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1-50 of 152
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lizabeth Scott was born Emma Matzo in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the oldest of six children of Mary (Pennock) and John Matzo, who were Slovak immigrants. Scott attended Marywood Seminary and the Alvienne School of the Theatre in New York City, where she adopted the stage name of "Elizabeth Scott." After doing a national tour of Hellzapoppin, she was discovered by Broadway producer Michael Myerberg in 1942. Scott was the understudy for Tallulah Bankhead in the original Broadway production of "The Skin of Our Teeth." Later in 1943, a Warner Brothers producer, Hal B. Wallis, discovered Scott at her 21st birthday party held at the Stork Club in New York. Wallis scheduled an interview with Scott the following day, but Scott canceled it when a telegram asked her to replace Miriam Hopkins at the Boston production of The Skin of Our Teeth.
In 1944, Scott was invited to Los Angeles by agent Charles K. Feldman, who saw her photos in "Harpers Bazaar." After failed screen tests at Universal, International, then Warner Brothers, Scott again met Wallis, who said he would hire her if he had the power. Scott mistakenly believed that Wallis was as powerful as Jack L. Warner, and did not believe him. The day Scott left for New York, she read in Variety that Wallis resigned from Warner and formed his own production company, releasing films primarily through Paramount. A few months later, she returned from New York and was finally signed to Paramount. Scott appeared in 21 films between 1945 and 1957, though loaned out for half of her films to United Artists, RKO and Columbia. When Scott was introduced to the public in 1945, Paramount publicity releases, exaggerating her background, claimed Scott was a debutante, that her grocer father was an English-born, New York banker, and that her mother was a White Russian aristocrat.
Scott's first film was You Came Along (1945), with Robert Cummings as the leading man. This Ayn Rand scripted film introduced the 23-year old smoky blonde to the American public. In a role originally intended for Barbara Stanwyck, Scott played a US Treasury PR flack that falls in love with an Army Air Force officer, who tries to hide his terminal leukemia. Despite Scott's difficulties with director John Farrow, who lobbied for Teresa Wright, the film remains one Scott's favorites.
On the strength of her first performance, Wallis starred Scott in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) over Stanwyck's protests. Scott ended up in third place at the top behind Stanwyck and Van Heflin, with Kirk Douglas, in his film debut, billed below the three stars. The film is actually two in one, with Stanwyck and Scott inhabiting two parallel worlds, both linked by Heflin. The female leads have only one brief scene together. The director, Lewis Milestone, swore never to work with Wallis again, who wanted to re-shoot all of Scott's scenes, which Wallis had to do personally. The film boasts an Oscar nominated screenplay by screenplay by Robert Rossen, music by Miklós Rózsa, art direction by Hans Dreier, and costumes by Edith Head.
In Scott's third film, she is cast with Humphrey Bogart in Dead Reckoning (1946). It is Scott's first crack as the archetypal femme fatale. In Dead Reckoning she lures Bogart into a web of lies, and deceit. As is typical in the noir genre, her power is rooted in her beauty and sexual allure. In a departure from his tough guy roles, Bogart plays a wronged man (a noir hero), who struggles to learn the fate of a missing army buddy. Scott is the ex-girlfriend who knows more than she lets on. To keep Bogart from learning the truth about his lost friend and his mysterious double life, Scott seduces him into believing she loves him.
In her fourth film, Scott appeared in the second noir to be shot in color, Desert Fury (1947), a coming-of-age story scripted again by Robert Rossen, based on the novel "Desert Town" by Ramona Stewart. Mary Astor is Fritzi Haller, a casino and bordello owner who runs the corrupt town of Chuckawalla, Nevada. She controls everyone in town, including the judge and sheriff's office. The only one who dares defy Fritzi is her rebellious daughter Paula (Scott), who returns home after being expelled from another private school. When John Hodiak, a professional gambler, comes to town, Paula falls in love with him and trouble ensues. Then newcomers Burt Lancaster, and Wendell Corey also appear.
In 1947, Scott was again cast with Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in I Walk Alone (1947), a story of betrayal and vengeance. Scott plays a nightclub singer who provides sympathy and support to Lancaster, recently released from prison to collect a debt, but is double-crossed by the Douglas character. Scott rises above it all and is completely convincing in her portrayal. Scott's character provides a degree of romanticism and humanism usually lacking in film noir.
