Real Valor
Those in front or behind the camera that served with honor
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Comedian, actor and United States Marine Corps Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Robert Allen Riggle, Jr. was born April 21, 1970 in Louisville, Kentucky, to Sandra (Shrout) and Robert Allen Riggle, who worked in insurance. Riggle has amassed notable television credits and has also earned roles in many feature films, including The Lorax (2012) and 21 Jump Street (2012). After graduating from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in Theater and Film, Riggle joined the Marines and earned a Master's degree from Webster University in Public Administration. Riggle had intentions of becoming a Marine Corps pilot, but eventually left the military to pursue a career in comedy. A featured cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975) during the 2004/2005 season, Riggle then joined Comedy Central's The Daily Show (1996) in 2006 as a correspondent. Riggle's numerous television appearances, including credits on Arrested Development (2003), Chappelle's Show (2003), 30 Rock (2006) and The Office (2005) would lead to big-screen roles in Step Brothers (2008), The Hangover (2009) and The Other Guys (2010). When he is not on set or traveling across the United States performing stand-up comedy, Rob Riggle lives in Los Angeles.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud on 21 May 1952, in the rough south side ghetto of Chicago. He is the second to youngest of twelve children (he has four sisters and seven brothers) and grew up in the housing projects. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, left when Laurence was 5, and his mother raised the family on $87 a month welfare in a three-room apartment. Mr. T's brothers encouraged him to build up his body in order to survive in the area; he has commented, "If you think I'm big, you should see my brothers!" His mother is a religious woman who has had a strong influence on him. He says, "Any man who don't love his momma can't be no friend of mine." He was an average student in school. "Most of the time," he says, "I stared out the windows, just daydreaming. I didn't study much because I have a photographic memory." Apart from one spell between 5th and 7th grades when he went a little astray -- playing hooky, cursing, acting tough, being disrespectful -- he was a well-behaved child (he worried about how his mother would feel if he ended up in jail, and stayed out of trouble). He attended Dunbar Vocational High School. He was a football star, studied martial arts, and was three times city wrestling champion. He won a scholarship to play football at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, but he was thrown out after a year.
He was involved in the world of pro wrestling in 1985-86 and 1994-95. Was Hulk Hogan's tag team partner at the first WrestleMania I (1985), defeating the team of Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper on March 31, 1985. His feud with Piper continued into WrestleMania 2 (1986), when he defeated Piper in a boxing match by disqualification. Mr. T returned to the WWF as a special guest referee in 1987, then disappeared from the wrestling world. Seven years later, he reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, in October 1994. He stayed with Hogan for a few matches before returning to obscurity.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Joe Mantegna is an American actor who has made over 200 film and TV appearances. He is also a producer, writer, and director, and is probably best known for his role as Joey Zasa in the Francis Ford Coppola epic The Godfather Part III (1990), in which he stars alongside Al Pacino and Andy Garcia.
Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Mary Anne (Novelli), a shipping clerk, and Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Sr., an insurance salesman. He is of Italian descent. Having obtained a degree in acting from the Goodman School of Drama and taken to the stage early on in life, it is no surprise that Joe has maintained a strong relationship with the playwright -turned- screenwriter-director David Mamet. They have collaborated on several projects. He also stars as SSA David Rossi on the long running TV drama Criminal Minds. (2005-)- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Adam Douglas Driver was born in San Diego, California. His mother, Nancy (Needham) Wright, is a paralegal from Mishawaka, Indiana, and his father, Joe Douglas Driver, who has deep roots in the American South, is from Little Rock, Arkansas. His stepfather is a Baptist minister. His ancestry includes Dutch, English, German, Irish and Scottish. Driver was raised in Mishawaka after his parents' divorce, attending Mishawaka High School, where he appeared in plays. After 9/11, he enlisted in the Marines, serving for more than two years before being medically discharged after he suffered an injury, which prevented him from being deployed.
Driver attended the University of Indianapolis (for a year) and then transferred to study drama at Juilliard School in New York City, graduating in 2009. He began acting in plays, appearing on Broadway, before being cast in Lena Dunham's series Girls (2012), as her character's love interest, Adam Sackler. The role gained him attention, and he subsequently began a robust film career, appearing in small roles in J. Edgar (2011) and Lincoln (2012), supporting roles in Frances Ha (2012) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and then to major mesmerizing roles like in the comedy-drama This Is Where I Leave You (2014), Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016) and as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars movie saga beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015).
Widely regarded as the one of greatest actors of his generation by now both in the United States and internationally as his superb qualities have been expressed further in a sublime range of excellent performances full of unique profoundness, subtlety, charisma and insights such as the ones included in brilliant films like Paterson (2016), Logan Lucky (2017), The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) and The Report (2019). His interpretations in BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Marriage Story (2019) were also nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role respectively.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.
