Actresses -- most physically beautiful -- first name starts with T
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A performer since childhood, performer, writer, producer and director T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (Ta-Kee-ah Kristle Kee-Mah) studied theater, dance, voice, and pantomime in high school, then turned down a business scholarship to complete her studies at Florida A&M University with a degree in Theatre, co-oping at Florida State University to graduate, with honors, on time. After college, the Chicago native worked as a singer, dancer and actress, and won the title of Miss Black Illinois before placing 1st runner-up in the Miss Black America pageant. She moved to Los Angeles after wowing casting directors with her original performance piece, "In Black World..." in an open call for a pilot on a young television network.
That pilot turned out to be Fox's groundbreaking, internationally successful, Emmy and TV Land Award winning sketch comedy show In Living Color. The only female to star in all five seasons, Keymáh delivered hilarious, spot on impressions like those of Whoopi Goldberg and 'Edith Bunker,' created a slew of iconic characters like Hilda Headley (Hey Mon), and Shawanda Harvey (Go On Girl), and brought her own characters such as Cryssy (In Black World) and LaShawn to the show. On the heels of In Living Color, she went on to guest star on several live action and animated shows, and went on to star in six other series, playing: sexy contractor Scotti Decker on ABC's On Our Own; laid back television writer Denise Everett on Fox's The Show; a dozen lead and guest character voices on Damon Wayans's animated series Waynehead; flight attendant turned lawyer, turn pastry chef turned teacher Erica Lucas, on CBS's Cosby; firm, fun, caring mom Tanya Baxter, on Disney's That's So Raven, and Johnny Carson's gate-keeping secretary on Seeso's There's Johnny.
Growing up in the theater, Keymáh has managed to find her way to a stage between and even during her television and film projects. She did two runs and toured the country with her award winning solo show, "Some of My Best Friends." Her other self penned stage projects include "T'Keyah Live... Mostly: A True Variety Show," "Sellout!?!," and "Don't Get Me Started." She produced all of her shows and Margaret Laurena Kemp's "Creative Instructions,'" and self directed most her shows as well as Keisha Nickole's "S.I.S.T.E.R.," the world premiere of "Route 66: Finding Nat King Cole" at Amun Ra Theatre, and more recently, Pearl Cleage's "The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years" at Florida A&M University. Her regional stage credits include "A Raisin in the Sun," "Miss Evers' Boys," "Love Letters," "The Five Heartbeats Live," "The Piano Lesson," and "Crowns."
Wearing her hair naturally on television since her days on In Living Color, when doing so was rare, Keymáh has inspired a generation of women to follow her lead. In her popular coffee table book, Natural Woman / Natural Hair, the author lovingly demonstrates how to style African American natural hair and shares her experiences wearing her hair naturally on television. She is delighted that so many young women all over the world look to her as a natural hair icon. "What really gets me though, are the single and weekend dads and interracial families that my book has helped, and the older women that credit me with their natural hair conversions," Keymáh says.
After more than twenty years of constant work on stage, television and film, Keymáh's life changed direction completely when her grandmother became seriously ill. Throughout the run of That's So Raven, Keymáh was in charge of the care of the woman who raised her, who was then suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She made the most of her time on the show, made lasting friendships with the cast, acquired another generation of fans world wide, and even directed an episode. At the end of her final season on the show, however, the actress decided to take a break from performing to focus on her grandmother, and see her through her transition.
Keymáh now stars on "The Cool Crystal Show," a cultural magazine styled variety show on her own online platform, The Keymáh Network (www.Keymah.com). Her answer to the 2020 global pandemic, the show got such a great response the the performer / writer / producer is now in preproduction for the second season. Her newest book is, "Cycle of Love: 28 Days of Organization, Rejuvenation and Meditation for Inspired Self Care."- Actress
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Finnish-American actress and dancer Taina Elisabeth Elg was born in 1930 in Helsinki but later her family moved and lived in and around Finland, including Turku. Taina's mother was a Russian immigrant, pianist Helena Doroumova, and her father was pianist Åke Elg (a.k.a. Åke Ludwig). Her home later became a target during the Finnish-Soviet wars between 1939 and 1944 and when it became part of the Soviet Union, the family was forced to leave. After WWII they evacuated from Viipuri and returned to Helsinki.
At a very young age Taina trained in both ballet and acting. When the family returned to Helsinki, Taina continued with her dance and acting training and eventually she was invited to join the Finnish National Ballet. She appeared in a few homeland movies as early as age 10 and found a couple of obscure film roles as a teenager, one in which she danced. Her international reputation began to grow when she joined the famed Sadler's Wells ballet dance company (The Royal Ballet) in London and then the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, in Paris. A serious injury forced her to rethink her dancing career.
Fortunately, Elg was discovered in London by American film producer Edwin H. Knopf and, on the heels of the spectacular Hollywood success fellow Scandinavian Anita Ekberg was having, MGM decided to sign Elg to a customary seven-year Hollywood contract. She made her American debut for MGM with the secondary role of Elissa in the Lana Turner biblical costumer The Prodigal (1955). The following year MGM utilized her acting talents in their films Diane (1956), again starring Turner, and Gaby (1956) with Leslie Caron.
For the aforementioned work she was honored with a Golden Globe award for female "foreign newcomer". She was subsequently handed her best all-around opportunity by MGM to display her sublime dancing, sexy figure and comedic acting skills when asked to portray Angèle Ducros in Cole Porter's musical Les Girls (1957) opposite Gene Kelly and alongside fellow dazzlers Mitzi Gaynor and Kay Kendall. Receiving her second consecutive Golden Globe (tying with Kendall) for "Best Actress" in a musical, Les Girls (1957) also won the Golden Globe for "Best Picture - Musical" and an Oscar for its costume design.