Film number seven was Pitfall (1948). Dick Powell played a middle-level insurance investigator, married to his high school sweetheart, Jane Wyatt. They living out a comfortable but boring existence in a post-war Los Angeles suburb. Powell is restless and unfulfilled ("I feel like a wheel within a wheel within a wheel") when he receives what at first seems like a routine assignment to recover goods that have been bought with stolen money, a claim paid off by Powell's firm. The items are traced to Mona Stevens (Scott), a model living in Marina Del Rey. Powell is attracted to her, and what starts out as innocent flirtation ends up in a passionate love affair. Powell's journey into a daydream turns into a nightmare as he becomes a prisoner in his own home and kills an assailant, who has been set on his trail by a jealous private investigator, played by Raymond Burr. Meanwhile, the Burr character also blackmails Mona into doing private "fashion shows."
In Too Late for Tears (1949), Scott played an avaricious Jane Palmer, a wife who goes to any length to keep $60,000 that is accidentally thrown in the back of her husband's car. She eventually leaves behind a string of bodies in an effort to keep the money. This film is widely regarded by critics and viewers alike as Scott's best performance and film. Don DeFore, Arthur Kennedy, and Kristine Miller also star.
Also of interest is 1949's Easy Living (1949), an intelligent, well-written film about an aging football star, played by Victor Mature, who struggles to adjust to his impending retirement, as well as the pressures brought on by an ambitious and defiant wife (Scott). Lucille Ball is commendable as the sympathetic team secretary and director Jacques Tourneur is first-rate. One of Scott's finest roles, it is a favorite of many of her fans.
By the end of 1949 Scott appeared in nine films, but did not achieve the level of stardom and clout that was needed to maintain her popularity at the box-office. From 1950 on, she and Hal Wallis passed up numerous opportunities to maintain her stardom. Wallis passed up a chance to star Scott in Lillian Hellman's Broadway play "Another Part of the Forest" (1946), later to made into the 1948 film. Scott herself passed up the lead in "The Rose Tattoo (1955), a decision she publicly regretted. She continued to make films such as Dark City (1950), Red Mountain (1951), Two of a Kind (1951), Scared Stiff (1953), and Bad for Each Other (1953). In February 1954, Scott did not renew her contract with Paramount and became a freelancer. She went on to make the western noir Silver Lode (1954) and The Weapon (1956).
In 1957 she retired from the big screen by starring with Elvis Presley in Loving You (1957), Presley's second film. Also starring is newcomer Dolores Hart and veteran Wendell Corey. Since 1957 Scott appeared on a few television shows in the 1960s, during which time she attended the University of Southern California. She eventually became involved in real estate projects. Her legacy lives on, however, in the growing popularity of classic movies sparked by DVDs and movie channels such as AMC (American Movie Classics) and TCM (Turner Classic Movies).- Quinn Hemphill was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024), The Mental State (2023) and Gothic Slayers.
- Melanie Smith was born on 16 December 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), As the World Turns (1956) and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993). She has been married to Michael Eidel since 1996.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
This relatively obscure, sweet-faced "B" level ingénue of the post-war 40s and 50s was born Beverly Jean Saul of modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on July 5, 1927. Her mother was a secretary who secured piano and music lessons for her young daughter. Her father was employed with a typewriter company. As a teenager Beverly made her singing debut on radio. Moving to Hollywood with her mother, she was groomed by MGM at the ripe old age of 14 and made her first picture with a bit part in The Youngest Profession (1943) using her real name. She was given the more attractive marquee name of "Beverly Tyler" before the ink had barely dried on her contract. Her career showed some signs of improvement after appearing opposite Tom Drake in The Green Years (1946) and Peter Lawford in the lightweight comedy My Brother Talks to Horses (1947), but then she was forced to wait out a lull.
Strangely enough, other than for a brief singing bit in Best Foot Forward (1943), Beverly was never promoted in musicals by MGM, or any other studio for that matter -- although she did test once for the Kathryn Grayson part in That Midnight Kiss (1949) starring Mario Lanza. She did, however, appear in the short-lived Kurt Weill musical "The Firebrand of Florence" on Broadway in 1945, and performed in the musical "Miss Liberty" in Los Angeles in 1950. Beverly also sang on TV on such variety shows as "Cavalcade of Stars" and "Shower of Stars."
She returned to the camera after a three-year absence in 1950 with Mickey Rooney in The Fireball (1950), and in another horse film, The Palomino (1950). Most of the roles offered had her playing an altruistic love interest amid rugged surroundings in such western adventures as The Battle at Apache Pass (1952) and The Cimarron Kid (1952). She made only a handful of films over the course of her career, which effectively ended once Voodoo Island (1957) and Hong Kong Confidential (1958) were in the can. A serviceable co-star, little attempt was made by the Hollywood powers-that-be to effectively challenge her multiple talents.
