An American Tail 1986 premiere
Saturday November 8th, Samuel Goldwyn Theater 8949 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
List activity
353 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
99 people
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Phillip Glasser was born on 4 October 1978 in Tarzana, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for An American Tail (1986), An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) and Agent Cody Banks (2003). He has been married to Elise Shirley since 28 May 2000.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Special Effects
David 'Joey' Mildenberger is known for Hercules (1997), Nimona (2023) and The Princess and the Frog (2009).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Mark Pudleiner is known for Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009), Hercules (1997) and Meet the Robinsons (2007).- Additional Crew
- Editorial Department
James Mann is known for Ready Player One (2018), Doctor Strange (2016) and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019).- Animation Department
- Actress
Deborah Rykoff-Bennett is known for Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
Mannix Bennett is known for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), Elysium (2013) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). He died on 16 October 2020.- Production Manager
- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Dave Tidwell is known for Firecracker (2005).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
Anne Marie Bardwell is known for Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and An American Tail (1986).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Paul Riley was born in 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Still Game (2002), Dear Green Place (2006) and Still Game (1999).- Animation Department
Konrad Winterlich is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Production Manager
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Helene Blitz is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Animation Department
- Actor
- Writer
- Animation Department
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
Jon L. Hooper is known for The Simpsons Movie (2007), An American Tail (1986) and The Polar Express (2004).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Art Director
Barry Atkinson is a graphic and digital artist who is employed by Walt Disney Television Studios and Mercury Filmworks production companies. He has gained notoriety through his efforts a background artist on many Disney television series and movies. His notable film work includes Big Hero 6 (2014), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Pocahontas (1995), and The Lion King (1994). Presently, he is contributing to the Lion Guard (2016) television series.- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Director
- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
William Lorencz is known for Hercules (1997), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).- Editorial Department
- Sound Department
- Editor
John K. Carr is known for Hercules (1997), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Director
Linda Miller is known for All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and An American Tail (1986).- Animation Department
- Production Manager
- Visual Effects
Susan Vanderhorst is known for Osmosis Jones (2001), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and An American Tail (1986).- Animation Department
- Director
- Writer
Daryl Carstensen was born on 23 September 1956 in Lynwood, California, USA. He is a director and writer, known for The Iron Giant (1999), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Osmosis Jones (2001).- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Director
Michel Gagné was born in Québec, Canada. He studied animation at Sheridan College School of Visual Arts in Ontario, Canada and in 1985, began a highly successful artistic career.
Renowned for his unique vision, Michel has lent his talent to several animation and entertainment companies, such as Don Bluth Studios, Warner Bros., Disney, Pixar, Cartoon Network, Paramount, Sony, Nickelodeon, etc. His creative work can be seen in over twenty feature films including "The Land Before Time", "The Iron Giant", "Osmosis Jones", "Ratatouille", "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse", etc. Aside from his studio work, Michel is a determined entrepreneur who has created work in a wide range of media, from live performances to gallery exhibits. With video game veteran, Joe Olson, he created the critically acclaimed video game, "Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet" which was released in 2011.
He has been recognized by his peers with a BAFTA, an Annie Award, and has received numerous prizes and nominations from the animation, video game and comics industries. One of his short films, "Sensology", was short listed for an Academy Award in 2010.
Michel is also active in the publishing world having written and illustrated several books and comics, such as "The Saga of Rex" and "Insanely Twisted Rabbits". His work has been published by Abrams, DC Comics, Fantagraphics, Image Comics, Random House, as well as Michel's own imprint, GAGNE International Press.
He lives peacefully with his wife and dog, in the Pacific Northwest, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Production Manager
- Animation Department
- Animation Department
- Special Effects
- Production Manager
Brenda McGuirk is known for Titan A.E. (2000), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Art Department
Kevin Wurzer is known for Oliver & Company (1988), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and An American Tail (1986).- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
John Cawley is known for The Venture Bros. (2003), An American Tail (1986) and Metalocalypse (2006).- Visual Effects
- Actor
- Animation Department
Shawn Kelly is known for Transformers (2007), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016).- Animation Department
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Vera Pacheco was born on 29 August 1955 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Hercules (1997), Dragon's Lair (1983) and Aladdin (1992). She was married to James Alexander Pacheco, Dorse A. Lanpher and Robert J. Law. She died on 11 December 2021.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Special Effects
Dorse A. Lanpher was born on 10 June 1935 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA. He is known for The Black Hole (1979), Hercules (1997) and Aladdin (1992). He was married to Vera Pacheco and Judith O'Neal. He died on 16 December 2011 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA.- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
Diann Landau is known for Anastasia (1997), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and The Prince of Egypt (1998).- Director
- Art Director
- Producer
David is a Seven time Emmy nominated director and producer with over 30 years' experience in feature animated films, TV animation and short films as director, art director, production designer and writer. He has also created and directed two original children's TV series.