More films came her way with Imitation General (1958) starring Glenn Ford and Red Buttons; the remake of the classic The 39 Steps (1959) opposite Kenneth More; the African adventure Watusi (1959) with George Montgomery and David Farrar and the war story Mission of Danger (1960), which was actually culled from a few TV episodes. None, however, could match the quality of Les Girls (1957). Elg's Hollywood film career went into a steep decline at this juncture and she began focusing on TV projects, foreign films and especially theatre roles. Appearing on stage in such 1960s productions as "Redhead," "Silk Stockings", "Irma La Douce", "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", and "There's a Girl in My Soup", she finally made her Broadway debut with the musical "Look to the Lilies" in 1970, which was based on the Oscar-winning film Lilies of the Field (1963). She never found a strong footing again in films and has appeared in less than a handful since. Other than the 1961 Italian spectacle The Bacchantes (1961), she showed up in the musclebound Arnold Schwarzenegger's vehicle Hercules in New York (1970), Liebestraum (1991), and the Barbra Streisand feature The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
Her love for the stage was obvious and she remained as colorful than ever gracing such musicals as Sondheim's "A Little Night Music" (1973) in which she sang the haunting "Send in the Clowns." She also returned to Broadway in later years with the musicals "Where's Charley?", for which she earned a Tony nomination, "Nine" and "Cabaret". She appeared in the national tour of the musical "Titanic" in 1998-1999. On the non-musical stage she had strong roles in "Uncle Vanya", "I Hate Hamlet", "O Pioneers!", and, more recently, "Requiem for William" and Memory of a Summer" (both 2003).
In 2004, the actress received a special honor from her native Finland, when she was knight by the Order of the Lion of Finland. She is a naturalized American citizen. Jazz guitarist Raoul Björkenheim is Taina's son from her first marriage (1953-1958) to Carl "Poku" Björkenheim. In 1985, she married Rocco Caporale, an Italian educator and professor of sociology. The couple lived in New York City until his death in 2008.- Egerton attended Ditcham Park School near Petersfield in Hampshire, where she says she was bullied. She also states she truanted, preferring to go to modeling shoots. After finishing school at 16 with nine A-grade GCSEs, Egerton decided to pursue acting rather than going to university. She had a brief job as a babysitter for three children. She previously shared a flat in Marylebone, Central London, with her St. Trinian's (2007) castmate, Talulah Riley, whom she described as her "soulmate". She lived in Hampstead with theatre producer Jamie Hendry.
She has cited Takeshi Kitano as her favourite film director. - Tamara Day is known for The Mailbox (2007), Little Money Mansions (2016) and Bargain Mansions (2017).
- Producer
- Actress
Tanya Memme is an award winning TV Personality, Actress, Host, Executive Producer, and TV Show Creator. As the star of the popular home design show "Sell This House" on A&E and "Smart Home Nation" on FYI, Tanya Memme has become an expert in staging, selling homes, home design and has a passion for smart home technology. The exciting re-boot of "Sell This House" is airing within the Home.Made block on A&E and FYI is a reboot of the original show which aired on sister network A&E from 2003-2011. Sell This House was one of the first shows in the Home Improvement programming genre.
Along side Sell This House, Tanya is creator, executive producer and Host of "Smart Home Nation" which airs on FYI and world wide on Crackle. Tanya travels across the globe discovering the most innovative home technology on the planet.
Born and raised in Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada, she grew up on a 200-acre sod farm in an Italian Catholic family. Tanya is a former Miss World Canada and is involved in the pageant world to this day. Her two brothers, Michael Memme who is now one of the owners of the family home building business Mountainview Homes and Jeremy Memme a Microsoft Executive. Her father, Frank Memme, is a home builder and one of the original founders of Mountainview Homes, and her mother, Beverley Barber, is a known Canadian Artist. Tanya currently lives in Los Angeles with her daughter, Ava.
Some of her past credits include popular shows like "Move This House," "Sell This House Extreme" on A&E, FYI and BIO, as well as Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" which she was a DIY Expert/ Host for 5 seasons. Robotica (for three seasons on TLC, alongside Ahmet Zappa), 9 On The Town (on KCBS) and on Eye On LA ( Los Angeles's highest-rated magazine show, on KABC). As a television journalist, she was the international correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada (Global TV). She covered events such as the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the People's Choice Awards, the SAG Awards and various other high profile movie premieres and red carpet events in NYC, Los Angeles and Toronto.
She spent time in Cambodia reporting for the non-profit organization World Vision Canada, on the severity of child labor & child trafficking. Alongside Alex Trebek, her segments air on Global TV across Canada. She has guest-hosted a variety of TV shows, including: Hollywood 411 (with Chris Harrison for the TV Guide Channel); Reality Remix (on Fox Reality); Live on the Red Carpet (for Warner Brothers/Telepictures) and CBS's Grammy Special, which received an Emmy nomination. She recently filmed Best Vacations in Los Cabos, Mexico with Hunter Ellis (for KTLA's Prime Time Special).
As a celebrity guest, she has been interviewed on many talk shows, including: The View, Soap Talk, Life and Style, The View From The Bay, The Vikki Gabereau Show, Fanny Kiefer, Global TV, Much Music, Breakfast TV, Off The Record and The Mike Bullard Show and has graced the inside and the cover of a variety of magazines such as Style Magazine, In Touch, TV Guide, Womans World, Biography Magazine, Psychology Today, Parade, Life Magazine and VU Magazine to name a few. With a degree from the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, she has starred on, among other shows, The Practice, JAG, CSI Miami, Saturday Night Live, The Young and the Restless and various independent films. Cast in a lead role in Terror Inside (2008), she won a "Best Actress Crystal Reel Award" from the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association and was awarded a prestigious "CIBA Award" by the Canadian Italian Business Association for her accomplishments and notoriety in Entertainment and Business. She was also the Keynote Speaker for the Niagara College graduating class of 2010, and received an Honorary Diploma in Broadcasting Radio Television & Film.
