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1-50 of 304
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Hilary was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Judith Kay (Clough), a secretary, and Stephen Michael Swank, who served in the National Guard and was also a traveling salesman. Her maternal grandmother, Frances Martha Dominguez, was of Mexican descent, and her other roots include German, English, and Scottish. During her early childhood, her family moved to Spokane, Washington, and when she was six, to Bellingham, Washington.
Hilary was discovered as a child by producer Suzy Sachs, who coached her in acting. When she was nine years old, she starred in her first play as "Mowgli" in "The Jungle Book". She began to appear regularly in local theater and school plays. She went to school in Bellingham, where she lived with her family, until she was 16. She competed in the Junior Olympics and Washington State championships in swimming; she ranked 5th in the state in all-around gymnastics (which would come in handy for starring in The Next Karate Kid (1994) years later). In 1990, Hilary and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in South Pasadena High School, and started acting professionally. She appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) but The Next Karate Kid (1994), where she got the part competing against hundreds of other actresses, was her breakout role. Ever since then, she has been much in demand and has worked non-stop in movies. She won the Best Actress Oscar for playing "Brandon Teena" in Boys Don't Cry (1999). In addition to the Oscar, Hilary won the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress in a Drama" and "Best Actress" prizes from The New York Film Critics, The Los Angeles Film Critics, The Chicago Film Critics and The Broadcast Film Critics Association. She also won the "Breakthrough Performance" prize from The National Board of Review.
Hilary then appeared in supporting roles opposite Cate Blanchett and Keanu Reeves in Sam Raimi's The Gift (2000) and opposite Al Pacino and Robin Williams in Christopher Nolan's Insomnia (2002). Hilary then starred as "Alice Paul" in HBO's Iron Jawed Angels (2004), which told the story of the women's suffragist movement and she was honored with both SAG and Golden Globe nominations for her performance in this film. In 2004, Hilary starred opposite Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman as the title character in Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004); the story of a young woman's quest to realize her dream of becoming a professional boxer. For this performance, she was honored with her second Academy Award for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role" and has garnered "Best Actress" prizes from the National Society of Film Critics, the Screen Actors Guild, The Broadcast Film Critics, and a Golden Globe for "Best Lead Actress in a Drama".
Hilary Swank is the third youngest woman in history to win two Academy Awards for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role".
She subsequently had a supporting role opposite Scarlett Johansson and Josh Hartnett in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia (2006), starred in Freedom Writers (2007), the true story of Long Beach schoolteacher, Erin Gruwell, The Reaping (2007) for Warner Brothers, and reunited with her Freedom Writers (2007) writer/director, Richard LaGravenese, starring in the film adaptation of Cecelia Ahern's novel, P.S. I Love You (2007).
An aficionado for anything that involves the outdoors, she enjoys: sky diving, river rafting and skiing.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
This lovely, fresh-faced Lincoln, Nebraska native was born Janine Loraine Gauntt on December 6, 1962, to stalwart Texans Turner and Janice Gauntt. The younger of two children, she grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and trained, while a child, in ballet, tap, theater, and modeling (from age 3).
A cheerleading beauty into her teens, she moved with her mother to study at New York's Professional Children's School and was lucky enough to be picked up by the famed Wilhelmina Agency as a model (at 15 she was the youngest at the time to ever be signed). After some commercial work, however, she returned to school in Texas and happened by chance to find some minor work on various episodes of Dallas (1978).
This led to a Hollywood attempt at age 17 and a major TV break two years later when she won the role of Laura Templeton on TV's popular daytime soap General Hospital (1963), a role that required her long tresses to go from brunette to blonde. This, in turn, fed into another 1980s regular part on Another World (1964).
Janine subsequently made her film debut in the daytime parody Young Doctors in Love (1982) that featured her along with other soap stars in cameos. In between, she managed find time to attend Pepperdine University but left when she earned a film role in the movie Tai-Pan (1986). At this stage of the game, she tended to specialize in cute and flighty roles, but all that changed when Janine won the role of spunky, crop-haired Alaskan air taxi pilot Maggie O'Connell opposite Rob Morrow on the eccentric prime-time series Northern Exposure (1990). It was role of her career, a meaty, delightfully quirky star turn that made her a household name. The show lasted six seasons.