Recent projects include Production designer and Co-Director on Emmy and Annie award winning 'Ada Twisty' for Netflix's , Production design on 'Lets get rolling with Otis' for Apple TV+/ Brown Bag films and production design on 'Eva the Owlet' Apple TV+/Scholastic/Brown bag films.
Supervising directing on all three seasons of Beatrix Potter's 'Peter Rabbit', a Brown Bag Films production for Nick Junior which went on to win SIX Emmy awards and a further ten nominations. And he was Supervising Director of the Annie ,BAFTA and Emmy nominated CGI series "The Stinky and Dirty Show; season 1 & 2 for Amazon Studio's.
He began his career on 'An American Tail' at Sullivan Bluth studios, where he was fortunate enough to be trained by some of the top industry professionals. In 1990, David moved to Los Angeles where he worked on numerous features and in 1992 joined Walt Disney Feature Animation contributing his talents to award winning films such as the 'The Lion King', 'Pocahontas', 'Hunchback' and 'Hercules'. On 'Tarzan' he held the position of 'Supervising Digital Background Artist' pioneering digital background painting for the studio and was a key member in the development of a new 3D Painting system called Deep Canvas.
In 2000 he returned to Ireland to create and direct the TV series The Island of Inis Cool. The series used CGI characters combined with miniature sets to give it the look and feel of clay-animation. Grabby-Bag, a CGI preschool series for RTE, was his second series, which he created, directed and co-produced with Brown Bag Films. He then went on to direct a new CGI series of Noddy in Toyland, and the pilot episode of Doc Mc Stuffins for Disney Junior.- Animation Department
- Art Department
Patrick Gleeson is known for An American Tail (1986), Space Jam (1996) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Producer
- Animation Department
- Production Manager
Russell Boland is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
Sinead Murray is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Production Manager
- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
Hope Devlin Kristiansen is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992).- Animation Department
- Art Department
Gary Perkovac is known for Pocahontas (1995), The Prince of Egypt (1998) and The Secret of NIMH (1982).- Animation Department
- Art Department
Jean Morel was born in 1963. Jean is known for Hercules (1997), The Lion King (1994) and Pocahontas (1995).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Additional Crew
- Animation Department
- Producer
- Writer
- Production Manager
Sue Shakespeare was born on 21 August 1957 in Denver, Colorado, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for 101 Dalmatians (1996), An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). She has been married to Terry Shakespeare since 5 March 1981.- Animation Department
- Director
- Writer
Terry Shakespeare was born on 3 April 1959. He is a director and writer, known for 101 Dalmatians (1996), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). He has been married to Sue Shakespeare since 5 March 1981.- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
Colm Duggan is known for The Swan Princess (1994), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Animation Department
Helen Lawlor is known for An American Tail (1986), The Swan Princess (1994) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Writer
- Actress
- Producer
Mary Walsh was born on 13 May 1952 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She is a writer and actress, known for Mambo Italiano (2003), Codco (1986) and This Hour Has 22 Minutes (1993). She has been married to Donald Nichol since 2002.- Animation Department
Nollaig Crombie is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Production Manager
Thad Weinlein was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. He is known for Teen Wolf (1985), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Make-Up Department
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
Barbara Ritchie was born in 1928 in Islington, London, England, UK. She is known for Willow (1988), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). She died in 1990 in Surrey, England, UK.- Animation Department
- Director
- Producer
Don Bluth was one of the chief animators at Disney to come to the mantle after the great one's death. He eventually became the animation director for such films as The Rescuers (1977) and Pete's Dragon (1977). Unfortunately, the quality of animation that Disney was producing at this point was not up to par with the great works of Disney, and there was rumor that the production unit at Disney might be shut down indefinitely. In retaliation, Bluth and several other animators led a walkout, and went off to form their own independent animation firm. Bluth's first animated feature may still be his best. The Secret of NIMH (1982) was an animated film based on the children's book "Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of Nimh". The film dealt with a widowed field mouse named Mrs. Brisbee and her plight to move her house before the farmer plants his field. The rats of Nimh, an organization of super intelligent rats, band together to help her. "The Secret of NIMH" was a visually ravishing film that hearkened back to the glory days of Disney. While animation buffs raved, the film did little business at the box office. (The growing number of VCR's in America would help the film reach a cult status on home video). Undaunted, Bluth persevered. He created the video games Dragon's Lair (1983) and Space Ace (1983), both of which allowed the player to control an actual cartoon. He later teamed up with Steven Spielberg for the films An American Tail (1986) and The Land Before Time (1988). While Bluth's ambition to restore animation to its previous glory was being realized, the Disney studio, whose recent films had failed to match Bluth's at the box office, was finally ready to return to true quality. With the release of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), Bluth had to compete with a Goliath. After his next film, All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), received mixed opinions and failed to be more than a minor box office success, Bluth fell into a failing streak of films that were comparatively mediocre when placed alongside his previous work, including Rock-A-Doodle (1991), and Thumbelina (1994). Bluth later joined forces with 20th Century Fox where he made his first commercial hit in some time, Anastasia (1997). He followed up with the ambitious but hollow science fiction fantasy Titan A.E. (2000). While Bluth has yet to reach the glory of his earlier work, he nonetheless deserves credit as a champion of animation, and for surviving as an independent film maker.- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Production Manager