She is actively involved in helping build wells, homes and communities in Guatemala for the non profit organization. She cycled in a 420-mile bike ride from Montreal, Quebec to Portland, Maine to raise funds for AIDS.- Actress
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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tania Raymonde began her career on Malcolm in the Middle (2000), and is known for her portrayal of Alex Rousseau in the J.J. Abrams series Lost. She played the title role of notorious murderer Jodi Arias in the Lifetime original feature Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013), and starred alongside Billy Bob Thornton and William Hurt in David E. Kelley's legal drama Goliath for Amazon. Other TV credits include recurring roles on The Last Ship, The Big Bang Theory (2007), and Crash (2008), opposite Dennis Hopper.- Tara Leigh is known for Splatter (2009), Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension (2002) and Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor (1990).
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Taylor Russell was born on 18 July 1994 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is an actress and director, known for Bones and All (2022), Waves (2019) and The Heart Still Hums (2020).- Actress
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Taylor Spreitler was born on October 23, 1993. She is a model as well as a popular actress. After portraying Mia McCormick in Days of Our Lives (1965) her popularity increased after appearing on the NBC soap. From January 2009 till 2010 she did various types of movies and commercial modeling. She was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in the United States. She began acting in 2005, and she lives in Los Angeles where she moved in with her parents. Taylor started her career as a model, booking her first commercial audition for a role in a national campaign for Motrin. Early on, Taylor did some small roles and a few commercials, such as for JIF. In 2009, she was signed for a 3-year contract as the McCormick character, although her last episode aired in 2010. She also played a unique role within Lennox Scanlon in Melissa & Joey (2010) for ABC.- Actress
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A natural and lovely talent who was discovered for films by Samuel Goldwyn, the always likable Teresa Wright distinguished herself early on in high-caliber, Oscar-worthy form -- the only performer ever to be nominated for Oscars for her first three films. Always true to herself, she was able to earn Hollywood stardom on her own unglamorized terms.
Born Muriel Teresa Wright in the Harlem district of New York City on October 27, 1918, her parents divorced when she was quite young and she lived with various relatives in New York and New Jersey. An uncle of hers was a stage actor. She attended the exclusive Rosehaven School in Tenafly, New Jersey. The acting bug revealed itself when she saw the legendary Helen Hayes perform in a production of "Victoria Regina." After performing in school plays and graduating from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, she made the decision to pursue acting professionally.
Apprenticing at the Wharf Theatre in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the summers of 1937 and 1938 in such plays as "The Vinegar Tree" and "Susan and God", she moved to New York and changed her name to Teresa after she discovered there was already a Muriel Wright in Actors Equity. Her first New York play was Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" wherein she played a small part but also understudied the lead ingénue role of Emily. She eventually replaced Martha Scott in the lead after the actress was escorted to Hollywood to make pictures and recreate the Emily role on film. It was during her year-long run in "Life with Father" that Teresa was seen by Goldwyn talent scouts, was tested, and ultimately won the coveted role of Alexandra in the film The Little Foxes (1941). She also accepted an MGM starlet contract on the condition that she not be forced to endure cheesecake publicity or photos for any type of promotion and could return to the theater at least once a year. Oscar-nominated for her work alongside fellow cast members Bette Davis (as calculating mother Regina) and Patricia Collinge (recreating her scene-stealing Broadway role as the flighty, dipsomaniac Aunt Birdie), Teresa's star rose even higher with her next pictures.
Playing the good-hearted roles of the granddaughter in the war-era tearjerker Mrs. Miniver (1942) and baseball icon Lou Gehrig's altruistic wife in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) opposite Gary Cooper, the pretty newcomer won both "Best Supporting Actress" and "Best Actress" nods respectively in the same year, ultimately taking home the supporting trophy. Teresa's fourth huge picture in a row was Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Shadow of a Doubt (1943) and she even received top-billing over established star Joseph Cotten who played a murdering uncle to her suspecting niece. Wed to screenwriter Niven Busch in 1942, she had a slip with her fifth picture Casanova Brown (1944) but bounced right back as part of the ensemble cast in the "Best Picture" of the year The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) portraying the assuaging daughter of Fredric March and Myrna Loy who falls in love with damaged soldier-turned-civilian Dana Andrews.
With that film, however, her MGM contract ended. Remarkably, she made only one movie for the studio ("Mrs. Miniver") during all that time. The rest were all loanouts. As a freelancing agent, the quality of her films began to dramatically decline. Pictures such as Enchantment (1948), Something to Live For (1952), California Conquest (1952), Count the Hours! (1953), Track of the Cat (1954) and Escapade in Japan (1957) pretty much came and went. For her screenwriter husband she appeared in the above-average western thriller Pursued (1947) and crime drama The Capture (1950). Her most inspired films of that post-war era were The Men (1950) opposite film newcomer Marlon Brando and the lowbudgeted but intriguing The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956) which chronicled the fascinating story of an American housewife who claimed she lived a previous life.
The "Golden Age" of TV was her salvation during these lean film years in which she appeared in fine form in a number of dramatic showcases. She recreated for TV the perennial holiday classic The Miracle on 34th Street (1955) in which she played the Maureen O'Hara role opposite Macdonald Carey and Thomas Mitchell. Divorced from Busch, the father of her two children, in 1952, Teresa made a concentrated effort to return to the stage and found consistency in such plays as "Salt of the Earth" (1952), "Bell, Book and Candle" (1953), "The Country Girl" (1953), "The Heiress" (1954), "The Rainmaker" (1955) and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (1957) opposite Pat Hingle, in which she made a successful Broadway return. Marrying renowned playwright Robert Anderson in 1959, stage and TV continued to be her primary focuses, notably appearing under the theater lights in her husband's emotive drama "I Never Sang for My Father" in 1968. The couple lived on a farm in upstate New York until their divorce in 1978.