Since then, she has been able to subsist on a fairly full plate of TV-movie and film assignments. She's top-lined such women's mini-pictures as Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (1997) and A Secret Affair (1999), while in film playing a lady-in-distress co-star to Sylvester Stallone in the action thriller Cliffhanger (1993), "perfect Mom" June Cleaver in a film remake of Leave It to Beaver (1997) and one of Richard Gere's "women" in Dr. T & the Women (2000). She found another series regular role with Strong Medicine (2000) that lasted two years.
Into the millennium, Janine has been featured in such films as Birdie & Bogey (2004), The Night of the White Pants (2006), Maggie's Passage (2009), The Ivy League Farmer (2015), Solace (2015), Occupy, Texas (2016) and a prime role in Runnin' from My Roots (2018). She also appeared for a the 2008 season of the TV series Friday Night Lights (2006).
Janine also moved into directing, writing, and producing on the side, while also dabbling in singing. Janine's daughter, former child actress Juliette Gauntt, who appeared in her mother's film The Night of the White Pants (2006), was born from a relationship with Jerry Jones Jr., the Dallas Cowboys' Vice President and General Counsel.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
One of England's most versatile character actors, Jim Broadbent was born on May 24, 1949, in Lincolnshire, the youngest son of furniture maker Roy Laverick Broadbent and sculptress Doreen "Dee" (Findlay) Broadbent. Jim attended a Quaker boarding school in Reading before successfully applying for a place at an art school. His heart was in acting, though, and he would later transfer to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Following his 1972 graduation, he began his professional career on the stage, performing with the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as part of the National Theatre of Brent, a two-man troupe which he co-founded. In addition to his theatrical work, Broadbent did steady work on television, working for such directors as Mike Newell and Stephen Frears. Broadbent made his film debut in 1978 with a small part in Jerzy Skolimowski's The Shout (1978). He went on to work with Frears again in The Hit (1984) and with Terry Gilliam in Time Bandits (1981) and Brazil (1985), but it was through his collaboration with Mike Leigh that Broadbent first became known to an international film audience. In 1990 he starred in Leigh's Life Is Sweet (1990), a domestic comedy that cast him as a good-natured cook who dreams of running his own business. Broadbent gained further visibility the following year with substantial roles in Neil Jordan's The Crying Game (1992) and Mike Newell's Enchanted April (1991), and he could subsequently be seen in such diverse fare as Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Widows' Peak (1994), Richard Loncraine's highly acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995) and Little Voice (1998), the last of which cast him as a seedy nightclub owner. Appearing primarily as a character actor in these films, Broadbent took center stage for Leigh's Topsy-Turvy (1999), imbuing the mercurial W.S. Gilbert with emotional complexity and comic poignancy. Jim's breakthrough year was 2001, as he starred in three critically and commercially successful films. Many would consider him the definitive supporting actor of that year. First he starred as Bridget's dad (Colin Jones) in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which propelled Renée Zellweger to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Next came the multiple Oscar-nominated film (including Best Picture) Moulin Rouge! (2001), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor BAFTA award for his scene-stealing performance as Harold Zidler. Lastly, came the small biopic Iris (2001), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as devoted husband John Bayley to Judi Dench's Iris Murdoch, the British novelist who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. The film hit home with Jim, since his own mother had passed away from Alzheimer's in 1995.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Terry Kinney, the stage, film and television actor, was born in Lincoln, Illinois and attended Illinois State University. While at university, his friend, the aspiring actor Jeff Perry, took Kinney to Chicago to see a production of "Grease" in which his best friend, Gary Sinise, was appearing. The like-minded trio of Sinise, Perry and Kinney opened their own Chicago theatrical troupe, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, in 1973 in the basement of a church in Highland Park. The company's metamorphosis into one of the country's great regional theatrical companies began in 1976, after Kinney and Perry joined it full-time after graduating from college. The theater has, since 1976, put on a full season of ensemble works.
The founders of Steppenwolf supported the theater and themselves with odd jobs until the company began financially self-supporting in the early 1980s. Re-located in the old St. Nicholas Theater, Steppenwolf's productions began to attract a steady audience. Steppenwolf flourished artistically and financially in the '80s, and moved once again to its permanent home at 1650 N. Halsted Street in Chicago.