William Oliver Stone was born in New York City, to Jacqueline (Goddet) and Louis Stone, a stockbroker. His American father was from a Jewish family (from Germany and Eastern Europe), and his mother, a war bride, was French (and Catholic). After dropping out of Yale University, he became a soldier in the Vietnam War. Serving in two different regiments (including 1rst Cavalry), he was introduced to The Doors, drugs, Jefferson Airplane, and other things that defined the sixties. For his actions in the war, he was awarded a Bronze Star for Gallantry and a Purple Heart. Returning from the war, Stone did not return to graduate from Yale. His first film was a student film entitled Last Year in Viet Nam (1971), followed by the gritty horror film Seizure (1974) for which he also wrote the screenplay. The next seven years saw him direct two films: Mad Man of Martinique (1979) and The Hand (1981), starring Michael Caine. He also wrote many screenplays for films such as Midnight Express (1978), Conan the Barbarian (1982), and Scarface (1983). Stone won his first Oscar for Midnight Express (1978), but his fame was just beginning to show.
1986 was the year that brought him much fame to the U.S.A. and the world. He directed the political film Salvador (1986) starring Oscar-nominated James Woods. However, his big hit was the Vietnam war film Platoon (1986) starring Charlie Sheen,Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, and Francesco Quinn. Berenger and Dafoe received Oscar nominations for their roles as the polar opposite sergeants who each influence the tour of duty of Chris Taylor (Sheen). Stone won his first Oscar for directing this film, which won Best Picture and was a hit at the box office. After Platoon (1986), Stone followed up with the critically acclaimed Wall Street (1987). The movie, starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, focuses on the business world of tycoons and stock brokers. The film was well received and won an Oscar for Douglas' portrayal of the villainous Gordon Gekko. Stone returned immediately the following year with Talk Radio (1988), which talked of a foul-mouthed radio host (played by Eric Bogosian) who never fails to talk about the serious issues. Although it was not as successful as his last three films, Stone did not slow down at all. He directed Tom Cruise into an Oscar-nominated role in Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
The movie talked about the return of an embittered, crippled Vietnam soldier from the war. Although it failed to win Best Picture or Best Actor, Oliver Stone won an Academy Award for Directing, his third win to date. After Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Stone took a hand in producing several movies, including the Academy Award-winning film Reversal of Fortune (1990). He returned to the director's chair in 1991, once again with two films. Val Kilmer starred as the legendary and controversial Jim Morrison in Stone's psychedelic film The Doors (1991).
Despised by former Doors member Ray Manzarek, the film is nevertheless a wonderful achievement, with Kilmer pulling off an almost flawless impersonation of Morrison. Regardless of opinion, The Doors (1991) was overshadowed by Stone's colossal film JFK (1991), which Stone himself considers the best of his films. In Stone's movie, Jim Garrison tackles the conspiracy behind the murder of America's president John F. Kennedy. The large cast featured such well-known names as Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, John Candy, Joe Pesci, Donald Sutherland, and Walter Matthau. This film represented a change in Stone's works, because it was with this film that he really began to explore the different camera styles and combining them together to create a multi-dimensional way of showing a movie. JFK (1991), as with Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989), earned eight Oscar nominations and was one of Stone's most successful films. However, he failed to win a third Oscar for Best Director.
After this film, Stone directed his third Vietnam film to date. Heaven & Earth (1993) was a film about the war from the viewpoint of a Vietnamese girl, and also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones (who had received an Oscar nomination for JFK (1991)). Despite its new woman's perspective and several positive reviews, it was a box office failure. Stone was unfazed; his next film is perhaps his most notorious film to date. Adapting a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino, Stone made Natural Born Killers (1994) starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore and Rodney Dangerfield in his only dramatic performance. The film was received well at the box office, while review were very mixed. Because of the violence that people claimed was inspired by the film, it was compared to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971). As usual, Stone was at the center of controversial subjects; his next film Nixon (1995) was no exception. The film focused on the life of President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins, while featuring another well-known cast, including Joan Allen in the role of Nixon's wife. Both went on to receive Oscar nominations, while Stone received his sixth Oscar nomination for Screenwriting. The film got mixed reviews, and failed to recoup its budget.