By this time a mature actress now in her 50s, challenging stage work came in the form of "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the Moon Marigolds", "Long Day's Journey Into Night", "Morning's at Seven" and "Ah, Wilderness!" Teresa also graced the stage alongside George C. Scott's Willy Loman (as wife Linda) in an acclaimed presentation of "Death of a Salesman" in 1975, and appeared opposite Scott again in her very last play, "On Borrowed Time" (1991). After almost a decade away from films, she came back to play the touching role of an elderly landlady opposite Matt Damon in her last picture, John Grisham's The Rainmaker (1997). Teresa passed away of a heart attack in 2005.- Actress
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Actress and model Teresa Palmer has gathered some impressive film credits. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Kevin Palmer, an investor, and Paula Sanders, a former missionary and nurse. She completed high school at Mercedes College in 2003, where she was a popular student who was well-known for her practical jokes. She worked in a Cotton On outlet in Rundle Mall until she was discovered and cast on the spot--without an audition--in her feature film debut and breakthrough role in 2:37 (2006). Made by first-time writer/director/producer Murali K. Thalluri, the film competed in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in "Un Certain Regard" and chronicles the lives of six students over the course of day and ends in a devastating suicide.
Teresa immediately went to work on back-to-back film projects including December Boys (2007) opposite "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe--a coming-of-age story about four adolescent orphans, based on the book by Michael Noonan and directed by Rod Hardy (Robinson Crusoe (1997), Buffalo Girls (1995), The X-Files (1993) and The Practice (1997)). She also starred as stripper-turned-criminal "Dale" in the British/Australian co-production Restraint (2008), a film noir/psychological thriller that follows the plight of a pair of fugitives on the run from a murder scene. Directed by David Denneen, the film also features former Calvin Klein model Travis Fimmel and British actor Stephen Moyer. In 2006 Teresa worked with Japanese director Takashi Shimizu on the Sony Pictures production The Grudge 2 (2006). Set in Tokyo, the horror sequel to the box-office hit The Grudge (2004) also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Beals. Later that year Teresa signed on to play the female lead in Doug Liman's action fantasy film Jumper (2008), but was subsequently replaced by Rachel Bilson.
Early 2007 saw her star opposite former boyfriend Topher Grace as the love interest in the retro comedy film Take Me Home Tonight (2011). Shortly after filming ended, Teresa decided to move permanently from Adelaide to Los Angeles following a public split from her then-boyfriend of two years, Australian Rules football star Stuart Dew. Teresa was due to play a small part in George Miller's doomed superhero film "Justice League: Mortal", but the production fell through after months of problems. Teresa briefly dated her "Justice League: Mortal" co-star Adam Brody in early 2008; later that year she had a relationship with British comedian Russell Brand, whom she met on the set of her latest film, Bedtime Stories (2008), a Disney children's comedy starring Lucy Lawless, Guy Pearce and Keri Russell and was released on Christmas 2008.- Teri Copley was born on 10 May 1961 in Arcadia, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Brain Donors (1992), Quantum Leap (1989) and Hunter (1984).
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Terri Ivens is born Theresa Andrea Linda Evelyn Ivens in Newport Beach, California, USA on Friday June 23, 1967 to her parents from Honolulu, Hawaii, USA are the ancestors from both Urkaine (Ex-The Soviet Union) & The Philippines. Raised in Los Angeles, California, USA as being a kid went to school until graduation in 1985 and participated at America's Junior Miss 1983, The Debutante Star Ball of Hollywood in 1986 and in-between she hoping to be on "Star Search (1983)" to face one of these/those champions of the 8 categories as an challenger. After that she finally become/became a young teen starlet & vixen of her own right beginning with movies, radio, sports and especially television with commercials and series & TV Movies including "Second Chance & Boys Will Be Boys (1987)", "Wake/Jump, Rattle & Roll (1990)" & "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993)" and she's growing/grew up in Hollywood aka Tinseltown she's still a vixen siren bombshell surviving the disaster misfortunes of life in Show Business as an Star is forever for her.- Actress
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Thelma Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, an industrial city near the New Hampshire state line. She was a lovely child with good academic tendencies, so much so that she decided early on to become a schoolteacher. After high school she went on to college but at her mother's insistence entered several beauty contests (apparently her mother wanted her to be more than just a "schoolmarm"). Thelma was so successful in these endeavors that she entered on the state level and won the title of "Miss Massachusetts" in 1925 and went on to the "Miss America" pageant; though she didn't win, the pageant let her be seen by talent scouts looking for fresh new faces to showcase in films. She began to appear in one- and two-reel shorts, mostly comedy, which showcased her keen comic timing and aptitude for physical comedy--unusual in such a beautiful woman.
She had been making shorts for Hal Roach when she was signed to Paramount Pictures. Her first role--at age 21--was as Lorraine Lane in 1927's Fascinating Youth (1926), a romantic comedy that was Paramount's showcase vehicle for its new stars. Thelma received minor billing in another film that year, God Gave Me Twenty Cents (1926). The next year she starred with Gary Cooper and William Powell in the western Nevada (1927). That year also saw her in three more films, with The Gay Defender (1927) being the most notable. It starred Richard Dix as a man falsely accused of murder.
