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- Actor
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Born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children, with an older sister, Mandi. His ancestry is French-Canadian, as well as English, Scottish, and Irish. The Gosling family moved to Cornwall, Ontario, where Ryan grew up and was home-schooled by his mother. He also attended Gladstone Public School and Cornwall Collegiate & Vocational School, where he excelled in Drama and Fine Arts. The family then relocated to Burlington, Ontario, where Ryan attended Lester B. Pearson High School.
Ryan first performed as a singer at talent contests with Mandi. He attended an open audition in Montreal for the TV series "The Mickey Mouse Club" (The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1989)) in January 1993 and beat out 17,000 other aspiring actors for a a spot on the show. While appearing on "MMC" for two years, he lived with co-star Justin Timberlake's family.
Though he received no formal acting training, after "MMC," Gosling segued into an acting career, appearing on the TV series Young Hercules (1998) and Breaker High (1997), as well as the films The Slaughter Rule (2002), Murder by Numbers (2002), and Remember the Titans (2000). He first attracted serious critical attention with his performance as the Jewish neo-Nazi in the controversial film The Believer (2001), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. He was cast in the part by writer-director Henry Bean, who believed that Gosling's strict upbringing gave him the insight to understand the character Danny, whose obsessiveness with the Judaism he was born into turns to hatred. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as Best Male Lead in 2002 for the role and won the Golden Aries award from the Russian Guild of Film Critics.
After appearing in the sleeper The Notebook (2004) in 2004, Gosling won the dubious honor of being named one of the 50 Hottest Bachelors by People Magazine. More significantly, he was named the Male Star of Tomorrow at the 2004 Show West convention of movie exhibitors.
Gosling reached a summit of his profession with his performance in Half Nelson (2006), which garnered him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. In a short time, he has established himself as one of the finest actors of his generation. Throughout the subsequent decade, he has become all three of an internet fixation, a box office star, and a critical darling, having headlined Blue Valentine (2010), Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011), Drive (2011), The Ides of March (2011), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), The Nice Guys (2016), and La La Land (2016). In 2017, he starred in the long-awaited science fiction sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), with Harrison Ford.
Ryan has two children with his partner, actress Eva Mendes.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Kate McCauley Hathaway, an actress, and Gerald T. Hathaway, a lawyer, both originally from Philadelphia. She is of mostly Irish descent, along with English, German, and French. Her first major role came in the short-lived television series Get Real (1999). She gained widespread recognition for her roles in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel as a young girl who discovers she is a member of royalty, opposite Julie Andrews and Heather Matarazzo.
She also had a notable role in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, and a starring role in Ella Enchanted (2004). A former top-ranking soprano in New York, Hathaway was reportedly a front-runner for the role of "Christine" in the 2004 The Phantom of the Opera (2004). However, due to scheduling conflicts with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she couldn't take the role, which was later given to newcomer Emmy Rossum.
Hathaway soon started to move away from family-friendly films. Following The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she appeared topless in the films Havoc (2005) opposite Josh Peck and Brokeback Mountain (2005) opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her desire to break out of her "Princess Diaries" image parallels that of her one-time co-star, Julie Andrews, who went topless in the film S.O.B. (1981) in order to break away from the image she created from her 1960s musicals. In interviews, Hathaway said that doing family-friendly films didn't mean she was similar to their characters or mean she objected to appearing nude in other films.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Gustaf Skarsgård was born on 12 November 1980 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is an actor and director, known for Oppenheimer (2023), Westworld (2016) and Vikings (2013).- Actress
- Additional Crew
Rebecca Wisocky has performed in film, television and stage as of mid-'90s, but best-known for her role as socialite Evelyn Powell on Lifetime television comedy-drama Devious Maids (2013).
Wisocky has won Obie Award for her portrayal of Leni Riefenstahl in 'Amazons and Their Men'. She also performed in many other stage productions. On television, she appeared in 'The Mentalist', 'Desperate Housewives', 'American Horror Story', '90210', 'Big Love' and 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Cote de Pablo was born in Santiago, Chile, but was raised in Miami, Florida. She attended Arvida Middle School in Miami and then Carnegie Mellon University. She graduated in 2000 after studying music theater. Whilst at Carnegie Mellon she appeared in several theater productions, including "Indiscretions," "The Fantasticks," "The House of Bernarda Alba," "And The World Goes 'Round," "A Little Night Music," and "Cloud Techtonics." Her first television job was co-hosting the 1994 show Control (2000), alongside Entertainment Tonight (1981) host Carlos Ponce.
In 2001, Cote appeared on the New York City Public Theater stage in the Shakespearean play "Measure for Measure," then moved on to roles on the small screen such as Gina in the ABC series The Education of Max Bickford (2001), acting alongside Academy Award-winners Richard Dreyfuss and Marcia Gay Harden, Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor, veteran actress Helen Shaver, and Katee Sackhoff. She also had roles in The $treet (2000) and When I Grow Up (1990). In 2004, she starred in the short-lived Fox series The Jury (2004), playing Marguerite Cisneros.
In 2005, she played Dolores Fuentes in the stage musical "The Mambo Kings" and later was cast as Mossad officer Ziva David in the hit series NCIS (2003), alongside Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Sean Murray, Lauren Holly, Rocky Carroll, and Brian Dietzen.
As of 2008, she was living in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
American character actor and playwright Wallace Shawn has one of those fun, delightfully mischievously gnomish faces made for entertaining. Though he got out of the acting starting gate rather late, he quickly excelled film and TV while managing to turn himself into comedy egghead or loser types. Woody Allen's slightly threatened character in the movie Manhattan (1979) amusingly describes Wallace's benign gent as "a homunculus", which may be a pretty fair description of this predominantly bald, wan, pucker-mouthed, butterball-framed, slightly lisping gent. Shawn made his movie debut at age 36 in Allen's heralded classic in a brief but telling scene as Diane Keaton's ex-husband.