Although she dated the likes of Tom Drake, Peter Lawford, Audie Murphy, Mickey Rooney and Rory Calhoun, this lovely sparrow did not settle down in marriage until 1962 when she wed comedy writer/director Jim Jordan, Jr. ("The Colgate Comedy Hour"), who was the son of the famous "Fibber McGee & Molly" radio couple. Beverly instantly retired from the business and together the couple produced a son. The only performing she has done over the years was to appear in a few local theater productions in Reno, Nevada, having moved there in 1972. Her husband later became a developer. Beverly died at age 78 of a pulmonary embolism on November 23, 2005, and was survived by her son, James W. Jordan, and three step-daughters.- Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States on January 20th 2021.
He is an actor, known for Parks and Recreation (2009), Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1991) and Great Performances (1971). He has been married to Jill Biden since June 17, 1977. They have one child. He was previously married to Neilia Biden. - Actor
- Sound Department
- Writer
Voiceover actor, activist, and snappy dresser, JP is the founder and president of Queer Vox, a non-profit training academy and community for LGBTQIA+ voice talent that advocates for authentic and equitable casting opportunities. Also a political junkie, JP and voiceover pal Courtenay Taylor are co-founders of the nonpartisan organization NerdsVote, linking gamers, cos-players, con-goers, and pop culture fans of all kinds to voter registration opportunities.
JP hails from Dunmore, PA (neighbor of Scranton, "The Electric City") and is an alum of the USC School of Dramatic Arts. He loves pie, his husband Scott, his dog Stanley Pucci, and pie.- Daniel McDonald was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the youngest of seven siblings. A life member of the Actors Studio, he has also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, with Paul Curtis of the American Mime Company, and with famed acting teacher Sanford Meisner. Active on television and on stage, he married Mujah Maraini-Melehi in 1999. Daniel McDonald died on February 15, 2007, aged 46, from brain cancer.
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Michael Patrick King was born on 14 September 1954 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Sex and the City 2 (2010), Sex and the City (1998) and Sex and the City (2008).- John Mahon was born on 2 February 1938 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Armageddon (1998), L.A. Confidential (1997) and Zodiac (2007). He was married to Margaret Jean Street and Deidre. He died on 3 May 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Music Department
Louise Williams was born on 27 June 1933 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Gus (1976), Busting Loose (1977) and Tabitha (1976).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
The son of a struggling businessman, Cy Endfield--born Cyril Raker Endfield--worked hard to be admitted to Yale University in 1933. While completing his education he became enamored with progressive theatre and appeared in a New Haven production of a minor Russian play in 1934. He was also profoundly influenced by such friends as writer Paul Jarrico, who was in Hollywood and who advocated liberal and leftist views. For several years Endfield worked as a director and choreographer with avant-garde theatre companies in and around New York and Montreal. He led his own repertory company of amateur players in performances of musicals and satirical revue at resorts in the Catskills.
Endfield had another string to his bow, having established a not inconsiderable reputation as master of the art of micro magic, particularly card tricks. In a circuitous way this brought him to Hollywood in 1940. There have been conflicting stories as to how he came to the attention of Orson Welles, who was known to have a long-standing fascination with magic. Endfield first met Welles in a magic shop, but it was his producer and business manager Jack Moss, himself a magician, who hired Endfield for the Mercury Theatre as a "general factotum". Moss wanted to enhance his own skills in order to confound Welles, who had engaged him in the first place as a tutor for performing magic on stage. In return for his expertise, Endfield was permitted to sit in on the making of Journey Into Fear (1943) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), learning valuable lessons in the process. By 1942 he was ready with his first film, a 15-minute-long documentary about the danger of rampant capitalism, entitled Inflation (1943). The witty little piece was a subtle attack on corporate greed and corruption and featured well-known actor Edward Arnold as a devil in businessman garb. An outspoken social critic, who had flirted briefly with the Young Communist League back in his days at Yale, Endfield was from the outset on a collision course with the establishment. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce banned his film as "excessively anti-capitalist" and kept it from public view for half a century.