Aside from directing, Stone has worked as a producer on several different films. There was, of course, the successful film Reversal of Fortune (1990), which won Jeremy Irons an Oscar and also nominated the director for an Oscar. There was also the highly praised and successful emotional drama The Joy Luck Club (1993) which centered around four Chinese immigrant women whose relationships with their daughters is affected by their own lives. Another highly praised Oscar nominated film was Milos Forman's classic film The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) starring Woody Harrelson, Edward Norton, and Courtney Love. Whether the crime/action film The Corruptor (1999) or the brilliant war epic Savior (1998), Stone has worked in a variety of film genres.
Stone had directed ten films in nine years; now however, he began to slow down. He directed the film U Turn (1997) starring Sean Penn and Jennifer Lopez. As with Natural Born Killers (1994), it was a dark and twisted satire on violence, but did not have the same success as the former. Stone was set to direct several projects in the late 90's but they fell through and were not made. However, success came back to Stone in the Al Pacino film Any Given Sunday (1999). This sports movie centered on the life behind the game of football, and it starred an impressive cast that included frequent Stone collaborators James Woods and John C. McGinley. This film was one of his most successful box office films, and put him back on track.
The following years brought Stone no new theatrical films, though he did make three fascinating TV documentaries. Two of them, 'Looking for Fidel' and Comandante (2003) were interviews of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, while 'Persona Non Grata' was an interview of several Palestinian leaders. Stone was also set to direct American Psycho (2000) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Beyond Borders (2003), starring Angelina Jolie and at the time, Ralph Fiennes. However, Stone dropped out of both projects, as did a number of the actors mentioned. Finally, five years after Any Given Sunday (1999), Stone directed a film he'd long wanted to make; the colossal epic Alexander (2004). Starring Colin Farrell as the Macedonian leader, Stone attempted to capture the essence of Alexander the Great through his conquests of the known world. The film focused on Alexander's relationships with his parents (a brilliant performance by Val Kilmer and a less impressive one by Angelina Jolie) and his relationships with his wife and childhood friend/ gay lover (played by Rosario Dawson and Jared Leto respectively).
Alexander (2004) was a critical failure, and failed to win back its budget domestically. Despite being one of 2004's highest grossing films internationally, and recouping its budget through DVD sales, Stone's pet project was heavily criticized. Despite a far superior version (Alexander Revisited) being released on DVD, the film's reputation remains low by the majority. Stone was personally stung at these attacks, but managed to rebound, if mildly, with his hopeful film World Trade Center (2006). The film centers on two firefighters trapped in the rubble of the twin towers. It received good reviews, and allowed Oliver to step forward from his failure towards the possibility of more films.
In late 2007, besides a number of projects Stone was set to direct "Pinkville", which would have been his fourth Vietnam film to date. It was set to star a large number of well known actors such as Bruce Willis, Toby Jones, Channing Tatum, Michael Pitt, Woody Harrelson, and Michael Peña. However, a week before shooting was to begin, the Writer's Strike was started, and the finance for the film was cut, using the strike as an excuse. After Willis backed out of the project, it was eventually scuttled, much like Stone's early productions of Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989). Stone turned to another project he had worked on with former Wall Street (1987) collaborator Stanley Weiser. The project was W. (2008), a biography on president George W. Bush. Stone initially cast Christian Bale in the role of Bush but the actor dropped out at the last minute. Josh Brolin was cast, and this followed with a large cast of well known Oscar nominated character actors such as Richard Dreyfuss, James Cromwell, and Ellen Burstyn. The film was made in a record four months, starting in June and released in October. The film opened to mixed reviews, and though film's budget was recouped, it was not a financial hit.
Stone then made the documentary South of the Border (2009), a documentary which focused on bringing to light the positive aspects of the left-wing governments in South America, particularly Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Stone was much less critical than usual, instead making the documentary as a response to the harsh reputation that Chavez has in the States. The documentary was poorly received in the States. Stone also began work on Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Starring Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, and Eli Wallach, the film focuses on the 2008 economic crisis, and the return of Gordon Gekko from prison. The film was screened at Cannes to positive reception, and hailed as Stone's triumphant return. After this, Stone made a film adaptation of "Savages", a novel by Don Winslow . The movie follows two highly successful marijuana growers (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Taylor-Johnson ), whose shared girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican cartel and held for ransom. The movie also starred Salma Hayek, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta, and Emile Hirsch. The film was a return to the tense action and violence of Stone's earlier films, though it polarized many audience members due to the colorful narrations of Lively's vapid and naive character, as well as the film's ending.
