Garfield: The Animated Movie

Joel Edward McHale was born in Rome, Italy, to a Canadian-born mother, Laurie (Jackson), and an American-born father, Jack McHale. His father, from Chicago, is of Irish descent, and his mother, from Vancouver, has Norwegian, Finnish, and English ancestry. Joel was raised in Seattle, Washington, and graduated from Mercer Island High School. He was a history major at the University of Washington, where he was a member of the championship football team. In addition, Joel received his master's of fine arts from UW's Actor's Training Program.

Joel was a cast member on KING-TV's Almost Live! (1984). He moved to LA after graduating college and quickly landed parts in Will & Grace (1998) and Oliver Beene (2003). 2004 was a big year for Joel, as he booked roles in Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Onion Movie (2008), and Lords of Dogtown (2005). In addition, that year he began writing, producing and starring in The Soup (2004) on E! in which he counted down the most absurd, hysterical, wacky, and surreal moments in the world of reality TV and celebrities each week. Joel's quick wit and sharp comedic timing made "The Soup" a pop-culture phenomenon.

Joel starred on the hit comedy series Community (2009). He also appeared opposite Matt Damon in Steven Soderbergh's comedic thriller The Informant! (2009). He hosted the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards, and co-starred in Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), opposite Jessica Alba, in which he played a spy-hunting reporter married to Alba's character, the stepmother of his children. In 2011, he also had a role in What's Your Number? (2011) with Anna Faris and The Big Year (2011) with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson.

McHale appeared in Seth MacFarlane's Ted (2012), a live-action tale of a boy and his teddy bear. Co-starring with Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and Seth MacFarlane, he played a charming but sleazy boss of Mila Kunis' character.

In 2016, Joel was cast as the main character on the sitcom The Great Indoors (2016). He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two sons. He performs stand-up comedy around the country to sold-out audiences.

Karen Sheila Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland, as the only child of Marie Paterson and husband John Gillan, who is a singer and recording artist. She developed a love for acting very early on, attending several youth theatre groups and taking part in a wide range of productions at her school, Charleston Academy.

At age 16, Karen decided she wanted to pursue her acting career further and, studied under the renowned theatre director Scott Johnston at the Performing Arts Studio Scotland. She later attended the prestigious Italia Conti Academy in London. During her first year, she landed a role on Rebus (2000) and soon appeared in a variety of programs including Channel 4's Stacked (2008) and The Kevin Bishop Show (2008), as well as a two-year stint on the long-running series Doctor Who (2005). Karen also stars in the film Outcast (2010), starring James Nesbitt. Her most recent starring role is as Eliza Dooley on the situation comedy Selfie (2014).

Andy Daly was born in New York, raised in New Jersey and graduated from Ithaca College. He studied long form improvisation at New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and performed in numerous shows there, including The Real Real World and "The Swarm". Daly also appeared at the 1999 Aspen Comedy Festival as one-half of the sketch duo "The Two Andys". Daly now resides in Los Angeles where he can frequently be seen performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business.

Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer Robert Downey Sr. and actress Elsie Downey (née Elsie Ann Ford). Robert's father is of half Lithuanian Jewish, one quarter Hungarian Jewish, and one quarter Irish, descent, while Robert's mother was of English, Scottish, German, and Swiss-German ancestry. Robert and his sister, Allyson Downey, were immersed in film and the performing arts from a very young age, leading Downey Jr. to study at the Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York, before moving to California with his father following his parents' 1978 divorce. In 1982, he dropped out of Santa Monica High School to pursue acting full time. Downey Sr., himself a drug addict, exposed his son to drugs at a very early age, and Downey Jr. would go on to struggle with abuse for decades.

Downey Jr. made his debut as an actor at the age of five in the film Pound (1970), written and directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr.. He built his film repertoire throughout the 1980s and 1990s with roles in Tuff Turf (1985), Weird Science (1985), True Believer (1989), and Wonder Boys (2000) among many others. In 1992, Downey received an Academy Award nomination and won the BAFTA (British Academy Award) for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of Chaplin (1992).

In Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993), he appeared as an aspiring film make-up artist whose best friend commits murder. In Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994), with Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis, Downey starred as a tabloid TV journalist who exploits a murderous couple's killing spree to boost his ratings. For the comedy Heart and Souls (1993), Downey starred as a young man with a special relationship with four ghosts. In 1995, Downey starred in Restoration (1995), with Hugh Grant, Meg Ryan and Ian McKellen, directed by Michael Hoffman. Also that year, he starred in Richard III (1995), in which he appears opposite his Restoration (1995) co-star McKellen.

