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1-50 of 142
- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Jennifer Love Hewitt was born in Waco, Texas, to Patricia Mae (Shipp), a speech-language pathologist, and Herbert Daniel Hewitt, a medical technician. She has English, Italian, French, Scottish, and German ancestry. She got her first name from her older brother Todd Daniel Hewitt (b. November 8, 1970), who picked the name after a little blonde girl on whom he'd had a crush. Her mother selected Jennifer's middle name, Love (which she goes by offstage), from her best college friend. Her parents separated when she was six months old and her mother raised her in Killeen, Texas.
Hewitt made her official performing debut at age 3 when she sang at a livestock show. At age 5, she was taking tap, jazz, and ballet lessons, which led to her joining the Texas Show Team, who toured the Soviet Union and Europe. When she was 10 her family moved to Los Angeles with encouragement from talent scouts, while Todd stayed behind to finish high school in Texas Jennifer quickly found commercial work and a role on Disney's Kids Incorporated (1984) in 1989. She went through a series of television flops before finally hitting it big on Party of Five (1994) in 1995.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas, USA as Stephen Glenn Martin to Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913-2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914-1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor. He was raised in Inglewood and Garden Grove in California. In 1960, he got a job at the Magic shop of Disney's Fantasyland, and while there he learned magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals. At Santa Ana College, he took classes in drama and English poetry. He also took part in comedies and other productions at the Bird Cage Theatre, and joined a comedy troupe at Knott's Berry Farm. He attended California State University as a philosophy major, but in 1967 transferred to UCLA as a theatre major.
His writing career began on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967), winning him an Emmy Award. Between 1967 and 1973, he also wrote for many other shows, including The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969) and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971). He also appeared on talk shows and comedy shows in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1972, he first appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), doing stand-up several times each year, and even guest hosting a few years later. In 1976, he served for the first time as guest-host on Saturday Night Live (1975). By 2016, he has guest-hosted 15 times, which is one less than Alec Baldwin's record, and also appeared 12 other times on SNL.
In 1977, he released his first comedy album, a platinum selling "Let's Get Small". He followed it with "A Wild and Crazy Guy" (1978), which sold more than a million copies. Both albums went on to win Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. This is when he performed in arenas in front of tens of thousands of people, and begun his movie career, which was always his goal. His first major role was in the short film, The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977), which he also wrote. His star value was established in The Jerk (1979), which was co-written by Martin, and directed by Carl Reiner. The film earned more than $100 million on a $4 million budget. He also starred in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), and All of Me (1984), all directed by Reiner. To avoid being typecast as a comedian, he wanted do more dramatic roles, starring in Pennies from Heaven (1981), a film remake of Dennis Potter's 1978 series. Unfortunately, it was a financial failure.
He also starred in John Landis's Three Amigos! (1986), co-written by himself, opposite Martin Short and Chevy Chase. That year, he also appeared in the musical horror comedy, Little Shop of Horrors (1986) opposite Rick Moranis. Next year, he starred in Roxanne (1987), co-written by himself, and in John Hughes' Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), opposite John Candy. His other films include Parenthood (1989) and My Blue Heaven (1990), both opposite Moranis. In 1991, he wrote and starred in L.A. Story (1991), about a weatherman who searches meaning in his life and love in Los Angeles. It also starred his then-wife, Victoria Tennant. Same year, Father of the Bride (1991) was so successful that a 1995 sequel followed.
During the 1990s, he continued to play more dramatic roles, in Grand Canyon (1991), playing a traumatized movie producer, in Leap of Faith (1992), playing a fake faith healer, in A Simple Twist of Fate (1994), playing a betrayed man adopting a baby, and in David Mamet's thriller The Spanish Prisoner (1997). Other, more comedic roles include in HouseSitter (1992) and The Out-of-Towners (1999), opposite Goldie Hawn, in Nora Ephron's Mixed Nuts (1994), and in Bowfinger (1999), written by himself and co-starring Eddie Murphy. After Bowfinger, he starred in Bringing Down the House (2003) and Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), both earning more than $130 million. He wrote and starred in Shopgirl (2005), and appeared in the sequel of Cheaper by the Dozen. After them, he appeared in The Pink Panther (2006) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009), which he both co-wrote, as Inspector Clouseau.
