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- Actress
- Soundtrack
At sixteen years old, Melanie Lynskey dazzled the film world with an audacious debut in Peter Jackson's revered psychological crime picture, Heavenly Creatures (1994). Her electrifying portrait of Pauline Parker - high school misfit whose fierce rapport with her only friend (a pre-fame Kate Winslet) spirals dangerously out of control - was deemed "perfect" (Richard Corliss, TIME) and secured the humble New Zealander a Best Actress trophy in her motherland. Following a three-year interval spent studying at university and relocating to Los Angeles, Lynskey made a welcome return to the silver screen when she was cast as Drew Barrymore's sweet-natured stepsister in Andy Tennant's 'girl power' twist on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998). Parts in But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Coyote Ugly (2000), Snakeskin (2001), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Shattered Glass (2003), and Clint Eastwood's Oscar-nominated war epic Flags of Our Fathers (2006) came next.
In the consequent years, Lynskey emerged as one of the industry's most celebrated character actors, picking up plaudits for a host of appearances in prestige vehicles such as Sam Mendes's Away We Go (2009), Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (2009), Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! (2009), Tom McCarthy's Win Win (2011), Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up (2021). Prolific supporting roles - opposite the calibre of George Clooney, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio - aside, spotlight turns in Hello I Must Be Going (2012), Happy Christmas (2014), The Intervention (2016) - for which she scored a Special Jury Prize at Sundance - and the genre-bending I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017) have equally proved her mettle as a dynamite leading lady.
Since entering the annals of 21st century popular culture with her riotous embodiment of Rose - on the toweringly successful Two and a Half Men (2003), where she appeared for over a decade as Charlie Sheen's duplicitous admirer - Lynskey has injected her scene-stealing prowess into a multitude of small-screen gigs: among them, HBO's exalted tragicomedy Togetherness (2015), which showcased her "sublime" (Vanity Fair) depiction of a dissatisfied stay-at-home mom; macabre Stephen King spookfest Castle Rock (2018), where she headlined as pill-popping psychic Molly Strand; and all-star political period piece Mrs. America (2020), in which she joined forces with Cate Blanchett. For her spellbinding work on Showtime's Yellowjackets (2021) - where she's front-and-centre as Shauna, a suburban housewife consumed by horrific secrets - Lynskey collected the coveted Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series (2022), with Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall describing her turn in the runaway cult smash as the "dark, messy, charismatic part she's been waiting her whole career to play".- Jayden Revri was born on 16 May 1999 in Brent, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Lodge (2016), Dead Boy Detectives (2024) and Fate: The Winx Saga (2021).
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Megan Denise Fox was born on May 16, 1986 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and raised in Rockwood, Tennessee to Gloria Darlene Tonachio (née Cisson), a real estate manager and Franklin Thomas Fox, a parole officer. She began her drama and dance training at age 5 and at age 10, she moved to Port St. Lucie, Florida where she continued her training and finished school. Megan began acting and modeling at age 13 after winning several awards at the 1999 American Modeling and Talent Convention in Hilton Head, South Carolina. At age 17, she tested out of school using correspondence and eventually moved to Los Angeles, California. Megan made her film debut as Brianna Wallace in the Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen film, Holiday in the Sun (2001). Her best-known roles are as Sam Witwicky's love interest, Mikaela Banes in Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), as April O'Neil in the remake Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), and as Jennifer Check in the horror comedy Jennifer's Body (2009).- Viola Lynn Collins was born in Houston, Texas, to Patricia Lynn (Campbell) and Phillip Dean Collins. She attended the Juilliard School for Drama and had a great deal of Shakespearean training before being cast as "Portia" in "The Merchant of Venice". She also played "Ophelia" in a production of "Hamlet" in New York, and was "Juliet" in Peter Hall's "Romeo and Juliet" at the Ahmanson theatre in Los Angeles.
- Jing Lusi was born in Shanghai and moved to England with her parents at the age of five. After graduating law from University College London, Lusi went on to become one of the most prominent Asian actresses in the UK. She has appeared across TV (Lucky Man (2016), Scott & Bailey (2011)), film (Survivor (2015), Crazy Rich Asians (2018)) and theatre, as well as presenting a number of documentaries for UK and Chinese broadcasters.
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Thomas Brodie-Sangster was born on 16 May 1990 in London, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014) and Love Actually (2003).- Actress
- Writer
- Editorial Department
Alice Wetterlund was born on 16 May 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016), Resident Alien (2021) and People of Earth (2016). She was previously married to Andy Haynes.- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left the household when Pierce was a child and although reunited later in life, the two have never had a close relationship. His most popular role is that of British secret agent James Bond. The death, in 1991, of Cassandra Harris, his wife of eleven years, left him with three children - Christopher and Charlotte from Cassandra's first marriage and Sean from their marriage. Since her death, he has had two children with his second wife, Keely Shaye Brosnan.
Brosnan is most famous for starring in the TV series Remington Steele (1982) as the title character, as well as portraying famous movie character James Bond in GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Danny Trejo was born Dan Trejo in Echo Park, Los Angeles, to Alice (Rivera) and Dan Trejo, a construction worker. A child drug addict and criminal, Trejo was in and out of jail for 11 years. While serving time in San Quentin, he won the lightweight and welterweight boxing titles. Imprisoned for armed robbery and drug offenses, he successfully completed a 12-step rehabilitation program that changed his life. While speaking at a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in 1985, Trejo met a young man who later called him for support. Trejo went to meet him at what turned out to be the set of Runaway Train (1985). Trejo was immediately offered a role as a convict extra, probably because of his tough tattooed appearance. Also on the set was a screenwriter who did time with Trejo in San Quentin. Remembering Trejo's boxing skills, the screenwriter offered him $320 per day to train the actors for a boxing match. Director Andrey Konchalovskiy saw Trejo training Eric Roberts and immediately offered him a featured role as Roberts' opponent in the film. Trejo has subsequently appeared in many other films, usually as a tough criminal or villain.
Trejo is of Mexican descent.- Actress
- Producer
Sheila Carrasco was recently featured in the 2018 JFL New Face of Comedy: Characters showcase. Sheila is from the South Side of Chicago and went to NYU and Harvard. She is half Chilean/Mapuche and half white American. Recent credits include: I Think You Should Leave w/ Tim Robinson, The Good Place, Jane the Virgin, Outmatched, The Odd Couple, Life in Pieces, American Housewife, and #VanLife for NBC/Univ. She is a creator for Más Mejor- Broadway Video's premium comedy studio for Latinx voices. Sheila performed and wrote in the 2018 CBS Diversity Showcase. In 2019 she was the Head Writer and created and ran the inaugural staffed writers room. She is a veteran of the Groundlings Sunday Company and is a proud member of IAMA Theatre Company, where she performed her one-woman play "Anyone But Me". Black Lives Matter.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Mary Debra Winger was born May 16, 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruth (Felder), an office manager, and Robert Jack Winger, a meat packer. She is from a Jewish family (originally from Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire). Her maternal grandparents called her Mary, while her parents called her Debra (her father named her Debra after his favorite actress, Debra Paget). The family moved to California when Debra was five. She fell in love with acting in high school but kept it a secret from her family. She was a precocious teenager, having graduated high school at an early age of 15. She enrolled in college, majoring in criminology. She worked part-time in the local amusement park when she got thrown from a truck and suffered serious injuries and went temporarily blind for several months. She was in the hospital when she vowed to pursue her passion for acting.