In 1997, Downey was seen in Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man (1998), alongside Kenneth Branagh, Daryl Hannah and Embeth Davidtz; in One Night Stand (1997), directed by Mike Figgis and starring Wesley Snipes and Nastassja Kinski; and in Hugo Pool (1997), directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr. and starring Sean Penn and Patrick Dempsey. In September of 1999, Downey appeared in Black & White (1999), written and directed by James Toback, along with Ben Stiller, Elijah Wood, Gaby Hoffmann, Brooke Shields and Claudia Schiffer. In January of 1999, he starred with Annette Bening and Aidan Quinn in In Dreams (1999), directed by Neil Jordan.

In 2000, Downey co-starred with Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire in Wonder Boys (2000), directed by Curtis Hanson. In this dramatic comedy, Downey played the role of a bisexual literary agent. In 2001, Downey made his prime-time television debut when he joined the cast of the Fox-TV series Ally McBeal (1997) as attorney "Larry Paul". For this role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, as well as the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Comedy Series. In addition, Downey was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

The actor's drug-related problems escalated from 1996 to 2001, leading to arrests, rehab visits and incarcerations, and he was eventually fired from Ally McBeal (1997). Emerging clean and sober in 2003, Downey Jr. began to rebuild his career.

He marked his debut into music with his debut album, titled "The Futurist", on the Sony Classics Label on November 23rd, 2004. The album's eight original songs, that Downey wrote, and his two musical numbers debuting as cover songs revealed his sultry singing voice and his musical talents. Downey displayed his versatility in two different films in October 2003: the musical/drama The Singing Detective (2003), a remake of the BBC hit of the same name, and the thriller Gothika (2003) starring Halle Berry and Penélope Cruz. Downey starred in powerful yet humbling roles inspired by real-life accounts of some of history's most precious kept secrets, including Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly (2006) in 2006 co-starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson, and Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) co-starring Nicole Kidman, a film inspired by the life of Diane Arbus, the revered photographer whose images captured attention in the early 1960s. These roles exhibited Downey's momentum from the previous year of 2005, in which he starred in the Academy Award®-nominated feature film Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), directed by George Clooney and in Shane Black's action comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) co-starring Val Kilmer. In 2007, he co-starred in David Fincher's suspenseful Zodiac (2007), alongside Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo, about the notorious serial killer who haunted San Francisco during the 1970s.

In May 2008, Downey achieved critical acclaim and worldwide box office success for his starring role in Iron Man (2008), Jon Favreau's big-screen rendering of the Marvel comic book superhero. The film co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard. In August of 2008, Downey starred with Ben Stiller and Jack Black in the comedy Tropic Thunder (2008), and went on to receive an Academy Award®-nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his, Kirk Lazarus.

In December 2009, Downey starred in the action-adventure Sherlock Holmes (2009). The film, directed by Guy Ritchie, co-starred Jude Law and Rachel McAdams and earned Downey a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical in January of 2010. In early Summer 2010, Downey re-teamed with director Jon Favreau and reprised his role as "Tony Stark/Iron Man" in the hugely successful sequel to the original film, Iron Man 2 (2010), starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke.

Downey next starred in Due Date (2010), a comedy directed by Todd Phillips, in which he plays the role of an expectant father on a road trip racing to get back in time for the birth of his first child. Due Date (2010), starring The Hangover (2009)'s Zach Galifianakis, was released in November 2010.

Downey was honored by Time Magazine's "Time 100" in 2008, an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. His laurels include two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe wins, numerous other award nominations and wins, and tremendous popular and commercial success, particularly in his roles as Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark (the latter of which he has so far played in Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). For three consecutive years, from 2012 to 2015, Downey has topped the Forbes list of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, making an estimated $80 million in earnings between June 2014 and June 2015.

In 2005, Downey Jr. married Susan Downey, with whom he has two children. Downey also has another son, Indio Falconer Downey, born 1993, from his first marriage to Deborah Falconer, from whom he was officially divorced in 2004.

Robert has jump-started the Team Downey Production Company with wife Susan Downey.