At the height of the company's fame, Kinney and Sinise were Steppenwolf's artistic co-directors, winning numerous awards, and even transferring some productions, such as their monumental adaptation of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath", to Broadway. In addition to Kinney and Sinise, the company included such first rate actors as John Malkovich, Joan Allen and John Mahoney. As an actor, Kinney was nominated for a Tony Award for his appearance as the "Reverend Casy" in "Grapes."
Kinney made his movie debut in 1985, with a bit part in Seven Minutes in Heaven (1986), and has been much in demand as a supporting actor ever since. On television, he had a recurring role on Thirtysomething (1987) and appeared as a regular on the HBO prison drama Oz (1997).- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Lindsey Shaw was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue acting, Lindsey and her mother traveled from Lincoln to Kansas City twice a month to do local print ads and commercials. In 2002, Shaw and her mother moved to Los Angeles. Almost immediately, Lindsey was introduced to acting teacher Jeremiah Comey, who has been her mentor ever since. Jerry referred Lindsey to her longtime manager, Pat Cutler, of Cutler Management. Shaw landed her first big role in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004), playing 'Jennifer "Moze" Mosely', the best friend and next-door neighbor of the show's main character, "Ned Bigby". Shaw next appeared as popular younger sister "Claire" in the CW's short-lived sitcom, Aliens in America (2007). Lindsey most recently played "Kat" in ABC Family's revival of the 1999 rom-com, 10 Things I Hate About You (2009).
In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys rooting for her hometown Nebraska Cornhuskers.- Sheila Gish was born on 23 April 1942 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Highlander (1986), Mansfield Park (1999) and Highlander: Endgame (2000). She was married to Denis Lawson and Roland Curram. She died on 9 March 2005 in Camden, London, England, UK.
- Producer
- Actress
Ashley Graham was born on 30 October 1987 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. She is a producer and actress, known for Dirty Old Town (2012), Love Advent (2011) and 100% Taxes (2017). She has been married to Justin Ervin since 14 August 2010. They have three children.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kelly Adams was born on 16 October 1979 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Bronson (2008), Holby City (1999) and Hustle (2004). She has been married to Chris Kennedy since February 2011.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Samantha Marie Ware, also known by her singer stage name Sameya, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Jane Hayward in the sixth season of Glee (2015), as well as Angela Archer in the Netflix series What/If (2019). Ware also played Lily in the Nike web series Margot vs. Lily (2016).- Christopher is from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received his B.F.A. in Acting from The University of Colorado, Boulder. He also worked with The Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Additional theatre credits include "The Old Settler" at The Pasadena Playhouse for which he received an Ovation award nomination. "Black Star Line" at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. "Rosetta Street", "How The Other Half Loves" and "Equus" at The West Coast Ensemble. He received an NAACP Theatre award nomination for Best Actor in the Los Angeles Production of "Full Court Press".
- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
David Fitzgerald Doyle was born in Lincoln, Nebraska December 1, 1929. He was the son of Mary Ruth Fitzgerald and Lewis Raymond (Lum) Doyle, a prominent Lincoln attorney. His maternal grandfather was John Fitzgerald, a prominent banker and railroad builder in Nebraska. His paternal grandfather was T. J. Doyle, also an attorney. He was one of three children, including brother John, an attorney, and sister Mary, an actress. He grew up in Lincoln and attended Cathedral grade school. He then went to Campion, a Jesuit prep school in Wisconsin. He made his acting debut at age six and played children's roles in local productions. He was a member of the Community Theater in Lincoln. He was in Life with Father (1947). Doyle entered the University of Nebraska in 1945 and he was expected to become a lawyer, as had four generations of Doyles. But the young Doyle preferred to spend him time in the theater department. A fellow classmate at the University of Nebraska was Johnny Carson. Doyle appeared frequently on his college buddy's late night talk show during the 1960s. Doyle ranked sixth in the state on his law school entrance exams. But the theater still called him and he chose acting over a career in law. He moved to New York after college. He got his break in 1956 when he replaced Walter Matthau in the Broadway production of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). His first wife, Rachel, died after injuries in a freak fall from a stairway in 1968. While doing a revival of "South Pacific" a year later, he met Anne Nathan and they were married. After Broadway, Doyle moved to California and was cast as Walt Fitzgerald in the television series, Bridget Loves Bernie (1972). A string of character roles followed, and Doyle is probably best remembered as the lovable private detective, Bosley, on the Charlie's Angels (1976) series. Doyle couldn't escape the legal profession and portrayed an attorney, Ted Holmes, on the daytime soap opera, General Hospital (1963) during 1986. Doyle is best remembered for his distinctive, raspy voice which earned him the voice role in several animated series and movies. He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on February 26, 1997 at age 67.- Neil McCarthy was born on 26 July 1932 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Where Eagles Dare (1968), Zulu (1964) and Clash of the Titans (1981). He died on 6 February 1985 in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England, UK.
