Actors&actresses from Pittsburgh, Pa

Ted Cassidy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Philippi, West Virginia. He was a well respected actor who portrayed many different characters during his film and television career. His most notable role was Lurch, the faithful butler on the television series The Addams Family (1964). His most memorable dialogue as Lurch would be, "You rang?", whenever someone summoned him. Due to his large size, (6ft. 9in.) he portrayed larger than life characters. His deep voice, was used for narrations and for dubbing certain character's voices. His acting career spanned three decades. Ted Cassidy died in 1979 from complications following open-heart surgery. His live-in girlfriend had his remains cremated, then buried in the backyard of their Woodland Hills home.

Rough'n'tumble character actor Ed O'Ross was born as Ed Oross on July 4, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an altar boy as a kid and graduated from Munhall High in 1964. Following graduation O'Ross attended both Point Park College and Carnegie Tech. He was an amateur Golden Gloves boxing champion and minor league baseball player prior to embarking on an acting career. He studied acting in New York with legendary teachers Stella Adler and Uta Hagen. Ed made his film debut in 1982 in "Dear Mr. Wonderful." A strong actor with an often intense and intimidating screen presence, O'Ross gets frequently cast as ramrod army officers, cynical seen-it-all-twice cops, and mean villains. O'Ross was memorably nasty as brutal Russian drug dealer Viktor 'Rosta' Rostavili in Walter Hill's stirring buddy cop action thriller "Red Heat." Other notable parts include slimy dope pusher Mendez in the exciting blockbuster "Lethal Weapon," the rugged Lt. Touchdown in Stanley Kubrick's powerful "Full Metal Jacket," vicious mobster Ralph Capone in "The Verne Miller Story," hard-boiled detective Cliff Willis in the terrific sci-fi/action winner "The Hidden," the antsy Stringer in the enjoyably trashy "Action Jackson," and the tough Col. Perry in "Universal Soldier." Ed was outstanding as lusty Russian florist Nikolai on the acclaimed cable TV series "Six Feet Under." Among the other TV shows O'Ross has done guest spots on are "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "CSI: NY," "NYPD Blue," "Boston Legal," "Chicago Hope," "Seinfeld," "Frasier," "Walker: Texas Ranger," "Moonlighting," and "Scarecrow and Mrs. King." On stage Ed has appeared in Shakespeare's "King Lear," James Thurber's "Story Theater," and City Center children's theater. He has also acted in several TV commercials. Ed O'Ross lives in both New York and Los Angeles.

Commanding performer Bill Nunn made his feature debut in fellow Morehouse College graduate Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), but really etched himself into moviegoers' minds as a formidable screen presence in his second film with Lee, Do the Right Thing (1989), playing Radio Raheem, whose ever-present boom box is at the center of a fight that leads to his death at the hands of an overzealous police officer, the prelude to the all-out riot that follows (Nunn also acted in Mo' Better Blues (1990) and He Got Game (1998) for Lee). Though he made his initial mark playing young street toughs on screen, this veteran of the Atlanta stage showed he could use his impressive size for something other than menace with a critically acclaimed performance as Harrison Ford's sympathetic, high-spirited physical therapist in Regarding Henry (1991). Nunn subsequently played pretty much every type there is, all the way up to nice, huggable teddy bear guys like Whoopi Goldberg's protector Eddie Souther in Sister Act (1992).

His professionalism made him a favorite of other directors besides Lee. He portrayed a Southern police chief in Bill Condon's White Lie (1991) (USA Network), later reteaming with Condon for Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), and has also acted twice for Michael Apted (Extreme Measures (1996), HBO's Always Outnumbered (1998)) and Gary Fleder (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995), Kiss the Girls (1997)). Nunn also turned in a fine performance as Tim Roth's adoptive father in The Legend of 1900 (1998), Giuseppe Tornatore's first English-language feature, released initially in Italy and then in the United States in 1999. He can also be seen in Spider-Man (2002), People I Know (2002) with Al Pacino and the prison thriller Lockdown (2000).