Gregg Berger Bio

Gregg Berger Voice / Actor Transformers, The Garfield Show, Spaced Invaders, More! Gregg Berger is an American Voice / Actor, who is Internationally known for his iconic roles as GRIMLOCK in G1Transformers and Transformers Fall of Cybertron, and the eagerly anticipated Power of the Primes, as Odie, Squeak, Harry and others from the Garfield franchise, Spirit from G.I. Joe, Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from Spider-Man:The Animated Series, Agent Kay from the Men in Black Series, Sir Jecht from Final Fantasy, Eeyore from Kingdom Hearts 2, The Pain from Metal Gear Solid 3, The Gromble from Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, and many more including, Star Wars: The Clone Wars as Droid General Kalani, Resident Evil: Raccoon City as Harley, Guild Wars 2 as Conrad and Duggadoo, Dishonored as Street Speaker and Halo Wars as Cutter. On camera, he had leading roles in the classic comedy Police Academy: Mission To Moscow and the Sci Fi Comedy cult classic Spaced Invaders as well as three pilots for CBS. As an animation voice-over talent, it's been a dog's life for Gregg Berger and that's just the way he likes it. He has been the voice of Odie the dog on Garfield since Odie has had an animated voice. He's also Squeak the Mouse, Harry the AlleyCat, Herman the Mailman and others on The Garfield Show on Cartoon Network. He also doesn't usually think of himself as a pig, but he sure enjoys playing one on TV. He is the voice of Orson Pig on U.S. Acres... as well as the voice of Cornfed Pig on Duckman. Gregg Berger is also the voice of Niles Crane's talking cockatiel 'Baby' on Frasier, and Barry The Parrot on Hot In Cleveland, The Gromble on Nickelodeon's Ahhh!!! Real Monsters! Eeyore in Kingdom Hearts2 and many of Disney Character Voices' Winnie The Pooh projects, Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio on Fox's Spiderman, Agent Kay in Men In Black, and Bill Licking on The Angry Beavers. He has careened through the galaxy as A.B. Sitter on Fantastic Max and has even had a blind date with Judy Jetson as Curly Quasar on The Jetsons, in addition to berating his favorite employee as Mr. Pinkley on Cathy. Of course, he also continues to guest star in various and sundry episodes of a great many other current animated series.

Gregg Berger's Interactive Game credits include, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and Rise of the Dark Spark as GRIMLOCK (and Lockdown in RotDS)), Resident Evil: Raccoon City as Harley, Guild Wars 2 as Conrad and Duggadoo, Final Fantasy X and X-2 as Sir Jecht, Metal Gear Solid 3 as ThePain, Dishonored as Street Speaker, Halo Wars as Cutter, Spiderman Web of Shadows as Kingpin, X Men Origins:Wolverine as Fred Dukes aka The Blob, Brutal Legend as Ratgut, Star Wars: Episode One Racer and Star Wars: Phantom Menace, as PloKoon, DarthMaul, Wan Sandage, CyYunga, Kingdom Hearts2 as Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh/Eeyore Interactives, Curse of Monkey Island as Cutthroat Bill, Small Soldiers as Archer, Spyro as Hunter, ViewtifulJoe as Capt.Blue, Call of Duty, Legend of Kain as Turel, Gabriel Knight as Abbe Arnaud, WackyRacers.and many more. Search Gregg Berger at www.imdb.com for his complete credits. On stage he has appeared in Repertory Theater, Stock and Touring Productions across the country and has been directed by John Cassavetes, Davey Marlin-Jones, William Woodman, Robert Woodruff, Martin Charnin and more. Gregg Berger is the author of Think Globally... Act VOCALLY! And Voice Virtue and is the reader of the Audiobook. It is available on iTunes and Audible.com. For many years he has been associated with Famous Fone Friends, making calls in requested animated character voices to children in Pediatric Hospitals. Facebook: greggberger

Jane Krakowski was born in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, to Barbara (Benoit), a college theater instructor, and Edward Krajkowski, a chemical engineer. Her father was of Polish descent and her mother has French-Canadian and Scottish ancestry.

Jane was the winner of the 2003 Tony Award for her stunning and sultry portrayal of "Carla", in the Broadway musical "Nine", opposite Antonio Banderas. Her performance also earned her the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critic's Award. Krakowski also stars in Alfie (2004), the remake of the famous 1966 film, alongside Jude Law. Krakowski recently filmed Pretty Persuasion (2005) starring Evan Rachel Wood and James Woods. Other recent film credits include When Zachary Beaver Came to Town (2003), Go (1999), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) as "Betty Rubble", Dance with Me (1998), Mrs. Winterbourne (1996), Stepping Out (1991), Fatal Attraction (1987) and National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). For television, Jane received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her portrayal of "Elaine Vassal" on Ally McBeal (1997).

She also stars in NBC's remake of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), opposite Kelsey Grammer. Other recent television credits include: Law & Order (1990), Everwood (2002), the ABC family movie Just a Walk in the Park (2002), and the miniseries, Queen (1993) (aka Alex Haley's "Queen"). Other Broadway credits include "Grand Hotel" (Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee), "Company", "Once Upon a Mattress", "Tartuffe" and "Starlight Express". In Los Angeles, California, she starred at the Mark Taper Forum in "Henceforward", for which she won the LA Drama Critics Award and the Dramalogue Awards, and played "Mabel" in the Reprise production of "Mack and Mabel". In addition to singing on several original Broadway cast recordings of shows in which she appeared, and the Ally McBeal (1997) Christmas episode compilation CDs, Krakowski also recorded the hit single track "You" with A/C hitman Jim Brickman on his recent album "Lovesongs and Lullabies".

Charlie Thomas Cox was born in London, England, to Patricia C. A. (Harley) and Andrew Frederick Seaforth Cox, a publisher. He has English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, and descends from several prominent forebears (Baronets of Agnew and Carnegie, an Earl of Findlater, and a Colonial Governor of New York, Andrew Elliot).