As the 1920s closed, Thelma began to get parts in more and more films. In 1928 and 1929 alone she was featured in 20 pictures, and not just comedies--she also did dramas and gothic horror films. Unlike many silent-era stars whose voices didn't fit their image or screen persona, Thelma's did. She had a bright, breezy, clear voice with a pleasant trace of a somewhat-aristocratic but unsnobbish New England accent and easily made the transition to sound films. In 1930 she added 14 more pictures to her resume, with Dollar Dizzy (1930) and Follow Thru (1930) being the most notable. The latter was a musical with Thelma playing a rival to Nancy Carroll for the affections of Buddy Rogers. It was a box-office hit, as was the stage production on which it was based. The following year Thelma appeared in 14 more films, among them Let's Do Things (1931), Speak Easily (1932), The Old Bull (1932), and On the Loose (1931). Her most successful film that year, however, was the Marx Brothers farce Monkey Business (1931). While critics gave the film mixed reviews, the public loved it. In 1932 Thelma appeared in another Marx Brothers film directed by Norman Z. McLeod, Horse Feathers (1932). She also starred in This Is the Night (1932), a profitable film which featured Cary Grant in his first major role. In 1934 Thelma made 16 features, but her career would soon soon come to a grinding halt. In 1935 she appeared in such films as Twin Triplets (1935) and The Misses Stooge (1935), showcasing her considerable comic talents. She also proved to be a savvy businesswoman with the opening of "Thelma Todd's Sidewalk Café", a nightclub/restaurant that catered to show-business people. Unfortunately, it also attracted some shady underworld types as well, and there were rumors that they were trying to take over her club and use it as a gambling establishment to fleece the wealthy Hollywood crowd. According to these tales, Thelma and her boyfriend, director Roland West, wouldn't sell their establishment once they found out what the gangsters had in mind, which incurred the enmity of the wrong people with whom to have differences of opinion. Whether or not the stories were true, on December 16, 1935, 29-year-old Thelma was found dead in her car in her garage in Los Angeles. Her death was ruled suicide-by-carbon-monoxide-poisoning. At the time, as today, many felt that her death was actually a murder connected to the goings-on at her club, a theory that was lent credence by the fact that no one who knew her had ever seen her depressed or morose enough to worry about her committing suicide. Another factor that aroused suspicion was that her death was given a cursory investigation by the--at the time--notoriously corrupt Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the case was quickly and unceremoniously closed. Her death has remained controversial to this day.
Three films she made before her death weren't released until the following year: Hot Money (1936), An All American Toothache (1936), and The Bohemian Girl (1936). The latter saw her quite substantial role cut down so much that she was barely glimpsed in the picture. Thelma had made an amazing 115 films in such a short career, and her beauty and talent would no doubt have taken her right to the top if not for her untimely demise.- Actress
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Theresa Harris appeared with more stars of the Golden Era of Hollywood than anyone else. She sang, she danced, she appeared in movies and TV. She graced the screen with her magnetic presence and most times stole scenes from the top stars of the day every chance she got and made a lot of dull films worthwhile. Although stereotyped by receiving only maid roles, Theresa stepped outside the stereotype any chance she got, to show she was glamorous, classy, beautiful, and a true actress. While she often played maids, she always showed dignity, grace, and demanded respect. Theresa didn't exactly fit the mammy/maid stereotype fore she was a petite beauty, a stark contrast from Louise Beavers and Hattie McDaniel, and Theresa was one of the very few black women to not fit that stereotype on screen.
There were quite a few movies in which Theresa got a chance to let her light shine and make you forget her maid costume and see her as a talented actress. In the pre-Code classic Baby Face (1933), she and Barbara Stanwyck had equal screentime, which was rare between black and white actors at that time. Playing Chico, Stanwyck's friend and co-worker, Harris gave a moving and memorable performance that contributed to the film becoming one of the essentials of the classic genre. Theresa was allowed to be sexy, glamorous, and her own person, not simply a servant who jumped at her employer's every beck and call, a rarity for a black actress in a maid part in the 1930s, and a true friendship was shared between Stanwyck and Harris' characters, another rarity. In Professional Sweetheart (1933), Harris played a spunky, sexy maid who teaches Ginger Rogers a thing or two about being "hot", and ends up replacing Rogers as a singer, singing a hot song on the radio that turns on the white male listeners, another shocker and rarity at the time for a black actress. But pre-Code movies usually pushed the envelope, which shows in both 'Baby Face' and 'Professional Sweetheart'. Though Theresa played maid roles most of her movie career, she had showed moments of excellence in many other films such as Hold Your Man (1933), Black Moon (1934), Gangsters on the Loose (1937), Jezebel (1938), The Toy Wife (1938), Tell No Tales (1939), Buck Benny Rides Again (1940), Love Thy Neighbor (1940), Blossoms in the Dust (1941), Cat People (1942), and I Walked with a Zombie (1943), among others.
Theresa was a versatile talent; besides acting, she could sing beautifully and dance divinely, when she had the chance in such movies as Thunderbolt (1929), 'Baby Face', 'Professional Sweetheart', Banjo on My Knee (1936), 'Buck Benny Rides Again', What's Buzzin', Cousin? (1943), and The French Line (1953). When Theresa got the chance to show her beauty and sex appeal, it was often with her screen boyfriend, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson; they were dynamic on screen together in 'Buck Benny Rides Again' and 'What's Buzzin', Cousin?'. In the former, they sing and dance tap, classical, Spanish, and swing in a musical number, "My, My".