After she recovered, she abandoned college and studied acting. Like any struggling actor, she did commercials and guest-starred on 70s TV shows like Task Force: Part I (1976) and Wonder Woman (1975), where she performed as Diana's little sister, Wonder Girl. She also made her feature film debut in the embarrassing soft-core porn film, Slumber Party '57 (1976). (Years later on Inside the Actors Studio (1994), host James Lipton asked her to name her first film, and she refused to answer him.) Her next two films, French Postcards (1979) and Thank God It's Friday (1978), did absolutely nothing for her career. When Sissy Spacek said no to playing the character Sissy in Urban Cowboy (1980), almost every young actress in Hollywood pursued the role. Debra won the role over a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer and gave a star-making performance as John Travolta's wife. Her handling of the mechanical bull made her a new kind of sex symbol. She would always remain grateful to her director James Bridges for threatening to quit the film if the studio didn't cast her. However, she followed it up with a flop, Cannery Row (1982). But, she became part of one of the top-grossing films of all time by providing her deep, throaty voice to the title character of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) as a favor to the film's director Steven Spielberg (Note: IMDB cast list for E.T. indicates Pat Welsh as the voice for that character.). She also appeared in the film for a few seconds in the Halloween scene, where she is wearing a zombie mask and carrying a poodle. She received her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for the huge hit, An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), where her on-screen love scenes with Richard Gere became just as legendary as her off-screen fights with him and with director Taylor Hackford.
Debra's reputation as a great talent, as well as her reputation as a difficult actress grew with her next film, Terms of Endearment (1983), which not only earned her a second Oscar nomination as Best Actress but also won the Best Picture as well. She also earned the Best Actress Award from the National Society of Film Critics. Debra was at the top of her game and was the most sought-after actress in Hollywood, but she turned down quality roles and lucrative offers for three years. Some speculated that the reason was her romantic involvement with Bob Kerrey, then-governor of Nebraska, while others have stated it was her back problems. Whatever her reasons were, her career lost its heat. Her long-delayed film Mike's Murder (1984), reuniting her with her "Urban Cowboy" director James Bridges, didn't help matters either when it became a critical and financial flop. Debra tried to revive her career by starring in the big-budget comedy Legal Eagles (1986), but she disliked the film so much that she publicly stated that the director, Ivan Reitman, was one of the two worst directors she worked with, the other director being Taylor Hackford (An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)). She also walked out on her agency, CAA, but returned several years later.
Her personal life made headlines when she left Bob Kerrey and eloped with Oscar-winning actor Timothy Hutton in 1986. In 1987, she gave birth to their son, Noah Hutton. She also starred in Black Widow (1987), which wasn't a hit, and acted alongside Hutton as a male angel in Made in Heaven (1987) which flopped. She followed that up by starring in another flop, Betrayed (1988), which featured a fleeting cameo by Hutton. She separated from Hutton in 1988 and they divorced in 1990, at which time she had two more bombs, Everybody Wins (1990) and The Sheltering Sky (1990). However, she relished the experience on The Sheltering Sky (1990) so much that she stayed in the Sahara desert long after filming wrapped. She came back to US and filmed a Steve Martin vehicle, Leap of Faith (1992), which did nothing for her career. But, she found love on the set of her next film, Wilder Napalm (1993) when she co-starred opposite Arliss Howard, who became her next husband. The film flopped but their marriage lasted. She received good notices for A Dangerous Woman (1993), but it was Shadowlands (1993) which finally brought her renewed respectability and her third Academy Award nomination as Best Actress. She followed that up with a forgettable comedy, Forget Paris (1995). Then, she signed to do "Divine Rapture" with Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp in a small village in Ireland, but two weeks into filming, financing fell apart, and the film was never completed. Winger was never paid for her work, and neither were the poor villagers, and Winger said she was devastated for them. Now 40, Debra felt that there were no good roles for her and she concentrated on motherhood by having a second son, Babe Howard, in 1997. Her six-year absence from films inspired a documentary by Rosanna Arquette titled Searching for Debra Winger (2002), which is about sexism and ageism in Hollywood. In 2001, she returned to acting in her husband's film, Big Bad Love (2001), which she also co-produced. It renewed her love for acting, and she has ventured out into television as well by earning her first Emmy nomination as Best Actress for Dawn Anna (2005), directed by her husband. In 2008, she wrote a well-written book, based on her personal recollections, titled "Undiscovered". And she followed that up by winning rave reviews as Anne Hathaway's mother in Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married (2008). However, it wasn't enough to reignite her feature film career, so she ventured towards television in 2010 with a guest-starring role on "Law and Order" titled Boy on Fire (2010), to a seven-episode stint on In Treatment (2008), to a two-part miniseries The Red Tent (2014), to a regular role on The Ranch (2016) . Her television exposure reignited her feature film career, and she was cast in her first romantic lead in 22 years in The Lovers (2017). And she had also mellowed with age, presenting an award to Richard Gere in 2011 and saying kind things about director Taylor Hackford in 2017, after having fought with both of them during An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). Nobody can deny that Debra Winger is one of the best American actresses ever. Her fans hope that Hollywood will finally reward her talent with a long-overdue Academy Award.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
David was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Patti, a travel agent, and weatherman Dave Roberts (Boreanaz). His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of half Slovak ancestry. At the age of seven he decide to be an actor, which eventually led him to study cinema and photography at Ithaca College in New York. After graduating from college, David moved to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career in the movies. After some uncredited roles he received his first important role as Kelly's boyfriend in the series Married... with Children (1987). After three seasons of playing Angel in the hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), he received his own spin-off show titled Angel (1999).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mary 'Mare' Megan Winningham is an actress and songwriter who has appeared in nearly 100 TV shows and feature films. She began her career in 1976 as a singer, and starred in numerous and diverse film roles before hitting it big as one of the original Brat Pack in Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985) with Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy.
Mare attended Chatsworth High School with Val Kilmer, James Rekart and Kevin Spacey, but she was bitten by the acting bug much earlier on. She had enjoyed drama and music since primary school, taking a particular interest in the guitar and drums.
Since St. Elmo's Fire (1985), Mare has played some outstanding roles in a number of big films. She starred in the Tom Hanks comedy Turner & Hooch (1989). She has also starred in two feature films with Kevin Costner, The War (1994) and the western Wyatt Earp (1994), the latter directed by Lawrence Kasdan and co-starring Gene Hackman. Mare won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia (1995).
Bad Day on the Block (1997) saw her starring opposite Charlie Sheen and she put in a superb performance in Brothers (2009), a war drama co-starring Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.
Her myriad TV roles include ER (1994), Grey's Anatomy (2005), and 24 (2001) with Kiefer Sutherland.- Deniz Akdeniz, best known for his role in the Max Original hit "The Flight Attendant" alongside Kaley Cuoco and Zosia Mamet. He recently starred with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the endearing drama "You Hurt My Feelings" from acclaimed director Nicole Holofcener. Part of the incredible ensemble cast of Craig Gillespie's "Dumb Money". He will next appear alongside Kaitlin Olson in the new ABC show "High Potential" by Drew Goddard.
- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Eva-Jane Willis was born in South Africa to Eileen Willis and film director Ian Gabriel. She moved with her mother and sister to live in North London at age 4. As a child, Eva-Jane trained part-time at Mountview Theatre School where she was spotted by casting agents for the BBC and landed her first minor role in the television series Grange Hill. She went on to gain more screen experience in various adverts and music videos before landing her first leading role in a feature film by iDream productions in 2007. She decided to accept the offer and defer her degree at London Metropolitan University. She completed the film and went on to accept another lead in the feature "Highgate Vampire", alongside actress Vanessa Kirby. However the film's development never progressed beyond the initial pilot. She decided to undertake a professional actor training and auditioned for Drama Centre London where she was offered one of the five female places on the three year BA Acting course. Whilst there she was nominated for the Carlton Hobbs Award and won the first prize Laurence Olivier Bursary Award, for her rendition of Celia in 'The Philanthropist' by Christopher Hampton, and Lady Percy in 'Henry IV: Part 2'.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Vincent Regan was born on 16 May 1965. He is an actor and director, known for Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), 300 (2006) and Troy (2004). He has been married to Amelia Curtis since 2001. They have three children.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Jim was born in London, the son of Jane O. (Martin) and Peter J. S. Sturgess. He was raised in Surrey. First and foremost his interest was music. However, he began to develop a secret passion for acting, at age 8, when he auditioned for local theatre to get out of class. Whilst music appeared cool, he felt being in school plays wasn't. So he stuck with small parts, despite a yearning to be in the lead role. At age 15, he joined a band and they began lying about their ages to play gigs in pubs. At school, he received mostly low grades with the exception of music and drama.
For college, he moved to Salford because there was a lot of good music coming out of the Manchester scene. In the hopes of joining a new band, he undertook a Higher National Diploma in Media Performance at Salford University. It was here that he met people that were really interested in filmmaking, and it suddenly felt like a possible career move. He began making short films with his friends and as well as doing theater. He wrote and performed a one-man show, which led an actor in the audience to suggest Jim to his agent. The agent signed him without even meeting him.
Jim moved back to London in 2000, where he joined the band 'Saint Faith'. He had moved to Manchester to join a band, and instead fell into acting. He moved back to London for acting, and ended up joining a band. He took small roles on television to fund his life as a musician.
Problems began in the band in 2006, and Jim heard of an audition for the musical film Across the Universe (2007). He won the leading male role of Jude. He followed this film with The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) with Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson. His breakthrough role came with Dexter in One Day (2011), based on the bestselling book by David Nicholls. Before his audition, Jim hadn't read the book.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Joseph Morgan was born in London and spent his childhood with his family in Swansea, Wales. Morgan moved back to London in his late teens to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. While there he continued to write and experiment with filmmaking, participating in student films and work-shopping scenes from his favorite movies. Upon graduation from Central School, Morgan was hired by acclaimed film director Peter Weir to costar opposite Russell Crowe in 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.' Soon after completion of that film, director Oliver Stone hired Morgan for a strong supporting role in the feature film 'Alexander.' After 'Alexander', Morgan spent time working on stage in the West End of London, as well as starring in numerous British television dramas including BBC miniseries 'The Line of Beauty', 'Henry VIII' opposite Emily Blunt, 'Doc Martin' and 'Mansfield Park'. Morgan was also hired by Harmony Korine to play a James Dean impersonator in his film 'Mister Lonely' His big break came in 2009, when Morgan was cast in the leading role in the miniseries 'Ben Hur'. Based on the classic novel and film, 'Ben Hur' was directed by Emmy winner Steve Shill. In 2010, Morgan's film projects included the independent drama 'Angels Crest', and the big-budget film 'Immortals', in which he co-starred with Mickey Rourke. Later that year he was cast as "Klaus" a series regular in the CW hit series 'The Vampire Diaries' After two short years as "Klaus" Morgan was offered a spin-off show called 'The Originals' and centered around his character. 'The Originals' ran for five seasons earning Morgan numerous nominations as well as The People's Choice award for favorite actor in a new show. During his time on the show Morgan spent his hiatus' shooting indie films 'Open Grave' opposite Shalto Copley and 'Desiree' opposite Walton Goggins and and Ron Perlman. He went on to direct three episodes of 'The Originals' bringing his unique style to an established show, garnering a very positive response from colleagues and critics alike. In 2015 Joseph Morgan started a production Company - Night Owl Productions - with his wife and creative partner Persia White. Under that banner they wrote and produced two short films which Morgan directed. The first 'Revelation' went on to play at eight film festivals, winning the best fantasy film award at Flickers. The second 'Carousel' was filmed over seven hard days with a crew of over fifty passionate people striving to achieve maximum production value. It went on to play at numerous film festivals and win Best Drama Short at the London Independent Film Awards August 2018.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
This remarkable, soft-spoken American began in films as a diffident juvenile. With passing years, he matured into a star character actor who exemplified not only integrity and strength, but an ideal of the common man fighting against social injustice and oppression. He was born in Grand Island, Hall, Nebraska, the son of Herberta Elma (Jaynes) and William Brace Fonda, who was a commercial printer, and proprietor of the W. B. Fonda Printing Company in Omaha, Nebraska. His distant ancestors were Italians who had fled their country and moved to Holland, presumably because of political or religious persecution. In the mid-1600s, they crossed the Atlantic and settled in upstate New York where they founded a community with the Fonda name.
Growing up, Henry developed an early interest in journalism after having a story published in a local newspaper. At the age of twelve, he helped in his father's printing business for $2 a week. Following graduation from high school in 1923, he got a part-time job in Minneapolis with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company which allowed him at first to pursue journalistic studies at the University of Minnesota. As it became difficult to juggle his working hours with his academic roster, he obtained another position as a physical education instructor at $30 a week, including room and board. By this time, he had grown to a height of six foot one and was a natural for basketball.
In 1925, having returned to Omaha, Henry reevaluated his options and came to the conclusion that journalism was not his forte, after all. For a while, he tried his hand at several temporary jobs, including as a mechanic and a window dresser. Then, despite opposition from his parents, Henry accepted an offer from Gregory Foley, director of the Omaha Playhouse, to play the title role in 'Merton of the Movies'. His father would not speak to him for a month. The play and its star received fairly good notices in the local press. It ran for a week, after which Henry observed "the idea of being Merton and not myself taught me that I could hide behind a mask". For the rest of the repertory season, Henry advanced to assistant director which enabled him to design and paint sets as well as act. A casual trip to New York, however, had already made him set his sights on Broadway.
In 1928, he headed east and briefly played in summer stock before joining the University Players, a group of talented Princeton and Harvard graduates among whose number were such future luminaries as James Stewart (who would remain his closest lifelong friend), Joshua Logan and Kent Smith. Before long, Henry played leads opposite Margaret Sullavan, soon to become the first of his five wives. Both marriage and the players broke up four years later. In 1932, Henry found himself sharing a two-room New York apartment with Jimmy Stewart and Joshua Logan. For the next two years, he alternated scenic design with acting at various repertory companies. In 1934, he got a break of sorts, when he was given the chance to present a comedy sketch with Imogene Coca in the Broadway revue New Faces. That year, he also hired Leland Hayward as his personal management agent and this was to pay off handsomely.