Cox was educated and received his training in drama at Sherborne School in Dorset where he appeared in Dealer's Choice / Patrick Marber (Mugsy) The Writing Game (Leo) Code Crackers / Andy Wilkinson (Weasel) Confusions / Alan Aykbourne (Martin & Arthur) Henry V (Nym & John Bates). He received the Gerald Pitman Award for Acting from Sherborne School. He also appeared in Judge John Deed (2001) as the Young Vicar.

He starred in Things to Do Before You're 30 (2005) (formerly You Don't Have To Say You Love Me), with Dougray Scott, The Merchant of Venice (2004), with Al Pacino, and Dot the I (2003) (aka Obsession) with Gael García Bernal, which received rave reviews at The Sundance Film Festival.

Kevin Darnell Hart is an African-American comedian and actor who is known for his roles in the Jumanji sequels including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), Undeclared (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Think Like a Man (2012), Ride Along (2014), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), Central Intelligence (2016) and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Hart's comedic reputation continued to grow with the release of his first stand-up album Kevin Hart: I'm a Grown Little Man (2009). He has since released four more comedy albums: Kevin Hart: Seriously Funny (2010), Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (2011), Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (2013), and Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016). In 2015, Time magazine named him on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2017, he launched the Laugh Out Loud Network, a subscription video streaming service in partnership with Lionsgate. He has 4 children from two marriages.

In both career and in real life, Bobby Cannavale tends to choose the unconventional way of doing things. Despite a lack of formal training and a rocky beginning to his career, the swarthy actor's strong work ethic enabled him to take a successful path off the crowded acting trail. From character goofball and cut-up, he has broken into the leading man ranks with his recent starring role as a reincarnated matchmaker in the TV series Cupid (2009).

Born Roberto M. Cannavale on May 3, 1971, in Union City, New Jersey, to an Italian-American father, Sal, and a Cuban mother, Isabel, he was involved in various activities at his Union City Catholic school, St. Michaels, while growing up. An altar boy, choir boy and lector, he also appeared in the church school's various musicals including his very first, "Guys and Dolls", in which he showed up as one of the gangsters, and "The Music Man", appearing as the lisping, scene-stealing tyke, "Winthrop".

Bobby's parents divorced when he was five years old and his mother moved the family to Puerto Rico for a couple of years. Eventually, they returned to the States and settled in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he attended high school. Restless and uncomfortable in any sort of regimented setting, he often got suspended for playing the class clown. Graduating in the late 1980s, and bitten by the acting bug, Bobby chose to return to the New York/New Jersey area in order to jump start an acting career. Working in bars to support himself, he again avoided the confines of an acting school and, instead, gained experience as a "reader" on occasion with the Naked Angels theatre company. During this time (1994), he met and married Jenny Lumet, the actress-daughter of director Sidney Lumet. They had son, Jake, the following year. The couple divorced in 2003.

Spotted by playwright Lanford Wilson while performing in an East Village production of Larry Kramer's "The Normal Heart", Bobby was invited to join Wilson's prestigious Circle Repertory Theatre. As a "reader" for the company, he eventually earned stage parts in "Chilean Holidays" (1996) and in Wilson's "Virgil Is Still the Frog Boy." He also went on to serve as understudy to Mark Linn-Baker in a 1998 production of "A Flea in Her Ear" and later replaced him. A noticeable role in the company's play, "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" by Paul Rudnick led to Bobby's being cast in the recurring role of a tugboat operator in the TV series Trinity (1998). Having only appeared in bit parts thus far in such movies as Night Falls on Manhattan (1996), directed by Lumet, and I'm Not Rappaport (1996), it was "Trinity" creator John Wells who caught Bobby's stage performance and handed him this career-making break on camera.

Bobby's "nice-guy" aura and blue-collar charm proved invaluable, if a bit restrictive. Once the "Trinity" series ended, Wells cast the 6'3" lug with the trademark caterpillar brows and crooked smile as lovelorn paramedic "Bobby Caffey" in his series Third Watch (1999). The character became quite popular but Bobby, again feeling restricted and wishing to broaden his horizon as an actor, asked to be released from the show -- but "in a big way". Creator Wells obliged and had the paramedic fatally shot in the chest and then experience a "beyond the grave" union with his character's deceased, ne'er-do-well dad.

Bobby next joined the cast of father-in-law Sidney Lumet's acclaimed TV courtroom drama 100 Centre Street (2001), starring Alan Arkin, cast against type as a brazenly opportunistic prosecutor. He subsequently earned recurring roles on Ally McBeal (1997) (in 2002) and Six Feet Under (2001) (in 2004). As for films, Bobby was featured in Gloria (1999), The Bone Collector (1999), Washington Heights (2002) and The Guru (2002) by the time he scored as the gregarious food truck driver in the critically-hailed indie film The Station Agent (2003), which paired him intriguingly opposite the diminutive actor Peter Dinklage.