The 5'2" Jewish actor was born Wallace Michael Shawn into privilege on November 12, 1943 in New York City, as the son of Cecille (Lyon) (1906-2005), a journalist, and William Shawn (1907-1992), renowned and long-time editor of The New Yorker. His brother, Allen Shawn, went on to become a composer. Wallace was educated at both Harvard University, where he studied history, and Magdalen College, Oxford. Wallace initially taught English in India on a Fulbright scholarship, and then English, Latin and drama back in New York. However, a keen interest in writing and acting soon compelled him to leave his cushy position and pursue a stage career as both playwright and actor.
During his distinguished career, Wallace churned out several plays. "Our Late Night", the first of his works to be performed, was awarded an off-Broadway Obie in 1975. This was followed by "A Thought in Three Parts" (1976);, "The Mandrake" (1977) (which he translated from the original Italian and made his acting debut), "Marie and Bruce" (1979), "Aunt Dan and Lemon" (1985) and "The Fever," for which he received his second Obie for "Best New Play" during the 1990-91 season.
A popular supporting player of comedy and the occasional drama, Shawn's assorted kooks, creeps, brainiacs and schmucks possessed both endearing and unappetizing qualities. He earned his best early notices partnered with theatre director/actor Andre Gregory in the unique Louis Malle-directed film My Dinner with Andre (1981). Shawn co-wrote the improvisatory, humanistic piece with brother Allan as the composer. Shawn and Gregory would collaborate again for Malle in another superb, original-concept film Vanya on 42nd Street (1994).
Among Shawn's offbeat films have been Bruce Paltrow's A Little Sex (1982); James Ivory's The Bostonians (1984); Stephen Frears' Prick Up Your Ears (1987); Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride (1987); Alan Rudolph's The Moderns (1988) and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994); and Paul Bartel's Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989). He also appeared in several other Woody Allen offerings including Radio Days (1987), Shadows and Fog (1991), The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Melinda and Melinda (2004) and the title role in Rifkin's Festival (2020).
Since the 1990s, he has lent his vocal talents to a considerable number of animated pictures including A Goofy Movie (1995), Toy Story (1995) (and its sequels), The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story (1998), The Incredibles (2004), Chicken Little (2005), Happily N'Ever After (2006), Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010) and Animal Crackers (2017). TV voices have included The Pink Panther (1993), The Lionhearts (1998), Family Guy (1999), Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2011), The Stinky & Dirty Show (2015) and The Bug Diaries (2019).
Millennium films graced with Shawn's participation include Southland Tales (2006), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008), Jack and the Beanstalk (2009), The Speed of Thought (2011) and Vamps (2012). He co-starred as Halvard Solness and wrote the screen adaptation for Ibsen's classic play A Master Builder (2013) co-starring Julie Hagerty, and went on to appear in Don Peyote (2014), Maggie's Plan (2015), Robo-Dog (2015), Drawing Home (2016), Another Kind of Wedding (2017), Book Club (2018) and Marriage Story (2019).
Over the decades, Shawn has scurried about effortlessly with a number of television guest appearances including "Taxi," "Homicide: Life on the Streets," "Ally McBeal," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Sex and the City," "Desperate Housewives," "The Daily Show," "The 7D," "Life in Pieces," "The Good Fight," "Mr. Robot" and "Search Party. He has also drummed up a few recurring roles for himself in the process, including The Cosby Show (1984), Murphy Brown (1988), Clueless (1996) (based on the hit film Clueless (1995), revisiting his teacher role), Murphy Brown (1988), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Crossing Jordan (2001), The L Word (2004), Gossip Girl (2007), The Good Wife (2009), Mozart in the Jungle (2014), and, more recently, as Dr. Sturgis in the comedy Young Sheldon (2017).- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Ashley Williams is an American actress. She is known for playing Victoria on the CBS series How I Met Your Mother opposite Josh Radnor. She's also had a long relationship with The Hallmark Channel where she stars in movies, produces, directs, writes, and also founded their women's directing initiative called "Make Her Mark". She also wrote and directed the short film "Meats" which played at Sundance and sold to Showtime. She has starred in more than a dozen different television pilots over the years and done over 200 episodes of television and television movies, in studio and independent films, regional theater, Off-Broadway, and on Broadway. She starred in the television series The Jim Gaffigan Show on Comedy Central and in the NBC series Good Morning Miami, as well as Warner Brothers' movie Something Borrowed.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Raffey Cassidy is an English actress known for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and Dark Shadows (2012). Her breakthrough role came as Athena in Brad Bird 's Tomorrowland (2015) opposite George Clooney. In 2013, aged 11, Raffey was the youngest ever actor to be named in Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow and her performance as Athena won worldwide critical acclaim. Raffey has been performing since the age of seven with roles in the acclaimed television drama Mr Selfridge (2013) opposite Jeremy Piven. In 2016 Raffey appeared alongside Brad Pitt in the WW2 drama Allied (2016), and in 2017 will appear opposite Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell in The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) director Yorgos Lanthimos's eagerly anticipated Cannes Film Festival 2017 Best Screenplay Winner and Palm d'Or contender The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Megan is an only child born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Martha, was a model, and her father, Carter Mullally Jr., was a contract player for Paramount. Megan first entered Northwestern University intending to study acting, but switched to English literature. However, she still ended up starring in several campus musicals, which gained attention from producers and prompted her to drop out of school. In 1985, she moved to Los Angeles with no particular success. But, in 1994, she co-starred in "Grease" on Broadway with Rosie O'Donnell and, in 1995, in "How To Succeed In Business" with Matthew Broderick. Her star has been rising ever since. Her band Nancy and Beth have recorded two albums and tour extensively. She has directed four music videos for Nancy and Beth, which can be found at nancyandbeth.com.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