Nunn has also found time to do numerous television pilots and three series. He was in the CBS series Traps (1994) with George C. Scott, sitcom Local Heroes (1995) for NBC and the critically acclaimed The Job (2001) with Denis Leary on ABC. He appeared on episodes of Chicago Hope (1994), Touched by an Angel (1994) (both CBS), New York Undercover (1994) and Millennium (1996) (both Fox), among others.

Nunn lived in Georgia with his wife Donna and daughters Jessica and Cydney.

Joe Manganiello is an American actor, producer, director, and author. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Susan (Brachanow) and Charles John Manganiello, and has a younger brother, Nicholas who is also his producing partner. His ancestry includes Sicilian, Irish, Croatian, Armenian, German, and African heritage. Joe was raised in Mount Lebanon and attended Mount Lebanon high school. During high school, he was captain of the football, basketball and volleyball teams, and played at the varsity level in all three. It was during high school that he began writing and directing films with his friends and as a result, became interested in acting. He went on to study acting at The Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, after which he moved to Los Angeles where he very quickly landed his first job as 'Flash Thompson' in Spider-Man (2002).

Zachary Quinto was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Margaret J. (McArdle), an Irish-American office worker, and Joseph John Quinto, an Italian-American barber. Zachary graduated from Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, with the class of 1995, where he won Pittsburgh's Gene Kelly Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Major General in Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance". He then went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University, where he continued to hone his talents by performing in plays and musicals. He first appeared on numerous television series since 2000 and, in 2003, landed the role of computer expert "Adam Kaufman" on the Fox series, 24 (2001), during its third season. In 2006, Quinto portrayed serial killer "Sylar" on the science fiction series, Heroes (2006), until its cancellation in 2010, after four seasons. He was cast in his first main film role as "Spock", in the hugely successful franchise reboot, Star Trek (2009).

The big, brawny, and imposing Steve Sandor was born on October 27, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in that city's Greenfield neighborhood. He sold copy machines and trained sentry dogs while serving as an Air Policeman in the US Air Force prior to pursuing an acting career in the late 1960s.

With his large, muscular build, ruggedly handsome looks, and often intense, aggressive, and intimidating screen presence, Steve was usually cast as mean and frightening villains in both movies and TV shows. His most noteworthy film roles include scruffy biker Apache in Hell's Angels '69 (1969); unstable drifter Billy Joe in The Only Way Home (1972); traumatized Vietnam veteran Ollie Hand in The No Mercy Man (1973); wishy-washy private eye Larry Evans in the gritty crime drama gem Bonnie's Kids (1972); arrogant heavyweight wrestling champion Jack "The White Knight" Braden in the offbeat made-for-TV movie Mad Bull (1977); Stanley, the hostile, scary biker who antagonizes Stacy Keach in a bar in the terrific cult favorite The Ninth Configuration (1980); the titular scrappy anti-hero in the low-rent post-nuke sci-fi/action dud Stryker (1983); and legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie in Alamo: The Price of Freedom (1988).

In addition, he was the voice of mysterious heroic warrior Dark Wolf in Ralph Bakshi's animated fantasy adventure treat Fire and Ice (1983). Also, he did guest spots on such TV series as Star Trek (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), Ironside (1967), The Streets of San Francisco (1972), Baretta (1975), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Charlie's Angels (1976), Fantasy Island (1977), CHiPs (1977), Three's Company (1976), Vega$ (1978), T.J. Hooker (1982), The A-Team (1983), The Fall Guy (1981), Knight Rider (1982) and Hunter (1984). He retired from acting in the late 1990s and settled down in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he died at age 79 in 2017.

David Conrad was born on 17 August 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for Wedding Crashers (2005), Men of Honor (2000) and Anything Else (2003).

Aarti Mann was born in Connecticut, USA. She is an actress and director, known for The Recruit (2022), Never Have I Ever (2020) and The Big Bang Theory (2007). She is married to Purvesh Mankad. They have one child.

Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was born on April 5, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father was a railroad worker and his mother, Frances (Preseren), was a seamstress. His family was originally from Novo Mesto, Slovenia. While in high school, young Frank worked as an usher at the Sheridan Square Theatre and began doing impressions of some of his screen idols: Al Jolson, James Cagney, Cary Grant and Edward G. Robinson. At age 17, he won a local talent contest. The prize was a one-week engagement at Jackie Heller's Carousel nightclub, where Alan King was headlining. It was young Frank's first paid job as an entertainer and launched his show business career. Frank attended local Catholic schools and, later, Carnegie-Mellon Tech School of Drama. He acted in plays and performed in nightclubs in Pittsburgh in his spare time.

In 1953, at age 19, he was drafted into the United States Army and was posted in Germany. Frank served for two years, 1953-1955, as an entertainer attached to Special Services. In the Army, Frank met Maurice A. Bergman, who would introduce Frank to a Hollywood agent when his hitch with Uncle Sam was up. Frank quickly landed a role in The Proud and Profane (1956) and other roles in television dramas followed.

In 1957, while visiting his family in Pittsburgh, his agent phoned him to rush back to Hollywood for an audition for Run Silent Run Deep (1958). For some odd reason, instead of catching a plane, Frank decided to drive his car to Los Angeles. Driving 39 consecutive hours, he fell asleep at the wheel, crashed, suffered a fractured skull and woke up in the hospital four days later. To add insult to injury, a Los Angeles newspaper reported he was killed, and the plum movie role of Officer Ruby went to Don Rickles.

Frank appeared in a number of lovable B-movies for American-International Pictures: Hot Rod Girl (1956) and Dragstrip Girl (1957), and everybody's favorite, Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957). Frank finally got a substantial role in the A-movie, Bells Are Ringing (1960), with Dean Martin and Judy Holliday. He did a thinly-disguised Marlon Brando impression. he also appeared in Hollywood nightclubs, including the Purple Onion. He did Las Vegas engagements, opening for Bobby Darin at The Flamingo. On television, Frank appeared on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956) and had a dozen guest shots on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948).

In 1966, he gave his breakout performance, performing what has become his best-known role: The Riddler on Batman (1966), for which he received an Emmy nomination. He also played The Riddler in the movie, Batman: The Movie (1966), based on the television series. "I could feel the impact overnight", he recalled later. Because of his nationwide recognition, he was given headliner status in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, Sahara and Aladdin Hotels. He received more good reviews for his performance in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (1969).

In 1970, Frank made his Broadway debut as the star of "Jimmy", for which he got rave reviews. He also starred in many touring company productions, such as "Promises, Promises", "Peter Pan", "Prisoner of Second Street" and "Guys and Dolls". In the 1980s, Frank served as Honorary Chairman, Entertainment Division, for the American Heart Association. Perhaps recalling his early AIP films, Frank worked with the legendary Roger Corman, appearing as Clockwise on the television series Black Scorpion (2001) and on Corman's The Phantom Eye (1999). He had appeared in over 70 movies and made over 40 guest appearances in television series.

Gorshin died at age 72 in Burbank, California on May 17, 2005. He had suffered from lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia.

Character actor Joseph Evan Tata was the son of a vaudevillian known as Rosey the Singing Barber. Tata began acting onscreen in 1960. For the next decade, he appeared (then billed as "Joey" Tata) in numerous classic TV episodes of the era, usually in small supporting roles. His career took off after a recurring part as Private Neddick in No Time for Sergeants (1964). He provided the voice for several of the robots in Lost in Space (1965) and popped up as assorted minor henchmen in the original Batman (1966) series.

He essayed roles as an alien in The Outer Limits (1963) and Napoleon Bonaparte in The Time Tunnel (1966). A familiar face in police and detective shows, Tata made multiple appearances in Mission: Impossible (1966), Mannix (1967), The F.B.I. (1965), Police Story (1973) and The Rockford Files (1974). A lifelong fan of the early western series Maverick (1957), he later recalled James Garner as his favorite co-star. Today, he is best remembered as the good-natured owner of the Peach Pit Diner, Nat Bussichio, in ten seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990).