Unwilling to shirk away from more controversial roles such as his gay drug dealer who has the hots for a fellow prisoner in the acclaimed series Oz (1997) or his closeted dancing neophyte in the film comedy Shall We Dance? (2004) starring Richard Gere, Bobby continued to elevate his status seesawing between film (Shortcut to Happiness (2003), Happy Endings (2005), Romance & Cigarettes (2005)) and TV assignments (the miniseries Kingpin (2003)). He earned big viewer points and an Emmy Award for his recurring portrayal of Will's dour cop/boyfriend on the hit sitcom Will & Grace (1998) in 2004. Elsewhere, on stage, he merited attention in such productions as "Hurlyburly" and earned a Tony Award nomination for his 2007 Broadway debut in "Mauritius."

After five consecutive failed pilots, Bobby has come front-and-center with his quirky starring role in the ABC series Cupid (2009), plus recurring roles in Cold Case (2003) and Nurse Jackie (2009), and his second Emmy-winning part in Boardwalk Empire (2010). He continues to rake up credits on the big screen with (The Merry Gentleman (2008), Diminished Capacity (2008), The Take (2007), 100 Feet (2008), Roadie (2011), Blue Jasmine (2013), link=tt2883512], Ant-Man (2015), I, Tonya (2017), Boundaries (2018) and The Irishman (2019), and with fascinating continuing/regular roles on such TV series as Cupid (2009), Cold Case (2003), Boardwalk Empire (2010), Nurse Jackie (2009), Vinyl (2016), Mr. Robot (2015) and Homecoming (2018), this dark, brutish character has plenty of staying power in both comedy and drama.

Simon Cowell was born in Lambeth, London and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire. He is the son of Julie Cowell (née Josie Dalglish), a ballet dancer, and Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, a music industry executive. Simon started his career in the music industry working in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. He worked as a record producer, talent scout and consultant within the music industry before becoming a judge on the hit British TV show Pop Idol (2001) and its U.S. counterpart, American Idol (2002). Cowell's scathing comments were famous during his 10 seasons as a judge on American Idol.

Rene Russo was born in Burbank, California, to Shirley (Balocca), a barmaid and factory laborer, and Nino Russo. Her father, a sculptor and mechanic, left the family when Rene was just two, and thus her mother raised Rene and her sister, Toni, as a single mom. Her father was of Italian descent, and her mother was of Italian and German-English-Irish ancestry.

In junior high school, Rene was plagued with scoliosis and had to wear a full-torso brace. She was already a tall girl, which earned her the nickname "Jolly Green Giant" from her classmates. She entered Burroughs High School, along with classmate Ron Howard, and even though her brace had been removed, she was still somewhat of a loner. Unable to deal with academics and the school social scene, Rene dropped out of school in the tenth grade. Since money was tight, she began to take a variety of part-time jobs over the next 18 months, many for the free benefits. She sold refreshments at a movie theater, where she could see free movies; worked as a restaurant hostess, where her meals were free; and worked as a store cashier at Disneyland, where she had free admission. She often had two jobs at one time. Her last job, which was solely for the paycheck, was a full-time job at an eyeglass factory, inspecting contact lenses.

In 1972, the 17-year-old was attending a Rolling Stones concert when she was approached by John Crosby, a scout and manager from International Creative Management. He told her she should be a model and had test photos made of her. Within a few months, Rene signed a contract with Ford Modeling Agency and within a year had become a successful print and photographers model. Soon her modeling breakthrough came when she graced the cover of Vogue. By 1975, she had appeared on numerous magazine covers, was one of the most successful models in America, and was also starting to be seen in several TV commercials through the 1980s. She would define what a top fashion model was for years to come.

By her 30th birthday, demand for her began to dwindle, as it did for most models at that age. She did a few more commercials and then turned her back on modeling and show business for a while. Financially secure for the next several years, she began an intense period of literature and Christian theology. She also began to study theater and acting, and began appearing in theater roles at small regional theaters in Los Angeles and elsewhere in California.

Her television series debut came in 1987 with a supporting part on the short-lived TV series Sable (1987). In 1989 she made her motion picture debut with the part of the lead characters girlfriend in the film Major League (1989). Her subsequent roles were that of girlfriends and supportive wives in a few films, until her breakthrough as an Internal Affairs detective in Lethal Weapon 3 (1992). Rene Russo has been praised for her ability to hold her own against her major male co-stars, who have included Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner and Pierce Brosnan. Two of her performances within the last few years have gotten her recognition as both a major dramatic actress and a talented character actress. One was as the mother of a kidnapped son in Ransom (1996). The other was as the cartoon femme fatale foreign spy in The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000). Although the latter received mixed reviews among moviegoers and critics, Russo was praised for her performance of a role originally slated for Meryl Streep in 1992. Rene Russo has been married to screenwriter Dan Gilroy since 1992, and they have one daughter, named Rose. They reside in Brentwood, California.