On November 12, 1929, Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to wealthy parents. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace struck out on her own, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck there. Grace worked some as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. She also made a brief foray into the infant medium of television. Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures. In 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled Fourteen Hours (1951) when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon (1952), a western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but it was another popular one. The film was Mogambo (1953) where Grace played Linda Nordley. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. It was also one of the best films ever released by MGM. Although she got noticed with High Noon, her work with director Alfred Hitchcock, which began with Dial M for Murder (1954) made her a star. Her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) brought her to prominence. As Lisa Fremont, she was cast opposite James Stewart, who played a crippled photographer who witnesses a murder in the next apartment from his wheelchair. Grace stayed busy in 1954 appearing in five films. Grace would forever be immortalized by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954). In 1955, Grace once again teamed with Hitchcock in To Catch a Thief (1955) co-starring Cary Grant. In 1956, she played Tracy Lord in the musical comedy High Society (1956) which also starred Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. The whimsical tale ended with her re-marrying her former husband, played by Crosby. The film was well received. It also turned out to be her final acting performance. Grace had recently met and married Prince Rainier of the little principality of Monaco. By becoming a princess, she gave up her career. For the rest of her life, she was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. On September 14, 1982, Grace was killed in an automobile accident in her adoptive home country. She was just 52 years old.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Radha Mitchell (born 12 November 1973) is an Australian actress. She started her career acting in various Australian TV series and movies, and later became known for her appearance in Hollywood films. Mitchell, a native of Melbourne, began acting when she was still in high school and had her professional debut on the popular Australian soap, Neighbours (1985) in 1994. Two years later, she made her film debut in the romantic comedy Love and Other Catastrophes (1996), in which she starred as a college student experiencing a messy breakup. The film proved to be fairly popular in Australia, but it wasn't until she was cast in High Art (1998) that Mitchell gained an introduction to a wider audience. The critical success of "High Art" made it possible for her to do more international work, and her increasing popularity was reflected by her subsequent casting in a number of projects. Among them were Pitch Black (2000), a sci-fi horror film in which Mitchell played a pilot whose ship crashes on a hostile planet, and Everything Put Together (2000), a drama where she plays a suburban woman shunned by her peers after the death of her baby. Her career continued with a diverse run of films, including Nobody's Baby (2001), Man on Fire (2004), Finding Neverland (2004), and landing the lead in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda (2004). Those last three films all hit the screens in 2004, and although kept working steadily, she never quite capitalized on the buzz she generated that year. Her other credits include Silent Hill (2006), Henry Poole Is Here (2008), Surrogates (2009) and The Crazies (2010).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tamala Jones was born on 12 November 1974 in Pasadena, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Blue Streak (1999), Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and Booty Call (1997).- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Omar Rudberg was born on 12 November 1998 in Caracas, Venezuela. He is an actor and composer, known for Young Royals (2021), Omar Rudberg: Moving Like That (2022) and Omar Rudberg: Todo De Ti (All That She Wants) (2022).- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Nima Nourizadeh is an acclaimed British-Iranian filmmaker whose work spans across Film, TV, Commercials, Music Videos, and Art.
After graduating from Central St. Martins College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art Film & Video, Nima began his filmmaking career in London's alternative art scene where he and his friends created The Imaginary Tennis Club, an artistic collective dedicated to making provocative, multimedia work.
As a prominent director of award winning music videos and commercials, Nima stepped into the world of cinema with his debut feature film Project X, released by Warner Bros. with Todd Phillips & Joel Silver producing. The hit movie, chronicled the most epic house party of all time, and went on to gross over $100M worldwide.
Nima is the son of Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh, who is an Iranian scholar, journalist and a Political commentator.
Nima's brothers are music producers, 16B, & Nav.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Craig Parker was born on November 12th 1970 in Suva, Fiji and now lives in New Zealand. He is best know for his part as Haldir the Elf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, although he had a part in the 1993 film of Stephen King's "Tommyknockers".- Actress
- Soundtrack
Her father, Donald Cole, was a consulting engineer, and died in 1926 when Kim was only three years old. Her mother, Grace Lind, once performed as a concert pianist. She had one brother who was eight years older than she, and she was educated at Miami Beach High.
According to an in-depth article on Kim Hunter by Joseph Collura in the October 2009 issue of "Classic Images", Kim was quiet and painfully shy as a child and overcame it through the guidance of a local dramatics teacher, a Mrs. Carmine. Included were diction, voice and posture lessons.
She studied at the Actors Studio and her first professional appearance was as "Penny" in "Penny Wise" in Miami in November 1939. Then, she joined a repertory group called "Theatre of Fifteen", but it disbanded in 1942 when WWII took away most of its male members.
She made her Broadway debut performance as "Stella" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York, in December 1947 that was the 1947-1948 season's success and for which she won the Critics Circle and Donaldson awards.
A one-time student of the Pasadena Playhouse, she was appearing in the 1942 production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" when she was discovered by an RKO talent hunter who signed her to a seven-year contract for David O. Selznick's company. Selznick suggested she change her first name to "Kim" and a RKO secretary suggested the last name of "Hunter". A few years later, Irene Mayer Selznick, David's ex-wife by then, recommended Kim for her reprise role of "Stella" in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), for which she won an Oscar.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born on 12 November 1978 in Bucharest, Romania, Alexandra Maria Lara fled to Germany with her parents when she was four and half years old. After graduating at the French High School, she studied acting at the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg from 1997 and 2000, but had already played leading characters in several TV shows and movies such as Die Bubi Scholz Story (1998). Due to her critically acclaimed performance in The Tunnel (2001), she has appeared in several successful national and international projects, most notably the Oscar nominated Downfall (2004).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ben Aldridge was born on 12 November 1985 in Exeter, Devon, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Knock at the Cabin (2023), Spoiler Alert (2022) and The Long Call (2021).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Raymond Ablack was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is most known for his work on Degrassi (2010), Narcos (2017) and most recently Ginny and Georgia (2021).
Raymond attended Ryerson University where he completed a 4-year B.A. in Radio and Television, Media Production, with an English minor. Raymond studied Stand up Comedy and Improvisation at The Second City in Toronto. And he completed a 4-year arts specialty diploma in choral music at Cardinal Carter, Academy for the Arts.- Actress
- Director
- Stunts
As an action actor, Jenna Kanell has performed while riding motorcycles, stunt driving cars, airborne in harnesses, underwater, with weapons, and in countless fight scenes.
Jenna delivered a TEDx Talk on the experience of stepping behind the camera for the first time, alongside her neurodivergent brother. She has since written, assistant directed, and produced features, directed and edited fundraising videos, and written and directed numerous award-winning short films with worldwide festival runs.