- Richard Duane Kelton was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was the only child of Fred and Glenna Kelton. While growing up in Miami, Oklahoma, he remembered watching James Dean and cites him as his main influence on becoming an actor. After studying drama at The University of Kansas, he made his way to California where he made his debut playing "Bud" in a 1970 2-part episode (Snow Train) of Gunsmoke Gunsmoke (1955). Soon after that he made his TV movie debut as "Lieutenant Charring" in Wild Women (1970). He continued in numerous other guest starring roles and a movie roles. He also played the role of "Nick" in the Broadway revival of "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf" in 1976. He made his starring role as "Ficus" in the short-lived science fiction series "Quark" (1978). Later that year he was invited back to The University of Kansas to give a short seminar on films. He continued his career until his death in 1978.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
This popular, baggy-eyed, bald-domed, big lug of a character actor had few peers when called upon to display that special "slow burn" style of comedy few others perfected. But perfect he did -- on stage, film and TV. In fact, he pretty much cornered the market during the 50s and 60s as the dour, ill-tempered guy you loved to hate.
Born Frederick Leonard Clark on March 19 1914, the son of Frederick Clark, a county agriculture commissioner, and Stella (née Bruce) Clark, in Lincoln, California, Fred's initial interest was in medicine and he pursued his pre-med studies at Stanford University. A chance role in the college play "Yellow Jack" change the coarse of his destiny. Earning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he paid his dues performing in local community theater and summer stock. By May of 1938, at age 24, he was making his Broadway debut with the short-lived comedy play "Schoolhouse on the Lot". He then returned to Broadway a few months later to appear in the melodrama "Ringside Seat", which also closed early.
Fred's nascent career was interrupted when America entered World War II. He served as a Navy pilot in 1942 but later joined the Army and spent nearly two years with the Third Army in Europe. Clark returned to acting and in during the post-war years broke into films via Hungarian film director Michael Curtiz who cast him in the noir classic The Unsuspected (1947). Able to provide cold-hearted villainy in crime drama as well as dyspeptic humor to slapstick comedy, film work came to Fred in no short order. Ride the Pink Horse (1947), Cry of the City (1948), Flamingo Road (1949), White Heat (1949), Alias Nick Beal (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Jackpot (1950), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) and Meet Me After the Show (1951) all made the most of Fred's sour skills. Around this time (1952) he married actress Benay Venuta, whom he met while both were performing on stage in "Light Up the Sky" (1950). The popular couple continued to work together from time to time, which included a 1956 stage production of "Bus Stop" at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Well-established on film by this point, Fred set his sights on TV and earned raves providing weekly bombastic support to George Burns and Gracie Allen on their popular sitcom The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950). Joining the cast into its second season (his role had already been played by two other actors), Fred made the role of neighbor/realtor Harry Morton his own, becoming the first definitive Harry on the show. Investing his character with an amusing, child-like grumpiness, he was ideally paired with comedienne Bea Benaderet (as wife Blanche). Together they provided perfect foursome chemistry with Burns and Allen, much in the same way Vivian Vance and William Frawley did for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz on I Love Lucy (1951). Clark, however, would leave the show in the fall of 1953 following a salary dispute, and was replaced by a fourth Harry Morton, Larry Keating, who managed to keep the role until the end in 1958. Fred would find steady but lesser success on TV after this.
With his trademark cigar, scowl, shiny baldness and pencil-thin mustache, Fred continued to be high in demand in film, usually playing some high-ranking military officer, gang boss, shifty politician or executive skinflint. The Martin & Lewis comedy The Caddy (1953), Marilyn Monroe's How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), Don't Go Near the Water (1957), The Mating Game (1959), Auntie Mame (1958), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Visit to a Small Planet (1960), Boys' Night Out (1962) and Move Over, Darling (1963), all displayed Clark at his blustery best. And on TV he contributed to such comedy shows as The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), I Dream of Jeannie (1965) and The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). He also received some attention pushing potato chips in commercials.