Rocky Solotoff was born on 2 August 1951 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Rocky is a producer and production manager, known for An American Tail (1986), The Land Before Time (1988) and Sailor Moon (1994). Rocky has been married to Carol Pinchofsky since 24 July 1977.- Animation Department
Diane Albracht is known for The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986) and Space Jam (1996).- Camera and Electrical Department
- Animation Department
- Cinematographer
Gary Hall is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Script and Continuity Department
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
Robin Police was born on 29 September 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Robin is known for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Oliver & Company (1988).- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Carla Washburn is known for Enchanted (2007), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
Fred Craig is known for Aladdin (1992), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and The Little Mermaid (1989).- Art Department
- Director
- Producer
Todd Waterman was born in Oakland and raised in Placentia, California. He is the founder of GLO Films, former Vice President of Trilogy Animation Group (TAG), a Daytime Emmy® nominated director, as well as an animator, storyboard artist, and executive producer.
Waterman has worked on a wide range of children's series and feature films tor such venerable companies as Fox Studios (Anastasia). Hasbro Studio (Transformers Prime, Transformers: Robots In Disguise), MGM Animation (All Dogs Go to Heaven II), Nickelodeon (Rugrats in Paris, The Rugrats Movie, Fan Boy and Chum Chum), Sony Pictures (Eight Crazy Nights), and Walt Disney Animation Studios (Mulan) among others.
Waterman began his animation career at age 20 as a character cleanup inbetween artist for Steven Spielberg's An American Tail, a feature film from Sullivan Bluth Studios, followed by All Dogs Go to Heaven, Rock-a Doodle, and A Troll in Central Park. He then moved to Amblimation, where he animated on the Spielberg film Were Back: A Dinosaurs Story.
Previously Waterman was Director of Animation tor ImagineAsia, Inc., (2000) where he was responsible tor training artists, supervising production, and developing original content.
Waterman was twice nominated tor Daytime Emmy Awards tor Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program (Transformers Prime, 2011 and 2012).
When joining TAG in 2018, Waterman executive produced 26 half-hour episodes of The VeggieTales Show, the beloved classic children's series that promotes honesty, values, and kindness. He is also oversaw the reboots of fan favorites Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Emmy Award-winning Tutenstein, and the pilot Earth to Eden; a TAG original concept. Waterman also struck a development deal with Universal Pictures Content Group (UPCG) tor a full-length animated film, announcement pending.- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Director
- Producer
David Molina was born on 2 July 1959 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for 101 Dalmatians (1996), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). He has been married to Deborah Johnson since 7 November 1981.- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
Ashley McGovern is known for Tank Girl (1995), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Editor
- Sound Department
- Actor
Dan Molina is a voice actor, sound designer and editor known for voicing Fish out of Water from the Chicken Little franchise and Dirk the Daring from Dragon's Lair. He provided editing and sound work for The Lion King, All Dogs Go to Heaven, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Space Ace, The Road to El Dorado, Monsters at Work, Cats Don't Dance, Space Ace and The Pagemaster.- Producer
- Animation Department
- Director
When Gary Goldman met Don Bluth at Walt Disney Studios in 1972, they formed an instant friendship, soon realizing that they both shared the desire of restoring the heritage of classical animation to today's animated films, their friendship eventually turned into a creative partnership that has lasted over 30 years.
Born in Oakland and raised in Watsonville, California, as a youth, Goldman studied piano and enjoyed model-making and drawing. Before devoting himself entirely to the arts, he served as an electronics technician in the United States Air Force (1962-1967). He received his Associate of Arts Degree (1969) from Cabrillo College near Santa Cruz, California, and in December, 1971, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Life Drawing and Art History from the University of Hawaii.
In early 1972, he began his career in animation when he joined Walt Disney Productions. His first assignment was as an "in-betweener" to legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas on the film Robin Hood (1973). He then worked alongside Don Bluth, as an animator, on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) and The Rescuers (1977) before serving as directing animator on Pete's Dragon (1977) and The Small One (1978).
