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Barry Pearl was born on March 29, 1950 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA as Barry Lee Pearl. Upon graduating from Carnegie -Mellon University (1973) he joined the cast of the first national tour of the stage play, Grease, which began his journey with that project to the very present. He is known for his work on the film, Grease (1978), My Favorite Martian (1999) and The Newest Pledge (2012) to name a few. To see a partial, yet rather extensive list of Barry's other theatrical credits, please view his resume.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Didi Conn was born Edith Bernstein, July 13, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, she is memorable for her role as "Frenchy" in Grease. With over 40 film and television credits, we should acknowledge Didi's work in The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980), Grease 2 (1982), Benson, Shining Time Station (1989), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). Since her son Daniel had been diagnosed with the disorder, on November 13, 2008, she was named "national celebrity spokesperson" for Autism Speaks. She has made several appearances, educating the masses on the disorder.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Dinah Manoff was born in New York City, New York, to screenwriter Arnold Manoff and actress, director, and writer Lee Grant. She began her professional career in the PBS production of "The Great Cherub Knitwear Strike". After subsequent guest appearances on various television series, she received a Tony Award in 1980 for her performance in the Broadway production of Neil Simon's "I Ought To Be In Pictures", a role she reprised in the film version, starring opposite Walter Matthau. Additional theater credits include Broadway's "Leader of the Pack", "Alfred and Victoria", "Kingdom on Earth" and the Los Angeles stage production of "Love Letters", opposite Patrick Cassidy. On television, Manoff was a regular on Witt-Thomas-Harris' Soap (1977) and also appeared in the television movies The Cover Girl and the Cop (1989) (aka "Beauty & Denise"), Raid on Entebbe (1976), For Ladies Only (1981), The Seduction of Gina (1984), A Matter of Sex (1984), Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984), the miniseries Celebrity (1984) and the NBC movie-of-the-week Babies (1990), with Lindsay Wagner. Manoff's feature film credits include Ordinary People (1980), Grease (1978), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Child's Play (1988), _Backfire (1988).- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
You know Jamie Donnelly from her double-wide smile and champagne personality. A veteran actress of stage, television, and movies, Jamie is a bonafide cult figure for not one but two major 20th century cultural events: The original "Rocky Horror Show", both at the Roxy in Los Angeles and on Broadway with Tim Curry, in which she coined the roles of Trixie and Magenta, and "Grease" on Broadway and in the movie with John and Olivia in which she played Jan, the "brusha brusha" Pink Lady.
After growing up in New Jersey where she could see the glittering skyline of New York City across the river, Jamie did a couple dozen summer stock musicals before she landed on Broadway at the age of seventeen in Kander and Ebb's, "Flora, The Red Menace". She both understudied Liza Minelli's Tony award winning title role and originated the character of Lulu. A darling of the New York theatre crowd, she continued starring in a succession of Broadway musicals such as "George M" at the Palace opposite Joel Grey. One of her favorite memories is having been taught "Falling in Love with Love" by Richard Rodgers which she sang at the Helen Hayes Theatre in "Rodgers and Hart".
Jamie also worked off-Broadway in the original company of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown", in regional theatre for "Hot L Baltimore", overseen by the playwright, Lanford Wilson, in soap opera for a recurring role as Dusty Maguire on "The Guiding Light", guest starring on television series "Policewoman" and "Barnaby Jones", and television movies as a country western star with James Franciscus, "The Dream Makers".
In another favorite part of her life, Jamie spent years on a ranch in Montana riding horses and writing screenplays for Hollywood, including "Desperado" from the Eagles album, with the love of her life, her husband, novelist Stephen H. Foreman ("Toehold"). They have a son and daughter, Sevi (b. 1987) and Madden (b. 1989), young musicians in their own right. While her kids were growing up Jamie became the beloved acting coach of some of the best actors and actresses in Hollywood today.