Following wartime service, Endfield wrote several scripts for radio and television. He directed a number of short documentaries for MGM in 1946, and followed this with his motion picture debut, Gentleman Joe Palooka (1946), based on a popular comic strip character, shot in eight days at "Poverty Row" studio Monogram Pictures. He also directed a B-mystery, The Argyle Secrets (1948), from his own earlier radio play, followed by one of the better entries in the "Tarzan" series, Tarzan's Savage Fury (1952). Unfortunately, the picture did poorly at the box office. The reason for this, producer, Sol Lesser suggested later, was because Lex Barker (as "Tarzan") had been given too many lines to speak and "nearly talked himself to death". It was not until Endfield's harrowing indictment of mob rule, The Sound of Fury (1950), that he "arrived" as a director of note. That same year he helmed another independently produced minor masterpiece (on a budget of $500,000), the stylish and moody film noir The Underworld Story (1950). In this scathing attack on unscrupulous journalism, with the lead character being inherently unsympathetic, Endfield elicited one of the finest performances of his career from Dan Duryea.
The ideas and sentiments expressed in these films were ill-timed, in that they drew the attention of HUAC--The House Un-American Activities Committee, which was tasked with rooting out Communists and other "subversives" in the entertainment industry--which particularly denounced "Sound of Fury" as being un-American. Though never a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, Endfield found himself "named" as a sympathizer. Preferring to leave the country rather than inform on others to the FBI, he settled his affairs and left for a new career in Britain in December 1951. To avoid problems with distribution in the US, for the first few years he worked under pseudonyms (such as "Hugh Raker") and on two occasions allowed a friend of his, director Charles de la Tour, to act as a 'front'. He used his own name again for the offbeat action film Hell Drivers (1957). This uncompromisingly tough working-class melodrama featured Stanley Baker, with whom Endfield formed a production company in the 1960s. Baker eventually starred in six of Endfield's films, including the routinely scripted drama Sea Fury (1958) about tugboat sailors and the rather over-the-top Sands of the Kalahari (1965). From the late 1950's, Endfield became also increasingly involved in turning out television commercials. He also worked in the theatre again, directing Neil Simon's play "Come Blow Your Horn" at the West End.
Certainly the most visually impressive and successful of Endfield's films is Zulu (1964), the epic story of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879 between a small contingent of British troops and a vastly superior force of Zulu tribesmen. The original story was penned by military writer John Prebble and Endfield had written the screenplay as early as 1959. After several abortive attempts, he was able to parlay his way into the offices of producer Joseph E. Levine in Rome and was finally given the go-ahead. Enhanced by John Barry's rousing score, "Zulu" is a supremely well-choreographed "battle ballet"--the battle scenes constitute well over half the screen time), with numerous lateral tracking shots of the main protagonists, which effectively draw the audience into the heart of the action. The social element is concerned with British imperialism and class structure, as two officers from different backgrounds are forced to pull together in order to stay alive. As the supercilious upper-crust Lt. Bromhead, Michael Caine, then relatively unknown, began on his path to fame with an excellent performance, alongside Stanley Baker. Historical incongruities apart, "Zulu" succeeded as pure spectacle, much in the same way as the big-budget Hollywood epics of the same period.
Endfield lost interest in filmmaking after shooting the anti-war movie Universal Soldier (1971). This was in part due to the fact that most of his films had failed to make much money. After the death of his friend Stanley Baker in 1976, Endfield devoted himself to his "technical period". He manufactured a gold-and-silver chess set as commemoration for a famous match between grand masters Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972 (only 100 were ever produced). In 1980 he invented the first pocket word processing system, the "MicroWriter", which had re-chargeable batteries and a 14-character LCD display.
In 1955 Endfield had co-authored a very successful book, "Cy Endfield's Entertaining Card Magic" (with Lewis Ganson), which had been well-received by amateur and professional magicians alike. In fact, one of his admirers, and occasional collaborators, was the famous micro magician Dai Vernon. Many of the sleight-of-hand routines in the book were developed by Endfield himself and related to the reader in a manner befitting a consummate storyteller. Endfield's passion for performing magic remained with him to the end. The multi-talented polymath resided in Britain until his death in April 1995.- Byrne Piven was born on 24 September 1929 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Being John Malkovich (1999), Very Bad Things (1998) and Miracle on 34th Street (1994). He was married to Joyce Hiller Piven. He died on 18 February 2002 in Evanston, Illinois, USA.