It was Hayward who persuaded the 29-year old to become a motion picture actor, despite initial misgivings and reluctance on Henry's part. Independent producer Walter Wanger, whose growing stock company was birthed at United Artists, needed a star for The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935). With both first choice actors Gary Cooper and Joel McCrea otherwise engaged, Henry was the next available option. After all, he had just completed a successful run on Broadway in the stage version. The cheesy publicity tag line for the picture was "you'll be fonder of Fonda", but the film was an undeniable hit. Wanger, realizing he had a good thing going, next cast Henry in a succession of A-grade pictures which capitalized on his image as the sincere, unaffected country boy. Pick of the bunch were the Technicolor outdoor western The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), the gritty Depression-era drama You Only Live Once (1937) (with Henry as a back-to-the-wall good guy forced into becoming a fugitive from the law by circumstance), the screwball comedy The Moon's Our Home (1936) (with ex-wife Sullavan), the excellent pre-civil war-era romantic drama Jezebel (1938) and the equally superb Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), in which Henry gave his best screen performance to date as the 'jackleg lawyer from Springfield'. Henry made two more films with director John Ford: the pioneering drama Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940), with Henry as Tom Joad, often regarded his career-defining role as the archetypal grassroots American trying to stand up against oppression. It also set the tone for his subsequent career. Whether he played a lawman (Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine (1946)), a reluctant posse member (The Ox-Bow Incident (1942), a juror committed to the ideal of total justice in (12 Angry Men (1957)) or a nightclub musician wrongly accused of murder (The Wrong Man (1956)), his characters were alike in projecting integrity and quiet authority. In this vein, he also gave a totally convincing (though historically inaccurate) portrayal in the titular role of The Return of Frank James (1940), a rare example of a sequel improving upon the original.
Henry rarely featured in comedy, except for a couple of good turns opposite Barbara Stanwyck -- with whom he shared an excellent on-screen chemistry -- in The Mad Miss Manton (1938) and The Lady Eve (1941). He was also good value as a poker-playing grifter in the western comedy A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966). Finally, just to confound those who would typecast him, he gave a chilling performance as one of the coldest, meanest stone killers ever to roam the West, in Sergio Leone's classic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). Illness curtailed his work in the 1970s. His final screen role was as an octogenarian in On Golden Pond (1981), in which he was joined by his daughter Jane. It finally won him an Oscar on the heels of an earlier Honorary Academy Award. Too ill to attend the ceremony, he died soon after at the age of 77, having left a lasting legacy matched by few of his peers.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Yvonne Joyce Craig was born on May 16, 1937 in Taylorville, Illinois. As a young teenager, Yvonne showed such promise as a dancer that she was accepted to Denham's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Her training progressed until she left the company in 1957 over a disagreement on casting changes. She moved to Los Angeles hoping to continue her dancing, but was soon cast in movies. At first, Yvonne had small roles in movies such as Gidget (1959) and The Gene Krupa Story (1959). After that, her film career just bumped along. As Yvonne was dating Elvis Presley at the time, she did have a supporting role in the two Elvis movies, It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964).
But her fame would come with the cult television series Batman (1966) in which she played Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara. Her secret identity was Batgirl and as the Commissioner's daughter, she had access to all the calls of trouble taking place in Gotham City. Her character, Batgirl, was part of the 1967-68 season, which was the end of the run for the series. After Batman (1966), she also appeared on other television series such as Star Trek (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). As her career wound down, Yvonne went into the real estate business. Yvonne Craig died at age 78 of breast cancer at her home in Pacific Palisades, California on August 17, 2015.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Yannick Bisson was born on 16 May 1969 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for Murdoch Mysteries (2008), Anything for Jackson (2020) and Year by the Sea (2016). He has been married to Chantal Craig since 26 May 1990. They have three children.- Born in Vancouver, Canada, Ali began her acting career at only four years old after being scouted for a national car commercial. She went directly into film and television the following year, booking a supporting lead role in the feature film "Personal Effects" starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Academy Award winning actress Kathy Bates. A string of guest starring roles in television series followed, including Supernatural(CW), Fringe(FOX), Smallville (CW), Motive (CTV), as well as booking recurring roles on Once Upon a Time (ABC), Falling Skies (TNT), The Man in the High Castle (Amazon), You, Me, Her (Audience), and When Calls the Heart (Hallmark). She was just 11 years old when she booked her first lead in the movie, "One Christmas Eve" for Hallmark Hall of Fame. The film was directed by Jay Russell and starred Anne Heche, who mentored her throughout the six week shoot. Ali was subsequently nominated for a Young Artist Award for her work in the film. Ali followed this by booking another lead role in the Hallmark movie Campfire Kiss opposite Danica McKellar.She won a Joey award for best leading actress for her portrayal of Lacey Reynolds.
Ali's first starring role was in the independent film "The Corruption of Divine Providence". The film centered on a sixteen year old girl, Jeanne Seraphin (played by Skovbye) who is kidnapped from a small French Canadian town after being the subject of an alleged miracle, and different religious factions vie for control over her upon her eventual return. Directly after this Ali flew to Ottawa to film the lead role of Abigail Jones in the Lifetime movie Blind at 17 . While in Ottawa she booked the role of Emma in the Fox Feature Breakthrough opposite Chrissy Metz. All three films are expected to be released in 2019.
In July of 2019 Ali landed the series regular role of Tully Hart in the highly anticipated Netflix series called Firefly Lane.Firefly Lane is an adaptation of the novel from prolific author Kristin Hannah ,and follows the story of Kate and Tully's enduring friendship from their teen years through their 40's. Skovbye will play teenage Tully in the 1970's, a smart, gorgeous, effortlessly cool wild child who just moved to Firefly Lane with her wacky hippie mom. She's exciting to be around, enviably glam and instantly popular with both boys and girls. But her one true friend is her geeky neighbour Kate. Firefly Lane is set to premiere in late 2020.
Ali is drawn to complex and complicated characters and has an innate ability to play the more disturbed or "flawed" characters and is excited by the challenges that these roles present. Ali has developed a true passion for acting and has shown her ability to handle a diverse range of characters. She is incredibly dedicated to her craft and continues to train privately to hone her skills. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Peter Onorati was born and raised in Boonton, New Jersey. He attended college at Lycoming College, where he received his B.A. degree in Business Administration. He was an NCAA all-conference wide receiver, and signed up to play in the World Football League, which quickly collapsed. He then enrolled in Fairleigh Dickinson University, where he received an MBA. He worked for Ford Motor Company and McCall's magazines. He started in comedy, and left the business world for acting. He now lives in Los Angeles, appearing in both films and television shows. He is married to writer Jeanette Collins, and they have three sons.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Tiya Sircar starred as "Roonie Schuman" in the ABC comedy series "Alex, Inc." which premiered in 2018. Based on the podcast StartUp, Sircar played the wife to Zach Braff's character, "Alex Schuman". Sircar is also on the NBC hit comedy "The Good Place," for which Entertainment Weekly dubbed her the series 'Scene Stealer." She appeared on the comedy opposite Kristen Bell and Ted Danson in multiple shifting roles, from an altruistic human rights lawyer to a power-hungry demon. She also starred opposite Kate Beckinsale in the Paramount+ series, Guilty Party. In the wake of recent guest starring roles on such series as Netflix's "Master of None" and Fox's "The Mindy Project," Sircar has also exercised her comedic and dramatic acting chops on "The Witches of East End," "The Vampire Diaries," "The Crazy Ones," "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life on Deck."
