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Jamie Anne Brown was born in Parsons, Kansas. The eldest of five siblings, from a very early age, Brown dreamed of becoming an actress. Pursuing this dream, she moved to Los Angeles.

One of her very first roles was a recurring part on The Shield (2002). Soon after, she made her feature film debut with a supporting role in The Notebook (2004) as "Martha Shaw". Later, known as Jamie Allman, she booked roles on top television series, including Monk (2002), Bones (2005), Saving Grace (2007), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), and The Closer (2005), among others. In addition to season two of The Killing (2011), she was seen in the independent feature films The Last Rites of Joe May (2011) and Any Day Now (2012).

In her spare time, Allman supports a variety or organizations involving mentally disabled adults. She resides with her husband, actor Marshall Allman (whom she married in 2006) and three children in Los Angeles.

Classic comedienne Zasu Pitts, of the timid, forlorn blue eyes and trademark woebegone vocal pattern and fidgety hands, was born to Rulandus and Nellie (Shay) Pitts, the third of four children on January 3, 1894. Her aged New York-native father, who lost a leg back in the Civil War era, had settled the family in Kansas by the time ZaSu was born but relocated to Santa Cruz, California, when she was 9, seeking a warmer climate and better job opportunities. She attended Santa Cruz High and somehow rose above her excessively shy demeanor to join the school's drama department. She went on to cultivate what was once deemed her negative qualities by making a career out of her unglamorous looks and wallflower tendencies in scores and scores of screwball comedy treasures.

Pitts made her stage debut in 1915 and was discovered two years later by pioneer screenwriter Frances Marion, who got her work, though in small, obscure parts, in vehicles for such Paramount stars as Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Mary cast her in another of her films to greater effect and the rest is history. She grew in popularity following a series of Universal one-reeler comedies and earned her first feature-length lead in King Vidor's Better Times (1919). She met and married matinée idol Tom Gallery in 1920 and paired up with him in several films, including Bright Eyes (1921), Heart of Twenty (1920), Patsy (1921), and A Daughter of Luxury (1922).

Their daughter Ann was born in 1922. In 1924 the actress, now a reputable comedy farceur, was given the greatest tragic role of her career in Erich von Stroheim's epic classic Greed (1924), an over-four-hour picture cut down by the studio to less than two. The surprise casting initially shocked Hollywood but showed that she could draw tears and pathos as well as laughs with her patented doleful demeanor. The movie has grown tremendously in reputation over time, although it failed initially at the box office due to its extensive cutting.

Trading off between comedy shorts and features, she earned additional kudos in such heavy dramas as Sins of the Fathers (1928), The Wedding March (1928), also helmed by Von Stroheim, and War Nurse (1930). Still, by the advent of sound, which was an easy transition for Pitts, she was fully secured in comedy. One bitter and huge disappointment for her was when she was replaced in the war classic All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) by Beryl Mercer after her initial appearance drew unintentional laughs from preview audiences. She decided, however, to make the most of a not-so-bad situation. She had them rolling in the aisles in such wonderful and wacky entertainment as The Dummy (1929), Finn and Hattie (1931), The Guardsman (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932), Sing and Like It (1934), and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). She also excelled deliciously in her comedy partnerships with stunning blonde comedienne Thelma Todd (in short films) and gangly comedian Slim Summerville (in features).

Breezing through the 1940s in assorted films, she found work in vaudeville and on radio as well, trading quivery banter with Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, and Rudy Vallee, among others. She also tackled Broadway, making her debut in the mystery "Ramshackle Inn" in 1944. The play, which was written especially for her, fared quite well and, as a result, took the show on the road frequently in later years. Postwar films continued to give Pitts the chance to play comic snoops and flighty relatives in such quality fare as Life with Father (1947), but into the 1950s she started focusing on TV. This culminated in her best known series role, playing second banana to cruise line social director Gale Storm in The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna (1956) [aka "Oh, Susannah"]. As Nugie, the shipboard beautician and partner-in-crime, she made the most of her timid, twitchy mannerisms.

Sadly, ill health dominated Pitts' later years when she was diagnosed with cancer in the mid-1950s. She bravely carried on, continuing to work until the very end, making brief appearances in The Thrill of It All (1963) and the all-star comedy epic It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). Having married a second time after her divorce from Gallery, the beloved sad sack comedienne passed away at age 69 on June 6, 1963, leaving behind a gallery of scene-stealing worrywarts for all to enjoy.

Eric Anderson is a prolific writer whose work includes the children's book Alena & the Favorite Thing; the horror fiction collection, In the Bones; festival favorite shorts Morphin(e) and Pep Talk; and more than a dozen screenplays, including the horror film June, horror/comedy The Lot, and comedy/ drama Ink, co-written with director Scott Smith.

Mike Trotnic was born on 24 October 1952 in Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA. He died on 19 June 2015 in Parsons, Labette County, Kansas, USA.

Fred Rosenberg was born on 14 September 1970 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Slaughter Party (2006), Dead in Love (2009) and The Ancient (2005).

Jordan Rausch was born on 28 January 1997 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. She is an actress, known for Zombiegeddon (2003).

George Sawley was born on 18 June 1903 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He was a set decorator and art director, known for What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Destination Moon (1950) and The Third Alarm (1930). He died on 26 April 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Composer ("Red Bank Boogie") and trumpeter, educated in high school and through private piano lessons from his father, Buck Clayton played in Los Angeles dance halls and then joined Earl Dancer's 14 Pieces orchestra in Harlem, led a band from 1932 to 1934, then traveled in China until 1936 with the Teddy Weatherford orchestra. Returning to the United States, he joined the Count Basie and His Orchestra. In World War II he served in the US Army. Later he was a soloist in the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" series and made several European concert tours. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his other instrumental compositions include "Swingin' at the Copper Rail", "7th Avenue Express", "Stan's Dance", "Night Ferry", "Avenue C", "Blues Blase", "Buckini", and "Love Jumped Out".

Clark Tippet was born on 5 October 1954 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Live from Lincoln Center (1976), Variety and Virtuosity: American Ballet Theatre Now (1998) and Great Performances: Dance in America (1976). He died on 28 January 1992 in Parsons, Kansas, USA.

Byron Sage was born on 31 July 1915 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Into Her Kingdom (1926), Courage (1930) and The Furies (1930). He died on 14 July 1974 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Derrel Gofourth was born on 20 March 1955 in Parsons, Kansas, USA.

Levi Watkins was born on 13 June 1944 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He is known for The Remarkable Journey (2000), American Experience (1988) and 20th Annual Trumpet Awards (2012). He died on 11 April 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Shaun Hill was born on 9 January 1980 in Parsons, Kansas, USA.

Fletcher Flora was born on 20 May 1914 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He is a writer, known for A Very Missing Person (1972).

Bill Guthridge was born on 27 July 1937 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He was married to Elise (Leesie) Pettrey. He died on 12 May 2015 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Josh Barnett was born on 7 April 1980 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He is an actor, known for Minds of Terror (2003), Highrise (2002) and Zombiegeddon (2003).

Harold Shields was born on 9 April 1918 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. He was an actor. He died in July 1981 in Pittsburg, Kansas, USA.

Jack Evans Bivin was born on 7 October 1925 in Parsons, Kansas, USA. Jack Evans died on 14 October 2011 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.