He continues to do movies, more recently appearing in The Big Year (2011), Home (2015), and Love the Coopers (2015). Besides aforementioned, he has been an avid art collector since 1968, written plays, written for The New Yorker, written a well-received memoir (Born Standing Up), written a novel (An Object of Beauty; 2010), hosted the Academy Awards three times, released a Grammy award winning music album (The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo; 2009), and another album (Love Has Come For You; 2013) with Edie Brickell. Since 2007, he has been married to Anne Stringfield, with whom he has a daughter.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born in Waco, Texas, Peri Gilpin grew up in Dallas, where her family encouraged her acting abilities. After studying at the Dallas Theater Center, she pursued acting at the University of Texas at Austin and then at London's British-American Academy. She appeared in guest roles on such popular situation comedies as Designing Women (1986), Cheers (1982) and Wings (1990), where she worked with the late producer, Roz Doyle, the namesake of her character on Frasier (1993).- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
Matt was born in Waco, Texas and raised in the Oklahoma City area. His reckless teen years culminated with him spending his twentieth birthday in state prison over a series of group brawls. Exactly a year after his release, at the end a long day of high rise window washing, he found himself involved in a road rage incident in which his coworker was murdered directly in front of him. Matt then made his way to Hollywood where he graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and went on to be a member of their theater company ('06).. He supported his early years bouncing and working as an autism behavioral therapist. Matt rowed a rowboat across the Pacific Ocean for a world record in 2014.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Ashlee Nicolle Simpson was born on October 3, 1984 in Waco, Texas, to Tina Simpson (née Drew) and Joe Simpson, who is a psychologist and Baptist youth minister. Ashlee started dancing at the age of 4 and by the time she was 11 enjoyed the status of being the youngest person ever admitted to the prestigious School of American Ballet. By 14, Ashlee was dancing professionally on the road with her older sister, pop singer Jessica Simpson. Ashlee spent 1999-2001 on tour supporting her sibling and garnering her own fan base.
She appeared on the big screen in the film The Hot Chick (2002) alongside Rob Schneider, and has made television appearances, including a guest-starring role on Malcolm in the Middle (2000). She has also appeared alongside her sister on Saved by the Bell: The New Class (1993), The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996), The View (1997), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) and a Disney Christmas show and concert special. She trained with renowned acting coach Janet Alhanti. Ashlee enjoys spending her free time vintage shopping, writing and recording music and hanging out with friends. Her work includes two well-received CDs, "Autobiography" and "I Am Me."- Actress
- Soundtrack
Slender, strikingly beautiful strawberry blonde Anne Gwynne arrived in Hollywood a typical starry-eyed model looking to for top stardom. Not quite achieving her goal, she did become one of Universal Studio's favorite and revered cover girls while earning notoriety as one of cinema's finest screamers in 40's "B" horror films. She was able to extend her talents to include adventure stories, westerns, film noir and musical comedies before retiring in 1959.
The hazel-eyed beauty was born Marguerite Gwynne Trice in Waco, Texas, on December 18, 1918, the daughter of Pearl (née Guinn) and Jefferson Benjamin Trice, a clothing manufacturer. The family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when she was still a child. Following high school graduation, she studied drama at Stephens College. Accompanying her father to Los Angeles, she stayed and found work in a number of local community productions. She also supplemented her income as a swimsuit model for Catalina. A Universal studio talent agent happened to catch her in one of her theatre endeavors and the 20-year-old was tested and signed up in 1939.
Appearing in a few starlet bit parts as chorus girls or nurse types, Anne quickly earned her first female lead that same year with the western Oklahoma Frontier (1939) opposite cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown and continued on as a gorgeous co-star/second lead for such handsome leading men as Richard Arlen in Man from Montreal (1939); Robert Stack in Men of Texas (1942); she is best remembered, however, as a decorative lure for the monstrous antics of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney Jr., among others, in such movie chillers as Black Friday (1940), The Black Cat (1941), The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942), Weird Woman (1944), House of Frankenstein (1944) and Murder in the Blue Room (1944).
Anne certainly had the looks and talent but not the luck, seldom rising above second-string film fare. She nevertheless proved quite popular with the servicemen as a WWII wall pin-up and, as with many other lovely actresses, found TV and commercials to be viable mediums for her as her film career waned. She, in fact, co-starred in TV's first filmed series, the noirish crime series Public Prosecutor (1947) as D.A. John Howard's legal secretary and guested on such action-filled 50's programs as "Ramar of the Jungle," "Death Valley Days" and "Northwest Passage."