Having also established herself as a capable voiceover actress, Sircar lends her pipes as Sabine Wren, a graffiti artist and explosives expert, on the Disney/Lucas Film animated series "Star Wars Rebels" on the Disney Channel and the short-form interstitial series "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny," opposite Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones and Lupita Nyong'o. Among other voiceover credits is The Simpsons, American Dad, Robot Chicken, and the Netflix/Dreamworks series "Spirit Riding Free."
Film audiences have come to know Sircar equally well, most recently in Netflix's Good Sam and in the independent feature comedy, Miss India America. Along with voiceover work on the animated studio film Walking with Dinosaurs 3D, she starred in the 20th Century Fox comedy feature The Internship opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, in a starring role in the foreign drama The Domino Effect, with Zac Efron in New Line's 17 Again, and in the Paramount family comedy Hotel for Dogs.
A native of Arlington, Texas, Sircar was raised in a family of academics. Her parents, originally from Calcutta (Kolkata), India, are both college professors who instilled a love of the arts in her at a very early age. Sircar began dancing at age three, first Indian classical and folk dance, then ballet, jazz, lyrical and modern. After taking her first acting class at age seven, she realized her true calling. Sircar attended the University of Texas at Austin, receiving two bachelor's degrees: the first in Business/Marketing, and another in Theater & Dance. Following graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her professional career.- Actress
- Writer
Known for her portrayal of series regular Jennifer Rappaport on ABC's "One Life to Live," Jessica has cultivated her career as the leading lady in various television shows and independent films. Jessica starred in Lifetime TV's hit movie "Secret Lives Of Housewives" and has also had strong guest starring roles on popular primetime shows, including Fox's "Rosewood" and TNT's "Perception." Jessica recently recurred in Freeform's "Party of Five" remake and "The Upshaws" on Netflix. Jessica has also discovered her passion for screenwriting.- Actor
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- Producer
Khary Payton (born May 16, 1972) is an American actor and voice actor best known for his voice role of the DC Comics character Cyborg across various films, cartoons and video games. He is also known for his live action performances on General Hospital and The Walking Dead.
In 1986, Payton was a winner in Showtime's 1st annual Kid Talent Quest, and a recording exists of him introducing the animated film Sherlock Holmes in the Baskerville Curse.
Payton appeared on a recurring basis as Dr. Terrell Jackson on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. He portrays King Ezekiel on AMC's The Walking Dead.
Payton has portrayed Cyborg in the Teen Titans animated series and Aqualad in Young Justice. In the cartoon series Justice League, Payton provided the voice of the villain Ten from the Royal Flush Gang. He also provided the voice of Drebin in the game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ripcord in G.I. Joe: Renegades, Blade in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Grimlock in Transformers: Robots in Disguise and Killer Croc in Batman: Arkham Underworld and is voicing Wasabi on the Disney XD original series Big Hero 6 based on the Marvel Comics by Man of Action and the film of the same name.- Rupert Young is an English actor best known for his role as Sir Leon in the medieval fantasy fiction series, Merlin.
Though acting from a young age, Rupert has often praised his drama teacher for encouraging him to study at drama school. In order to raise the funds, he took on a number of jobs related to acting and directing, eventually being accepted into the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
With a career spanning film, television, theatre and audio plays, he is best known for a variety of television appearances including roles in Doctor Who, Primeval, and Doc Martin.
In 2009, beginning as a small supporting role, Rupert was cast as Sir Leon in the BBC fantasy drama Merlin. He soon became a recurring character throughout the series, appearing alongside Colin Morgan and Bradley James until the end of the series.
Recently, Rupert Young appeared in the classic thriller Gaslight, written by Patrick Hamilton in 1938. His terrifyingly convincing portrayal of the plays villain shocked national audiences, encapsulating the dark horrors of the Victorian-era of London. - Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Lee Ji-Eun, also known by her stage name IU, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, composer, and actress. She signed with LOEN Entertainment (now Kakao Entertainment) in 2007 as a trainee and debuted as a singer at the age of fifteen with her first extended play (EP) Lost and Found (2008). Although her follow-up albums, Growing Up and IU...IM brought mainstream success, it was only after the release of "Good Day", the lead single from her 2010 album Real, that she achieved national stardom. "Good Day" went on to spend five consecutive weeks at the top of South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, and in 2019, it was ranked number one on Billboard's "100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s" list.
With the success of her 2011 albums, Real+ and Last Fantasy, IU established herself as a formidable force on the music charts of her native country and further cemented her girl next door image as Korea's "little sister". 2011 also saw her first foray into songwriting with "Hold My Hand", which was written for the television series The Greatest Love. IU's third studio album, Modern Times (2013), showcased a more mature musical style that marked a departure from her earlier girlish image, with several tracks reaching the top 10 on the Gaon Digital Chart. The album was ranked number two on Billboard's "25 Greatest K-Pop Albums of the 2010s" list. IU subsequently exerted more creative control over her music; Chat-Shire marked the first time she was credited as the sole lyricist of her own album. IU's fourth studio album, Palette (2017), became her first to reach number one on Billboard's World Albums chart. While her following records Love Poem and Lilac continued to deviate from mainstream K-pop styles, exploring and mixing various music genres, IU consistently retained her dominance on South Korean music charts. Her 2020 single "Eight" became her first to reach number one on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.
Aside from her music career, IU has ventured into acting and hosting radio and television shows. Following her supporting role in the teen drama Dream High (2011) and minor appearances in several television series, she was cast in leading roles in the television drama series You Are the Best! (2013), Pretty Man (2013-14), The Producers (2015), and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016). IU's role as a desperate office worker in My Mister (2018) received critical acclaim, and she earned her first Best Actress in Television nomination at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2019, she starred in the anthology film series Persona and the fantasy television series Hotel Del Luna, the latter of which led to her second Best Actress nomination at the Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2022, IU starred in Hirokazu Kore-Edda's film Broker alongside Song Kang-Ho, Bae Doona, and Gang Dong-Won.
IU has released a total of five studio albums and nine EPs, five of which have reached number one on the Gaon Album Chart, and thirty number-one singles, making her the artist with the most number-one songs in South Korea. One of the best-selling solo acts in the group-dominated K-pop industry, IU became the first solo female K-pop act to perform at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena during the Seoul leg of her 2019 Love, Poem concert tour and also the first Korean female artist to hold a solo concert, The Golden Hour, at Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul on September 17 and 18, 2022. Rolling Stone named her the 135th greatest singer of all time in a 2023 ranking. She has been included five times in the top ten of Forbes magazine's annual Korea Power Celebrity list since 2012 and attained a peak ranking of number three that year. In 2014, Billboard recognized IU as the all-time leader of its K-pop Hot 100 with the most number-one songs and the artist with the most weeks at the number-one position on the chart. She was named Gallup Korea's Singer of the Year in 2014 and in 2017.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tracey Gold has virtually grown up on television. She made an auspicious television debut in the award-winning mini-series Roots. She also enjoyed seven years on the immensely popular ABC comedy series Growing Pains after which she returned to drama in more than 20 movies for television.