Jenna also taught her cat how to high five.- Angela Watson was born a farmer's daughter in a little town of 500 people, outside of Danville, Illinois. Her parents retired and moved to Southwest Florida when Angela was just ten years old. Her performing career had begun with tap dancing at the age of three, continuing into her pre-teens when she amassed over 200 trophies and 60 crowns competing in numerous beauty pageants. Angela quickly learned that even the best dancer had difficulty beating out a singer in the talent portion of those contests. Angela was determined to win First Place, thus her singing career was born. At age 13, she locked herself in her room, not appearing for days until she announced to her parents she would be singing Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" in the upcoming pageant, and that she planned to win. And win she did! Her pageant success led to modeling in New York and Dallas, until she was discovered by a manager who advised her parents to take her to Los Angeles and give her a shot at television and film work. Her first national commercial was for McDonald's, followed by Doritos, IBM and GE. Within her first year in California, Angela was cast in a recurring role on ABC's "Davis Rules" with Jonathan Winters and Randy Quaid. The following year, Angela was handpicked to costar in the 90's TGIF sitcom "Step by Step" playing Suzanne Somers and Patrick Duffy's very vain and seemingly shallow, though with a good heart, teenage daughter "Karen Foster" for 7 seasons. The show has over 150 episodes currently streaming on Hulu. Even though a successful TV actress, Angela was far from an experienced Hollywood wild child, and unfortunately her innocence and naivete were taken advantage of by a so called "production partner" who promised to help her transition into an adult actor with longevity in the business. By the time her family and friends realized he was actually a con man who was brainwashing Angela, it was too late. Over the next 20 years, not only was Angela isolated from everyone she loved, but he also convinced her that she had to sue her parents for supposedly "stealing her money," when in fact, he was the one fleecing her acting earnings. Her relationship with the narcissistic abuser turned into a daily nightmare she couldn't escape from. Thankfully, Angela was able to secretly listen to some YouTube videos that she now knows was actually reprogramming her brain to choose to be happy despite her circumstances. After two years of doing so, she realized she had the courage and strength to break free. Angela says it was "by the Grace of God, and her mother's unceasing prayers for her return," that she is now joyfully reunited with her formerly estranged family and friends. This new chapter of her life has already kicked off with quite a bang, after accompanying her new husband to the optometrist, Michael Witherington, a songwriter at heart from Oklahoma. He asked Angela to record his catchy original song, "We Love Santa Claus," with producer Julian Sundby, and Angela was delighted to sing the fun toe-tapping holiday tune. Angela kicked off 2020 playing 8 different characters in a 6 week run of The Dining Room.
- Harvey Stephens was born on 12 November 1970 in England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Omen (1976), The Omen (2006) and Gauguin the Savage (1980). He has been married to Emma since 2002. They have one child.
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Sam Lloyd was born on 12 November 1963 in Springfield, Vermont, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Scrubs (2001), Galaxy Quest (1999) and Flubber (1997). He was married to Vanessa Villalovos. He died on 30 April 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Not just another tall, beautiful brunette, Valerie Leon had extensive experience in British theatre, television and films - and not just as a sexpot - before she became a fixture in the "Carry On" series, appearing in seven of them. In addition to comedy, she also excelled in horror films, playing a dual role in one of Hammer's best, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), and had the distinction of appearing with two different James Bonds, Roger Moore and Sean Connery.
- Alex Carter was born on 12 November 1963 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor, known for The Island (2005), Veritas: The Quest (2003) and Out of Time (2003).
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Kelly Kruger was born on 12 November 1982 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is an actress and producer, known for The Young and the Restless (1973), Entourage (2004) and Blue Mountain State (2010). She has been married to Darin Brooks since 21 March 2016. They have one child.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Brooklyn-native actress Ina Balin (née Rosenberg) was born on November 12, 1937, into a Jewish family of entertainers. Her parents were Betty (nee Friedman) and Sam Rosenberg, who divorced when she was 9 years old. Her father was a dancer/singer/comedian who worked the Borscht Belt. He later quit show business to join his family's furrier business. Her mother was a Hungarian-born professional dancer who escaped a troubled family life by marrying at age 15. Sam was her third husband at age 21. They divorced when Ina and her brother, Richard Balin, were still quite young and the children were placed in boarding schools (she at the Montessori Children's Village in Bucks County, Pennsylvania) until their mother married a fourth time to wealthy shoe magnate Harold Balin, who later adopted Betty's two children, who took his surname.
Ina always wanted to be an actress and her mother encouraged her to take ballet lessons while young. Her first big break occurred in NewvYork at age 15 when she appeared on Perry Como's 1950s TV show. She went on to attend New York University majoring in theater and also studied with Actors Studio exponents Lonny Chapman and Curt Conway while gathering additional experience on the summer stock stage. She made an auspicious Broadway debut in a female lead with "Compulsion" in 1957. Two years later, the dark-haired, olive-skinned beauty won a Theatre World Award for her outstanding performance in the Broadway comedy, "A Majority of One", starring Gertrude Berg. Producer Carlo Ponti saw her Broadway performance in "Compulsion" and requested her for a prime role in his film The Black Orchid (1958).
Starring Ponti's wife, Sophia Loren, and Anthony Quinn, Ina received impressive notices as Quinn's sensitive, grown daughter. Considered one of 20th Century Fox's most promising new talents, she received a special "International Star of Tomorrow" Golden Globe for this early work. A major career disappointment occurred when the film version of Compulsion (1959) was made and Ina's ethnic role of "Ruth Goldenberg" was transformed into a non-ethnic part (Ruth Evans) that wound up starring Diane Varsi. Ina was given an unbilled part in the movie. The sting of that studio transgression was somewhat softened when she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actress" for her intensive performance in the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward soaper, From the Terrace (1960), as Newman's love interest. She found herself typecast by the studio and eventually felt compelled to leave.
A soft, slender, but intent-looking actress who could play various types of ethnicities (Jewish, Italian, Mexican, Spanish, Greek, et al.), she had a lovely, quiet glow but could easily display the fiery temperament of an Anna Magnani when called upon. In the 1960s, however, she was overshadowed by a number of her leading men in their respective showcases. She appeared in many Westerns, often as the girlfriend or love interest of the hero. There was little room for any actor to generate interest upon themselves when playing opposite the likes of an Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis and/or John Wayne. In other situations, her roles were merely decorative, less showy, or proved less integral to the main plot, such as her secondary role as "Martha" in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). While Ina maintained a fine balance of TV roles ranging from the dramatic (Bonanza (1959), Mannix (1967), Quincy M.E. (1976), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)) to the humorous (The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), Get Smart (1965)), the one big acting role which could have set her apart from the others never materialized.