She's excited about coming back to her public opposite Marisa Tomei and John C. Reilly in the upcoming Fox Searchlight feature, "The Untitled Duplass Brothers Film", a guest starring role in the final season of the Golden Globe and Emmy winner, "Monk", Nickelodeon's "The Naked Brothers Band", and Lifetime's "The Legend of Lucy Keyes". It should surprise no one that Jamie's blood type is, honest to God, "B Positive".- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
John Joseph Travolta was born in Englewood, New Jersey, one of six children of Helen Travolta (née Helen Cecilia Burke) and Salvatore/Samuel J. Travolta. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father owned a tire repair shop called Travolta Tires in Hillsdale, NJ. Travolta started acting appearing in a local production of "Who'll Save the Plowboy?". His mother, herself an actress and dancer, enrolled him in a drama school in New York, where he studied voice, dancing and acting. He decided to combine all three of these skills and become a musical comedy performer. At 16 he landed his first professional job in a summer stock production of the musical "Bye Bye Birdie". He quit school at 16 and moved to New York, and worked regularly in summer stock and on television commercials. When work became scarce in New York, he went to Hollywood and appeared in minor roles in several series. A role in the national touring company of the hit 1950s musical "Grease" brought him back to New York. An opening in the New York production of "Grease" gave him his first Broadway role at age 18. After "Grease", he became a member of the company of the Broadway show "Over Here", which starred The Andrews Sisters. After ten months in "Over Here", he decided to try Hollywood once again. Once back in Hollywood, he had little trouble getting roles in numerous television shows. He was seen on The Rookies (1972), Emergency! (1972) and Medical Center (1969) and also made a movie, The Devil's Rain (1975), which was shot in New Mexico. The day he returned to Hollywood from New Mexico, he was called to an audition for a new situation comedy series ABC was planning to produce called Welcome Back, Kotter (1975). He got the part of Vinnie Barbarino and the series went on the air during the 1975 fall season.
He starred in a number of monumental films, earning his first Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for his role in the blockbuster Saturday Night Fever (1977), which launched the disco phenomenon in the 1970s. He went on to star in the big-screen version of the long-running musical Grease (1978) and the wildly successful Urban Cowboy (1980), which also influenced trends in popular culture. Additional film credits include the Brian De Palma thrillers Carrie (1976) and Blow Out (1981), as well as Amy Heckerling's hit comedy Look Who's Talking (1989) and Nora Ephron's comic hit Michael (1996). Travolta starred in Phenomenon (1996) and took an equally distinctive turn as an action star in John Woo's top-grossing Broken Arrow (1996). He also starred in the classic Face/Off (1997) opposite Nicolas Cage, and The General's Daughter (1999), co-starring Madeleine Stowe. In 2005, Travolta reprised the role of ultra cool Chili Palmer in the Get Shorty (1995) sequel Be Cool (2005). In addition, he starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the critically-acclaimed independent feature film A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004), which was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where both Travolta and the films won rave reviews. In February 2011, John was honored by Europe's leading weekly program magazine HORZU, with the prestigious Golden Camera Award for "Best Actor International" in Berlin, Germany. Other recent feature film credits include box-office hit-comedy "Wild Hogs", the action-thriller Ladder 49 (2004), the movie version of the successful comic book The Punisher (2004), the drama Basic (2003), the psychological thriller Domestic Disturbance (2001), the hit action picture Swordfish (2001), the infamous sci-fi movie Battlefield Earth (2000), based upon the best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard, and Lonely Hearts (2006).
Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award nominations, the latest for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit-man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994). He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for this highly-acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards. Travolta garnered further praise as a Mafioso-turned-movie producer in the comedy sensation Get Shorty (1995), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy. In 1998, Travolta was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts with the Britanna Award: and in that same year he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chicago Film Festival. Travolta also won the prestigious Alan J. Pakula Award from the US Broadcast Critics Association for his performance in A Civil Action (1998), based on the best-selling book and directed by Steven Zaillian. He was nominated again for a Golden Globe for his performance in Primary Colors (1998), directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Emma Thompson and Billy Bob Thornton, and in 2008, he received his sixth Golden Globe nomination for his role as "Edna Turnblad" in the big-screen, box-office hit, Hairspray (2007). As a result of this performance, the Chicago Film Critics and the Santa Barbara Film Festival decided to recognize Travolta with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role.
