA.- G. Wood was born on 31 December 1919 in Forrest City, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1970), Harold and Maude (1971) and Brewster McCloud (1970). He died on 24 July 2000 in Macon, Georgia, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Melinda Dillon came to prominence with the role of Jillian Guiler, a mother whose child is abducted by aliens in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Dillon's performance in the film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. A few years later, Dillon received another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a devout Catholic woman in Absence of Malice (1981). The performance won the actress a KCFCC Award.- Miriam Byrd-Nethery was born on 17 May 1929 in Lewisville, Arkansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), Tales of the Unexpected (1979) and From a Whisper to a Scream (1987). She was married to Clu Gulager. She died on 6 January 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
This Arkansas native was born on 26 November 1945 to parents who owned a movie theater. He often felt that his desire to become an actor came from the fact that he spent so much time in the theater's "crying room" for babies - and listening to the likes of Tyrone Power and others. His first "professional" work came at the age of 11 when he became a member of the cast of a children's TV series broadcast from Little Rock - "Betty's Little Rascals". His formal acting training came from the Arkansas Arts Center (a fine arts conservatory with its own repertory company), followed by work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and 6 years with the American Conservatory Theatre, among many others. He also taught acting classes while at ACT. His love of the theater has continued through his career. He has played in nearly every Shakespeare play and an untold number of musicals (he's an accomplished singer) and straight plays. For the year 2000 Tony Awards, he was recognized with a nomination as best actor in a featured role for his performance in "Wrong Mountain". When The Nanny (1993) first went on the air, many people believed that the very British butler "Niles" was definitely being played by a British actor. This Southern boy was so convincing in his role that many fans wrote to the show and suggested that he teach Charles Shaughnessy (a true British native) how to improve his accent!