Fred made a successful stage debut in London with 1963's "Never Too Late" co-starring Joan Bennett and Samantha Eggar, as a cranky middle-aged father-to-be. He would also return infrequently to Broadway with prime roles in "Romanoff and Juliet" (1957), Viva Madison Avenue! (1960) and "Absence of a Cello" (1964). On a sad note, many of Fred's final years were spent in inferior film. Movies such as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1969) and the notorious bomb Skidoo (1968), which was directed by Otto Preminger and starred Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing, were undeserving of his talents.
Divorced from Ms. Venuta in August of 1962, Fred subsequently married a model, Gloria Glaser, in 1966. Fred's sudden death of liver disease two years later on December 5, 1968, at the untimely age of 54, had Hollywood mourning one of its finest comic heavies -- gone way before his time.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Godfrey was born on 21 July 1969 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Soul Plane (2004), Chain Reaction (1996) and Americanish (2021).- Actress
- Intimacy Coordinator
- Producer
Sarah Scott is an actress and intimacy coordinator. She was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and grew up in North Texas. Scott graduated from New York University in 2002 with a degree in Culture & Communications and a minor in Ballet. Early years were spent acting in fringe theatres around New York City, an internship with New Line Cinema, and completing the Shakespearean Studies program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting professionally.
Scott first appeared on television in a featured part on Fox's Arrested Development (2003). She quickly became popular in the commercial and dance worlds, booking iconic ads like the dancing iPod silhouettes and getting cast to play showgirls, hip-hop divas and groupies on programs including CSI: NY (2004), True Blood (2008), Nip/Tuck (2003), Castle (2009), Bones (2005), Masters of Sex (2013), and The Orville (2017). Scott's most notable performance to date is her haunting portrayal of Courtney Love in Soaked in Bleach (2015). The explosive docu/drama examines the death of rocker Kurt Cobain that was ruled a suicide in 1994. Soaked in Bleach was the third most popular documentary on IMDb in 2015.
In 2018 Scott became an active member of the entertainment community helping to raise awareness about sexual harassment and began to work with her labor union, SAG-AFTRA, on making contractual changes to better protect it's members. In 2019 Scott became certified as intimacy coordinator through the Intimacy Professionals Association and since then her work has taken off in the emerging field.- Shawn Toovey was born on 1 March 1983 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He is an actor, known for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993), The Fire Next Time (1993) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within (2001). He has been married to Marianne Toovey since May 2007.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Philip Abbott was born March 21, 1924 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA as Philip Abbott Alexander. He was an actor and director, known for his roles in The F.B.I. (1965), Quincy, M.E. (1976), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), Columbo (1971), and The Young and the Restless (1973), among many other productions. He was married to Jane Dufrayne; the couple had two sons and a daughter. Abbott died on February 23, 1998, aged 73, of cancer in Tarzana, California, USA.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
BenDavid Grabinski was born on 12 February 1983 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023), Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2019) and Happily (2021). He has been married to Amanda Zubillaga since 11 August 2012.- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Matthew Sweet was born on 6 October 1964 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and The Game (1997).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
A singer-songwriter-actress with song placements under her belt to recently becoming a recurring on prime time TV. A former star basketball player, Noelle is no stranger to sacrifice, gut-checking vulnerability, and determination. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska and raised in Las Vegas, NV, Noelle grew up doing everything music. From choir, to piano, band, and music theory, Noelle learned at an early age how to compose full songs complete with lyrics, melodies, and vocal production. It was also during this time that she quickly became a state-known-name in basketball, earning accolades as high as Nevada State Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year. Attending college on a basketball scholarship to the top 10 ranked Old Dominion University of Norfolk, Virginia, it was there she would continue her musical aspirations. It even became a home-game tradition that before every game, Noelle would sing the national anthem in front of a sold-out crowd.
Upon graduating, Noelle ventured back to Las Vegas in hopes of making a permanent move to Los Angeles, California. She began booking her own studio time to record original material while singing in an all-male band at popular Vegas hotels The Luxor and Excalibur. The money she earned from that gig would ultimately allow her the means to move to Los Angeles.