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"Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers out there are starving!" When Patrick Dennis's fictional Auntie Mame uttered this pithy observation, she could have been speaking of Charles MacArthur. Charlie never shied away from the feast, and he certainly never went hungry. Arriving in November 1895 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Charlie was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. His early life was dominated by his father's ministry, leading the family to travel cross country wherever the elder MacArthur's calling took them. Charlie spent much of his time during those years hiding in the bathroom -- the only place offering even a modicum of privacy for a member of such a large family -- reading virtually anything he could get his hands on. He developed a passion for the written word that would last him to his dying day. Resisting Reverend MacArthur's insistent urging that his son follow him into the ministry, young Charlie left the family's rural New York home soon after finishing high school. Heading off to the Midwest, he took a reporter's job at The Oak Leaves, a suburban Chicago newspaper owned by two of his older brothers and run by his older sister. His first professional taste of crafting something for others to read whetted his appetite for even more. Intently determined to pursue a calling which for him was as strong as the calling his father had heard, Charlie went to the City News Bureau of Chicago as the first step in his journey toward life as a journalist. Though only 19, the irreverent sense of humor and dislike for mindless authoritarianism for which he would later be so well known was already quite evident in the application he filled out for the job. In the space entitled "Tell us in exactly seventy-five words why you wish to become a reporter," Charlie wrote: "I want to become a reporter more because I like the work than for any other reason. I feel that even if I should branch off in another profession, the experience obtained in getting up on your toes after news would be valuable. These are my reasons. More words would be useless." The excitement of working in brash and brawling pre-1920s Chicago didn't quite satisfy Charlie's hunger for something more, however, and he soon hooked up with General "Black Jack" Pershing, galloping off to Mexico to join in the hunt for the infamous Pancho Villa. When World War I broke out, Charlie joined the Army's 149th Field Artillery, part of the Rainbow Division. During his time in France, he and his battery mate shot down a German plane with nothing more than a machine gun. Later in the war, Charlie sustained a mild shrapnel wound. In 1919 he penned his only book, A Bug's Eye View of the War (later republished in 1929 by Harper Collins as War Bugs) about his unit's adventures and misadventures during some of the most brutal and bloodiest fighting in history. Returning to Chicago just in time for Prohibition, the Roaring 20s, and Al Capone, Charlie became one of Chicago's most well-known and widely read reporters. He authored some of the most enduring pieces ever printed in the pages of the Chicago Tribune and Daily News. His style was inventive, charming, and witty. Readers couldn't get enough. Once, when writing about a dentist accused of sexually molesting his female patients, Charlie chose the headline "Dentist Fills Wrong Cavity". He also wrote several short stories, two of which, "Hang It All" (1921) and "Rope" (1923), were published in H.L. Mencken's The Smart Set magazine. His star continued to rise, and he eventually headed off to the greener pastures of New York City. Once settled in the Big Apple, he began to shift his efforts toward playwrighting. His first true Broadway success was in 1926 with the play "Lulu Belle", written in collaboration with Edward Sheldon. It would later be remade into a 1948 movie starring Dorothy Lamour and George Montgomery. His next play, "Salvation", written in collaboration with Sidney Howard, enjoyed a moderate Broadway run. During the summer of 1927, Charlie and long-time friend and collaborator, Ben Hecht, rented the premises of the Nyack Girl's Academy as a haven from which they could create their own special brand of playwrighting. Helen Hayes (the future Mrs. Charles MacArthur) would tell friends of times when she or Rose Hecht would visit to bring in food or other supplies for their men, and the building would be positively filled with shouts of laughter and merriment. The result of this seclusion was the 1928 Broadway debut of "The Front Page". The phenomenal stage success of "The Front Page" prompted Charlie to head to Hollywood and screenplay work. Having already developed such works as The Girl Said No (1930), Billy the Kid (1930) and The Unholy Garden (1931), he hit the jackpot in 1931, first with the movie version of The Front Page (1931) (again collaborating with Ben Hecht), which won Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Lewis Milestone), and Best Actor (Adolphe Menjou), and then, with the release of The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931), which netted a 1932 Best Actress Oscar for its star, Helen Hayes. The film also won awards at that year's Venice Film Festival for both its leading lady and its director, Edgar Selwyn. Charlie's screenplay for Rasputin and the Empress (1932), the only movie ever to feature siblings John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore together in the same film, gained him his own first Academy Award nomination (in 1934, for Best Original Story). Even though their