In an effort to accelerate their skills in preparation for leadership assignments within the Disney organization, Goldman and Bluth began to probe every aspect of animated production. United by the same goal of restoring the lost techniques of classical animation, Goldman and Bluth, with animator John Pomeroy, produced (in Bluth's garage) the classically animated television special Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979). It took four years, working nights and weekends. It won the National Film Advisory Board Award for excellence and the Golden Scroll Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Using what they learned on their "GARAGE" project, they implemented their techniques on projects at Disney. Divided by disagreements over story and production values, Goldman, along with Bluth and Pomeroy, resigned from Walt Disney Productions to establish their independent animation studio, Don Bluth Productions, Inc. (1979).
Since leaving Disney, the team produced several feature films, starting with The Secret of NIMH (1982), which won the Saturn Award for 'Best Animated Feature' from the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Academy. Their follow-up effort, An American Tail (1986), ushered in a new era of success for the full-length animated feature, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of its time. The film's theme song 'Somewhere Out There', also received two Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination for 'Best Original Song'.
Goldman was producer on the animated laser disc interactive video games, Dragon's Lair (1983), Space Ace (1983) and Dragon's Lair II: Timewarp (1991). "Dragon's Lair" received the Inkpot Award for the 'First Interactive Laser Disc Arcade Game' and an Arkie Award for the 'Best Arcade Audio/Visuals'. Dragon's Lair has experienced an incredible tenure as a popular interactive game on 16 different platforms for home entertainment. It remained in the top 10 sales through 1999. The title is in final stages of production (September 2002) as a 3D game for PC, MAC, Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo's Game Cube and Microsoft's Xbox.
In 1986, Goldman and Bluth moved their entire operation, including 87 employees and their families to Dublin, Ireland, at the invitation of the Irish Government. Their third feature film The Land Before Time (1988), was their first production created entirely in Ireland. Released by Universal Pictures during the 1988 Thanksgiving holiday, it achieved a record-breaking opening weekend gross for an animated film.
In August 1994, Goldman returned from Ireland to head up the Fox Animation Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona where he shared the creative leadership with Don Bluth. The first production completed by the studio was the award winning, family favorite Anastasia (1997). Also produced at the Phoenix studio was, the direct-to-video animated musical, Bartok the Magnificent (1999), and the animated science fiction film, Titan A.E. (2000).
In 1999, Goldman, with Don Bluth, John Pomeroy, Rick Dyer and David Foster formed a new company, Dragon's Lair LLC. The company was formed to develop new 3D games, starting with a revamp of the hit 1983 game Dragon's Lair. Goldman and Bluth have reestablished their independence with their production company, Don Bluth Films, Inc., based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are in pre-production on "Dragon's Lair" as a feature film. They have developed several feature film concepts and short stories for a direct-to-video library. The company has established a web site, www.donbluth.com, where they will communicate with their audience on a personal level, and will provide animation information on-line. Gary Goldman has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976.- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Producer
John Pomeroy was born on 26 March 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer, known for The Secret of NIMH (1982), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and An American Tail (1986).- Animation Department
- Production Manager
- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Saskia Raevouri is known for Hercules (1997), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Lilo & Stitch (2002).- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Editor
Kerri Swanson is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
- Director
Mark Swanson is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Animation Department
Tamara Anderson is known for The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Art Department
Kathleen Quaife-Hodge was born on 3 August 1957 in the USA. She is known for Lifeforce (1985), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) and Hercules (1997). She was married to Bobby Allen 'Catfish' Hodge. She died on 5 October 2021 in the USA.- Visual Effects
- Director
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Actor
Mark Swan is known for An American Tail (1986), Space Jam (1996) and The Princess and the Pea (2002).- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Writer
Larry Leker is known for Aladdin (1992), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989).- Animation Department
- Art Department
Silvia Hoefnagels is known for An American Tail (1986), All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and The Land Before Time (1988).- Animation Department
- Visual Effects
- Actor
- Visual Effects
Stephen B. Moore is known for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Hercules (1997) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Writer
Jorgen Klubien is known for Dumbo (2019), Frankenweenie (2012) and Cars (2006). He is married to Trine Dahl Klubien. They have three children.- Animation Department
- Production Designer
- Art Director
David Goetz is known for Zootopia (2016), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Director
Skip Jones is known for The Secret of NIMH (1982), The Brave Little Toaster (1987) and An American Tail (1986).- Animation Department
- Actor
- Writer
- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
- Animation Department
- Cathianne Blore was born on 8 January 1952 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She was an actress, known for An American Tail (1986), Fatal Beauty (1987) and Knots Landing (1979). She died on 23 February 2002 in California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
As might be said for the late and great comedians Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn, it seems that Mel Brooks was the only director on the planet who knew how to best utilize this funnyman's talents on film. Brooks once remarked that, whenever he cast Dom in one of his films he'd add an extra two days to the shooting schedule because of delays between takes due to the constant laughter from cast and crew at Dom's improvisations.