Theresa Harris was perhaps the hardest-working woman in Hollywood, appearing in close to 90 films, working at every major studio with most of the big stars. She was respected by studio executives, producers, directors, and co-workers alike, who sometimes went out of their way to get her more lines and screentime. Harris married a doctor and retired from the movies in the late 1950s, living comfortably after having carefully invested the money she made during her career in the films. She was a patient woman who never gave up hope that there would come a time when she would be able to play more than just maid parts. Nevertheless, in every role, she displayed class, dignity, beauty, and true acting talent, not simply the old stereotypes associated with black actors at that time.- Actress
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Tia Carrere, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, was discovered in a grocery store and landed the female lead in the film Aloha Summer. She then moved to Los Angeles and continued her ascent in the acting world as a series regular on General Hospital as well as a string of guest starring roles on MacGyver, Quantum Leap, Married With Children, and Friday the 13th among others. With her iconic breakthrough role as Cassandra in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Tia was able to showcase both her considerable singing as well as acting chops. Wayne's World was a worldwide phenom and set the stage for the femme fatale role of Juno Skinner in James Cameron's film True Lies, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger; the computer whiz Jingo Asakuma in Rising Sun opposite Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes; and her very own series lead as Sydney Fox in Relic Hunter. Other work includes Nip/Tuck, In Plain Sight, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and many more. Subsequently Tia returned to her Hawaii roots starring in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch, while on the musical front, being nominated four times and winning the Grammy twice with her records 'ikena and Huana Ke Aloha. She also co-hosted and performed during the ceremony. Lately, Tia can be seen in Michael Patrick King's series AJ & the Queen starring RuPaul, Amblin Films "Easter Sunday" starring JoKoy and Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever. She also just released a single and video of a song she wrote called "I'm Still Here".- Jing Tian graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy and Beijing Film Academy, Department of Chinese Film and Television.
In 2006, Jing Tian released the music EP Who are you with King Sweet music.
Tian starred in 13 episodes of the TV show Yi ge nü ren de shi shi (2009) in 2010. Her acting career flourished and she appeared in movies such as My Belle Boss (2010) and The Warring States (2011). She was awarded a role in Police Story: Lockdown (2013) in 2013 alongside Jackie Chan. In 2014 Jing Tian starred in the costume drama The Glory of Tang Dynasty (2017).In 2016 she starred in The Great Wall (2016). Jing Tian accepted the role of Lin Mei, commander of the Crane Troop because she wanted to work with Yimou Zhang. As part of her preparation for the role Jing Tian lived for a year in the United States to learn English, which she now speaks fluently, and went through an extensive training in martial arts.In 2017 Jing Tian stars as San in Kong: Skull Island (2017) with Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson. In 2018 Jing Tian stars in Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) alongside Cailee Spaeny. - Actress
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Actress, filmmaker and writer, Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant (Thi Thanh Nga) was born in Saigon, and has shuttled between Vietnam and the USA since she was 5-years-old. Her life has been a true adventure: Child of War, Karate Princess, Bride of God, Actress, Mom, Singer, Songwriter, Film Producer, Director, Widow of Peace, Philanthropist - she's done it all.
As a child of war, Tiana emigrated to the USA with her family to escape the Vietnam conflict. Her father was Director of Press for the South Vietnam regime and was given CIA clearances for their immigration. They were the first Vietnamese family to move to Virginia during the height of racial desegregation.
Tiana was harassed as a "gook" in high school, and studied martial arts for her self-protection. Tiana's teacher, Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee crowned her "Tiana Karate Princess" and introduced her to Bruce Lee. Lee accepted her as his first teen female student, and also encouraged her acting skills. They made a pact together to defy stereotypes: that he would never play a coolie, and she would never play a whore. Bruce Lee would later introduce Tiana to her future husband, Stirling Silliphant, the Oscar-winning TV and film writer who created key roles for Bruce in Hollywood.
Stirling & Tiana Silliphant were married at Chasen's restaurant, with a cast of all-star guests attending. They were considered Hollywood "royalty," appearing on national talk and game shows like The Mike Douglas Show, and Tattletales. Stirling was riding high with box office bonanzas like The Towering Inferno, Shaft, and The Poseidon Adventure, as well as having won an Oscar for penning In the Heat of the Night. He wrote for Tiana too.
Tiana made her screen debut in Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975), co-starring alongside "Godfathers" of cinema James Caan and Robert Duvall. Subsequent starring roles included Pearl, the star-studded hit ABC miniseries about Pearl Harbor, the lead role in Catch the Heat (1987) with Rod Steiger, Fly Away Home (TV 1981) with Brian Dennehy, and The Three Kings (1987) with Lou Diamond Phillips. She was the first Vietnamese-American to join Screen Actors Guild
Tiana left that all behind in 1989 when she visited Vietnam to pursue philanthropy and social activism. The move led both her and Stirling to profound career changes. After the war, Vietnam was the 5th poorest nation on earth, and Tiana was the first person to bring American cameramen to post-war Vietnam to film and share stories about her devastated homeland - which at that time was under strict US embargo. Her films forged friendships, not enemies. She met women and children, and war veterans from all sides who were working for peace, not war.
Tiana enjoyed unprecedented access to her forbidden mother country, and amassed an extensive one-of-a-kind 16mm film and video archive of post-war life in Vietnam. She met Oscar winner Oliver Stone in Hanoi, and co-founded the Indochina Film Arts Foundation to stimulate artistic ventures in film, theater, radio, art and education. The foundation presented projects in numerous venues, from the Director Guild of America to the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
In the early '90s, Tiana made her first film, the autobiographical documentary From Hollywood to Hanoi (1992), which was selected as the "Best Of Telluride" at Telluride Film Festival and was nominated for "Best Non-Fiction Film" at Sundance International Festival. From Hollywood to Hanoi, executive produced by Oliver Stone, is the personal account of an actress's rediscovery of her homeland, and her quest for reconciliation between her two identities, Vietnamese and American. From Hollywood to Hanoi will be expanded as part of a Vietnam Trilogy and reissued in 2025, the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.
In 1996 Tiana's husband, Stirling Silliphant, passed away in Bangkok of bone cancer. As a widow of peace, Tiana continued to film in Viet Nam to open new doors and to transcend her grief. One labor of love has lasted over three decades: a personal portrait of her father's history teacher, General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Commander of the North Vietnamese Army during both the French and the American wars. General Giap welcomed Tiana as a daughter returning home. She also met the Hanoi Politburo and iconic "enemy" leaders - all of whom expressed hope for healing and reconciliation. The resulting feature documentary, The General & Me is slated for 2025 release alongside the reissue of From Hollywood to Hanoi.