Subsequent pictures such as the cult film The Projectionist (1970) and The Don Is Dead (1973) and her assorted appearances in several TV-movies failed to advance her status in Hollywood. And then her life changed...dramatically. As the first woman to ever participate in a handshake tour of a South Vietnam military hospital in the late 1960s, Ina toured Vietnam with the USO in 1970 and was greatly affected by the entire experience. It also triggered a series of trips back to the war-torn region. As a Board Member of the An Lac orphanage in Saigon, she courageously took part in the full-scale evacuation of nearly 400 orphans in 1975 during the fall of the city to the Communists. She eventually adopted three of the 219 children who managed to be flown out of the country. In 1980, the dramatic rescue was replayed via a TV film in which Balin portrayed herself. The well-received The Children of an Lac (1980) also starred Shirley Jones (as fellow rescuer "Betty Tisdale") and Beulah Quo (as the concerned Vietnamese woman who ran the orphanage).
From this point on, Ina's professional career took a back seat to the raising of her children and her ongoing interest in foreign relief. She appeared throughout the 1980s with a sprinkling of guest shots on TV's Battlestar Galactica (1978), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and As the World Turns (1956), among others. As for film, her last movies (The Comeback Trail (1982), Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter (1986) and That's Adequate (1989)) were unworthy of her talents.
Ina never managed to fulfill her promising, Golden Globe-winning potential for she was diagnosed and eventually succumbed, at the age of 52 from pulmonary hypertension. A single parent, she was survived by her three children.- Writer
- Director
- Actress
Céline Sciamma was born on 12 November 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Max Grodénchik was born on 12 November 1952 in Queens, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for The Rocketeer (1991), Rising Sun (1993) and Rumpelstiltskin (1995).- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was born on 12 November 1978 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. She is a producer and director, known for Saving Face (2012), A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers (2015) and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015). She is married to Fahd Kamal Chinoy. They have two children.- Actress
- Writer
Rhonda Shear has been breaking the mold from her beginnings as a New Orleans beauty queen and politician to her years in Hollywood as an actress to her time touring as a professional stand-up comedienne to becoming the mogul behind one of the most popular intimate apparel brands to creating the infomercial sensation The Ahh Bra to writing her first book Up All Night... whew! Rhonda has always worked hard and she has used her strengths and wit to grow into the successful, inspirational woman she has become.
While appearing on countless TV shows and in films, modeling professionally, hosting USA: Up All Night for over 450 episodes, and doing stand-up comedy, Rhonda learned all a girl can know about costuming, enhancing one's assets, and capturing the attention of audiences around the world. Rhonda now delights in sharing that knowledge and encourages women to find happiness and confidence in more than just their underwear drawers. Through Shear Enterprises, LLC Rhonda develops apparel and intimates for women of all shapes and sizes, focusing on comfort, color, and creative solutions. See her Film/TV credits HERE!
Rhonda's empowering approach to design has made the award-winning Rhonda Shear brand a huge success on shopping channels, at online retailers, and in stores around the world. She has a little something for everyone in sizes XS-3X, always has tons of color options, and creates solution-focused styles that are fit to flatter. She designs for her own ever-changing body, and by really listening to the feedback from her millions of customers worldwide.
Rhonda launched her line and Shear Enterprises, LLC in 2003 after reuniting with her childhood sweetheart, Van Fagan, after 26 years apart. While she was climbing the Hollywood ladder to stardom all those years, he was honing his business savvy and when they met again the sparks and ideas really started to fly. Together they built an empire in intimate apparel. Since launching the business, Rhonda, Van, and their talented team have received countless prestigious accolades and awards including Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year: FL, Enterprising Woman of the Year, TB Business Journal's Business Woman of the Year, INC 5000 Fastest Growing Companies, Best Product award at HSN, ERA Moxie Awards, WPO's 3rd Fastest Woman Owned Business, and many, many more! Designing her line is one of many outlets for the creative soul that is Rhonda Shear.
In her new book Up All Night, she shares the stories, revelations, and struggles encountered along the road to success. Rhonda Shear uses her eclectic mix of life experiences featured in the book as inspiration for each new project she approaches...and she is always looking for a new project that uses her unique and multifaceted expertise. She has helped manufacture and launch celebrity lines, pitched TV shows, created signature fragrances, and written a book all while keeping a toe in the comedy world and successfully selling her own lines around the world. We're tired just thinking about all that, but Rhonda Shear...she shows no signs of slowing down! In fact, Rhonda just launched a Facebook Live Show from her home called Rhonda Shear's -Social Distance- Social Hour featuring new guests each week!
As if her business acumen weren't enough, Rhonda is also quite the philanthropist. She hosts charity events, sits on boards, speaks to groups, and volunteers her time and money to multiple charitable organizations every year. Some of her favorites include: SPCA, Pawlicious Pets, American Cancer Society: Making Strides, AHA Go Red for Women, PACE for Girls, CM Ovarian Cancer Society, Bill Edwards Foundation for the Arts, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, John's Hopkins: All Children's Hospital, Tampa Bay Fashion Week, My Fairy Godfathers, and many more. During the scramble for PPE in early 2020, Rhonda was able to manufacture and donate thousands of masks to hospitals, clinics, first responders, and nursing homes throughout Tampa Bay.