The lovable, butterball comedian was a mainstay on 1960s and '70s TV variety as a "second banana," or comic-relief player. While his harsher critics believed his schtick would be better served in smaller doses, Dom nevertheless went on to find some range in a few moving, more restrained projects. Those few glimpses behind all the mirth and merriment revealed a dramatic actor waiting to be unleashed. As they say, behind every clown's smile, one finds tears.
He was born Dominick DeLuise on August 1, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents John, a sanitation engineer, and Vicenza (DeStefano) DeLuise, both Italian immigrants. A natural school-class clown, his irrepressible sense of humor helped Dom fit in at school, and he started drawing belly laughs fairly young in his very first school play that had him portraying an inert copper penny! He later attended New York's High School of Performing Arts, but when it came to college, he decided to major in biology at Tufts University, outside Boston. That decision failed to expunge the idea of being a comedian from his head and heart, however, and that determination finally prevailed.
Dom's formative years as an actor were spent apprenticing at the Cleveland Playhouse, where which he gamely played roles in everything from contemporary shows like "Guys and Dolls" and "Stalag 17" to classics like "The School for Scandal" and even "Hamlet." He earned his first professional paycheck playing the titular Bernie the dog in "Bernie's Last Wish." Dom also got a taste of what it was like in front of the camera in Cleveland, appearing on the local TV kiddie's show "Tip Top Clubhouse."
Back in NYC, he took over the lead role of Tinker the toymaker in another children's local program, Tinker's Workshop (1954), for one season in 1958. He also started making noise on the off-Broadway scene. Appearing in the plays "The Jackass" and "All in Love," he became part of the featured ensemble of the 1961 musical revue "An Evening with Harry Stoones," which included 19-year-old Barbra Streisand. More outlandish musical roles came his way in the early 1960s with "Little Mary Sunshine" (as Corporal Billy Jester) and "The Student Gypsy, or the Prince of Liederkrantz" (his Broadway debut as Muffin T. Raggamuffin). While appearing in the lighthearted summer stock spoof "Summer & Smirk" in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Dom met fellow performer Carol Arthur (née Carol Arata). They married on November 23, 1965. Their three sons, Peter DeLuise, Michael DeLuise and David DeLuise all eventually found their way into show business. In 1971, Dom returned successfully to Broadway in a perfectly-suited Neil Simon vehicle, "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers."
Dom was first noticed on the smaller screen, creating the sketch character of Dominick the Great, a magician who tries in vain to mask his inept prestidigitations with feigned dignity on Garry Moore's popular show. The comedian truly thrived in this TV variety atmosphere and soon began popping up seemingly everywhere: (The Hollywood Palace (1964), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967), The Jackie Gleason Show (1966)). Balding, blushing, dimpled and moon-faced (comparisons to a ripe tomato were not wide of the mark), he was readily equipped with a high-wattage, Cheshire Cat smile that became his trademark. At his best, looking embarrassed or agitated, the laughs usually came at his own expense, whether playing a panic-stricken klutz or squirming nervous-Nelly type. Dom took his magician character to the ensemble comedy show The Entertainers (1964), which also showcased Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart, and found more regular employment as a bumbling private eye in puppeteer Shari Lewis' daytime children's program, and as a foil for Dean Martin on the entertainer's regular and summer replacement shows. Dom again repeated his Dominick the Great character on Martin's show and received great reception. He later found himself part of Martin's "in-crowd" of comedians on his "celebrity roasts."
Dom's obvious comic genius was more readily evident, and succeeded better, in tandem with other performers than it was on its own. Hosting duties for his very first comedy/variety program The Dom DeLuise Show (1968), which featured wife Carol as part of the regular roster, lasted only one summer. The sitcom Lotsa Luck! (1973), which showcased Dom as bachelor Stanley Belmont having to contend with a live-in mother (a harping Kathleen Freeman) and sister (an ungainly Beverly Sanders), was canceled after its first season. He gave it a rest for awhile before trying once again with the sketch-like sitcom The Dom DeLuise Show (1987), but it, too, quickly faded. Another brief stint was as host of a revamped Candid Camera (1991).
While Dom made an unlikely film debut as a high-strung Air Force technician in the gripping nuclear drama Fail Safe (1964) starring Henry Fonda, it was in zany, irreverent comedy that he found his true calling. Appearing in support of others such as Sid Caesar and Mary Tyler Moore, respectively, in the so-so comedies The Busy Body (1967) and What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), he proved a delight as an inept, dim-witted spy in the Doris Day caper The Glass Bottom Boat (1966).