efforts had turned mostly to filmmaking by this point, it was also during this period that Hecht and MacArthur produced their second smash theatrical effort, "Twentieth Century", which debuted on Broadway in December 1932, and was later made into the well-received 1934 movie starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. Unhappy with the machinations of Hollywood's fledgling film industry, however, MacArthur and Hecht decided to set up their own shop in Astoria, New York, producing, writing, directing, and even making uncredited onscreen appearances in a series of films such as The Scoundrel (1935) (poking fun at themselves by playing downtrodden patrons of a charity flop house) and Crime Without Passion (1934) (in which they portrayed -- what else? -- newspaper reporters). Their work earned much critical acclaim, culminating in the 1936 Best Writing (Original Story) Academy Award for The Scoundrel (1935). Their 1939 collaboration to turn Rudyard Kipling's epic poem into the movie Gunga Din (1939), starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., was recognized in 1999 by the National Film Registry, and their adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1939) garnered the two yet another Academy Award Best Writing (Screenplay) nomination in 1940. That year also saw the remake of "The Front Page" into the popular movie, His Girl Friday (1940), starring Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. The advent of World War II prompted Charlie to interrupt his writing career and sign on in his country's service once again. He began his second stint of service years as a Major in the Chemical Warfare Service, returning home at the war's conclusion a Lt. Colonel. By now, the father of two children, Mary and James MacArthur, and husband to "The First Lady of the American Theatre", Charlie had amassed a considerable amount of fame in his own right, yet was still looking for something different. Resuming his theatrical and film work, he also took on the duties of editing and publishing the foundering Theatre World magazine, but left after little more than a year, dissatisfied with the politics and constraints of working in a corporate atmosphere. The tragic loss of his 19-year-old daughter to polio in 1949 was a blow from which Charlie would never quite recover. Though he continued to work on screenplays and movie scripts up until his death in 1956, some of which enjoyed a modicum of success, he would never again completely recapture the freewheeling enthusiasm of his earlier days. When his son grew old enough to begin considering a career of his own, his father advised, "Do anything you like, son, but never become a playwright. It's a death worse than fate!" Charles MacArthur left behind a lasting imprint upon both those who knew him personally and those who knew him only through his published works. Supremely disdainful of anything even remotely false or affected, Charlie nevertheless did follow the path his father wished him to take, albeit in his own inimical fashion. His words carried a truth and sincerity few writers have been able to achieve. His unique mix of subtle irony, gentle sarcasm, and poignant pathos reached as deeply into his audience at least as well as any fiery sermon from a pulpit ever could. As Ben Hecht said in the eulogy he delivered at his friend's memorial service (and later expanded upon in his 1957 book, "Charlie: The Improbable Life and Times of Charles MacArthur"), "Charlie was more than a man of talent. He was himself a great piece of writing. His gaiety, wildness and kindness, his love for his bride Helen, and his two children, and for his clan of brothers and sisters -- his wit and his adventures will live a long, long while".- Actress
- Additional Crew
Roxanne Tunis was born on 13 April 1930 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Blue City (1986). She was married to Jack Watson Scheck Jr.. She died on 23 June 2023 in Camarillo, California, USA.- Adrian Ricard was born on 7 August 1924 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for I, Robot (2004), Bulworth (1998) and The Man with Two Brains (1983). She died on 29 December 2016 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
- Actress
Amy Wilson was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She is known for Kinsey (2004), Occupant (2011) and Norm (1999).- Sally Kemp was born on 7 February 1933 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for ABC Afterschool Specials (1972), Dynasty (1981) and The Glove (1979). She was married to Jor Van Kline, Howard Gossage and Paul Jenkins. She died on 21 March 2017 in Los Angeles California, USA.
- Actress
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Montana Jacobowitz is a dynamically acclaimed actress and singer who has established herself as trailblazer of her generation. Montana landed her first film role in CBS blockbuster film "Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life" alongside Lauren Graham, Andy Daly, Rob Riggle, Griffin Gluck, and Isabela Merced. Since then, she starred in the Amazon Prime series, "2Real4U." She played the heart-wrenching series regular role of 'Peaches Thomas.' The series focuses on women's lives as they share a Safe Haven Home with secrets and corruption occurring behind closed doors. Peaches is a young teenager that comes from a broken home. She was placed in mental institutions due to numerous suicide attempts. When nothing works, she is placed in the Safe Haven Home. Unknown to Peaches, the hidden dark secrets of the home begin to emerge. Montana is well-known for voicing the lead Panderverse Butters