Knowing no one in the music industry, Noelle spent her days working at Lionsgate while recording new material at night. She knew she had a niche' of memorable melodies, witty lyrics, and a voice that didn't sound like most of the music out at the time. It was one day that Judy Palone, head of TV at Lions Gate Films got a hold of a CD of Noelle, and told her she she would use one of her songs in a movie if she liked any. Judy ended up using a song called "Running Away" in the Lifetime movie "Baby For Sale." In the meantime, Noelle's sleepless nights of recording and studio networking, helped her cross the path of celebrity Los Angeles deejay, DJ Felli Fel. They're chemistry in the studio was instant, and DJ Felli Fel would start to play her music on the radio in one of the biggest markets in the world.
With her MySpace page boasting of almost a million plays, there still was the struggle every artist faces: uncertainty. Noelle seemed to be perfect artist with a distinct look and sound, but many had doubts due to her height. Standing at 6'ft tall, the industry was not sure if that would work. She was even told not to wear heels! If that wasn't enough, Noelle was already a crossover artist musically, but to most people they only saw her as an "urban" artist.
Not afraid to different, Noelle did lot let the opinions of her height get to her. She knew it was an asset that she wore well, and when performing on stage it was always something people embraced and loved. She continued writing and working with those that believed in her sound.
Noelle did manage to land an independent record deal with an indie label out of Florida that was short-lived due the label folding before it could release her project. She did get another chance with an indie label out of New York with the legendary Easy Mo B, a label that folded right after the recession started. Ready to give it all up, Noelle continued to write songs through the experiences, but knew she needed to get a job during a recession that devastated the entire country.
Friends suggested Noelle try acting, something she always thought music would lead her into. She didn't think she had a chance as her other friends were seriously pursuing it full-time. But with money being short, Noelle had to work multiple jobs, even if it was background work to pay the bills. So she got with a background agency, and started right away.
It didn't take Noelle too long to join SAG, as she saw being tall in a different industry was actually a good thing. She felt embraced by this new path, this industry that has it's own common stories of rejection making her feel accepted. Noelle then got the courage to look for her own agent, hoping someone would see her as a diamond in the rough. After submitting to more than twenty agencies, one called her back to come in and read; a modest commercial agency that said she had a good look but little experience. Still, they would submit her for roles as they came along. It would take about 3 months before Noelle would go for her first audition as a guest star on a prime time TV show, "Rules of Engagement." That same week, she had an audition for role on "House."
Channeling from her experiences as a singer on stage, Noelle tapped into the depths of being an artist. Whatever the song was, she became that subject. She would perform the song and sing a song in a way that delivered whatever she wrote and wanted to come across. Noelle was able to take that experience of being a performer, and turn that script into a song of her own. With that commitment and studying, Noelle was able to book both roles. Her first acting roles being a guest star on prime time TV, playing "Shantae" David Spade's love interest on Rules of Engagement, and "Emily" a woman House can't seem to shake. Emily would be written in for a total of 3 episodes before the HouseMD ended it's television run.
Since then, Noelle has continued to place songs in TV and film, her most recent song closing the credits of Tyler Perry's "Madea's Big Happy Family." The agency Noelle was signed to also discontinued it's theatrical department, giving her the freedom to seek representation as an experienced actress.- Born in Illinois, David Anthony Marshall is actor and singer who has worked in many action films and TV series, often playing bad and sinister characters. His most famous role is perhaps that of the prison guard Mastrone in the film Lock Up (1989) with Sylvester Stallone. He worked also in supporting roles in other films, Across the Tracks (1990) with Brad Pitt, Another 48 Hrs. (1990), CrissCross (1992), and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and also starred in drama film Equinox (2019).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Leslie Brooks was born on 13 July 1922 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for The Man Who Dared (1946), Cigarette Girl (1947) and It's Great to Be Young (1946). She was married to Russ Vincent and Donald Anthony Shay. She died on 1 July 2011 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Executive
Eric Dawson was born on 10 June 1962 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He is a casting director and executive, known for Monsters (2022), American Horror Story (2011) and Feud (2017). He has been married to Roxann Dawson since May 1994. They have two children.- Actress
- Stunts
- Composer
Cecily Fay was born on 6 April 1978 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK. She is an actress and composer, known for Warrioress (2013), Babes with Blades (2018) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).