Mel Brooks first cast Dom as the miserly Russian Orthodox priest, Father Fyodor, in his film The Twelve Chairs (1970), and found plenty of room for the comedian after that -- as campy director Buddy Bizarre in Blazing Saddles (1974), the silly-ass director's assistant in Silent Movie (1976), Emperor Nero in History of the World: Part I (1981), the voice of the cheese-oozing Pizza the Hutt in the "Star Wars" parody Spaceballs (1987), and as Sherwood Forest's very own puffy-cheeked Godfather, Don Giovanni, in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).
A very close friend of action star Burt Reynolds, Dom romped through a number of Reynolds' freewheeling films as well, including Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). One of his finest scene-stealing film roles, in fact, was as Reynolds' schizo pal in The End (1978). Dom went on to direct a number of stage productions for his close friend at the Burt Reynolds Theatre in Jupiter, Florida -- among them "Butterflies Are Free," "Same Time, Next Year" (starring Burt and Carol Burnett), "Brighton Beach Memoirs" (starring son Peter), and the musical "Jump" (featuring wife Carol). Still another comic buddy, Gene Wilder, handed Dom the roles of the indulgent opera star in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) and harassed movie mogul Adolf Zitz in The World's Greatest Lover (1977). Dom later joined Wilder once again, along with Wilder's wife Gilda Radner, in the leaden comedy Haunted Honeymoon (1986), a clumsy haunted-house spoof that even Dom, in full drag, could not salvage.
Change-of-pace roles were few and far between. One that did come Dom's way was the compulsive-eating protagonist in Fatso (1980). Directed by and co-starring Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft, Dom managed to mix comedy with pathos. Obesity was also a chronic, real-life problem for the comedian and, at one point in 1999, it was reported that he had tipped the scales at 325 lbs. On a positive note, this passion for food actually fed into a more lucrative sideline -- as a respected chef and culinary author ("Eat This" and "Eat This Too") in which he appeared all over the tube cooking and demonstrating his favorite recipes. He also found time to write children's books on the side.
Dom tackled broad comedy films with great abandon -- a wallflower he was not -- but they were hit-or-miss. Some of his biggest misses were the Mae West disaster Sextette (1977), the Dudley Moore showcase Wholly Moses! (1980) (although Dom was arguably the best thing in it), Loose Cannons (1990), in which he appeared as portly pornographer Harry "The Hippo" Gutterman, Driving Me Crazy (1991), which filmed far away in Germany, and The Silence of the Hams (1994), a parody on the horror genre in which he played Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza.
Films could also be a family affair. True to life, Dom played a sympathetic kiddie show host in the moving TV-movie Happy (1983). Also the executive producer, he was joined by wife Carol and all three sons in the cast. In addition, Dom offered a cameo in Between the Sheets (2003), a film written by Peter, directed, edited and executive-produced by Michael, and featuring roles for the rest of the family.
Dom's voiceover skills did not go untapped, either, in films including the animated features The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), plus all of their offshoots. The heavily-bearded DeLuise even displayed scene-stealing antics on the operatic scene, once playing the speaking part of Frosch the Jailer in Johann Srauss II's operetta "Die ," at the Metropolitan Opera.
Suffering from various physical ailments in later years, some of which were exacerbated by his chronic obesity and diabetes, Dom's health declined, and he died in 2009 at age 75. His wife and three children survive him, as do three grandchildren.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
John Finnegan, or sometimes known as J.P. Finnegan, is an American film actor, mostly known for his roles on the American crime fiction series, Columbo (1971), which aired regularly from 1971 to 1978. Another role included voicing the character, "Warren T. Rat", who was the main villain in the 1986 Don Bluth film, An American Tail (1986). Finnegan was a friend of director/actor John Cassavetes and appeared in 6 of his movies. He also appeared in The Natural (1984), with Robert Redford, as "Sam Simpson", the manager of "Roy Hobbs".- Actress
- Soundtrack
Madeline Kahn was born Madeline Gail Wolfson of Russian Jewish descent on September 29, 1942 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Freda Goldberg (later known as Paula Kahn), who was still in her teens, and Bernard B. Wolfson, a garment manufacturer. She began her acting career in high school and went on to university where she trained as an opera singer and starred in several campus productions, ultimately earning a doctorate in her chosen field.
Kahn's best-known work came in Paper Moon (1973) with Ryan O'Neal, which was followed the next year by Mel Brooks's outrageous Blazing Saddles (1974) as Lili Von Shtupp, a cabaret singer who was obviously based on Marlene Dietrich's performance in Destry Rides Again (1939). Kahn was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in both movies. In 1998, she lent her voice to the character of "Gypsy" in A Bug's Life (1998).