In addition, Travolta starred opposite Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's remake The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), and he provided the voice of the lead character in Walt Disney Pictures' animated hit Bolt (2008), which was nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film, in addition to Best Song for John and Miley Cyrus' duet titled, "I Thought I Lost You".
Next, Travolta starred in Walt Disney Pictures' Old Dogs (2009), along with Robin Williams, Kelly Preston and Ella Bleu Travolta, followed by the action thriller From Paris with Love (2010), starring opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers. In 2012, John starred alongside Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demián Bichir in Oliver Stone's, Savages (2012). The film was based on Don Winslow's best-selling crime novel that was named one of The New York Times' Top 10 Books of 2010. John was most recently seen in Killing Season (2013), co-starring Robert De Niro, and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. John recently completed production on the Boston-based film, The Forger (2014), alongside Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer and Critic's Choice nominee Tye Sheridan. John plays a second-generation petty thief who arranges to get out of prison to spend time with his ailing son (Sheridan) by taking on a job with his father (Plummer) to pay back the syndicate that arranged his release. John has received 2 prestigious aviation awards: in 2003, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation Award for Excellence for his efforts to promote commercial flying, and, in 2007, The Living Legends Ambassador of Aviation award.
John holds 11 jet licenses: 747, 707, Gulfstream II, Lear 24, Hawker 1251A, Eclipse Jet, Vampire Jet, Canadair CL-141 Jet, Soko Jet, Citation ISP and Challenger. Travolta is the Qantas Airways Global Goodwill "Ambassador-at-Large" and piloted the original Qantas 707 during "Spirit of Friendship" global tour in July/August 2002. John is also a business aircraft brand ambassador for Learjet, Challenger and Global jets for the world's leading business aircraft manufacturer, Bombardier. John flew the 707 to New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane disaster bringing food and medical supplies, and in 2010, again flew the 707, this time to Haiti after the earthquake, carrying supplies, doctors and volunteers.
John, along with his late wife, actress Kelly Preston (1962-2020), were very involved in their charity, The Jett Travolta Foundation, which raises money for children with educational needs.- Additional Crew
- Writer
- Casting Director
Kelly Ward is an actor, writer, director, and producer. He co-starred with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in Grease (1978), and with Lee Marvin and Mark Hamill in The Big Red One (1980). He co-wrote the animated feature Once Upon A Forest (1993), and both co-wrote and co-produced All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (1996). He's been a show-runner on several animated series, and a dialogue director on dozens of others. His varied career includes executive stints at two major studios, and a long affiliation with the University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts as an adjunct assistant professor.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Michael Tucci was born on 15 April 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Grease (1978), The Heat (2013) and Blow (2001).- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Olivia Newton-John was an English singer and actress who was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. In 1954, her family relocated to Australia when her father was offered a job as the dean of a Presbyterian college in Melbourne. After winning a singing talent contest, she returned to England with her mother, where she resided until 1975. Her many hit singles include, "You're The One That I Want" from the movie Grease (1978), which she starred in with John Travolta. She appeared on the TV series, It's Cliff Richard (1970), as well as in the film Toomorrow (1970). For several years, she was engaged to Bruce Welch, a founding member of The Shadows, which included Cliff Richard. Welch was one of the producers of her first international hit, "If Not For You".- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of Broadway and Hollywood's perennial and cleverer talents who tends to shine a smart, cynical light on her surroundings, Stockard Channing was born Susan Williams Antonia Stockard on February 13, 1944 in New York City to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother of Irish descent. Her parents were Mary Alice (née English) and well-to-do shipping executive Lester Napier Stockard; the latter died when his daughter was 16 and left her a sizable estate.