Peter Stormare was born in Arbrå, Gävleborgs län, Sweden, to Gunhild (Holm) and Karl Ingvar Storm. He began his acting career at the Royal National Theatre of Sweden, performing for eleven years. In 1990 he became the Associate Artistic Director at the Tokyo Globe Theatre and directed productions of many Shakespeare plays, including "Hamlet". In 1993 he moved to New York, where he appeared in English productions. He continues to work in both the United States and his his homeland of Sweden. He resides in Los Angeles, California, USA, with his wife.

Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dorothy (Wilson), a restaurant hostess, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker. He is of Italian (father) and English, Dutch, and Irish (mother) descent. He became interested in acting during his last year of high school. After graduating, he moved to Manhattan to study acting with John Strasberg. He began writing and performing original theatre pieces with fellow actor/writer Mark Boone Junior. This led to his being cast in his first lead role in Parting Glances (1986). Since then, he has worked with many of the top filmmakers in Hollywood, including Quentin Tarantino, Jerry Bruckheimer, and The Coen Brothers. He is a highly respected actor.

John Christian Wedge was born on March 20, 1957 in Binghamton, New York. After graduating from Fayetteville-Manlius High School, he went to study at the State University of New York at Purchase, where he received a BFA in film, and soon after that he went on to study at Ohio State University, earning him a MA in computer graphics and art education.

Wedge began his career as an effects artist for films such as Tron (1982). In February, 1987, he founded Blue Sky Studios, along with Carl Ludwig, Dr. Eugene Troubetzkoy, Alison Brown, David Brown and Michael Ferraro. Throughout the 80s and 90s the studio helped create visual effects for television commercials and films like "Alien Resurrection" (1997), "Star Trek: Insurrection" (1998), "Fight Club" (1999) and "Titan A.E." (2000). Wedge produced the short animated "Bunny", in 1998, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. After Wedge directed the critically acclaimed feature film "Ice Age" (2002), Blue Sky Studios was finally established in to one of the top animation studios in the United States.

James Robert "Jim" Davis is a professional cartoonist, television writer, and television producer from Marion, Indiana. His main claim to fame has been the creation of the long-running comic strip "Garfield" (1978-), featuring a cantankerous cat and a memorable group of supporting characters. The strip has been adapted into three animated television series, 12 prime-time television specials, two theatrical films, and a number of video games. Davis also created the short-lived comic strip "U.S. Acres" (1986-1989), featuring a group of anthropomorphic barnyard animals. This strip was also adapted in animated form. It inspired a series of spin-off children's books.

In 1945, Davis was born in Marion, Indiana. The city is primarily known as the base for the Indiana Wesleyan University, the largest evangelical Christian university in the Midwestern United States. Davis parents' were farmers, named James William "Jim" Davis and Anna Catherine "Betty" Carter. Davis was primarily raised on a small cow farm, located in the vicinity of Fairmount, Indiana. Fairmount serves as a bedroom community for nearby Marion. Davis parents' primarily owned Aberdeen Angus cows, members of a Scottish breed of small beef cattle. The breed was first imported into the United States in 1873.

Davis received his secondary education at the Fairmount High School. He joined the staff of the school newspaper, "The Breeze". He eventually served as the newspaper's art editor. While working there, he created a comic strip about school life. He used the strip's characters to illustrate his senior yearbook.

Davis received his tertiary education at the Ball State University, a public research university located in Muncie, Indiana. He studied both art and business. Following his graduation graduation, he intended to become a professional newspaper cartoonist. In 1969, Davis was hired as an assistant by experienced cartoonist Tom K. Ryan (1926-2019). From 1969 to 1978, Davis worked as an assistant artist in the Western comedy strip "Tumbleweeds" (1965-2007). The comic strip's protagonist was the laconic cowboy Tumbleweeds, a man who was content to drift through life.

Davis aspired to create a comic strip of his own. His first effort was the strip "Gnorm Gnat" (1973-1975), published by the newspaper "The Pendleton Times" in Indiana. It featured anthropomorphic insects, with the main character Gnorm Gnat serving as a comedic straight man to his zanier supporting cast. Davis tried for years to sign a deal to have this comic strip syndicated nationwide. He kept facing rejection by various syndicates. He was told that he had a good art style, and a good sense for gags. But that readers would have trouble relating to insect characters. Davis decided to end this comic strip, and to start a replacement.