On December 3, 1999, Madeline Kahn died of ovarian cancer in New York City, after a yearlong or so battle, during part of which time she was a cast member of Cosby (1996), aged 57.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Pat Musick was born on 26 January 1956 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. She is an actress, known for An American Tail (1986), Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) and Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man (1994). She has been married to Jeffrey Whitman since 14 February 1987. They have one child. She was previously married to Daniel Dexter Fee.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Born in 1919 in Jerusalem, Nehemiah Persoff emigrated with his family to America in 1929.
Following schooling at the Hebrew Technical Institute of New York, he found a job as a subway electrician doing signal maintenance until an interest in the theater altered the direction of his life.
He joined amateur groups and subsequently won a scholarship to the Dramatic Workshop in New York. This led to what would have been his Broadway debut in a production of "Eve of St. Mark", but he was fired before the show opened. He made his official New York debut in a production of "The Emperor's New Clothes" in 1940.
WWII interrupted his young career in 1942, when he was inducted into the United Sates Army, returning to the stage after his hitch was over in 1945, three years later. He sought work in stock plays and became an intern of Stella Adler and, as a result, a strong exponent of the Actor's Studio. Discovered by Charles Laughton and cast in his production of "Galileo" in 1947, Persoff made his film debut a year later with an uncredited bit in The Naked City (1948).
Short, dark, chunky-framed and with a distinct talent for dialects, Persoff became known primarily for his ethnic villainy, usually playing authoritative Eastern Europeans.
In a formidable career which had him portraying everything from cab drivers to Joseph Stalin, standout film roles would include Leo in The Harder They Fall (1956) with Humphrey Bogart, Gene Conforti in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956), Albert in This Angry Age (1958) and gangster Johnny Torrio in Al Capone (1959). That same year he played another gangster, the small role of Little Bonaparte, in Some Like It Hot (1959).
He was a durable performer during TV's "Golden Age" (Gunsmoke (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959)) and well beyond (Chicago Hope (1994), Law & Order (1990)), playing hundreds of intense, volatile and dominating characters.
In later years, his characters grew a bit softer as Barbra Streisand's Jewish father in Yentl (1983) and the voice of Papa Mousekewitz in the An American Tail (1986) will attest. Later stage work included well-received productions of "I'm Not Rappaport" and his biographical one-man show "Sholem Aleichem".
After declining health and high blood pressure forced him to slow down, Persoff took up painting in 1985, studying sketching in Los Angeles. Specializing in watercolor, he created more than 100 works of art, many of which have been exhibited up and down the coast of California. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2019.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Legendary actor Christopher Plummer, perhaps Canada's greatest thespian, delivered outstanding performances as Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), the chilling villain in The Silent Partner (1978), the iconoclastic Mike Wallace in The Insider (1999), the empathetic psychiatrist in A Beautiful Mind (2001), the kindly and clever mystery writer in Knives Out (2019), and as Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). It was this last role that finally brought him recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, when he was nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, one of three Academy Award nominations he received in the 2010s, along with All the Money in the World (2017) (as J. Paul Getty) and Beginners (2010); he won for the latter role. He will also likely always be remembered as Captain Von Trapp in the atomic bomb-strength blockbuster The Sound of Music (1965), a film he publicly despised until softening his stance in his autobiography "In Spite of Me" (2008).
Christopher Plummer was born Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer on December 13, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the only child of Isabella Mary (Abbott), a secretary to the Dean of Sciences at McGill University, and John Orme Plummer, who sold securities and stocks. Christopher was a great-grandson of John Abbott, who was Canada's third Prime Minister (from 1891 to 1892), and a great-great-great-grandson of Presbyterian clergyman John Bethune. He had Scottish, English, Anglo-Irish, and Cornish ancestry. Plummer was raised in Senneville, Quebec, near Montreal, at his maternal grandparents' home.
Aside from the youngest member of the Barrymore siblings (which counted Oscar-winners Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore in their number), Plummer was the premier Shakespearean actor to come out of North America in the 20th century. He was particularly memorable as Hamlet, Iago and Lear, though his Macbeth opposite Glenda Jackson was -- and this was no surprise to him due to the famous curse attached to the "Scottish Play" -- a failure.
Like another great stage actor, Richard Burton, early in his career Plummer failed to connect with the screen in a way that would make him a star. Dynamic on stage, he didn't succeed as a younger leading man in films. Perhaps if he had been born earlier, and acted in the studio system of Hollywood's golden age, he could have been carefully groomed for stardom. As it was, he shared the English stage actors' disdain -- and he was equally at home in London as he was on the boards of Broadway or on-stage in his native Canada -- for the movies, which did not help him in that medium, as he has confessed. As he aged, Plummer excelled at character roles. He was always a good villain, this man who garnered kudos playing Lucifer on Broadway in Archibald Macleish's Pulitzer Prize-winning "J.B.".