Joe E. Tata was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2018 and passed away on Los Angeles on August 24 2022, at the age of 85.

Born in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania--a small town just east of Pittsburgh--Ron Harper became valedictorian of his senior class and won an academic scholarship to Princeton University, where he supplemented his academic studies by appearing in a number of plays and musical comedies. He earned a fellowship to study law at Harvard, but the "acting bug" lured him instead to New York, where he studied with 'Lee Strasberg'. Next came a stint in the US Navy (mostly spent in Panama), followed by a return to New York. After several disappointments. he earned a job as Paul Newman's understudy in "Sweet Bird of Youth". Hollywood soon beckoned, and Harper appeared in a succession of TV series: 87th Precinct (1961), The Jean Arthur Show (1966), Wendy and Me (1964), Garrison's Gorillas (1967) and Planet of the Apes (1974).

Following "Apes", he had roles in several soap-operas and guest-starred on various TV shows. He now lives in California.

Mitzi McCall was born on 9 September 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Ice Age (2002), World's Greatest Dad (2009) and Crimson Peak (2015). She was married to Charlie Brill. She died on 8 August 2024 in Burbank, California, USA.

Julie Benz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on May 1, 1972. Julie's father is a Pittsburgh surgeon and her mother is a figure skater. The family settled in nearby Murrysville, when Julie was two, and she started ice skating at age three. She competed in the 1988 U.S. Championships in junior ice dancing with her partner David Schilling, coming in 13th. Her older brother and sister, Jeffrey and Jennifer, were 1987 U.S. Junior Champions in ice dancing and competed internationally. When Julie was 14, she had a bad stress fracture and had to take time off.

By 1989, with her figure skating career over, Julie turned to acting and got involved in the local theater where she got a role in the play "Street Law". Her first movie role was a small credited speaking part in the Black Cat segment of the Dario Argento/George A. Romero co-direction horror flick, Two Evil Eyes (1990), playing in one scene alongside Harvey Keitel. A year later, she got a role on a TV show called Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991).

After graduating from high school, Julie entered New York University to study acting there. After graduation, Julie moved to Los Angeles to further pursue her career and landed some small roles in movies and TV shows including a guest appearance on Married... with Children (1987) and in the Aaron Spelling TV pilot Crosstown Traffic (1995).

In 1996, Julie auditioned for the role of "Buffy" in the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), but lost out to Sarah Michelle Gellar. However, she was offered a small role as a vampire girl in which she did such a good job that her part was expanded to a few more episodes in playing the vampire "Darla". With that, Julie Benz's career had finally taken off. She reprised her role as "Darla" in the Buffy spin-off series Angel (1999) for two years and has had several small roles in various film productions. She also had a small, but memorable, role playing a receptionist in the movie As Good as It Gets (1997).

Even after her role on Angel (1999) wrapped up, Julie continued to find work on television in playing many guest staring roles in numerous popular TV shows from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), to Supernatural (2005), to playing the lead and supporting roles in various made-for-TV movies. She landed another notable role on the TV-cable series Dexter (2006) playing "Rita", a troubled divorcée and lover of the title character played by Michael C. Hall. Benz played a leading role in the TV series No Ordinary Family (2010) playing Stephanie Powell along with actors Michael Chiklis, Kay Panabaker, Jimmy Bennett, Autumn Reeser, Romany Malco, and Stephen Collins.

In 2013, she had the starring role in the sci-fi / fantasy breakout hit show Defiance (2013).

A critically-acclaimed actor and fight director, Mark has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and at regional theaters across the country in addition to his work in film and television. He holds an MFA from the University of Washington's PATP conservatory, as well as a BA from Penn State University (in English and History), and is a certified member of the Society of American Fight Directors. He used to work for Greenpeace; he also worked briefly as a jazz pianist at a bar in Vienna, Austria, and spent one summer working on the Cape Cod-Hyannis Railroad. Other odd jobs held during and after college included English teacher, construction worker, and art/rare book dealer.