In the late '90s, Tiana became the muse for another prolific Oscar-winning writer, Christopher Hampton.
A Tony Award Celebration was organized by Tiana in 2009 in conjunction with the successful run of Yasmina Reza's Broadway play God of Carnage - translated by Christopher Hampton. The event celebrated the play's six Tony nominations and three wins, and honored Hampton's 50 plays and screenplays. James Gandolfini, Marcia Gay Harden, Philip Glass and Phillip Noyce participated in the short documentary that Tiana created from the event.
In 2009 Tiana also filmed an odyssey to find the spirit of Michael Jackson in Beverly Hills and Vietnam, with Le Ly Hayslip - the author and subject of Oliver Stone's feature film Heaven & Earth (1993). Le Ly and Tiana visited the site of Jackson's death and documented the throngs of fans and impersonators carrying on his legacy in the U.S. and around the world.
As co-owner of Christopher Hampton's stage play The Talking Cure, Tiana was instrumental in developing the project into a feature film directed by David Cronenberg. The film, re-titled A Dangerous Method (2011), starred Michael Fassbender as Swiss psychotherapist Carl Jung, and Keira Knightley as his patient and mistress. Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant is credited as Associate Producer on the 2011 release, and documented the behind the scenes development of the project.
In 2012, Alexandra and Christopher Hampton formed Hampton Silliphant Management & Productions, which presented the play Appomattox at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The play concerns itself with historic events in America, 100 years apart in time: the historic meetings between Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, in tandem with Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass in 1865, and the later machinations of Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King - which ultimately led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Appomattox was also performed as an opera with Philip Glass at The Kennedy Center in 2015.
In 2020, Tiana went on location in Malaysia to join partner Christopher Hampton (Screenwriter, Executive Producer) and crew, filming the international TV mini-series The Singapore Grip (2020). Tiana documented "the making of" the six-episode drama - which portrayed the intrigues and ultimate upheaval of British colonialism during the Fall of Singapore in WWII.
From late 2020 through 2021 Tiana has been traveling the United states collecting stories and characters for a new series entitled Detour 66. The project follows in the tracks of her late husband Stirling Silliphant's TV series, Route 66 (1960), and chronicles the dramas and cultural zeitgeist unfolding across the Divided States of America.
She is also developing a video/podcast series entitled Somebody Nobody Everybody (SNE) which explores personal memoir, social consciousness, health, age reversal and the dating game.
* More than 60 of Tiana Alexandra's films, interviews, music videos, and more are posted on tianaworld.com, vietnamtrilogy.com Tianaworld YouTube & Tianaworld Vimeo. @whyvietnamseries & @tianaworld Instagram.- Actress
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Strikingly beautiful and fiery blonde Tiffany Bolling may not have achieved the long-lasting stardom she deserved, but she nonetheless has remained a much-beloved cult favorite of 1970s B-movie buffs for her lively and impressive performances in a handful of enjoyably trashy drive-in flicks. Born in Santa Monica, California, as Tiffany Royce Kral, Bolling basically had show business in her blood: her father was singer/pianist Roy Kral and her mother was singer/comedienne Bettie Miller.
Tiffany attended Webster elementary school in Malibu. She began singing in coffee houses at age 16 and recorded an album for Canyon Records, scoring a minor hit single with the Vietnam protest song "Thank God the War is Over". Bolling's latter album "Tiffany" was a flop in its day, but has since become a much sought after collector's item.
She found greater success as an actress. She made her film debut at age 20 in an uncredited bit part as a cocktail waitress in the Frank Sinatra private eye picture Tony Rome (1967). More prominent parts in Triangle (1970) and The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971) cemented her status as a most promising new talent. She did a nude pictorial for the April 1972 issue of "Playboy" magazine. Bolling secured her place as a bona-fide B-movie queen with a bunch of juicy starring parts: she's a sneaky, manipulative con artist femme fatale supreme in Bonnie's Kids (1972), a hotel lounge singer who's stalked by a crazed psycho in Wicked, Wicked (1973), the ruthless ringleader of a trio of desperate kidnappers in the terrific The Candy Snatchers (1973) and a stewardess who gets terrorized by deranged psychopath Andrew Prine in the splendidly sleazy The Centerfold Girls (1974). Bolling gave another fine performance as a gutsy entomologist in the hugely entertaining killer tarantula epic Kingdom of the Spiders (1977).
On television Bolling was a regular cast member of the short-lived TV series The New People (1969), which was a precursor to Lost (2004). Among the many TV programs Tiffany did guest spots on were High Mountain Rangers (1987), The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977), Vega$ (1978), Mod Squad (1968), Bonanza (1959), Mannix (1967), Man from Atlantis (1977), Barnaby Jones (1973), Charlie's Angels (1976), Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976) and The Sixth Sense (1972). Alas, Bolling's career petered out in the 1980s, as such lackluster movies as The Vals (1983), Love Scenes (1984) and Open House (1992) all grimly confirm. Her last movie to date is Visions (1998). More recently Bolling has worked in both stage and film productions behind the scenes. She also teaches and dedicates herself to various humanitarian causes. Moreover, her daughter Seanie sang back-up vocals on the 1990 debut album of the Christian heavy metal band Holy Soldier.- Actress
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Tiffani Amber Thiessen was born on January 23, 1974 in Long Beach, California to Robyn Ernest, a homemaker & Frank Thiessen, a park designer. She grew up in Long Beach with her parents and her brothers, professional cyclist Todd (born August 1, 1968) and Schyler (born May 10, 1977). When Tiffani was 8, her uncle, Roger Ernest, suggested that she try acting and modeling. Soon afterward, she appeared in her first TV commercial, for Peaches and Cream Barbie. From there she started competing in several beauty pageants and, in 1987, she won the Miss Junior America pageant.