Born in New York City and raised in Southern California, Tracey is the oldest daughter of a thriving show business family. Her father, Harry Gold, owns a successful talent agency in Hollywood. Her mother, Bonnie, is a former New York advertising executive, who had her own radio show in Montana. Following Tracey's lead, three of her younger sisters have also pursued acting: Missy starred in the long-running ABC series Benson, Brandy starred in ABC's Baby Makes Five, and Jessie starred alongside Tracey in Shattered Trust.
Tracey's career as an actress started at the age of five when she began working in commercials. Her first television starring role was as Missy Ann (Sandy Duncan's character as a girl) in the ABC mini-series Roots. Since then, Tracey has accumulated an impressive number of television movie credits. She has starred in Captains and Kings; Night Cries; Little Moe; Jennifer: A Woman's Story; The Secret of the Harvest Moon (with Bette Davis), The Child Stealer (opposite Beau Bridges), Walt Disney's Escape From Witch Mountain; A Few Days at Weasel Creek; Marilyn: The Untold Story; Labor of Love (with Anne Jillian); Thursday's Child (opposite Rob Lowe); Who Will Love My Children (alongside Ann-Margaret; Another Woman's Child; Lots of Luck and A Reason to Live. She also portrayed the title character in the ABC television movie For the Love of Nancy. Other movie of the week credits include Sleep Baby Sleep, The Lady Killer with Judith Light, Midwest Obsession with Courtney Thorne-Smith and Stolen Innocence and the air rescue thriller Wild Fire 7. In 2000, she starred in Growing Pains The Movie, ABC's highest-rated television movie of the year. She also appeared recently on USA's series The Dead Zone. Recently she starred in the TV movies My Dad'a a Soccer Mom, Arachnoquake, Your Love Never Fails and Sight Unseen amongst many others.
Tracey has also starred in many television specials, such as the CBS Emmy Award-winning Kelly vs. Kelly, (directed by Tom Skerrit), I Think I'm Having a Baby; If Wishes Were Horses; The Hand Me Down Kid and Senior Prom.
Not limiting herself only to television, Tracey has also ventured into feature films and theatre. She co-starred in several features such as Shoot the Moon (opposite Albert Finney and Diane Keaton), Best of Times (with Robin Williams and Kurt Russell) and Wanted and Tailspin.
In 2012 Tracey hosted and Produced the reality series Starving Secrets for LifeTime. Other hosting credits include The Secret Life Of A Soccer Mom for TLC, Trapped in TV Guide and multiple episodes of Entertainment Tonight.
On the stage she starred in Neil Simon's I Ought To Be in Pictures at the Tiffany Attic Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, before performing alongside Bonnie Franklin and Jackee Harry in The Vagina Monologues at the famous Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills.
She also authored Room To Grow, her autobiography.
In 1992, Tracey's former television mother, Joanna Kearns, introduced her to Roby Marshall. The couple married two years later and are now the parents of sons Sage, Bailey, Aiden, Dillon. The family resides in Los Angeles.- Actor
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- Producer
Harry Carey, Jr., had been reliable character actor for decades, mostly in Westerns, before he retired. He is the son of the actor Harry Carey and the actress Olive Carey. He was born on his parents' 1000-acre ranch near Saugus, in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, which is now next door to Santa Clarita, a large town that certainly did not exist in 1947 or for decades longer. Thus, the young Harry Carey, Jr., grew up among cattle and horses at the ranch. Because of a large group of Navajo Indians who worked on his parents' ranch, he learned to speak the Navajo language at the same time that he was learning to speak English.
During World War II, Carey enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and he served in the Pacific Theater first as a Navy medical corpsman. However, he was transferred back to the United States (against his wishes) to serve under his father's good friend, the director John Ford, in making movies for the Navy (training films)and the O.S.S. (propaganda films).
After World War II ended, Carey tried to make a career in singing, but he was not successful at this. Hence, he moved into acting, and after a couple of small acting parts, he was given a chance to work in a motion picture with his father, the John Wayne film Red River (1948). (However, the father and the son did not have any scenes with one another). After the death of Harry Carey, Sr., in 1946, Mr. Ford gave the younger Carey a leading role in the movie that Ford dedicated to the memory of Harry Carey, Sr., in 1948, 3 Godfathers (1948).
As a full-fledged member of the noted John Ford Stock Company, Carey, Jr., appeared in many of Mr. Ford's epic Westerns during the following two decades. Carey also starred in a series-within-a-series on TV, The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1955), which was shown as a part of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955). Very boyish looks characterized Carey's early years, but he matured into a strong and familiar character actor over the following four decades, and he acted in scores of films and TV programs in his long career. Carey, Jr., is married to Marilyn Fix Carey, the daughter of the actor Paul Fix.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Tori Spelling was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of author Candy Spelling and Hollywood producer Aaron Spelling. With her father producing many popular television shows in the 1970s, Tori had an early flair for showbusiness. She appeared on many of her father's shows, which gained her more praise for acting in comedies. Tori has a younger brother, Randy Spelling, who also appeared on his father's shows.
Tori has five children, all with her second husband, Dean McDermott, whom he wed in Fiji on Sunday, May 7th, 2006. Parenthood, among the duo began with Liam McDermott's birth (aka Liam Aaron McDermott), on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007, weighing 6 lbs. 6 oz. Second was Stella McDermott (aka Stella Doreen McDermott), she was born on Monday, June 9th, 2008, weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. Third was Hattie McDermott (aka Hattie Margaret McDermott), born on Monday, October 10th, 2011, weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. Fourth was Finn McDermott (aka Finn Davey McDermott), this birth was on Thursday, August 30th, 2012, weighing 6 lbs. 6 oz., at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. Fifth was Beau Dean Mcdermott, he was born on Thursday, March 2nd, 2017. All births were by C-section. (Liam, her firstborn, was an emergency C-section).- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
After graduating from RADA in 1994, Cambridge law graduate Mangan did not pursue lead roles on-screen, preferring to take what he saw as the less limited opportunities on the stage. Between 1994 and 2000, he performed in plays by (among others) Shakespeare, Shaw, Coward, Benn and Goldsmith throughout the UK and the West End before joining world-renowned theatre company Cheek by Jowl for an international tour of Much Ado About Nothing, earning him a nomination for a National Theatre Ian Charleson Award.
He worked again for director Declan Donnellan at the Royal Shakespeare Company in School for Scandal, and at the Savoy Theatre, London in Hay Fever. In 2008 he played the title role in The Norman Conquests, directed by Matthew Warchus, at The Old Vic Theatre, London and then at the Circle in the Square on Broadway. The production earned several Tony Award nominations, including one for Mangan himself. In 2012 he appeared at the Royal Court, London (for the second time) in a Joe Penhall play, Birthday, directed by Roger Michell, playing a pregnant man. He also starred as Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre alongside Matthew Macfadyen as Jeeves.