Mark is adopted, and several years ago he searched for and found his birth-mother; today he enjoys a wonderful relationship with both his adoptive and biological families. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, their daughter, and their dogs.

Dennis Miller was born on 3 November 1953 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Net (1995), Joe Dirt (2001) and Murder at 1600 (1997). He has been married to Ali Espley since 10 April 1988. They have two children.

Scott Glenn was born January 26, 1939, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Hope Elizabeth and Theodore Glenn, a salesman. As he grew up in Appalachia, his health was poor; he was bedridden for a year and doctors predicted he would limp for the rest of his life. During long periods of illness, Glenn was reading a lot and "dreaming of becoming Lord Byron". He challenged his illness by intense training programs and eventually got rid of his limp.

After graduating high school, Glenn entered William and Mary College where he majored in English. He spent three years in the Marines and then tried to combine his passion for storytelling with his passion for adventures by working for five months as a criminal reporter at the Kenosha Evening News. Glenn planned to become an author but found out he had "problems with dialogues", so he decided to overcome it by studying acting. In 1966, he headed to New York where he joined George Morrison acting class. He helped in directing student plays to pay for his studies and appeared onstage in La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club productions. Soon after arriving in New York, Glenn became a fan of martial arts. In 1968, he joined The Actors Studio and began working in professional theater and TV. In 1970, James Bridges offered him his first movie work in The Baby Maker (1970).

Glenn left for L.A., where he spent seven of the "most miserable years of [his] life". He couldn't find interesting film roles and, doing brief TV stints, he felt "like a person who had to paint the Sistine Chapel with a house-painter's brush". On a brighter side, he worked episodically with Jonathan Demme (Angels Hard as They Come (1971), Fighting Mad (1976)), Robert Altman (Nashville (1975)) and Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now (1979)). In 1978, Glenn got tired of Hollywood and moved his family to Ketchum, Idaho, where he worked as a barman, huntsman and mountain ranger for two years (occasionally acting in Seattle stage productions). James Bridges once more changed the course of Glenn's life in 1980 when he offered him the role of John Travolta's rival in Urban Cowboy (1980) and made him a star. Glenn's acting abilities and physical presence helped him to excel both in action (Silverado (1985), The Challenge (1982)) and drama (The Right Stuff (1983), Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), The River (1984)) as he alternately played good guys and bad guys.

In the beginning of the '90s, his career was at its peak - he appeared in such indisputable masterpieces as The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and The Hunt for Red October (1990). Established as one of Hollywood's most solid and respected character actors he has appeared in a wide variety of films, such as the black Freudian farce Reckless (1995), the tragicomedy Edie & Pen (1996) and Ken Loach's socio-political declaration Carla's Song (1996), alternating mainstream (Courage Under Fire (1996), Absolute Power (1997)) with independent projects (Lesser Prophets (1997) and Larga distancia (1997)), written by his daughter Dakota Glenn), and TV (Naked City: A Killer Christmas (1998)). Continuing into the 21st century, Glenn has also appeared in Training Day (2001), W. (2008) (as Donald Rumsfeld), Secretariat (2010), Sucker Punch (2011), The Paperboy (2012), and two of the Bourne films: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Legacy (2012).

Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham was born on October 24, 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in El Paso, Texas. His father, Fred Abraham, was a Syrian (Antiochian Orthodox Christian) immigrant. His mother, Josephine (Stello) Abraham, was the daughter of Italian immigrants. Born with the first name "Murray", he added an "F." to distinguish his stage name.

Primarily a stage actor, Abraham made his screen debut as an usher in George C. Scott's comedy They Might Be Giants (1971). By the mid-1970s, Murray had steady employment as an actor, doing commercials and voice-over work. He can be seen as one of the undercover police officers along with Al Pacino in Sidney Lumet's Serpico (1973), and in television roles including the villain in one third-season episode of Kojak (1973). His film work of those years also included the roles of a cabdriver in The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), a mechanic in The Sunshine Boys (1975), and a police officer in All the President's Men (1976).