Channing attended the eminent Chapin School in NYC, then later attended the Madeira School, a girls' boarding school in Virginia. She majored in both literature and history at Radcliffe College, from which she graduated summa cum laude in 1965. In 1964 she married Walter Channing Jr., a businessman whose surname she kept for part of her own stage moniker after their divorce four years later.
Interested in acting, she made her stage debut in a production of "The Investigation" at the experimental Theatre Company of Boston in 1966. She went on to play a number of offbeat roles with the company. She eventually migrated to New York where she took her first Broadway bow as a chorus member and understudy in the musical version of 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' in 1971. Two years later she would take over the prime role of Julia in the L.A. national company. Other theater roles during this time included 'Adaptation/Next' (1970) 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (1970), 'Play Strindberg' (1971), and 'No Hard Feelings' (1973).
Somewhat plaintive yet magnetic and unique-looking, the dark-haired actress began first appearing in pictures with small parts in the dark comedy The Hospital (1971) and the edgy Barbra Streisand fantasy-drama Up the Sandbox (1972). Taking on the top female lead as an heiress and potential victim of shysters Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in Mike Nichols' comedy The Fortune (1975), the film, despite its male star power and her Golden Globe nomination, would not become the star-making hit for Channing as initially predicted.
While her next two films, (The Big Bus (1976) and Sweet Revenge (1976)), didn't get her to first base with the public either, Channing hit a major home run with the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely to... (1973), a clever black comedy written by Joan Rivers wherein she played a former ugly duckling-turned-beauty (à la plastic surgery) who decides to attract and knock off the men who cruelly cast her aside earlier. Channing found her niche with this smart, sardonic character and it would take her quite far in Hollywood.
At age 33(!), Stockard was handed the feisty role of high-school "tough girl" Betty Rizzo in the box-office film version of the hit musical Grease (1978), starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. While long in the tooth for such a role (as were most of the others in the lead cast), she compelled the audience to suspend disbelief in her sly performance, which earned her a People's Choice Award (Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress). This blockbuster clinched her place as a top-ranking star contender.
Handed two sitcom vehicles of her own within a year on CBS, Stockard Channing in Just Friends (1979) had her playing a newly-separated wife starting life anew in another city (L.A.) while The Stockard Channing Show (1980) starred her as a divorced lady again trying to find herself in L.A. Neither caught on and lasted but a few months. Stalled at a critical juncture in her career, she decided to return to her first love -- the theater. With 'Vanities', 'Absurd Person Singular', and 'As You Like It' (as Rosalind) already on her resume, she earned fine notices on Broadway with the musical 'They're Playing Our Song', succeeding Lucie Arnaz in 1980, then garnered rave reviews as the mother of a developmentally disabled child in the New Haven production of Peter Nichols' 'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg' in 1982. The actress repeated her role on Broadway a few years later (the title now shortened to "Joe Egg") and copped the 1985 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Subsequent Tony nominations came her way for her offbeat work in 'The House of Blue Leaves' (1986); 'Six Degrees of Separation' (for which she also won an Off-Broadway Obie), 'Four Baboons Adoring the Sun' (1992); and for her Eleanor of Aquitaine in 'The Lion in Winter' in 1999.
Award-worthy projects again came her way on TV. Nominated for an Emmy for the CBS miniseries Echoes in the Darkness (1987), she also won a CableACE Award for her work in Tidy Endings (1988). In film, she received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations when her stage triumph, Six Degrees of Separation (1993), was turned into a film. This was followed by a rare vulnerable role as an abused, small-town housewife in the popular drag queen dramedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), a co-star role alongside Jennifer Tilly as two divorce-bound women who meet in Reno in Edie & Pen (1996), a prime role in the remake of Moll Flanders (1996) and as an eccentric aunt in the comedy/fantasy Practical Magic (1998). She also provided the voice of Barbara Gordon in several episodes of Batman Beyond (1999).