Davis decided to research other people's syndicated comic strips, trying to find out what made them popular. He noticed that there were numerous strips about animals, many of them featuring pet dogs. He realized that people related well to the idea of a pet animal, but figured that creating another comic strip about a dog would make his work unlikely to stand out. He realized that there were no comic strips about pet cats, so he decided to create a comic strip about a pet cat. Davis created the locally published comic strip "Jon" (1976-1978), featuring the relationship of a pet owner and his cat. He created the character Garfield for this comic strip. He based the character's personality on his own cantankerous grandfather, who was named James A. Garfield Davis.

In 1948, Davis signed a deal with United Feature Syndicate. They agreed to syndicate his comic strip for national distribution. He launched the revised comic strip "Garfield" on June 19, 1978. It was published in 41 newspapers, Davis' first work to have such a wide distribution. A Sunday version of the comic strip was launched June 25, 1978.

Davis gradually changed Garfield's design over the first years of the comic strip. By 1983, Garfield had become a bipedal animal. Garfield was far more successful than Davis had expected. By 1981, it was published in 850 newspapers and had accumulated over 15 million dollars in merchandise. David founded the company "Paws, Inc." (1981-) to handle the licensing rights to the comic strip and its characters. He started employing both artists (as assistants) and licensing administrators.

Davis signed a deal with producers Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson for the creation of the first Garfield television special, "Here Comes Garfield" (1982). Both men had previously produced television specials for the comic strip "Peanuts". The director of the special was Phil Roman, while Davis himself handled the screenplay. The special reached an audience of about 50 million people, and was nominated for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program". Based on this success, other 11 television specials were created between 1983 and 1991. All of them were nominated for Emmy Awards, and four of them won the Award.

Based on the success of Garfield in animation, Davis went to work on creating an animated television series about the character. He served as the producer of "Garfield and Friends" (1988-1994). Veteran comic book writer Mark Evanier was hired as the series' head writer. The series lasted for 7 seasons and 121 episodes. The series was considered quite successful, but its production cost kept rising. The network CBS eventually ended the series. Its end was one of a series of cost-cutting measures for the network, as CBS was facing financial problems in the mid-1990s. The series found further success in syndication.

In 1994, Davis (through Paws, Inc.) purchased all rights to the previously published Garfield comic strips from the United Feature Syndicate. Davis was the sole owner of the comic strip series from 1994 to 2019, while having the right to license reprints of the strip.

In the late 1990s, Davis stopped drawing the "Garfield" comic strip. He only provided rough sketches for subsequent comic strips, while the main artists for the strip were his long-term assistants Brett Koth and Gary Barker. Davis remained as the strip's main writer.

In 2000, Davis and his frequent collaborator Brett Koth launched a new comic strip, based on the toy character "Mr. Potato Head". The strip was not particularly successful, and ended in 2003. In 2002, "Garfield" became the world's most syndicated strip. It was published in 2,570 different newspapers across several countries, and had an estimated reading audience of 263 million people.

In 2006, Davis joined the faculty of the Ball State University as an adjunct professor. He lectured students "on the creative and business aspects of the comics industry". In 2011, Davis started drawing comics digitally through using a graphics tablet. He kept his older hand-painted "Garfield" strips in a climate-controlled safe, until he could figure what to do with his art archives. In 2019, he started selling parts of his archives at auctions.

In 2019, Davis sold Paws, Inc. to the media conglomerate Viacom. The rights to the "Garfield" comic strip and its global merchandising were transferred to Nickelodeon, one of Viacom's subsidiaries. As part of the deal, Davis would continue to supervise the production of the comic strip. The main offices of Paws Inc. were transferred from Muncie, Indiana to the skyscraper "One Astor Plaza" in New York City.

By 2022, Davis was 76-years-old. He continues supervising the production of the "Garfield" comic strip from his home in Indiana. He has spend most of his life in his home state, and seems to have no plans to move out or to retire. He has had two marriages, and has raised several of his own children and two step-children. While the comic strip market has declined in the 21st century, the popularity of Davis' cantankerous cat has never faded.

Paul Feig is an American film director and writer who is known for creating Freaks and Geeks and directing Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy and A Simple Favor. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy. He also directed the highly controversial 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters. He also directed episodes of The Office.

Carlos Saldanha is a Brazilian director of animated films. He was the director of Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and Rio (2011), and the co-director of Ice Age (2002) and Robots (2005).

Saldanha was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He left his hometown in 1991 to follow his artistic instinct and passion for animation. With a background in computer science and a natural artistic sensibility, he found New York City the perfect locale to merge these skills and become an animator. He attended the MFA program at New York's School of Visual Arts, where he graduated with honors in 1993, after completing two animated shorts, The Adventures of Korky, the Corkscrew (1992) and Time For Love (1993). The shorts have been screened at animation festivals around the world. At SVA, Saldanha met Chris Wedge, one of the co-founders of Blue Sky Studios, who invited him to join their growing team of artists.

He also worked as animator on Wedge's short film Bunny (1998).