Beyond these small roles, Abraham continued to do commercials and voice-over work for income. But in 1978, he decided to give them up. Frustrated with the lack of substantial roles, Abraham said, "No one was taking my acting seriously. I figured if I didn't do it, then I'd have no right to the dreams I've always had". His wife, Kate Hannan, went to work as an assistant and Abraham became a "house husband". He described, "I cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids. It was very rough on my macho idea of life. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me". Abraham appeared as drug dealer Omar Suárez alongside Pacino again in the gangster film Scarface (1983). He also gained visibility voicing a talking bunch of grapes in a series of television commercials for Fruit of the Loom underwear.

In 1985, he was honored with as Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for the acclaimed role of envious composer Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (1984), an award for which Tom Hulce, playing Mozart in that movie, had also been nominated. He was also honored with a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, among other awards, and his role in the film, is still considered to be his most iconic as the film's director Milos Forman inspired the work of the role with Abraham's wide range of qualities as a great stage and film actor.

After Amadeus, he next appeared in The Name of the Rose (1986), in which he played Bernardo Gui, nemesis to Sir Sean Connery as William of Baskerville. In the DVD audio commentary, his director on the film, Jean-Jacques Annaud, described Abraham as an "egomaniac" on the set, who considered himself more important than Sean Connery, since Connery did not have an Oscar. That said, the film was a critical success. Abraham had tired of appearing as villains and wanted to return to his background in comedy, as he also explained to People Weekly magazine in an interview he gave at the time of its release.

Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum was born October 22, 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of four children of Shirley (Temeles), a radio broadcaster who also ran an appliances firm, and Harold L. Goldblum, a doctor. His father was of Russian Jewish descent and his mother was of Austrian Jewish ancestry.

Goldblum began his career on the New York stage after moving to the city at age seventeen. Possessing his own unique style of delivery, Goldblum made an impression on moviegoers with little more than a single line in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), when he fretted about having forgotten his mantra. Goldblum went on to appear in the remake Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and co-starred with Ben Vereen in the detective series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) before a high-profile turn in the classic ensemble film The Big Chill (1983).

The quirky actor turned up in the suitably quirky film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), which became a 1980s cult classic, starred in the modern-day film noir Into the Night (1985), then went on to a breakthrough role in the David Cronenberg remake The Fly (1986), which also featured actress Geena Davis, Goldblum's wife from 1987-1990 and co-star in two additional films: Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) and Julien Temple's Earth Girls Are Easy (1988).

Goldblum was the rather unlikely star of some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1990s: Steven Spielberg's dinosaur adventure Jurassic Park (1993) and its sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), as well as the alien invasion film Independence Day (1996). These films saw Goldblum playing the type of intellectual characters he has become associated with. More recently, roles have included critically acclaimed turns in Igby Goes Down (2002) and Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). In 2009, he returned to television to star in his second crime series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).

Laura Kightlinger is a writer, stand-up comic, and actor. Her comedic roles include self-obsessed mom Deb Taylor in "PEN15" on Hulu, and Nurse Shelia in "Will & Grace." She's been a consulting producer on "Will & Grace" since its inception. Laura created and starred in her own critically acclaimed TV show on IFC, "The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman," and was a series regular on HBO's "Lucky Louie." She has voiced several characters in "Lego Batman," "Ninjago" and is the voice of Dr. Scott in "Dr. Katz: The Audio Files." As a stand-up comic, she's had several half-hour specials on Comedy Central and HBO. At the recent JFL Comedy Festival, Kightlinger was heralded in the Montreal Gazette as "a femme fatale deadpan who took risks leading the audience into hilariously unexpected territory."

Her book, Quick Shots of False Hope, described by the New York Times Book Review as a "memorable, disturbing, and darkly comic debut," is being adapted for film and television.