Channing has remained a highly productive, award-winning presence into the millennium on film, TV and the occasional stage. Beginning with a London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in the film The Business of Strangers (2001), her other movies have included co-star or featured roles in Life or Something Like It (2002), Behind the Red Door (2003), The Divorce (2003), Must Love Dogs (2005), Sparkle (2007), Multiple Sarcasms (2010), and Pulling Strings (2013).
As part of the acclaimed cast of The West Wing (1999) as "First Lady" Abigail Bartlet, audiences were so drawn to her shrewd, classy character that producers wisely started featuring her regularly into the third season, winning both Emmy and SAG awards and a slew of nominations for this long-running role. Other awards came for social dramas. She received a second Emmy for her supporting turn as mother Judy Sheppard in The Matthew Shepard Story (2002), a docudrama about the gay-bashing murder of young Matthew Shepard, a Daytime Emmy for her role in the TV movie Jack (2004) in which she plays a wife who finds out her husband is gay, and a SAG nomination as a mother who discovers her teenage daughter is lesbian in The Truth About Jane (2000).
Stockard thought she finally found sitcom success with the series Out of Practice (2005) and was even Emmy-nominated for her role as a sharp-tongued but caring doctor. As luck would have it, however, a core audience was not to be found and the show lasted but a mere season. She fared better in a recurring part as Julianna Margulies' mother on the popular dramatic series The Good Wife (2009).
Returning to the stage, Stockard played "Lady Bracknell" in a 2010 Dublin production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', and the following year was nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk for 'Other Desert Cities'. In 2018, she appeared in the play 'Apologia', co-starring Hugh Dancy in London.
Divorced four times, including to actor Paul Schmidt and writer/producer David Debin, she has no children. She has been in a three-decade-long relationship with cinematographer/gaffer Dan Gillham.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jeff Conaway was born on 5 October 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Grease (1978), Taxi (1978) and Jawbreaker (1999). He was married to Kerri Young and Rona Newton-John. He died on 27 May 2011 in Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Lead and supporting actor of the American stage and films, with sandy colored hair, and pale complexion. He won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Deer Hunter (1978), and has been seen in mostly character roles, often portraying psychologically unstable individuals, though that generalization would not do justice to Walken's depth and breadth of performances.
Walken was born in Astoria, Queens, New York. His mother, Rosalie (Russell), was a Scottish emigrant, from Glasgow. His father, Paul Wälken, was a German emigrant, from Horst, who ran Walken's bakery. Christopher learned his stage craft, including dancing, at Hofstra University & ANTA, and picked up a Theatre World award for his performance in the revival of the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo". Walken then first broke through into cinema in 1969 appearing in Me and My Brother (1968), before appearing alongside Sean Connery in the sleeper heist movie The Anderson Tapes (1971). His eclectic work really came to the attention of critics in 1977 with his intense portrayal of Diane Keaton suicidal younger brother in Annie Hall (1977), and then he scooped the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award in 1977 for his role as Nick in the electrifying The Deer Hunter (1978). Walken was lured back by The Deer Hunter (1978) director Michael Cimino for a role in the financially disastrous western Heaven's Gate (1980), before moving onto surprise audiences with his wonderful dance skills in Pennies from Heaven (1981), taking the lead as a school teacher with telepathic abilities in the Stephen King inspired The Dead Zone (1983) and then as billionaire industrialist Max Zorin trying to blow up Silicon Valley in the 007 adventure A View to a Kill (1985). Looking at many of Walken's other captivating screen roles, it is easy to see the diversity of his range and even his droll comedic talents with humorous appearances in Biloxi Blues (1988), Wayne's World 2 (1993), Joe Dirt (2001), Mousehunt (1997) and America's Sweethearts (2001). Most recently, he continued to surprise audiences again with his work as a heart broken and apologetic father to Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can (2002).- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Soundtrack
George Dzundza was born on 19 July 1945 in Rosenheim, Bavaria, Germany. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Crimson Tide (1995), Basic Instinct (1992) and The Deer Hunter (1978). He has been married to Mary Jo Vermeulen since 1982. They have three children.- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Editor
John Cazale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an Irish-American mother, Cecilia (Holland), and an Italian-American father, John Cazale. Cazale made only five feature films in his career, which fans and critics alike call classics. But before his film debut, in the short The American Way (1962), he won Obie Awards for his off-Broadway performances in "The Indian Wants the Bronx" and "The Line".
