Best supporting actor of 1981 (no order)
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Michael Ironside has made a strong and indelible impression with his often incredibly intense and explosive portrayals of fearsome villains throughout the years. He was born as Frederick Reginald Ironside on February 12, 1950 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Ironside was a successful arm wrestler in his teenage years. His initial ambition was to be a writer. At age fifteen, Michael wrote a play called "The Shelter" that won first prize in a Canada-wide university contest; He used the prize money to mount a production of this play. Ironside attended the Ontario College of Art, took acting lessons from Janine Manatis, and studied for three years at the Canadian National Film Board. Ironside worked in construction as a roofer prior to embarking on an acting career.
Ironside first began acting in movies in the late 1970s. He received plenty of recognition with his frightening turn as deadly and powerful psychic Darryl Revok in David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981). He was likewise very chilling as vicious misogynistic psychopath Colt Hawker in the underrated Visiting Hours (1982). Other memorable film roles include weary Detective Roersch in the sadly forgotten thriller Cross Country (1983), the crazed Overdog in the immensely enjoyable Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), the hard-nosed Jester in the blockbuster smash Top Gun (1986), ramrod Major Paul Hackett in Extreme Prejudice (1987), loner Vietnam veteran "Ben" in Nowhere to Hide (1987), the ferocious Lem Johnson in Watchers (1988), and lethal immortal General Katana in Highlander II: The Quickening (1991).
Moreover, Ironside has appeared in two highly entertaining science fiction features for Paul Verhoeven: At his savage best as the evil Richter in Total Recall (1990) and typically excellent as the rugged Lieutenant Jean Rasczak in Starship Troopers (1997). Ironside showed a more tender and thoughtful side with his lovely and touching performance as a hardened convict who befriends a disabled man in the poignant indie drama gem Chaindance (1991); he also co-wrote the script and served as an executive producer for this beautiful sleeper. Michael was terrific as tough mercenary Ham Tyler on the epic miniseries V (1984), its follow up V: The Final Battle (1984), and subsequent short-lived spin-off series.
Ironside also had a recurring role on the television series SeaQuest 2032 (1993). Among the television series he has done guest spots on are The A-Team (1983), Hill Street Blues (1981), The New Mike Hammer (1984), The Hitchhiker (1983), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Superman: The Animated Series (1996), Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), The Outer Limits (1995), ER (1994), Smallville (2001), ER (1994), Desperate Housewives (2004), Justice League (2001) and Masters of Horror (2005). More recently, Ironside garnered a slew of plaudits and a Gemini Award nomination for his outstanding portrayal of shrewd biker gang leader Bob Durelle in the acclaimed Canadian miniseries The Last Chapter II: The War Continues (2003).
In addition to his substantial film and television work, Ironside has also lent his distinctive deep voice to TV commercials and video games.for "Scanners"- Actor
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Kevin Conway was born on 29 May 1942 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Gettysburg (1993), Thirteen Days (2000) and Invincible (2006). He was married to Mila Burnette. He died on 5 February 2020 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.for "The funhouse"- Probably one of Britain's most underrated actors, Paul Freeman has accumulated literally hundreds of screen credits over several decades, most notably as the main villain in the Steven Spielberg classic Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and he has worked extensively in the theatre, but he has managed to avoid becoming a star or even a household name in his native UK. His hypnotic good looks and talent for accents have often seen him cast as villains.
He originally worked in advertising and then he trained as a teacher, while he participated in amateur dramatics as a pastime. As a professional actor he gained extensive experience performing in repertory in England and Scotland and landed small roles at the Royal Court Theatre. He is also a founding member of the Joint Stock Theatre Company. He acted at the National Theatre and began to get roles on British television. Films included The Long Good Friday (1980) (starring Bob Hoskins) and The Dogs of War (1980) (starring Christopher Walken). His work was noticed by American director Steven Spielberg, who cast Freeman as French archaeologist Rene Belloq, Harrison Ford's charismatic but utterly selfish rival in the blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). He had expected to appear in the next Indiana Jones movie, but Spielberg and George Lucas decided on a different story. Nevertheless, his portrayal of Belloq guaranteed him good work in the following years, during which he continued to showcase his command of dialects and chameleon-like ability to disappear into roles, such as the deliciously evil Professor Moriarty in the Michael Caine comedy Without a Clue (1988).
His notable television appearances have included Will Shakespeare (1978), Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), Falcon Crest (1981), Inspector Morse (1987), and ER (1994). He has also continued to work as a stage actor.for "Raiders of the lost Ark" - Actor
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Alexis Damianos was born on 21 January 1921 in Athens, Greece. He was an actor and director, known for ....mehri to ploio (1966), Evdokia (1971) and Iniohos (1995). He died on 4 May 2006 in Athens, Greece.for "When the Greeks"- Actor
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If "born to the theater" has meaning in determining a person's life path, then John Lithgow is a prime example of this truth. He was born in Rochester, New York, to Sarah Jane (Price), an actress, and Arthur Washington Lithgow III, who was both a theatrical producer and director. John's father was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, where the Anglo-American Lithgow family had lived for several generations.
John moved frequently as a child, while his father founded and managed local and college theaters and Shakespeare festivals throughout the Midwest of the United States. Not until he was 16, and his father became head of the McCarter Theater in Princeton New Jersey, did the family settle down. But for John, the theater was still not a career. He won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he finally caught the acting bug (as well as found a wife). Harvard was followed by a Fulbright scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Returning from London, his rigorous dramatic training stood him in good stead, and a distinguished career on Broadway gave him one Tony Award for "The Changing Room", a second nomination in 1985 for "Requiem For a Heavyweight", and a third in 1988 for "M. Butterfly". But with critical acclaim came personal confusion, and in the mid 1970s, he and his wife divorced. He entered therapy, and in 1982, his life started in a new direction, the movies - he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp (1982). A second Oscar nomination followed for Terms of Endearment (1983), and he met a UCLA economics professor who became his second wife. As the decade of the 1990s came around, he found that he was spending too much time on location, and another career move brought him to television in the hugely successful series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996).
This production also played a role in bringing him back together with the son from his first marriage, Ian Lithgow, who has a regular role in the series as a dimwitted student.for "Blow out"