"Sixty Spins Around the Sun," the documentary Kightlinger directed, chronicling activist Randy Credico's fight to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws, won 'Best Documentary' in the Boston, Empire State, Black Maria, and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. Laura won 'Best Director' for her first short film, "Dependable People", at the Black Maria Film Festival. Other shorts she's written and directed include: "Cat Demon: Re-Exhumed," "American Heroine," "Roy Fabcock: Legendary Lover," "Exposition 7," "Laura Gets Adopted," the three-episode short series: "Cat Guys" starring Frank Conniff and Eddie Pepitone, and the stop-motion thriller "The Scrap County Murders."

Dan Cortese shot to stardom as the creator and host of the Emmy award winning MTV Sports, where he interviewed everyone and everything that had to do with the worlds of sports & entertainment for six successful years. He then went on to star in NBC's remake of the cult classic Route 66.

Next on his plate was starring in the CBS drama Traps with Academy Award winner, George C. Scott. Dan kept the ball rolling and later co-starred for three years on the NBC sitcom Veronica's Closet, opposite Emmy winner Kirstie Alley. From there he moved onto, starring in the comedies Rock Me Baby for UPN and What I Like About You for the WB, opposite Jennie Garth.

Cortese's numerous television credits also include memorable guest-starring roles. A few favorites were when he appeared on Seinfeld, as Elaine's "Mimbo" boyfriend that George had a "man crush" on. As the evil Jess Hanson on Melrose Place and on Hot In Cleveland opposite the legendary Betty White.

In addition, Dan starred in the made for television movies The Triangle, for TBS and NBC's spin on the Shirley Jackson classic, The Lottery. Cortese has appeared in many feature films as well, including Demolition Man, opposite Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock and After Sex with Brooke Shields.

When not acting, Dan's kept his hosting skills sharp by starring in, NBC's My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad, ABC's action packed Crash Course and the fun-filled Guinness World Records: Unleashed. Dan has also added author to his resume when he released his memoir, Step Off! My journey from 'mimbo' to manhood, in the summer of 2020.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dan attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he played football for the Tarheels and he resides with his wife, Carolina and four kids in Malibu, California.

This African American actor attended Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started his junior year at 6' 5" and finished it at 6' 9"! He played basketball throughout his high-school years and won a scholarship. He averaged 18 points a game and 10 rebounds! He played basketball during college, but not when it would interfere with his major at George Washington University in Washington, DC, which was Theatrical Arts. During his college years, he met Jay Fenichel with whom he would later make musical productions. Upon graduation, Fenichel moved to Los Angeles and Hall moved to Venezuela to play basketball.

After a year, Hall lost interest and relocated to Los Angeles, California. Along with Fenichel, the duo put together two night-club acts/musicals. One was a semi-autobiographical two-man musical, "In Five," and the other was a two-man show called "The Worst of Friends," both of which played in night clubs throughout the LA area. They also had a promotional business where they did promotional acts in department stores for new products.

While working on the set of the series 227 (1985), he met his co-star, Alaina Reed-Hall, who played Rose Lee Holloway. They married--both on the set, and in real life. Predator 2 (1990) was released December 1990, and in April 1991, he died of AIDS, which he contracted through a blood transfusion a few months before.

Murray Rubin was born on 6 June 1925 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Ghostbusters (1984), Walk Like a Man (1987) and St. Elsewhere (1982). He died on 10 September 2015.

John Romualdi was born on 28 January 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for The Equalizer (2014), Galaxis (1995) and C: 299, 792 Kilometers Per Second (2013).

Twink Caplan was born on 25 December 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Clueless (1995), Feud (2017) and Look Who's Talking (1989).

Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941. He came direct from the hit 1940 original Broadway production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his contract. His first picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland. What kept Kelly in Hollywood were "the kindred creative spirits" he found behind the scenes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The talent pool was especially large during World War II, when Hollywood was a refuge for many musicians and others in the performing arts of Europe who were forced to flee the Nazis. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars. Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry. Kelly was in the same league as Fred Astaire, but instead of a top hat and tails Kelly wore work clothes that went with his masculine, athletic dance style.

Gene Kelly died at age 83 of complications from two strokes on February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California.