Cornish-American celebrities

Born in Mineral Wells, Texas, Bill Camfield graduated from Texas Christian University in 1955. Working at Leonard's department store, a friend suggested he try out for some work at Fort Worth's KFJZ-TV Channel 11 (Now KTVT). Camfield wrote, produced and starred in commercials for the station clients. His best remembered commercial was for a local bank where he created the character "Mortimer Moneybags." Live television was in it's heyday and people were needed to not only host programs but to also fill in for sick or vacationing hosts. Camfield filled in for the station's children show. For this, he created a character: a sea-faring captain called Captain Swabbie. Later, he would create a character called Ickabod Twerpwhistle. To go along with the character, he wore a rumpled black suit, bad toupee, tiny cowboy hat and black rimmed glasses that became his trademark. The station management fell in love with the character and told him to hone it and create a live action show that could be blocked with cartoons. And hence, Slam Bang Theater, was born. Bill Camfield changed the character from the captain to a gentleman named Icky Twerp. (Rumor is that a station secretary saw him in his get up and exclaimed, "What an Icky Twerp!") The show included skits that revolved around Twerp and three gentlemen in ape masks named Ajax, Arkadelphia, and Delphinium. When the "apes weren't fighting, playing pranks or throwing pies at one another, SBT would show old cartoons such as The Mighty Hercules, Felix The Cat and old and new Popeye cartoons. The show was so popular, it was shown on both weekday mornings and afternoons. But what really made SBT and Icky Twerp stand out was Bill Camfield's introduction of Columbia Pictures "The Three Stooges" to a new generation of children. (Many parents were not happy with the Stooges slapstick antics and would not allow their children to watch SBT. Because of this, SBT became an underground sensation with local Dallas/Fort Worth children.) To thank Camfield for introducing a new generation to the Stooges, they cast him in a bit part as the mayor in the 1965 movie. The Outlaws Is Coming! Icky Twerp was one of the three top live children television entertainers in Dallas/Fort Worth along with Jerry Haynes'/ WFAA-TV Channel 8's Mr. Peppermint and KDTV-TV (now KXTX) Channel 39's Bozo The Clown. On Saturday nights, teenagers and their dates would tune into Channel 11 on Saturday nights to watch Nightmare, a late night horror movie show interlaced with live actions scenes of "Gorgon" (a "moonlighting" Bill Camfield), the care taker of the show. But all good things must come to an end. After receiving a new job offer in Denver, Bill Camfield hung up his suit in the early 1970's. Claiming he had inherited the "Lost Twerp Mine" from his Uncle Ickabod, he threw a shovel over his shoulder and to the tune of "You'll Never Walk Alone", he walked off into the "sunset" of the KTVT-TV parking lot and faded away. Slam Bang Theater would continue for many years to come as a stripped down version sans Twerp and company. Only The Three Stooges, the Slam Bang Theater theme and the cartoons would remain. Camfield worked for a cable company and other TV industry jobs and finally for the Fox owned television stations group. This new job would bring him back to Dallas/Fort Worth to work for KDAF-TV Channel 33. He worked in sales primarily but his Twerp character was revived on the station in a show called "Icky Twerp's Summer Reunion in 1985. New live action scenes were created and interlaced between Summer and beach-type movies. This time his son, Paul was part of the cast for the first time. In 1989, a Slam Bang Theater 30th Anniversary special was produced for KDAF-TV. It included old stage hands, local children that had appeared on the show, and clips from the last 30 years. Hosted by legendary Dallas/Fort Worth radio pioneer Ron Chapman, the show was taped before a live audience at the Comedy Corporation in Arlington. The Governor of Texas and the State Legislature passed a Proclamation declaring it "Icky Twerp Day". While continuing to work for KDAF-TV and Fox, Camfield also wrote a column about growing up in Mineral Wells for the local paper there and for the Fort Worth Star Telegram's StarText computer service. He was diagnosed with brain cancer and died on September 31, 1991 at his Fort Worth home. On the same day that Bill died, the Dallas/Fort Worth community laid to rest another local television pioneer: KXAS-TV (formally WBAP-TV) Channel 5's Harold Taft, the station's first weatherman hired some 30 years before. He died three days before Camfield.