After completing the ambitious and well-received television project The Untold History of the United States (2012), as well as a documentary on Hugo Chavez, Stone finally returned to feature films with Snowden (2016). Based on the life of American whistle blower Edward Snowden, Stone's film depicted his awakening to the truth behind the massive surveillances conducted by the NSA, and his attempt to warn the general public of what they did not know. The film was done independently, financed by Europeans on a low budget. It was also a return to form for Stone in a way that had not been seen since "Alexander". Joseph Gordon-Levitt, delivered a very strong performance as Snowden, with the supporting cast including Shailene Woodley, Rhys Ifans, Melissa Leo, Timothy Olyphant, and Nicolas Cage. Sadly, the film received a mixed response from critics, and was a box office disappointment.
Since then, Stone has returned to television for his next two projects. One is a series of interviews with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and the other is directing a new fictional series based on the abusive Guantanamo prison. It will be his first venture into fictional television.
Oliver Stone is a three-time Oscar winner, and although he has mostly been stung by critics of his films, he remains a well-known name today in the film industry. The films he directed have been nominated for 31 Academy Awards, including eight for acting, six for screen writing, and three for directing. There is no denying that Stone has cemented himself a position among the legends of Hollywood.- Actor
- Producer
A Southern Texas boy who struck out for adventure and service in the Marines, then the Navy SEAL Teams, including combat action with SEAL Team One and DEVGRU, then off to the Federal Air Marshal Service, Tactical Trainer and Contractor. Now Acting, Producing and assisting some of the best in Hollywood as a Consultant and Tech Advisor.- Writer
- Producer
- Stunts
Kenny is a filmmaker known for his work on CBS/Paramount+'s SEAL Team as a Writer/Producer. Born and raised in Miami, FL., Kenny served as a U.S. Navy SEAL from 2001 until 2013 before his career in TV and Film. He has also worked on the films John Wick: Chapter 2, Logan, 12 Strong, Gemini Man, 13 Hours, and Avatar: The Way of Water.- Actor
- Stunts
After graduation from high school, Dan enlisted in the Army National Guard and attended infantry basic training and Airborne School at Ft. Benning. He continued his training at Ft. Bragg, as a Special Forces Medic. He served, and deployed, with the 19th Special Forces Group (National Guard), until he transitioned to active duty.
Dan was stationed in Ft. Bragg, with a special operations unit. He had multiple combat deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Africa. He was medically retired in 2015, from injuries sustained in combat, after 17 years of service.
He originally came to L.A. to work as a stuntman and military consultant, to help out a former teammate.- Actor
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred is a born entertainer, but did not discover acting until his senior year in High School. After studying theater in college at Missouri Southern State University, he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in sociology, got married and shortly after 9/11 joined the US Air Force. It wasn't until 2006, while stationed at Holloman AFB in New Mexico that he was pulled back into acting, this time in front of a camera working for Michael Bay on "Transformers" (his first acting on film). Shortly after that, Fred deployed to Afghanistan working for 10th Mountain under a joint arrangement. After returning he separated from the service and relocated to Texas. He is the only actor to have been killed by both the Decepticons and Cobra on the big screen. He has worked in film as a producer, director and assistant director in addition to being an actor. He and his wife, Andrea (a writer and artist) have two children and presently reside in Texas.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Travis Haley has evolved into one of the most respected and knowledgeable trainers and product developers in the defense industry. A former United States Force Recon Marine and private military contractor with an amazing lists of credits to his name he continues to advance his community and others with his unique ability to build weapons and tactics programs, films, and knowledge transfer through science.
His first appearance was in 2004 on YouTube as the famous Blackwater sniper in Al-Najaf, Iraq. This battle was known as one of the largest insurgent assaults in the history of the war. Back in this day real combat footage was not common. Travis served as a door gunner/counter sniper and intelligence gatherer on the Black water MD530 Little Bird helicopters based out of the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. On April 4th 2004 "444" they were called into Al-Najaf to support and evacuate a stranded team. Once they landed they realize the insurgent numbers were estimated to be 1500 to their 20. The fight lasted for 2 days and Travis and his team worked tirelessly to hold back the invading forces. Not knowing the outcome Travis took his surveillance camera out and hit record. Later this footage was posted to YouTube by an unknown person. This being one of the first combat videos of Iraq on the internet made it a hit with over 10 million views with multiple shares and counting.- A 7 foot tall extremely muscular and fit Australian of English/German ancestry, Conan is possibly the only Professional Wrestling Champion title holder to concurrently work in the Ballet, in Graeme Murphy's "Berlin" with Sydney Dance Company for not only the full season but also an additional five return seasons at the prestigious Sydney Opera House.
Prior to his film career Conan not only did improv stunt theatre (also called professional wrestling) but also worked with camp UK comedian Julian Cleary in his stage show as he toured Australia.
Following a small amount of film work in Australia, including Marvel Comics "Manthing", a debilitating nerve injury (Guillain-Barre syndrome) sidelined his promising Wrestling career.