His breakthrough performance was Adrian Mole in the six-part TV show "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" (2001). In the same year he also appeared in "Sword of Honour" on Channel 4 alongside Daniel Craig. Since then he has worked extensively in British television as a lead actor in both serious drama and comedy. His most recent success is the British/American television comedy series "Episodes" created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, starring Mangan alongside Matt Le Blanc and Tamsin Greig. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011.
His first film part was as Doctor Crane in Billy Elliot. He went on to appear in many other films such Chunky Monkey, Birthday Girl, Festival and Beyong The Pole. His most recent film is as the voice of Postman Pat in "Postman Pat: The Movie" a British 3D computer-animated comedy film. He was host of the Evening Standard British Film Awards for 4 years (2009-2013) and will host the Olivier Awards in 2014. In April 2014, Mangan will return to host the British Academy Television Craft Awards in London for a third time. He is a well-known voiceover artist - voicing animation, commercials and documentaries.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jermaine Fowler was born on 16 May 1988 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Sorry to Bother You (2018), Coming 2 America (2021) and The Drop (2022).- Stanislav Yanevski was born on 16 May 1985 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is an actor and producer, known for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Hostel: Part II (2007) and The Cloaking.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Miles Heizer was born on 16 May 1994 in Greenville, Kentucky, USA. He is an actor, known for Nerve (2016), Rails & Ties (2007) and Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ahn Bo-hyun was born on 16 May 1988. He is an actor, known for Itaewon Class (2020), Descendants of the Sun (2016) and My Name (2021).- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
George Gaynes was born in Helsinki in May, 1917, which was then the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Grand Duchy was part of the Russian Empire, which was in a state of collapse at the time of Gaynes' birth. The Emperor Nicholas II of Russia had abdicated the throne on March 15, two months prior to Gaynes' birth, and the Empire was in the process of splintering.
His family left the country, and George was primarily raised in France, England, and Switzerland. Neither of his parents was Finnish. His father Gerrit Jongejans was a Dutch businessman, and his mother Iya Grigorievna de Gay was a Russian artist. George attended college in the vicinity of Lausanne, Switzerland and graduated in 1937. He then attended a music school in Milan, Italy for about a year.
In 1940, George Gaynes was living in France, during the time of the Battle of France in World War II. The Battle ended in defeat for the French Third Republic and the country was occupied by Nazi Germany. George attempted to flee the occupation authorities, by crossing the Pyrenees mountains into neutral Spain. He was arrested by the Spanish authorities for illegally crossing the border, but was soon released.
In 1943, George joined the Royal Netherlands Navy. With the Netherlands under German occupation, the headquarters of the Navy had moved to London, in the United Kingdom. George had no previous military experience, but he was noticed for multilingual skills. He fluently spoke Dutch, English, French, Italian and Russian. He was soon detached to the (British) Royal Navy to serve as a translator.
During his naval service in World War II, George took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Battle of Anzio in the Italian Campaign, and the Adriatic Campaign. The War ended in 1945 and George was honorably discharged in July, 1946. His highest military rank was that of a sergeant.
In 1946, George briefly returned to living in France. He was approached by an American theater director with the offer to play a part in a musical. He took the offer and moved to New York City, where he started appearing in Broadway musicals. He applied for American citizenship and officially became a citizen in 1948.
From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, George Gaynes was primarily a theatrical actor. His roles included various musicals, dramas, and comedies. One of his better-known roles was that of Henry Higgins in the theatrical version of ''My Fair Lady'', which went on a successful tour in 1964.
In the early 1960s, George started appearing as a character actor in various television series. He was also offered a number of film roles. His career unexpectedly took off in the 1980s, with a major part in the television series Punky Brewster (1985) and another one in the then-popular film series "Police Academy" from 1984 to 1994. In Police Academy (1984), his role was that of Commandant Eric Lassard, the titular leader of the Academy. He played the role in all 7 films of the series, though he only had a featured part in the fifth film. This was probably his most memorable role and gained him celebrity recognition for the first time.
In the 1990s, his career slowed down again, with only a few film appearances. He only played in a single film through the 2000s, Just Married (2003), and then retired. He was 86-years-old and could no longer play physically demanding roles. He spend 13 years in retirement before he died of natural causes in 2016.- Actress
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- Soundtrack
Rebecca Front was born on 16 May 1964 in Stoke Newington, London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for The Thick of It (2005), The Day Today (1994) and Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021). She has been married to Phil Clymer since March 1998. They have two children.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ramon Tikaram was born on 16 May 1967 in Singapore. He is an actor, known for Jupiter Ascending (2015), Vampire Academy (2014) and Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996).- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Josefine recently wrapped shooting a role in Zack Snyder's much anticipated franchise starter, REBEL MOON, for Netflix which is set to release later this year. She can currently be seen in A MAN CALLED OTTO starring Tom Hanks and directed by Marc Forster.
Josefine can also be seen in the upcoming film, DETAINED, opposite Abbie Cornish - an independent film that shot in LA and was directed by Felipe Mucci.
In '21, she played the lead role of 'Zoey' in the COUNTING CROWS: BUTTER MIARCLE SUITE ONE opposite Clifton Collins Jr. She was named as one of five rising stars to watch in 2021 by popular Nordic Entertainment and Culture blog Minnis2Society. Josefine can be seen as 'Bernadette' in George Gallos' feature film THE COMEBACK TRAIL, opposite Robert DeNiro, Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones, Emile Hirsch and Zach Braff. She stars in the highly anticipated Danish thriller ROTTEN FLOWERS aka UKRUDT which is available to stream on one of the biggest streamers in Europe "Viaplay" and also avail to rent on Blockbuster, iTunes etc.
Josefine also wrote, directed, produced and starred in her debut short "Silence" (link below) in 2020. The short was chosen to screen at this year's acclaimed film festival "Holly Shorts." She since has written the follow up film, "Loneliness," in what will be a trilogy of shorts emotionally inspired by the pandemic.- South Korean actor Ju Ji-Hoon has made a name for himself playing kings and princes. A model turned actor, he has taken on several complex roles during his career, garnering awards, including several Daesangs (grand prizes).
Ju Ji Hoon began his career as a model in 2003. He appeared in various commercials, including some big brands like Levi's, Calvin Klein, and Reebok. During that time, he also had some small acting gigs in various TV series. It wasn't till 2006, that he gained his breakthrough role in the South Korean romantic comedy "Princess Hours", based on the Manhwa Goong, as the cold-heart Prince Shin. The drama was a hit domestically with a peak rating of 28.3%, and internationally across Asia, catapulting Ju into Korean Wave stardom. He won the Best New Actor award at the MBC Drama Awards along with his co-star Yoon Eun-Hye.
In March 2007, the year after his successful debut, Ju starred in KBS2's revenge drama The Devil, opposite Uhm Tae-Woong and Shin Min-Ah. The same month, he received the New Asian Star award at the 1st Astar TV Drama Awards for his performance in Princess Hours and The Devil. Ju's film debut was in Antique (2008), based on the manga Antique Bakery. The film was invited to the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.