Rhonda now lives in St. Petersburg, FL with Van and her 5 adorable rescue dogs (Sweetie, Lexie, Girlie Girl, Honey Baby, & Molly). While she will forever be a New Orleans girl at heart - Go Saints! -, she also supports Tampa Bay's sporting community and local businesses. When they find a spare moment, she and Van enjoy cruising in their party-ready yacht, Help Me Rhonda, or competing for best chef in the kitchen. Never a dull moment with Rhonda Shear!- Vincent Irizarry was born on November 12, 1959 in Queens, New York, USA as Vince Michael Irizarry. He is an Emmy Award winning actor, 4 times nominated, known for performing numerous long running principal roles on several TV shows such as All My Children, Guiding Light, Young and the Restless, Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara, and Bold and the Beautiful. Vincent has also starred in several TV movies and mini-series, such as Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances (opposite Sandra Bullock), Left to Die (opposite Barbara Hershey), and Lying Eyes, to name a few. His feature work has been opposite Clint Eastwood, (Heartbreak Ridge), Sissy Spacek (Marie: A True Story), and Worth, opposite Jeffrey Johnson, Eric Roberts, and Corey Feldman. His most recent Primetime work has been Guest Starring roles on NCIS:LA, Homeland, and Wild West Chronicles. Vincent is a trained tenor, having performed with the Lyon Symphony Orchestra, as well as for Broadway Cares. Vincent has 4 children and 2 granddaughters, and was married to Avalon House, and Signy Coleman, both now divorced.
- Sibylla Deen was born and raised in Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Sibylla showed a keen interest in acting. She began her professional acting studies at age 12 traveling to the US, China and New Zealand to perform on stage. She is known for her portrayal of 'Nusrat Al Fayeed' , Tyrant (fX) and 'Queen Ankhe' in Tut (Spike TV).
- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Neil Young is one of the most respected and prolific rock/folk guitarists of the late 20th century. Raised in Canada, he first became well-known as a guitarist and occasional vocalist for the band Buffalo Springfield. After the band's breakup, Young became a solo performer. However, he also has spent more than 30 years performing with the super-group Crosby Stills Nash & Young, as well as with the band Crazy Horse. He also recorded an album with the grunge band Pearl Jam in 1995. Besides his work as a musician, he has also been active in film. Young has produced and/or performed in such concert films as Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Year of the Horse (1997) and many more. He has also been involved with non-musical films, including Human Highway (1982) and Made in Heaven (1987).- Leah O'Rourke is an actress, known for Half Brothers (2016) Normality (2014) and Fiddlers Walk (2006) Leah was born in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. Leah trained at The Guildford School Of Acting in London. Before going to drama school, Leah completed a Degree in English and Drama at Queen's University Belfast.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Kirsten Hansen was born on 12 November 1979 in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. She is a writer and producer, known for Chesapeake Shores (2016), Cross Country Christmas (2020) and Irish Wish (2024).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lisa O'Hare was born on 12 November 1983 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for New Amsterdam (2018), Castle (2009) and The Closer (2005). She has been married to Brian Shoemaker since 26 September 2009. They have one child.- Will Stevens was born on 12 November 1995. He is an actor, known for Alexander: The Making of a God (2024), Silent Witness (1996) and Games Night (2020).
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Stacey Scowley was born on 12 November 1973 in Danville, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Eagle Eye (2008), Date Night (2010) and Dollhouse (2009).- Ava Capri was born on 12 November 1995. She is an actress, known for Do Revenge (2022), Little Rituals and Embattled (2020).
- Karen Sheperd is an accomplished American actress with numerous credits in film, television and theatre. Also a highly accomplished athlete, Karen found an early fascination with theatre as a very young girl. Working backstage on a regional production of "The King and I' in Oregon, Karen found herself holding the exact ball-gown that Deborah Kerr wore in the 1956 film of the same title. Karen memorized the whole play that summer and imagined herself going from "backstage" to "center-stage". Karen began appearing in high-school and regional plays. Her first theatre lead was the role of Bilbo Baggins in "Lord of the Rings". The company took the production "on the road" and played for numerous grade-school and junior-high school students throughout Oregon. Sheperd later went on to appear in regional summer productions such as "Brigadoon" and "Fiddler on the Roof", directed by Oregon's legendary theatre Director and teacher, Ed Ragozzino.
Enthralled with Bruce Lee, Karen Sheperd found another passion in studying martial arts. Sheperd ultimately became legendary in the martial arts world. Karen became the first woman to be rated #1 in the only ratings system at the time, "Karate Illustrated" magazine (1979), ratings she worked hard to establish for all women who followed. Karen was also one of the first woman to ever grace the cover of "Karate Illustrated" magazine (February, 1982) and went on to grace many more magazine covers. Sheperd was also the first woman to be rated in the next existing ratings system, "Kick" magazine ("Inside Kung Fu"), thus retaining her undefeated #1 title 2 years in a row, 1979 and 1980. Karen Sheperd retired from competition early in the 1981 season to answer the call from Hollywood. At the top of her game in 1981, Karen accepted an offer to co-star in the film, "Shinobi Ninja", becoming the first American female martial artist to be cast in an action film. Lying in 6 feet of snow, in front of the cameras high in the mountains of Japan, Karen was "bit by the film bug" and moved to Los Angeles to study acting.
Karen received rave reviews for her lead theatre roles in Hollywood theatre productions such as "Summer and Smoke" by Tennessee Williams and "In The Boom Boom Room" by David Rabe.
Karen is well known for her recurring guest-star role as "The Enforcer" on television's "Hercules, The Legendary Journeys", opposite Kevin Sorbo. Her first episode, titled "The Enforcer", received the highest ratings ever for the entire series. This ratings success was partly credited to her manager, Cathryn James (who also repped Quentin Tarantino), who cleverly sent a press release to Karen's fan base: every martial arts school across America.
Karen starred in the role of "Chen" in Angelina Jolie's first film, "Cyborg 2", also working alongside Jack Palance, Elias Koreas and Billy Drago. Sheperd also helped train and prepare Angelina Jolie for film-fighting during preproduction of "Cyborg 2". Karen's experience working with Angelina is documented in Andrew Morton's 2010 unauthorized biography titled, "Angelina".
Able to do her own fights, Karen was a natural, blending her acting and fight skills traveling the globe starring and co-starring in action films such as "Boogie Boy" with life-long friend (and her instructor's son), Mark Dacascos and including Emily Lloyd, John Hawkes and Joan Jett. Other films included "Firestorm" with John Savage, Paul Ben-Victor, Paul Williams and Robert Carradine, "Operation Golden Phoenix" with James Hong, "Blood Chase" with Andrew Stevens and many others. In a bold move in 1985, after seeing a full-page pre-production announcement in the daily "Variety" for the upcoming film "America 3000", Karen wrote a letter to the film's Director, David Engelbach. Her letter led to an interview and audition which landed her a double contract with the film and a 3-month stay in Israel. Karen co-starred in the role of "Keva" and is also credited as "Assistant Fight Choreographer".