Stotch opposite Trey Parker and Matt Stone on the highly sought five time Emmy-winning Paramount+ TV show "South Park." She just wrapped filming a Great American Family dramatic medical series "County Rescue" in the role of Bridgett, which will air early 2025. Montana's has built credits for herself in off-broadway productions such as Shakespeare's As You Like It, Hairspray, Fiddler on the Roof, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and many more. In addition, Montana has been recognized for her musical abilities as singer-songwriter and musician. She has opened for notable actors and musicians such as Jaleel White aka Steve Urkel (Sitcom, "Family Matters"), Jeffrey Osborne, Kechi Okwuchi ("America's Got Talent" Season 12 Finalist), and many more. She has written 4 original songs called, "Let Me In," "Ask Me Why I Cry," "Reckless," and "The Things I've Done," which can be heard and streamed on all music platforms. Jacobowitz has been recognized by several outlets for her activism and philanthropy work with 'Girl's Life Magazine' mentioning, "Gen Z is showing that you can change the world no matter how young you are. For proof, look no further than rising star Montana."- Actor
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Robert Reich was born on 24 June 1946 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for America Is Sinking (2023), Love & Taxes (2015) and Saving Capitalism (2017).- Actor
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Adam Rippon was born on 11 November 1989 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Untitled Figure Skating NBC Project, Will & Grace (1998) and Taylor Swift: You Need to Calm Down (2019). He has been married to Jussi-Pekka Kajaala since 31 December 2021.- Casting Director
- Casting Department
- Actor
Dylan Jury was born on 22 March 1983 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a casting director and actor, known for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), Mulan (2020) and Inception (2010).- From Scranton, PA. 1970's Stand Up Comedian Catch a Rising Star, Tramps, Erics National Lampoon Radio/ Rolling Stone Radio/Comedy Central Mock Rock Concert 1980's Second City Chicago/Santa Monica Main Stage Actor Television Appearances: 30 Rock, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, According To Jim, Life with Bonnie, On Tour w/ Badnews Barnes & The Brethren of Blues Band Co-Owner Flaming Saddles Saloon NYC/WEHO
- Producer
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Mark Jonathan Harris was born on 28 October 1941 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for The Long Way Home (1997), Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) and Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine (2017).- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Stunts
Fred Tallaksen is an award-winning choreographer whose work and style have been seen on screens and stages worldwide for 23 plus years. He is a four-time Emmy Nominee, an American Choreography Award Winner, a Nominee for a second American Choreography Award, a Winner of two Choreography Media Honor Awards, four World Choreography Award nominations, an Espirit Award Winner, a Fosse Award Nominee, an Ovation Award Nominee, a Robby Award Nominee, a Thea Award Winner and a Winner and Nominee of several Gala Awards.
Lending his talents to film, television, theater, commercials, stage, music videos and the corporate entertainment field, Fred has not only choreographed dancers, singers, actors and musicians, but also skaters, drummers, BMX riders, skateboarders, aerial artists, cheerleaders, gymnasts and all kinds of specialty performers.
Fred has an extensive background in Television, and has choreographed over 60 different television shows including: Goliath (1 Emmy nom & 1 World Choreography Award nom), Shining Vale, Loot, American Housewife, Seven seasons of Malcolm in the Middle (2 Emmy noms & 1 Choreography Media Award Win), The Real O'Neals (1 Emmy & 2 World Choreography Award noms), Legion, Mickey's 90th Spectacular, The Kids are Alright, Sydney to the Max, A.P. Bio, the EMMY Awards, Santa Clarita Diet, the Mayor, Modern Family, X Factor, Wizards of Waverly Place, Dog with a Blog, Hot In Cleveland, The Price is Right, Fresh Beat Band, Arrested Development, Rules of Engagement, Miss Guided, Jessie, Outsourced, the televised opening of the 120th Rose Parade, Stuck in the Middle, I Didn't Do it, Lab Rats, Pair of Kings, Big Time Rush, True Jackson VP, Blue Collar TV, Living with Fran Drescher, the televised opening of the Hollywood Christmas Parade, seven years on Days of Our Lives, Mad TV, Boy Meets World and the Ben Stiller Show.
The title sequence for the Jim Henson's show, Sid the Science Kid, which Fred choreographed, won an Emmy for best title sequence. Fred's choreography is featured in over 40 episodes of this animated PBS children's show and gained him an expertise for choreography using cutting edge motion capture technology. More recently, Fred choreographed Henson's newest animated show Word Party for Netflix.
Fred worked one on one with Madonna and created choreography for her Sorry music video. He was then asked to choreograph the finale for her Confessions World Tour. The televised special on NBC earned him a Choreography Media Honors Award. Fred has also choreographed music videos for Weezer (Pork and Beans), James Blunt (1973), Kellis (Good Stuff), Enrique Iglasias (Can You Hear Me), Storm Lee (I Came Here to Dance) and Misty Rosas (Let Go). The music video Fred choreographed for Juanes (Me Enamora) won a Latin Grammy Award for best video of the year.