Cazale scored the role of Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), after his long-time friend, Al Pacino, invited him to audition. He reprised his role as the troubled Fredo in The Godfather Part II (1974), where his character endures one of the most infamous movie moments in the history of cinema.
Cazale also starred with Gene Hackman and Harrison Ford in the thriller, The Conversation (1974), as Hackman's assistant, Stan. The Godfather's director, Francis Ford Coppola, also directed the movie.
Cazale's fourth feature film, Dog Day Afternoon (1975), earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Sal, a bank robber. His long-time friend and Godfather costar, Al Pacino, played his partner, Sonny.
His final film, The Deer Hunter (1978), was filmed whilst he was ill with cancer. He was in a relationship with his costar, Meryl Streep, whilst filming The Deer Hunter (1978), whom he met when they both appeared in the New York Public Theater's 1976 production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure.
Controversy occurred during the filming. While the studio was unaware of his condition, the director, Michael Cimino, knew about it. As Cazale was evidently weak, he was forced to film his scenes first. When the studio discovered he was suffering from cancer, they wanted him removed from the film. His costar and girlfriend, Meryl Streep, threatened to quit if he was fired. He died shortly after filming was completed.- Actor
- Producer
- Composer
John Savage is an American actor best known for his roles in The Deer Hunter (1978), The Onion Field (1979), Hair (1979), Salvador (1986), The Last Full Measure (2019), In Dubious Battle (2016), and the television shows Goliath (2016), Twin Peaks (2017), and Dark Angel (2000). He was born in Old Bethpage, New York, to Muriel (née Smeallie), a housewife, and Floyd-Jones Youngs, an insurance salesman who served on Guadalcanal during World War II with the Marine Corps. He has two sisters, Robin Young and Gail Youngs, and a brother, Jim Youngs.
He trained at the American Academy of Performing Arts before relocating to Los Angeles where he starred in the film Eric (1975) opposite Patricia Neal and Mark Hamill. In the early 1970s, he made his Broadway debut in the chorus of Fiddler on the Roof in which he played one of the sons, after an actor fell sick, opposite Zero Mostel. His performance caught the eye of Robert De Niro and the recognition led to his first major film role in the Academy Award-winning war drama The Deer Hunter (1978). Between 1972 and 1975, he continued to perform on stage, playing Dov Landau in Ari on Broadway, and performing in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dance on a Country Grave in Chicago. He gained widespread recognition for his range and sensitivity during the 1970s.
John's breakthrough film role was as Steven Pushkov, the returning Vietnam veteran missing both his legs, in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter (1978) which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1979. Acclaimed director Michael Cimino cast him in the role opposite Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken. One of John's most acclaimed roles is in Milos Forman's 1979 film Hair (1979). He played the corn-fed recruit Claude Hooper Bukowski, who turns on, tunes in and drops out. Critics and film historians celebrated his performance both then and now. John Willis' annual publication Screen World hailed him as one of 12 promising new actors of 1979 (Vol. 31). John also played a lead role in the 1979 film adaptation of Joseph Wambaugh's The Onion Field (1979), based on the true story of policeman Karl Hettinger's personal struggle after witnessing the murder of his partner.
In the late 1970s, he was cast by Ulu Grosbard in the Broadway production of David Mamet's play American Buffalo, opposite Robert Duvall and Kenneth McMillan, in which he originated the role of Bobby. The play received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.