Ken Daurio was born on 15 July 1971 in California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Despicable Me (2010), Bubble Boy (2001) and Horton Hears a Who! (2008). He has been married to Michelle Daurio since 20 July 1996. They have three children.

Cinco Paul is a writer and producer, best known for Despicable Me (2010), Horton Hears a Who! (2008), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), and for creating and show running the Apple TV Plus series Schmigadoon! (2021). He was born in Phoenix, Arizona and graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, then received his MFA in screenwriting from USC. He was awarded an Emmy for his song "Corn Puddin'."

German-born composer Hans Zimmer is recognized as one of Hollywood's most innovative musical talents. He featured in the music video for The Buggles' single "Video Killed the Radio Star", which became a worldwide hit and helped usher in a new era of global entertainment as the first music video to be aired on MTV (August 1, 1981).

Hans Florian Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, then in West Germany, the son of Brigitte (Weil) and Hans Joachim Zimmer. He entered the world of film music in London during a long collaboration with famed composer and mentor Stanley Myers, which included the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). He soon began work on several successful solo projects, including the critically acclaimed A World Apart, and during these years Zimmer pioneered the use of combining old and new musical technologies. Today, this work has earned him the reputation of being the father of integrating the electronic musical world with traditional orchestral arrangements.

A turning point in Zimmer's career came in 1988 when he was asked to score Rain Man for director Barry Levinson. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture of the Year and earned Zimmer his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Score. The next year, Zimmer composed the score for another Best Picture Oscar recipient, Driving Miss Daisy (1989), starring Jessica Tandy, and Morgan Freeman.

Having already scored two Best Picture winners, in the early 1990s, Zimmer cemented his position as a preeminent talent with the award-winning score for The Lion King (1994). The soundtrack has sold over 15 million copies to date and earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score, a Golden Globe, an American Music Award, a Tony, and two Grammy Awards. In total, Zimmer's work has been nominated for 7 Golden Globes, 7 Grammys and seven Oscars for Rain Man (1988), Gladiator (2000), The Lion King (1994), As Good as It Gets (1997), The The Preacher's Wife (1996), The Thin Red Line (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), and The Last Samurai (2003).

With his career in full swing, Zimmer was anxious to replicate the mentoring experience he had benefited from under Stanley Myers' guidance. With state-of-the-art technology and a supportive creative environment, Zimmer was able to offer film-scoring opportunities to young composers at his Santa Monica-based musical "think tank." This approach helped launch the careers of such notable composers as Mark Mancina, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, Nick Glennie-Smith, and Klaus Badelt.

In 2000, Zimmer scored the music for Gladiator (2000), for which he received an Oscar nomination, in addition to Golden Globe and Broadcast Film Critics Awards for his epic score. It sold more than three million copies worldwide and spawned a second album Gladiator: More Music From The Motion Picture, released on the Universal Classics/Decca label. Zimmer's other scores that year included Mission: Impossible II (2000), The Road to El Dorado (2000), and An Everlasting Piece (2000), directed by Barry Levinson.

Some of his other impressive scores include Pearl Harbor (2001), The Ring (2002), four films directed by Ridley Scott; Matchstick Men (2003), Hannibal (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), and Thelma & Louise (1991), Penny Marshall's Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), and A League of Their Own (1992), Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), Tears of the Sun (2003), Ron Howard's Backdraft (1991), Days of Thunder (1990), Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997), and the animated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) for which he also co-wrote four of the songs with Bryan Adams, including the Golden Globe nominated Here I Am.

At the 27th annual Flanders International Film Festival, Zimmer performed live for the first time in concert with a 100-piece orchestra and a 100-voice choir. Choosing selections from his impressive body of work, Zimmer performed newly orchestrated concert versions of Gladiator, Mission: Impossible II (2000), Rain Man (1988), The Lion King (1994), and The Thin Red Line (1998). The concert was recorded by Decca and released as a concert album entitled "The Wings Of A Film: The Music Of Hans Zimmer."

In 2003, Zimmer completed his 100th film score for the film The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, for which he received both a Golden Globe and a Broadcast Film Critics nomination. Zimmer then scored Nancy Meyers' comedy Something's Gotta Give (2003), the animated Dreamworks film, Shark Tale (2004) (featuring voices of Will Smith, Renée Zellweger, Robert De Niro, Jack Black, and Martin Scorsese), and Jim Brooks' Spanglish (2004) starring Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni (for which he also received a Golden Globe nomination). His 2005 projects include Paramount's The Weather Man (2005) starring Nicolas Cage, Dreamworks' Madagascar (2005), and the Warner Bros. summer release, Batman Begins (2005).

Zimmer's additional honors and awards include the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review, and the Frederick Loewe Award in 2003 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He has also received ASCAP's Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement. Hans and his wife live in Los Angeles and he is the father of four children.