Besides acting, Karen has lent her expertise as a fight-choreographer to various film, television and stage productions, including live-action projects at Disneyland, CA.
Karen Sheperd pioneered recognition for women in martial arts. Competing with men, Karen was the only woman rated in the top 10. She believed more women would compete if they had a title to work for. In 1978, Sheperd took on the endeavor to have ratings established for women. She met with Renardo Barden of the "Karate Illustrated" ratings system (the only ratings system at the time) and was given the challenge to start a petition with competitors and to encourage tournament promoters to have divisions for women. Sheperd was victorious in her historic endeavor when "Karate Illustrated" finally established official, separate ratings for women in 1979. Now considered a living legend and true pioneer for women in martial arts, Sheperd has received countless "Halls of Fame" honors and awards and is often a keynote speaker at martial arts events, seminars and for women's groups around the world.
Karen has been happily married to the same man since 1993, loves animals, has always had numerous rescue cats and dogs, actively serves her church community, still loves acting and she just knows ... THAT one special project with just the right crew to help make her shine is just right around the corner! - Kengo Kôra was born on 12 November 1987 in Kumamoto, Japan. He is an actor, known for Shin Godzilla (2016), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) and Shoplifters (2018).
- Julie Ege was born on 12 November 1943 in Sandnes, Norway. She was an actress, known for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Not Now Darling (1973) and The Mutations (1974). She was married to Alf Kruger-Monsen and Erland Skatten. She died on 29 April 2008 in Oslo, Norway.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
A Columbia University grad with an economics degree, Richard Ney was sidetracked into stage and films. For his movie debut, Ney was cast as Greer Garson's eldest son in the Oscar-winning Mrs. Miniver (1942). He later married Garson, twelve years his senior and drawing criticism during their 1947 divorce proceedings, when it was alleged that he had derided her for being old. One does not malign an icon like Greer Garson, and Ney suffered for the divorce with a series of inferior films made both in Hollywood and Europe, the nadir being 1953's horrendous Babes in Bagdad (1952). Ney forsook acting for good in 1961 to become a prominent stock market analyst and financial consultant. He gained nationwide fame in 1962 for accurately predicting the stock market crash of that year. He also wrote several best-selling books on the subject of Wall Street, and was a frequent talk-show guest and financial-advice show host.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
A producer, director, two-time Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards-honored voice actor, voice match specialist, songwriter, music producer, entrepreneur, poet and philanthropist, Lex Lang is one of Hollywood's most versatile creative personalities.
During college, Lex performed stand-up comedy and did impersonations across the country at famous venues such as The Comedy Store, Dr. Giggles, The NFL Cub, Anderson's Fifth Estate and The Improv, where he performed regularly with comedians Jim Carrey, Richard Belzer, and David Spade.
Lex also performed with the Royal London Shakespeare Theatre Company in the Summer stock performance of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" under the direction of John Houseman.
Lex eventually moved back to Hollywood, California to study music at The Musician's Institute and to continue his acting career. He is proficient at playing the guitar, bass, piano, and has written over 200 songs in multiple genres. Lex loves to play poker and enjoys spending time with his wife Sandy Fox, and their four dogs and one cat.
As a voice director for live action, animation, and video games, Lex has directed voice actors on numerous productions for clients including Cartoon Network, EWAM, Sony, Codemasters, Bang Zoom Entertainment, Technicolor, PCB productions, HBO and Warner Brothers.
As a voice actor he can be heard on networks across the country doing promos, trailers, announcing major live specials, and doing sound a-likes for celebrities. He also plays a variety of voices on the animated shows The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008), Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005), Regular Show (2010), Curious George (2006), Naruto (2002), and more.
In 2013, he was made the voice of The Guy's Choice Awards on Spike TV and is the voice for UFC promos on Fox.
He is the co-founder of The Love Planet Foundation since 1999. He is an advocate for the environment and promotes green living, positive thinking, children's education and planet preservation. He is also an animal lover, he has 4 dogs and one cat, and he is an avid Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) fan. Over 150 viewings of Episode IV alone!
Lex and his wife Sandy Fox are founders of H2Om Water with Intention (since 2006), an award-winning natural spring in an eco-friendly container, which encourages you to harness the power of your positive thoughts! Just "think it while you drink it"®.
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Movie: Star Wars
Favorite Food: Mom's
Favorite Quote: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
-Jimi Hendrix
Awards:
John F. Kennedy Center For Performing Arts Excellence In Acting Award
Outstanding Actor Award from The American College Theatre Festival
Two-time Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards-honored voice actor- Actor
- Soundtrack
"America's Joyboy," beefy, plump-faced comedian Jack Oakie, was one of the funniest top and second banana jokesters of stage, radio and especially film's "Golden Age." He would accomplish so much despite the fact that he was "functionally deaf" throughout his career and performed primarily with the aid of lip reading or vibrations.
The stories vary on how he became deaf -- scarlet fever at age 9, a Wall Street building explosion where he worked -- but, whatever the case, it seems a minor miracle that he managed to become a performing success not only for his famous "triple take" comedy but also for his work in Broadway and Hollywood musicals, which could not have been an easy task! A slapstick inspiration to future comedians like Jackie Gleason, Oakie's lightweight foolery and participation in films was pretty much standard cornball with a lot of mugging to boot, but then he surprised audiences by topping it all off in the hands of the legendary Charles Chaplin with a scene-stealing Oscar-nominated support role in a political satire masterpiece.
Jack was born Lewis Delaney Offield in Sedalia, Missouri on November 12, 1903, the son of a grain dealer (who died while Jack was quite young) and a teacher of psychology (Mary Evelyn Oakie Offield). His family moved to moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was raised at times with his grandmother in Kansas City, Missouri, and made extra money there as a paperboy for The Kansas City Star.