Later sporadic appearances on film included The Blazing Sun (1950), Call of the Klondike (1950) and Breakdown (1952), the last-mentioned effort executive produced by her husband Max M. Gilford. She returned to the horror film fold once more as the star of the quickly dismissed, "poverty row" cult programmer Teenage Monster (1957). Here Anne plays a caring mother whose home is hit by a meteor. This results in the death of her husband and the monstrous mutation of her son. She tries to shield her boy from outside forces to save him. After a decade of retirement, Anne returned to make a brief, matronly appearance in the film Adam at Six A.M. (1970).
Married to Gilford in 1945, the pair had two children. Daughter/actress Gwynne Gilford is married to actor Robert Pine. Her grandson is actor Chris Pine. Anne's health began to deteriorate in the '90s; a widow by this time, she was moved to the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, where she died of complications from a stroke on March 31, 2003.- Actor
- Producer
- Location Management
Willie Mellina was born in Waco, TX. Best known for his role as George Washington in the Trilogy WASHINGTON'S ARMOR. He started singing, dancing, and acting at the age of 20. He has performed professionally onstage with several Broadway Stars such as Tony Yazbeck and was directed by Billy Porter, Tony Award Winner of Kinky Boots.
He has studied all classical and contemporary styles of Dance. Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop. Vocal Training in Classical Italian, Musical Theater, Pop, Country, Rock. Acting Training includes Stanislavsky, Meisner, Shakespearean, Scene Study, Improvisation, and Film Acting. Graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor Degree in Film and Musical Theater. Studied Stage Movement, Voice and Diction, Dialect Training.
Stunt Work, Fight Choreography, Horseback Riding (English, Western). Walk on hands and basic Gymnastics. Ability to play all sports at a high level. Basketball, Baseball, Football, Soccer, Track and Field.- Stunts
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Brian Brown was born on 15 March 1963 in Waco, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), Iron Man (2008) and Cowboys & Aliens (2011).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Corinne Griffith was a popular star of the silent movies. She started her film career at Vitagraph in 1916 and later moved to First National, where she became one of that studio's biggest stars. At the height of her popularity she was known as the "Orchid Lady of the Screen." Black Oxen (1923) was one of her most popular films. In 1925 she made Déclassé (1925), which featured a young extra named Clark Gable.
Corinne received an Academy Award nomination for her work in The Divine Lady (1928), but sound did not embrace her in the same way that the silent films had. Music was a popular device used in many early sound movies, but she quickly proved that she was not cut out to be a singer, and the fact that her acting style remained rooted in the wooden pre-sound days didn't help matters. Her last Hollywood film was released in 1930. After appearing in an English film in 1932, she retired. She appeared in one final film, Paradise Alley (1962), a low-budget Hugo Haas potboiler.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Stunts
Michael J. Fisher was born in Waco, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for Remember the Titans (2000), The Blind Side (2009) and Moneyball (2011).- Barbara Beaird was born on 18 June 1948 in Waco, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) and The Man in the Net (1959).
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
James Nelson Harrell, born in Waco, Texas to Margaret Teny and Jefferson Whitfield Harrell, Chair of the Baylor University Mathematics Department, graduated from Waco High School and Baylor University. He held a Master's Degree in Drama from Trinity University. He studied acting at the original Baylor Theater with Paul Baker in the 1930's and in 1940 was invited to join Michael Chekhov's Acting Studio in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Jim toured the East Coast with that company and was playing Twelfth Night when the attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II, and most plays closed. Jim served in the United States Army for four years in a tank company, in Headquarters Eighth Service Command, in Special Services, and in Occupied Japan. James Harrell, also known as "little Jimmy Harrell from Waco, Texas", appeared in over 75 film productions; feature films and television. James taught acting at the Dallas Theater Center and had leading roles in numerous productions, including 'Anse Bundren' in Journey to Jefferson, which toured Paris, Belgium and Germany. He also taught stage and film acting at Southwest Texas State University for 24 years, retiring in 1994 as an Associate Professor.- Tom Monroe was born on 2 September 1919 in Waco, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Two Lost Worlds (1951), Death Valley Days (1952) and Serpent Island (1954). He died on 2 December 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- He grew up there in poor circumstances, got on the wrong track as a child and became enthusiastic about boxing at an early age. At the age of 14, Patterson began boxing. At the beginning of the 1950s he initially pursued an amateur career in the middleweight division. From 1951 to 1952 he was US champion in this weight class. At the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, at the age of 17, he won the gold medal. Immediately after winning the Olympics, Patterson began his career in professional boxing. After a few victorious fights, he won by knockout in the fifth round against Archie Moore in 1956. of this: This brought him - at the age of 21 as the youngest heavyweight champion - the world heavyweight title.