Plummer won two Emmy Awards out of seven nominations stretching 46 years from 1959 and 2011, and one Genie Award in six nominations from 1980 to 2009. For his stage work, Plummer has racked up two Tony Awards on six nominations, the first in 1974 as Best Actor (Musical) for the title role in "Cyrano" and the second in 1997, as Best Actor (Play), in "Barrymore". Surprisingly, he did not win (though he was nominated) for his masterful 2004 performance of "King Lear", which he originated at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and brought down to Broadway for a sold-out run. His other Tony nominations show the wide range of his talent, from a 1959 nod for the Elia Kazan-directed production of Macleish's "J.B." to recognition in 1994 for Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land", with a 1982 Best Actor (Play) nomination for his "Iago" in William Shakespeare's "Othello".
Until the 2009 Academy Awards were announced, it could be said about Plummer that he was the finest actor of the post-World War II period to fail to get an Academy Award. In that, he was following in the footsteps of the late great John Barrymore, whom Plummer so memorably portrayed on Broadway in a one-man show that brought him his second Tony Award. In 2010, Plummer finally got an Oscar nod for his portrayal of another legend, Lev Tolstoy in The Last Station (2009). Two years later, the first paragraph of his obituary was written when the 82-year-old Plummer became the oldest person in Academy history to win an Oscar. He won for playing a senior citizen who comes out as gay after the death of his wife in the movie Beginners (2010). As he clutched his statuette, the debonaire thespian addressed it thus: "You're only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?"
Plummer then told the audience that at birth, "I was already rehearsing my Academy acceptance speech, but it was so long ago mercifully for you I've forgotten it." The Academy Award was a long time in coming and richly deserved.
Plummer gave many other fine portrayals on film, particularly as he grew older and settled down into a comfortable marriage with his third wife Elaine. He continued to be an in-demand character actor in prestigious motion pictures. If he were English rather than Canadian, he would have been knighted. (In 1968, he was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor and one which required the approval of the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II.) If he lived in the company town of Los Angeles rather than in Connecticut, he likely would have several more Oscar nominations before winning his first for "The Last Station".
As it is, as attested to in his witty and well-written autobiography, Plummer was amply rewarded in life. In 1970, Plummer - then a self-confessed 43-year-old "bottle baby" - married his third wife Elaine Taylor, a dancer, who helped wean him off his dependency on alcohol. They lived happily with their dogs on a 30-acre estate in Weston, Connecticut. He thanked her from the stage during the 2012 Oscar telecast, quipping that she "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life." Although he spent the majority of his time in the United States, he remained a Canadian citizen. He died in his Weston, Connecticut home on February 5, 2021 at age 91.
His daughter, with actress Tammy Grimes, is actress Amanda Plummer.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Neil Ross was born in London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Transformers: The Movie (1986), An American Tail (1986) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). He has been married to Jeanne Jackson since February 1977. They have one child.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Will Ryan began a career in music. He later became 'Willio' of the comedic singing group Willio & Phillio. The duo relocated to California where they got the opportunity to write and record wacky songs for Disneyland Records. Mr. Ryan also began providing voices for many of Disney's characters and after just a few years he'd become one of their top voice actors. Mr. Ryan's versatility and extraordinary talent continued to make him an invaluable voice actor as well as a gifted musician, composer, and writer.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Erica Yohn was born on 1 October 1928 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for An American Tail (1986), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Corrina, Corrina (1994). She was married to Tom Rosqui and Lars Speyer. She died on 27 January 2019 in California, USA.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Linda Ronstadt was born on 15 July 1946 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. She is a music artist and actress, known for The Pirates of Penzance (1983), An American Tail (1986) and The Abyss (1989).- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
As a sophomore at the University of Akron, he left town to come to Los Angeles with his band, Revelation Funk. The band broke up shortly after arriving in L.A. Shortly afterward, Ingram started working with Ray Charles as a piano player.
After Quincy Jones heard James Ingram's voice on "Just Once," he invited Ingram to sing on his album. James originally didn't think his voice was good enough to be a lead vocal. He won a Grammy award for best R&B vocal performance for his work on Jones' album, "The Dude."
Won a Grammy with Michael McDonald in 1984 for Best R&B Performance for their duet, "Yah Mo B There"
His mom, Alistine Wilson Ingram, and dad, Henry Ingram Sr., died within a year of one another [2001-2002]
Married his childhood sweetheart, Debra Robinson
Played keyboards on the classic hit songs "PYT" by Michael Jackson and "Bad Mama Jama" by Carl Carlton.
Plays keyboards, guitar, and electric bass.