Moving eventually to New York, Jack first worked as a runner for a brokerage firm on Wall Street, and nearly lost his life when a nearby Wall Street building was bombed on September 16, 1920. Interested in comedy and mime by this point, he began building up confidence on the amateur stage and giving himself a new name, Jack Oakie, which was comprised of the first character he ever played on stage and his mother's maiden name.
Jack took his first professional curtain call on Broadway in 1923 as a chorus boy in George M. Cohan's production of "Little Nellie Kelly." From there he found employment in a number of comedies, as well as musicals throughout the mid to late 1920s, including "Sharlee" (1923), the revues "Innocent Eyes" (1924) and "Artists and Models" (1925), and the musical "Peggy-Ann" in 1926. He also appeared in a couple of unbilled film parts in 1923 and 1924.
Films came calling toward the end of the silent era in 1927, and he relocated to Los Angeles where he made several non-talkies on his arrival, including Finders Keepers (1928) starring Laura La Plante and John Harron (Bobby's little brother) and directed by Wesley Ruggles; Clara Bow's The Fleet's In (1928); and the western Sin Town (1929). With the advent of sound, Oakie was signed, with the help of director Ruggles, to a contract by Paramount and appeared in his first talkie, the Ruth Chatterton/Fredric March starrer The Dummy (1929). Jack went on to support Wallace Beery in Chinatown Nights (1929); Dorothy Mackaill in Hard to Get (1929); Betty Compson and John Harron in Street Girl (1929); and Nancy Carroll in the musical Sweetie (1929). Settling in, he never returned to the Broadway stage.
Jack finally shared top billing with Evelyn Brent in the comedy film Fast Company (1929) as Elmer Kane, a character based on the George M. Cohan Broadway show "Elmer the Great." This led to top billing in the film version of the Broadway hit musical Hit the Deck (1929), as well as the early talking comedy vehicles The Social Lion (1930), The Sap from Syracuse (1930), Let's Go Native (1930), Sea Legs (1930), The Gang Buster (1931), June Moon (1931), Dude Ranch (1931), Once in a Lifetime (1932), Madison Square Garden (1932), Uptown New York (1932), Sitting Pretty (1933) and Shoot the Works (1934). Occasional dramas came his way with Dancers in the Dark (1932) co-starring Miriam Hopkins and Sky Bride (1932) co-starring Richard Arlen.
Throughout the 1930s, the 30-year-old plus actor appeared in a host of light college-themed comedies and was lovingly dubbed "The World's Oldest Freshman" while adding to the humor of such films as College Humor (1933), College Rhythm (1934) and Collegiate (1936). Elsewhere, in Too Much Harmony (1933), his mother Evelyn was featured as his mother, and he played Tweedledum to Roscoe Karns' Tweedledee in the all-star version of Alice in Wonderland (1933).
Oakie's contract ended with Paramount in 1934 and he continued as a freelancing agent until an RKO contract came his way a couple of years later. Starting to now gain a bit in girth, Oakie went back into support roles in musicals, adventures and comedies. Among the better known films were Call of the Wild (1935) with Clark Gable and Loretta Young; Colleen (1936) with Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler; The Toast of New York (1937) with Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer; Tin Pan Alley (1940) with Alice Faye and Betty Grable and Iceland (1942) with Sonja Henie and John Payne.
In the late 1930s, Jack traveled to Europe for some work and suffered a huge career setback when he returned to Hollywood and found himself unwanted. The draught lasted nearly two years until a major comeback thanks to Charles Chaplin. While such film highlights must include Million Dollar Legs (1932), King of Burlesque (1936), The Affairs of Annabel (1938) and Rise and Shine (1941), Oakie will in all probability be best remembered for his lip-smacking parody of Benito Mussolini ("Il Duce")in Chaplin's classic The Great Dictator (1940). As Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of the fictional country of Bacteria, Jack earned his only Oscar nomination in the "Supporting Actor" category. Throughout his lead career, he worked with a quality number of diverse leading ladies on film from Carole Lombard to Lily Pons.
Oakie also found work on radio, hosting his own show, "Jack Oakie's College," between 1936 and 1938. His deafness did not affect the output of his work, and, as a pro, seldom were there problems in accommodating his disability. Director Jules Dassin, in fact, once made it a point to state that Oakie never caused any delays in the filming of his film noir Thieves' Highway (1949).
Into the 1950s and 1960s, his career slowed down quite a bit, primarily due to his disability. He appeared to good advantage in the films The Rat Race (1960) and Lover Come Back (1961) and with TV comedy and drama on such popular shows as "The Real McCoys," "Daniel Boone," "Bonanza" and, his last, "Night Gallery" in 1972.
Jack Oakie was married twice. His first marriage (1936-1945) was to Venita Varden, who perished in the 1948 air crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. Oakie's second marriage was to actress Victoria Horne in 1950; they moved to an estate in Northridge and lived there until his death. The USC School of Cinematic Arts continues its durable ties with Hollywood history in the form of The Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation, which provides scholarships.
The comic actor died on January 23, 1978, in Los Angeles, California at the age of 74 from an aortic aneurysm. His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the Los Angeles area.- Byungchan was born on 12 November 1997 in Jeonju, North Jeolla, South Korea. He is an actor, known for Live On (2020), Sassy, Go Go (2015) and Business Proposal (2022).
- Tonya Harding was born on 12 November 1970 in Portland, Oregon, USA. She is an actress, known for Breakaway (1996), Arli$$ (1996) and The Prize Fighter (2003). She has been married to Joseph Jens Price since 23 June 2010. They have one child. She was previously married to Michael Smith and Jeff Gillooly.
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Editor
Born in Paris in 1904, Tourneur went to Hollywood with his father, director Maurice Tourneur around 1913. He started out as a script clerk and editor for his father, then graduated to such jobs as directing shorts (often with the pseudonym Jack Turner), both in France and America. He was hired to run the second unit for David O. Selznick's A Tale of Two Cities (1935), where he first met Val Lewton. In 1942, when Lewton was named to head the new horror unit at RKO, he asked Tourneur to be his first director. The result was the highly artistic (and commercially successful) Cat People (1942). Tourneur went on to direct masterpieces in many different genres, all showing a great command of mood and atmosphere.