Patterson was able to successfully defend his world title four times. In 1959 he lost to the Swedish challenger Ingemar Johansson, who became the new world champion. The following year, Patterson knocked out Johansson in the rematch, regaining the world title. The world champion was subsequently able to defend his title several times - including again against Johansson in 1961 - only to lose it in September 1962 to Sonny Liston, whom he defeated by knockout. lost in the first round. After losing his world championship title, Patterson continued his professional career until the early 1970s.
In 1965 he took on the newly crowned world champion Muhammad Ali, but he was knocked out in the 12th round. succumbed. On September 20, 1972, Patterson was in the ring for his last fight, which he won by knockout. lost again to Ali in the seventh round. Patterson lived in New Paltz, New York. In his professional career he had won 55 times in a total of 63 encounters, 40 of which were by knockout. After retiring from sports, he served as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission for many years.
Floyd Patterson died on May 11, 2006 in New York. - Parnell McNamara was born on 29 April 1946 in Waco, Texas, USA.
- Actress
- Producer
It's hard to be very specific about any dates or events early in the life of Texas Guinan. She loved publicity and frequently improvised facts about herself when she felt they made better stories than the truth. She was born in Waco, Texas, but likely not on a ranch as she often claimed. She was active in vaudeville and theater, and was in many movies (often as the gun-toting hero in silent westerns, more than a match for any man). In the prohibition era, Tex's talents for entertainment and self-promotion came together for a successful career as the owner and hostess in night clubs and speakeasies, where she made certain everyone had a good time.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Texas native, who began his career early on-stage as an actor before moving to film and television. He has now moved behind the camera, creating his own original work both as writer and director, while still working as an actor. Known for his unique take on dark subject matters. His films often strive to find beauty and hope in very disturbing situations.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Darcy Doyle is an award winning Texas based actress with six years of on film experience, fortified by thirteen years of theatrical experience, playing complicated characters ranging from tenacious and fierce individualists, fun-loving unapologetic best friends, and whole-hearted romantics. Darcy engages her creative work with silliness, enthusiasm, and fierce determination. She has two black cats and loves to bake.- Actor
- Director
- Art Department
Randy Bennett was born in Waco, Texas, USA. He is known for The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Evil Dead II (1987) and At Close Range (1986).- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Writer
Rich Emberlin is a 35-year law enforcement veteran born in Texas who served most notably with the Dallas Police Department's elite units, including Dallas SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) and the Criminal Intelligence Unit-Dignitary Protection Squad. He was also assigned to the Office of the Chief of Police as a liaison to the Department of Defense, where he facilitated training exercises for the U.S. Military Special Operations Community to include Naval Special Warfare (SEALs) and the Army's (CAG) Combat Action Group -DELTA. Rich is also a veteran television personality and subject matter expert, most recently serving as an in-studio analyst on the A&E documentary series, Live PD.
Rich joined the Dallas Police Department in September 1987, eventually becoming an Entry Team Leader for Dallas SWAT in 1996. During his 15 years in SWAT, Rich participated in thousands of missions, including counter-terrorist operations, hostage rescues, barricaded suspect situations, arrest and search warrant executions, and more. These operations formed the basis for Dallas SWAT, the popular A&E Networks reality series that aired from 2006-2007. Rich starred as a primary cast member as the cameras followed his personal and professional life over the course of three seasons. He also was a co-host of A&E's Live PD with Dan Abrams in 2016. Recently he hosted a pilot for Discovery + entitled Alien Endgame. Most recently appeared in Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace.
In 2011, Rich was assigned to the Criminal Intelligence Unit-Dignitary Protection Squad. He conducted liaison operations with the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, FBI, State Department, and Dept. of Defense to protect to American presidents, foreign heads of state, members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and state governors. This unit also investigated protest groups, incidents of significant public disorder, and threats against government officials and police officers. Early in his career, Rich held positions as a field training officer in the Patrol Division and undercover detective in the Homeland Security/Special Investigations Division, Narcotics Unit.