Kristin Chenoweth is an American stage, screen and television actress, though, depending on who you ask, Chenoweth fans may disagree on what her most famous roles are. Since Chenoweth began her career, she has been credited with roles in musicals and plays on and off-Broadway, on various television shows and can be seen in movies on television and the big screen. She has also lent her recognizable voice numerous times to animated features.

Chenoweth was born in the small town of Broken Arrow, OK. Soon after her birth, Chenoweth was adopted by Jerry and Junie Chenoweth. She is very open about her adoption and has been known to support various adoption causes and organizations around the U.S. Although Chenoweth knows the backgrounds of her birth parents, she has commented that she has little interest in meeting them. The Chenoweth family includes older brother Mark. Chenoweth graduated from Broken Arrow High School and went on to study Musical Theater at Oklahoma City University. Under the guidance of Florence Birdwell, Chenoweth flourished in stage and vocal performance. She later received her Master's Degree in Opera Performance at OCU.

An avid fan of all things Oklahoman, Chenoweth was inducted into the 2010 State Hall of Fame. Fans of Kristin Chenoweth, the stage actress, have seen her stealing performances in Steel Pier, Epic Proportions, and The Apple Tree. In 1999, Chenoweth received the Tony Award for her performance as "Sally" in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". Chenoweth is well-known as the originator of "Glinda" in the 2003 mega-hit musical "Wicked". The role, written with Chenoweth in mind, earned her a Tony Award Nomination amongst many other accolades. Chenoweth returned to Broadway in 2010, alongside Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of "Promises, Promises". In January of 2007, Chenoweth became the third musical theater performer in history to have a solo performance at NYC's Metropolitan Opera. She has also performed with various Symphonies around the world. Chenoweth has recorded 3 studio albums. Those who know Kristin best from her various television performances remember her as the quirky, down on love, "Olive Snook" on Pushing Daisies (2007). The role won Ms. Chenoweth an Emmy Award in 2009 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The show, ultimately canceled shortly after its 2nd season, is still considered by Kristin to be one of her favorite characters to play.

In 2001, Chenoweth starred in the short-lived NBC comedy Kristin (2001). She has also been seen on The West Wing (1999), Ugly Betty (2006) and has a recurring role on Fox's Glee (2009) as the recovering alcoholic has-been, but lovable "April Rhodes" . Her appearances on "Glee" earned her a 3rd Emmy nomination. Most recently, Ms. Chenoweth had a small part in the 2010 comedy, You Again (2010). She has also had roles in Four Christmases (2008), Deck the Halls (2006), Running with Scissors (2006) and link=tt0420223]. In 2009, Chenoweth took on the challenging role as "Linda" in the film, Into Temptation (2009). Ms. Chenoweth is bi-coastal, spending a good amount of time in both New York and Los Angeles.

Brian Chenoweth is known for The Artist (2011), The X-Files (1993) and ER (1994).

Tom Ellis is a Welsh actor from Cardiff, Wales. He is best known for playing Lucifer Morningstar in the American television series Lucifer (2016-2021).

Ellis was born in Cardiff. He studied BA Dramatic Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (previously the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama).

Ellis' notable roles include Hollywood physician in the USA Network series Rush, Mark Etches in the British supernatural drama The Fades and Gary Preston in the hit TV show Miranda which aired on the BBC from November 9, 2009 to January 1, 2015.

In February 2015, it was announced that Ellis was cast as Lucifer Morningstar in the Fox television drama Lucifer, based on the comic of the same name, which premiered on 25 January 2016. The show was continued by Netflix from its fourth to sixth season, later was released on the 10th of September 2021.

One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, film actress Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the only child of Vera J. (nee Palmer; later Peers) and Herbert W. Palmer. Her parents were well-to-do, with her father a successful attorney in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, where she spent a portion of her childhood. Her parents were both born with the same surname, and her ancestry was seven eighths English and Cornish and one eighth German. She was reportedly a talented pianist and played the violin when she was young.