The actor made his return to the entertainment industry in 2012. He got a role in the comedy film I Am the Kings. He also starred in Confession (2014), Mask (2015), and Asura: The City of Madness (2016). But In 2018, he further solidified his name in the industry. He starred in the film The Spy Gone North and Dark Figure of Crime. He was widely praised for his performance in both films. Ji Hoon also won many Best Supporting Actor awards. - Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Janet Damita Jo Jackson was born on May 16, 1966 in Gary, Indiana, to Katherine Jackson (née Katherine Esther Scruse) and Joe Jackson, a musician. She is the youngest of ten children. Before her birth, her brothers formed a band later called The Jackson 5. She lived at home with her sisters, while her brothers and father lived an extravagant life in Los Angeles. She later moved in with them while her brothers were making a name for themselves, and signed a deal with Motown. Janet was in the shadow but later also made a name for herself.
As she was touring, and making appearances with her brothers, and the rest of the family, she co-starred with the rest of them in "The Jacksons". In 1977, she got the part of Penny Gordon on "Good Times". That showed her acting abilities early on. She also made a few memorable appearances on the hit TV show "Diff'rent Strokes" as Charlene Dupree. Soon afterwards came her role on "Fame".
She married boyfriend James Debarge, but they divorced just months later. She signed with A&M Records, and recorded her first solo album titled "Janet Jackson". The album did poorly on the music charts. Two years later she recorded "Dream Street" which turned out to be another disaster. A year later she signed on Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to record a third album, this time called "Control". It was a hit, selling 5 million copies in the U.S. alone, spawning six hits, and the #1 "When I Think of You". Afterwards, she fired her father, her manager to truly gain control.
Janet was determined to make this happen again. She then recorded "Rhythm Nation 1814". This time it sold 9 million copies in the U.S. - a bigger hit than "Control"! She happened to fall in love with a dancer named René Elizondo, Jr. from one of her sister's, LaToya Jackson's music video and later secretly married him in March of 1991. The year before she got a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Janet went to work on her fifth album simply called "Janet.". It was her biggest hit to date selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone and includes her biggest hit single to date, "That's The Way Love Goes". Two years later she released a Greatest Hits album "Design of a Decade" which included two new hits "Runaway", and "Twenty-Foreplay". Her sixth album "The Velvet Rope" clarified her pop culture status.
In the midst of the release of "Nutty Professor II", René Elizondo filed for divorce, which is when it emerged they had been secretly married. Janet recorded her seventh album "All For You". Another hit. She was honored by MTV as an MTV Icon. In 2003, Janet went to work on her next album "Damita Jo" - it was another hit.- Brían F. O'Byrne was born on 16 May 1967 in Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Million Dollar Baby (2004), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and Bug (2006). He is married to Heather Goldenhersh. They have two children.
- Alex Macqueen was born in 1974 in Epsom, Surrey.
He was in the National Youth Theatre in the 1990's while studying English at Durham University and International Relations at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
He is best known for his roles as Julius Nicholson in 'The Thick of It' and Neil's Dad in 'The Inbetweeners'.
He has worked alongside various Directors including, Woody Allen, Kenneth Branagh, Bryan Singer, Armando Ianucci and Richard Curtis.
In 2011 he was cast by Shane Meadows in 'This Is England 88' and in 2012 took the lead in Sky Atlantic's 'Hunderby' opposite Julia Davis.
In 2013 he was cast as the new 'Master' in the Dr Who Audio series produced by Big Finish.
In 2009 he starred in the film The Hide (2008), directed by Marek Losey and written by Tim Whitnall.
The Hide was described by Film Four as 'a brilliantly balanced understated drama' and by The Times as giving 'Misery and Sleuth a ride for their money'.
The Hide is a psychological thriller set in a bird watchers retreat on the Suffolk marshes, shot in seven days at Pinewood and three on location, and filmed on a micro budget.
Alex Macqueen has also made guest appearances in British comedies including Peep Show (2003), Pulling (2006), The Inbetweeners (2008), Lead Balloon (2006) and The IT Crowd (2006).
He had a long-running part as Dr Keith Greene, an anaesthetist with a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, in Holby City (1999). - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born in Montreal Canada. Drama major at Humber College, but kicked out for only being good at comedy. Enrolled in an improv class and met David Foley. They began working as a comedy team while employed as movie ushers. In 1984 they merged with another comedy team and formed The Kids in the Hall.- Laurette Spang was born in Buffalo, New York but raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She grew up as the middle child of a chemist father and housewife mother. She has an older brother, Richard and a younger sister, Marilyn. As a dramatic major in college, she made a college trip to New York where a chance encounter with a soap opera producer led to an audition the following summer (after graduation), and a place at the Williamtown summer theatre. That led to a scholarship at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Spotted by a Universal talent scout, she signed a contract and arrived in Hollywood in 1972.
- Jack Dodson was arguably best known for playing "Howard Sprague," the somewhat geeky county clerk on The Andy Griffith Show (1960). This amazingly funny character actor endeared himself to 60s and 70s audiences as the straight-laced "straight man" to the "comic idiot" character "Goober." He brought laughs throughout the end of the run of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) (Ugh!!!)- and its spin-off, the ever popular (he said facetiously), Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) (alongside Ken Berry in the "Andy" knock-off role). Dodson got his start on Broadway, later coming to Hollywood and "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) in 1967. In fact, Andy Griffith saw Jack on Broadway in 1964's, "Hughie," and hired him for "The Andy Griffith Show" straight away.
In 1971, Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) fizzled, but Jack remained busy with television and film appearances. From his first effort in Munster, Go Home! (1966) to the Griffith film Angel in My Pocket (1969) and even a nod as "Dr. Douglas" in the very scary Disney (Ray Bradbury) film Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983). Believe it or not, Howard (Jack) did it "all, working with some of the great directors and actors of his time. From Andy Griffith to Sam Peckinpah, Bea Arthur and Jonathan Pryce; Jack Dodson made friends and history.
Dodson returned to Broadway in the revival of "You Can't Take It With You" in 1985. Jack was married to television actress Mary Dodson (the sister of actor Fritz Weaver) from 1959 until his death. In his personal life, Jack was very much "Howard". The actor was a boxing fan, and was also an outdoors man; loving to fish and camp. Jack left us all too soon, at the age of 63, from heart failure. He will be missed. - Sylvia Kay was born on 16 May 1936 in Altrincham, Cheshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Wake in Fright (1971), Just Good Friends (1983) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955). She was married to Christopher Douglas and Ted Kotcheff. She died on 18 January 2019 in London, England, UK.
- Vincent LaRusso was born on 16 May 1978 in Livingston, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor, known for The Mighty Ducks (1992), Superhero Movie (2008) and D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996). He was previously married to Kate Everard.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Norfolk, Virginia to wealthy stockbroker Cornelius Hancock Sullavan and heiress Garland Council Sullavan, Margaret Brooke overcame a muscle weakness in her childhood to go on to become a rebellious teenager at posh private schools. She went on to perform with the University Players at Harvard and made her Broadway debut in Hello, Lola in 1926. Her Christmas Day marriage in 1931 to Henry Fonda lasted only 15 months, and her later marriages to director William Wyler and agent Leland Hayward were also tempestuous. Two of her three children, Bridget and Bill, would spend some time in mental institutions, and commit suicide. Friends noted that the collapse of her family life led to her breakdown. Her condition worsened over time, until she was discovered unconscious from barbiturate poisoning in a hotel room. Her death was ruled accidental by the county coroner.