Rich retired from the Dallas Police Dept. in October 2016 with over 120 commendations and departmental awards. He remains active in the industry as a law enforcement instructor and president of 540 Solutions, a corporate executive protection and tactical training firm. Rich has been an adjunct instructor for the Safariland Group for over 10 years and previously also served as a law enforcement consultant and instructor for Craft International, a training company founded by the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, author of American Sniper. He continues to serve his community in the Dallas Police Reserves and as a reserve deputy for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department. Rich holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, emphasis in Personnel Management and Organizational Behavior, from the University of North Texas.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
J.D. Hinton was born on 12 June 1950 in Waco, Texas, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Galaxina (1980), Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) and Jessie (1984).- Gerry Matthews was born in 1931 in Waco, Texas, USA. He is an actor, known for Highway Patrol (1955), Play of the Week (1959) and The United States Steel Hour (1953).
- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Travis Banton was the star costume designer at Paramount during the studio's heyday of glamour and sophistication in the 1930's. During his tenure (1924-38), he created imaginative, often daring designs for stars like Kay Francis, Carole Lombard, Mae West and, most famously, Marlene Dietrich. His best work was done in tandem with the director Josef von Sternberg, cinematographer Lee Garmes and art director Hans Dreier. Collectively, they created a visual style of costume, make-up and scenery, which became known as 'Hollywood baroque'. For Banton, this emphasized the use of sumptuous, figure-hugging, often heavily embellished or reflective fabrics, as well as imparting a sense of kinetic energy through the prodigious use of trailing feathers or veils. He also coached stars like Dietrich on posture and demeanour to compliment 'the look'.
Banton's family had left Texas for New York when he was just two years old. After schooling, he briefly served aboard a submarine during World War I, subsequently resuming studies at Columbia University and the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. Like his contemporaries Robert Kalloch and Howard Greer, Banton spent his apprenticeship in New York, working for the fashion house of Lucille until 1924, eventually setting up his own couture label. Heavily influenced by the French fashion industry, he initially designed for theatre, creating gowns for the Ziegfeld Follies and for Broadway musical comedy, such as "Little Miss Bluebeard" and "My Girl". In 1924, he was recruited by producer Walter Wanger to work under Howard Greer at Paramount. For several years, the future Oscar-winning designer Edith Head was assigned to him as a sketch artist and assistant, duly acknowledging him in later years as a crucial influence on her career. By 1927, Banton had become Paramount's leading, most innovative designer. During the next decade, his work set the benchmark for lavish elegance in continental haute couture, with credits like Shanghai Express (1932), Trouble in Paradise (1932) and Belle of the Nineties (1934).
A drinking problem forced Banton to leave Paramount in 1938, though he did not remain out of work for long. Joining Howard Greer's label, Greer Inc., he also found employment at United Artists (1938-39). After that, he free-lanced in between stints with 20th Century Fox (1939-41), Columbia (1943-44) and, as head stylist, at Universal (1945-48). His creative flair in this period is best exemplified by films like The Mark of Zorro (1940), Lillian Russell (1940), and, particularly, Cover Girl (1944), perfectly balancing contemporary design with 1890's period costume.
In the end, the pressure of consistently creating high-end fashion for both the studios and for his own label, plus frequent feuding with stars and executives and a longing to leave the West Coast and return to New York - were all beginning to take their toll. Banton's on-set behaviour became more erratic and his increasing alcoholism made him less reliable. After his final motion picture assignment, the hopelessly flawed biopic Valentino (1951), Banton left the film business altogether and went back to work for Greer Inc.. He returned to Hollywood once more in 1956, to open a fashion salon with Russian-born couturiere Marusia Toumanoff Sassi, collaborating with her in designing the extravagant gowns worn by Rosalind Russell in the Broadway play "Auntie Mame". Banton died two years later, in February 1958, at the age of 63.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Korey Coleman was born on 8 September 1975 in Waco, Texas, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for 2 A.M. (2006), Space Jam (1996) and The Sunday Service (2014). He has been married to Merve Mia since 7 July 2017.- Tina Simpson was born on 18 January 1960 in Waco, Texas, USA. She was previously married to Joe Simpson.