Tragedy struck when Jayne was three, when her father suddenly died of a heart attack. Three years later, her mother remarried and she and her mother moved to Dallas, Texas, buying a small home where she had violin concerts in the driveway of their home. Her IQ was reportedly 163, and she attended the University of Dallas and participated in little-theater productions. In 1949, at the age of 16, she married a man five years her senior named Paul Mansfield. In November 1950, when Jayne was seventeen, their daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield was born. The union ended in divorce but she kept the surname Mansfield as a good surname for an actress.

After some productions there and elsewhere, Jayne decided to go to Hollywood. Her first film was a bit role as a cigarette girl in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955). Although the roles in the beginning were not much, she was successful in gaining those roles because of her ample physical attributes which placed her in two other films that year, Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) and Illegal (1955). Her breakout role came the next year with a featured part in The Burglar (1957). By the time she portrayed Rita Marlowe in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) and Playgirl After Dark (1960), Jayne was now known as the poor man's Marilyn Monroe. She did not get the plum roles that Marilyn got in her productions. Instead, her films were more of a showcase for her body more than anything else. She did have a real talent for acting, but the movie executives insisted she stay in her dumb blonde stereotype roles. By the 1960s, her career had options that grew lower. She made somewhat embarrassing guest appearances like on the popular game show What's My Line? (1950), she appeared on the show four times in 1956, 1957, 1964, and 1966 and many other 1950s and 1960s game shows. By 1962, she was dropped from 20th Century Fox and the rest of her career had smaller options like being in B movies and low budget movies or performing at food stores or small nightclubs.

While traveling from a nightclub in Biloxi, Mississippi and 30 miles from New Orleans to where she was to be on television the following day, she was killed instantly on Highway 90 in Slidell, Louisiana in a car crash in the early hours of June 29, 1967, when the car in which she was riding slammed into the back of a semi-tractor trailer truck that had stopped due to a truck in front of the tractor trailer that was spraying for bugs. Her car went under the truck at nearly 80 miles per hour. Her boyfriend Samuel Brody and their driver Ronnie Harrison, were also killed. The damage to the car was so bad that the engine was twisted sideways. She was not, however, decapitated, as had long been misreported. She was 34 years old.

Mansfield's funeral was on July 3, 1967 and hundreds of people lined the main street of Pen Argyl for Mansfield's funeral, a small private ceremony at Fairview Cemetery in Plainfield (outside Pen Argyl), Pennsylvania (where her father was also buried), attended by her family. The only ex-husband to attend was Mickey Hargitay. Her final film, Single Room Furnished (1966), was released the following year. In 2000, Mansfield's 97 year old mother, Mrs. Vera Peers, was interred alongside Mansfield.

After Mansfield's death, Mansfield's mother, as well as her ex-husband Mickey Hargitay, William Pigue (legal guardian for her daughter, Jayne Marie), Charles Goldring (Mansfield's business manager), and Bernard B. Cohen and Jerome Webber (both administrators of the estate) all filed unsuccessful suits to gain control of her estate, which was initially estimated at $600,000 ($3,712,000 in 2018 dollars), including the Pink Palace (estimated at $100,000 ($619,000 in 2018 dollars)), a sports car sold for $7,000 ($43,000 in 2018 dollars), her jewelry, and Sam Brody's $185,000 estate left to her in his last will ($1,145,000 in 2018 dollars).

In 1971, Beverly Brody sued the Mansfield estate for $325,000 ($2,011,000 in 2018 dollars) worth of presents and jewelry given to Mansfield by Sam Brody; the suit was settled out of court.

In 1977, Mansfield's four eldest children (Jayne Marie, Mickey, Zoltan, and Mariska) went to court to discover that some $500,000 in debt which Mansfield had incurred ($3,093,000 in 2018 dollars) and litigation had left the estate insolvent.

Emily Maynard Johnson was born on 1 February 1986 in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. She has been married to Tyler Johnson since 7 June 2014. They have five children.