During the 1980s, John was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor for his work as Charles Heller in the crime thriller The Amateur (1981). He also co-starred with Nastassja Kinski in the romance film Maria's Lovers (1984), which was backed by cinema legend Robert Mitchum, and appeared as John Cassady in Oliver Stone's acclaimed historical thriller Salvador (1986), and as suicide survivor Roary in Richard Donner's Inside Moves (1980). In 1989, he collaborated with Academy Award-nominated director Spike Lee for the first time on Do the Right Thing (1989), in which he played the bike-riding gentrifier Clifton.
During the 1990s, John played the role of Father Andrew Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola's Academy Award-nominated film The Godfather Part III (1990), starred in Italian director Lucio Fulci's final film Le porte del silenzio (1991), a psychological thriller shot in Louisiana, and appeared in the brief but powerful role of Sgt. McCron in Terrence Malick's 1998 war epic The Thin Red Line (1998). He also portrayed Captain Rudy Ransom in the two-part episode Equinox from the hit television series Star Trek: Voyager (1995) (CBS) in 1999.
John gained further recognition in the recurring role of Donald Lydecker in the first and second seasons of the 2000 television series Dark Angel (2000) (Fox), which he followed with the recurring role of Henry Scudder in the Emmy Award-winning television series Carnivàle (2003) (HBO) from 2003-2005. In 2005, he guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) (NBC). In 2009, he guest starred in the second season of the television drama Fringe (2008) (Fox).
During the 2010s, he starred opposite Kirk Harris and Michael Madsen in Vernon Mortensen's 2013 western thriller The Sorrow, appeared in the 2015 horror film Tales of Halloween (2015), and played a supporting role in the 2016 romantic comedy Hit List (2011). In 2017, he appeared in the thriller film Fake News (2017), war drama The Last Full Measure (2019) and in James Franco's drama In Dubious Battle (2016). He also guest starred on the hit television show Twin Peaks (2017) (Showtime). In 2018, he guest starred on the drama Goliath (2016) (Amazon).
He has also worked behind the camera, most notably in production management for the acclaimed Spike Lee film Malcolm X (1992).
John has been noted for his work in activism and philanthropy. During the late 1980s, he used his public presence to fight for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and has continued to work as an activist in addition to his work in film and television.
In 2017, John spoke at a tribute honoring the celebrated director Richard Donner, held by The Academy.
John was previously married twice, first to Susan Youngs and then to Sandi Schultz, and is the father of ceramic artist Lachlan Youngs and performer Jennifer Youngs. He has been with his current partner Blanca Blanco since 2008. He resides in Malibu, CA.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Considered by many critics to be the greatest living actress, Meryl Streep has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 21 times, and has won it three times. Meryl was born Mary Louise Streep in 1949 in Summit, New Jersey, to Mary Wolf (Wilkinson), a commercial artist, and Harry William Streep, Jr., a pharmaceutical executive. Her father was of German and Swiss-German descent, and her mother had English, Irish, and German ancestry.
Meryl's early performing ambitions leaned toward the opera. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She gave an outstanding performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp.
A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Meryl turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next decade in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and A Cry in the Dark (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and as the prodigal daughter in Marvin's Room (1996). In 1998 she made her first venture into the area of producing, and was the executive producer for the moving ...First Do No Harm (1997). A realist when she talks about her future years in film, she remarked that "...no matter what happens, my work will stand..."- Actor
- Producer
- Director
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop. De Niro first gained fame for his role in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Mean Streets (1973), which was his first film with director Martin Scorsese. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather Part II (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978) and Cape Fear (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980).
De Niro has earned four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for his work in New York, New York (1977), opposite Liza Minnelli, Midnight Run (1988), Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000). Other notable performances include Brazil (1985), The Untouchables (1987), Backdraft (1991), Frankenstein (1994), Heat (1995), Casino (1995) and Jackie Brown (1997). At the same time, he also directed and starred in such films as A Bronx Tale (1993) and The Good Shepherd (2006). De Niro has also received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010.
As of 2022, De Niro is 79-years-old. He has never retired from acting, and continues to work regularly in mostly film.