This prompted him to start a laptop repair and business IT support center where he worked for several years while waiting for his body to heal.
After years of slow recovery Conan packed up and moved to Thailand on the promise of a meeting with a local Assistant Director for a possible 3 days stunts working on "Powerkids", a kids action movie, which funnily enough received an 'R' rating for violence for the US DVD release.
Not only did Conan secure this introductory role in the Thai movie industry but also demonstrated why he'd be the ideal villain for the upcoming "Muay Thai Giant", 2 days later he secured a TVC, a week later auditioned for the French movie L'Ile Au(x) Tresors" and was chosen as a featured stuntman for 6 weeks of filming followed by another TVC 2 weeks after that finished filming.
Conan, encouraged by these initial successes decided to stay and work in Thailand only to be confronted with the first Miliarty coup of his stay there. So with tanks in the streets it is hard for films to get insurance, this led to a dearth of work for a year but ended up positive with Conan based out of Thailand, and the very active Thai film industry, for the next 7 years.
The highlight of this time was writing the screenplay for and starring in "Bangkok Adrenaline" which Conan's blogging and internet marketing experience brought him some much needed international attention in the form of Hong Kong based Producer/Casting Director Mike Leeder and a role in the biggest budget Chinese movie of the year Yuan Woo Ping's "True Legend".
Besides working in SE Asian and East Asian cinema, Conan also manage to work in 2 large budget Indian cinema releases, "Drona" a very large budget movie special effects driven movie released in 2008, and also Warner Bros first foray into Hindi language films "Chandni Chowk To China" cinema released worldwide for N.R.I. (Indian expat) audiences.
The accumulated experience at this point and the culmination of a 3.5 year online marketing effort, much helped by the fans of the ASOIAF books, led to the breakout of Asia role of Ser Gregor "The Mountain That Rides" Clegane in HBO's soon to be smash hit "Game of Thrones" Conan then used this successful role to approach Sir Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit", originally asking about the role of Beorn, or possibly one of the mountain trolls as a backup plan, he was instead asked to read for the Orc king Azog, several trips to New Zealand later and Peter Jackson made the official announcement.
Jumping on this publicity Conan approached the Casting Director for the second season of the Starz TV series "Spartacus", turned down a recurring role as The Egyptian due to filming commitments in The Hobbit but was able to take a guest star role as the German Sedullus by going to the nearest Backpackers Hostel and paying a young traveler to teach him a correct German accent and language for his audition so that the Producers though he was fluent in German.
These combined credits opened the way to the lead role of Thor in "Vikingdom", the Scandinavian saga filmed in tropical Malaysia with a lot of CGI, portable air-con and careful location scouting to create the frozen and snowy illusion from the very hot and humid environment.
From there he has worked in Romania, in India in "Brothers" the licensed remake of "Warrior", again in Thailand twice with Tony Jaa and Dolph Lundgren, Morocco as Goliath in "The Bible" for history channel, and most recently (2016) become a major celebrity in The Philippines working in the #1 TV series for over a year "Encantadia" as well as entering the Indonesian market with "Dead Squad" in Bali and a major Indonesian/Singapore production slated for 3rd quarter 2017 near Jakata.
Conan now (2017) bases out of L.A. though his various overseas film contacts keep him busy globally. - Additional Crew
- Stunts
- Actor
Kevin Kent retired after 21 years of active duty with Naval Special Warfare (US Navy SEAL Teams) as a Chief Special Warfare Operator (E-7). He graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/ SEAL Training (BUD/S) with class 200 and spent more than 15 years with SEAL Team Five, in Coronado, CA, where he completed 9 special operations combat deployments worldwide, including 6 to Iraq and Afghanistan (OIF/OEF) where he was awarded for combat valor. Additionally he trained a vast array of personnel in air operations, Close Quarters Combat, driving and weapons handling tactics, techniques, and procedures. Since his retirement, he's worked for GSGI, in the film industry as an Actor, Stuntman, Weapons Trainer and Military/ Technical Advisor under the mentorship of the legendary Harry Humphries. While enrolled in film school he created K-Squared Productions (K-Squared.cc) which has allowed him to write, produce and direct. His most recent film and TV credits include "Da 5 Bloods" "The Tomorrow War" "The Walking Dead: World Beyond" "Bosch: Legacy" and Seasons 1 through 4 of Tom Clancy's "Jack Ryan." Additionally he wrote, produced and directed the short films "Flight" "[CUR]sed" and "Exploited" which have received many film festival accolades. Currently he's working on multiple film & television projects after graduating in August of 2021 with a Bachelors Degree in Digital Cinematography.