Paul Newlan was born on 29 June 1903 in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for Down Rio Grande Way (1942), Dragnet (1947) and The Twilight Zone (1959). He was married to Hazel Bokarney Newlan. He died on 23 November 1973 in Studio City, California, USA.

Julie Parrish was born on 21 October 1940 in Middlesboro, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress and director, known for Mannix (1967), Fireball 500 (1966) and Return to Peyton Place (1972). She died on 1 October 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

DGA 1st AD with great experience across both Feature Films and Television, Patrick is calm, focused and travels well. From huge battle scenes to intimate 2-handers, his knowledge and skills are extensive. Based in London. Countries worked in include Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain (inc Balearic Islands), Sweden, UK #fishfingersorlobster #paperless

Randy Travis was born on 4 May 1959 in Marshville, North Carolina, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007), The Rainmaker (1997) and Deep Impact (1998). He has been married to Mary Davis Travis since 21 March 2015. He was previously married to Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis.

Jeff Tremaine was born a military brat and hustled from state to state until finally settling in Rockville, Maryland. There, he quickly gravitated towards the alternative world of skateboarding, BMX, reggae music, and art... pursuits that would shape a career to come.

After attending Washington University, Tremaine headed out West, where he slid into the layout jockey position at Go magazine. From there, he became the art/editorial director for Big Brother. At the magazine, Tremaine, Spike Jonze, and Johnny Knoxville laid the seeds for jackass, a television series that would become a cultural phenomenon, spawning a franchise that includes jackass: the movie, jackass number two, jackass 2.5, and jackass 3D, which Paramount Pictures released in October 2010.

Beyond jackass, Tremaine has created and executive produced a number of television series' including MTV's Wildboyz, Rob & Big, Nitro Circus, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, Dudesons in America, and the new series, Ridiculousness.

In 2009, he produced Steve-O: Demise and Rise, an MTV documentary about addiction and the road to recovery. He went on to executive produce The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, a feature-length documentary about a family of outlaws that Tribeca Film acquired and distributed theatrically in 2010.

Most recently, Tremaine directed and produced ESPN 30 For 30's The Birth of Big Air, an inspirational documentary about BMX legend Mat Hoffman. He has also directed music videos for Turbonegro, Andrew WK, The Sahara Hot Nights, and Weezer.

Michael Travis was born on 13 April 1928 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was a costume designer, known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1967), Play of the Week (1959) and The Steve Lawrence Show (1965). He died on 1 May 2014 in Studio City, California, USA.

One of America's most heard men back in the day with thousands of radio programs to his credit and the possessor of one of the most prominent male voices of that medium's war-era "Golden Age," veteran actor Les Tremayne was considered to have the third most distinctive tones on the airwaves, only behind Bing Crosby and Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Born Lester Tremayne Henning in London, England, on April 16, 1913, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois when the boy was only four. Wanting to bury his British accent growing up in the States, Tremayne took an an eager interest in community theatre. He began his professional career as a dancer in vaudeville, supplementing his income on the side as a barker in various amusement parks.

Tremayne received his first radio job in Chicago when he was 17 years old. While gaining experience, he attended Northwestern University where he studied Greek drama and also took up anthropology at Columbia University and UCLA. During the 1930s and 1940s, Tremayne was usually heard in more than one show per week. Growing in leaps and bounds as a voice that could handle many types, ages and accents, his first big break occurred in 1934 as the leading man on the soap drama "The Romance of Helen Trent." He then replaced actor Don Ameche as the leading man on the popular weekly radio drama "The First Nighter," a stint that lasted six years. During that time, his more popular series work included that of super-sleuth Nick Charles in "The Adventures of the Thin Man." He also became the announcer on "The Bob Crosby Show."

Searching for bigger opportunities, Tremayne transplanted himself to both Los Angeles New York in 1943, and continued to find radio work as the title role in "The Falcon," played detective Pat Abbott in "The Abbott Mysteries," appeared on Bob Crosby's programs "The Old Gold Show" and "The Bob Crosby Show," and co-starred as the straight man alongside "The Great One" on "The Jackie Gleason/Les Tremayne Show" when Crosby enlisted for WWII service. Other shows would include a breakfast talk format, "The Tremaynes," with second wife Alice Reinheart, as well as the programs "Cavalcade of America," "Ford Theatre," "Inner Sanctum Mysteries," "Kraft Music Hall," "Lux Radio Theatre" and "The Whistle," among so many others.