Fred was the skating consultant for Austin Powers III - Goldmember and worked personally with Mike Myers. He choreographed other films such as The Little Rascals Save the Day, Valley Girl (skating choreography for Mandy Moore), Atlas Shrugged, No Place Like Home, Circuit, Whiplash and The Sex Monster.
For the 53rd Grammy Awards Fred choreographed Cee Lo Green's nominated song Forget You, featuring Jim Henson's Puppets and Gwyneth Paltrow. Other award shows include: Billboard Music Awards w/ Bad Bunny, the EMMY Awards, Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards with Whitney Houston, multiple Gala Award shows, the Laurel Awards and the Music Video Producer Awards.
Commercials include the American Choreography Award nominated Mountain Dew Busby Berkeley Spot, Wells Fargo, Tip Top Bakery, Keystone Light, Washington Mutual, seven spots for Goodyear Tires, Nature Made Vitamins, Mitsubishi, Dirt Devil, two spots for Round Table Pizza, Domino's Pizza, Chrysler, Toshiba, Adidas Men's Cologne, Hilton Hotels, Shoebuy.com and McDonald's.
Fred has also choreographed live shows for: the Jabbawockeez's Halloween Horror Nights in Los Angeles, JLo's "All I Have" residency at Planet Hollywood in Vegas, Sea World Summer Shows in San Diego and Orlando, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Orlando show "Death Drums" and the Osmond Family X-Mas show in Branson MO.
Fred directed and choreographed many stage productions including: "Fully Charged," a circus for Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey (Director and Choreographer), the national tour of Phineas and Ferb: the Best Live Tour Ever! (Director and Choreographer), the international tour of Let's Rock the Mouse! (Director and Choreographer), the amazing spectacle entitled The Legend of Mythica for Tokyo Disney Seas (THEA award for best show), Dance Time at Disneyland Paris and the Pixar Play! Parade, at California Adventure. (Director and Choreographer)
An award-winning Director/Choreographer for his work in the corporate arena, Fred has created entertainment for over 300 events, all over the world, for major corporations including Microsoft, Go Daddy, Red Bull, La Quinta, Heineken, Hallmark, HP, Mitsubishi, Honda, Acura, IBM, FORD, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Goodyear, AT&T, Rolls Royce, Chrysler, Honeywell, US Sprint, Harley Davidson, Jaguar, Elizabeth Arden, the Disney Channel, Phillip Morris and countless others. Fred was staff choreographer for many years for the high roller parties on New Years Eve at the Bellagio and Mirage hotels in Las Vegas and the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. For his work in the Corporate World, Fred has won an Esprit Award and several Gala Awards.
With casts in Orlando and Los Angeles, Fred's corporate ACTS: Rhythm Extreme, LIGHT FORCE, Extreme Beam, X Pose' and L.E.D. (Lights, Energy, Drums) tour and perform at corporate events worldwide.
Fred has choreographed and coached celebrities including:
Madonna, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Mira Sorvino, Greg Kinnear, Courteney Cox, Selena Gomez, Billy Bob Thornton, J.K. Simmons, Obba Babatunde', Bad Bunny, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Kym Whitley, Caroline Rhea, Beau Bridges, Drew Carey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mike Meyers, Jennifer Lopez, Bryan Cranston, Bea Arthur, Betty White, Heather Locklear, David Spade, Yvette Nicole Brown, Sofia Vergara, Keke Palmer, Vanessa Hudgens, Fran Drescher, Valerie Bertinelli, Patton Oswalt, Paula Pell, Fred Armisen, David Cassidy, Cloris Leachman, Whitney Houston, Wendie Malick, Judy Greer, Ben Stiller, Ben Savage, Jane Kazmerick, Diedrich Bader, Katy Mixon, Lucy Lawless, Timothy Olyphant, Garrett Clayton, Cedric the Entertainer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson plus Mickey & Minnie Mouse.- Mike Dargatis III was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to parents Michael and Laura. At the age of 6, he moved to Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his youth. Mike attended Abington Heights High School. Upon graduation, he went on to attend Clarion University (now Pennsylvania Western University). After 2 years, he transferred to Wilkes University, where he graduated with a degree in Communications Studies.
Upon moving to Pittsburgh, PA, Mike gained an interest in acting after appearing as a waiter in the A&E TV series "Those Who Kill". He has since appeared in over 60 commercials, print ads, and short films. After moving to Los Angeles, he has appeared alongside Bruce Willis, Luke Wilson & Devon Sawa in the film "Gasoline Alley", and shot his first Co-Star role on the hit NBC television show "Magnum P.I.".