In the 1950s, Tremayne took on films and the new medium of TV. Typically playing military types, erudite professionals, shifty execs and errant husbands, his more officious roles included playing a police commission chief in The Racket (1951); a colonel in Francis Goes to West Point (1952); a lawyer in Susan Slept Here (1954); a senator in A Man Called Peter (1955) and another colonel in The Perfect Furlough (1958). Best remembered for his characters in cult 1950s sci-fiers, he co-starred or was featured in The War of the Worlds (1953), The Monolith Monsters (1957), The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959) and The Angry Red Planet (1959). His mellifluous voice was also utilized in films (Forbidden Planet (1956)), in film trailers (The Iron Petticoat (1956)) and for narrating documentaries (Adventures in the Red Sea (1951)).

On TV, Tremayne earned frequent appearances on such established programs as "The Danny Thomas Show," "Mr. Adams and Eve," "The Thin Man," "Bachelor Father," "77 Sunset Strip," "The Jack Benny Program," "The Rifleman," "State Trooper," "M Squad," "Thriller," "Perry Mason," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Checkmate" and "The Andy Griffith Show." He also had a recurring TV role as Major Stone on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954) and co-starred as Inspector Richard Queen, the father of the famed mystery writer (played by George Nader on the series The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (1958).

A flurry of unworthy low-budget films came Tremayne's way in later years including Shootout at Big Sag (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), The Slime People (1963), Creature of Destruction (1968), Strawberries Need Rain (1971) and Fangs (1974). He also found work with the CBS Mystery Radio Theatre, and also provided voices for "Mr. Magoo," "Johnny Quest," "The Smurfs," "Go-Bots," "Scooby Doo" and "Rikki Tiki Tavi."

Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995, Tremayne would take his final bow in the comedy film horror The Naked Monster (2005) which featured several other cult actors of '50s sci-fi/horror including Kenneth Tobey, John Agar, Robert Clarke, Robert Cornthwaite, Jeanne Carmen, Lori Nelson, Ann Robinson and Gloria Talbott.

Tremayne died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California, on December 19, 2003, at the age of 90, and was survived by his fourth wife, Joan Hertz.

Brian Maynard is known for Starship Troopers (1997), Dreamcatcher (2003) and Broken Arrow (1996).

Harry Antrim was born on 27 August 1884 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951), The Heiress (1949) and Words and Music (1948). He was married to Bernice Gorman. He died on 18 January 1967 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Kip Thorne was born on 1 June 1940 in Logan, Utah, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Interstellar (2014), Focal Point and The Big Bang Theory (2007). He has been married to Carolee Joyce Winstein since 7 July 1984. He was previously married to Linda Jean Peterson.

George Polkinghorne is known for Blade Runner (1982), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984).

Dave Kneebone is known for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007), The Eric Andre Show (2012) and Nathan for You (2013). He has been married to Casimira Buryn since 29 June 2007.

Formally trained in classical and jazz styles, Mike Trebilcock is a film composer, songwriter and producer. He uses a classic, melodic scoring style, blended with synths, found sounds, wind instruments, and heavy guitars to create unique and memorable scores. His sense of humor, sensitivity to action and drama, and genre-spanning musical abilities make him a highly sought professional in his field.

Kermit Maynard was born on 20 September 1897 in Vevay, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fighting Texan (1937), Valley of Terror (1937) and Phantom Patrol (1936). He was married to Edith Jessen. He died on 16 January 1971 in North Hollywood, California, USA.

Jillian spent her youth and early adult years as a theater actress while studying classical piano, singing and dance. She went on to build a successful career as a commercial print model, but deeply missed her passion for the arts, eventually relocating to California to focus solely on her commercial and theatrical film acting career.