She got her big break when she was cast as the popular cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on the NBC series Saved by the Bell (1989), which lasted for five years. But this was not at all the end of her career. Coinciding with the cancellation of the short-lived Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993), she was cast as the bitchy, conniving vixen Valerie Malone on Aaron Spelling's long-running hit series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). Here, she played the constant enemy of Kelly Taylor, played by Jennie Garth, although in real life, the two are actually best friends. Tiffani also lived with co-star Brian Austin Green for several years. She stayed with the show until 1998 and then left to pursue her movie career. The result was two independent movies, followed by two comedies and then Hollywood Ending (2002), in which she starred alongside Woody Allen.
She met actor Richard Ruccolo while guest starring as Marti in the hit sitcom Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (1998) where in 2001, the couple became engaged. During the fall of 2002, she co-starred with best friend Jennie's husband, Peter Facinelli, and Bill Bellamy on Fox's action/drama series, Fastlane (2002), where she starred as Billie Chambers, but the show was canceled after one season. In 2003, Tiffani broke off her engagement to Richard Ruccolo and in 2005, she married actor Brady Smith. The couple have two children, a daughter, Harper Smith (Harper Renn Smith) and a son, Holt Fisher Smith.- Actress
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Tika Sumpter was born in New York and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College. Sumpter began her career as model, before she landed the role of "Layla Williamson" in ABC's daytime soap opera, One Life to Live (1968) (2005-2010, 2011).
After she left the soap, Sumpter won a recurring role in the CW series, Gossip Girl (2007), and appeared in the BET sitcom, The Game (2006). After supporting roles in the films, Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming (2010), Salt (2010), What's Your Number? (2011) and Think Like a Man (2012), she was cast alongside Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston in the 2012 musical film, Sparkle (2012). In 2013, she was cast as vixen "Candace Young" in the OWN drama series, The Haves and the Have Nots (2013).- Actress
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Tina Casciani is an actress, model, and dancer, born in New York City, New York, USA to a Brazilian mother and Italian father. Tina Casciani is known for various film and television roles including "Role Models", "The Nevsky Prospect", "Jane the Virgin" and "Pandora". Tina won Ms. New York Teen USA and went on to become an international supermodel, starring in numerous prestigious campaigns including Giorgio Armani and GUESS . She later moved to Los Angeles and began her career as a successful actress.- Actress
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Born in New York City, Tina was still in her teens when she burst upon the national scene by starring on Broadway in the critically acclaimed box-office success "Li'l Abner", based on the famous comic strip character created by Al Capp. Stellar reviews caught the attention of Hollywood and Tina signed up for her first feature film, God's Little Acre (1958), which was an entry in the Venice Film Festival. It was at this point in her career that she began studying with Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio in New York because she believed it was "time to develop and deepen my knowledge of the craft . . . Lee Strasberg," says Tina, "had the most dynamic effect on me. He influenced my life as no other man ever has."
After several more films, Tina returned to Broadway to star with Carol Burnett in "Fade in, Fade Out". She continued her work in Hollywood, starring in the CBS sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964) as Ginger Grant. Moving among Broadway, television and motion pictures, she next starred in The Happy Ending (1969), directed by Richard Brooks, The Stepford Wives (1975) with Katherine Ross and Dog Day (1984), with Lee Marvin and French actress Miou-Miou. Tina was cast as a regular on the first season of Dallas (1978) and has profuse credits in made-for-TV films for ABC and NBC, including Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979), The Day the Women Got Even (1980), Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976) and the famed ABC movie Nightmare in Badham County (1976).
In 1991 Tina appeared in Johnny Suede (1991), in which she co-starred with Brad Pitt. The film marked the debut of director Tom DiCillo, and won the 1992 Gold Leopard Award for Best Picture at the 44th International Film Festival at Lorcano, Switzerland. Other film and television work followed, including Stephan Elliott Welcome to Woop Woop (1997) and Growing Down in Brooklyn (2000), and she guest-starred in the syndicated television series L.A. Heat (1996).
In 2004 she received the coveted TVLand Pop Culture Icon Award in Los Angeles, which was aired nationally. She has made numerous television appearances, from The Rosie O'Donnell Show (1996) to Entertainment Tonight (1981) and Access Hollywood (1996).
A unique opportunity pursued Tina in 2005 with IGT (International Game Technology) in conjunction with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, when she inked a six-figure deal in exchange for 80 lines of voice-over work for a highly publicized gaming machine, a MegaJackpots product with the chance to win $1 million. The slot machines appeared in casinos from coast-to-coast as well as internationally.
Tina is an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. As a literacy and academic advocate, she became a volunteer teacher at Learning Leaders, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing tutoring to New York City school children. It has been her passion to help young students gain not only literary skills, but also confidence, self-determination and proof of their own potential. Besides continuing her volunteer work in literacy, she has written several books. Her first book, a personal memoir on her first eight years entitled "Sunday", was published in 1998. She followed Sunday, with a children's book, "When I Grow Up", published in 2007. "Teaching children the skill of reading and a love for the written word is important because this will remain with them throughout their lives. If we can reach children at an early age, I believe it will make a difference. This thought brings me tremendous joy." Says Tina. She embarked on a book tour that included New York City and then continued to New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, Philadelphia and the Festival of Books at UCLA. Her third book, "What Does a Bee Do?" was published in 2009 (available only at Amazon.com) and was inspired by The Colony Collapse Disorder, otherwise known as Honey Bee Depopulation Syndrome. The book continues to be an educational tool for children, as well as adults and was recently approved by Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City Public Schools, and is tentatively awaiting on the E-Catalog for principals in the fall of 2010. An animated version of "What Does a Bee Do?" is in development.
Besides being an accomplished actress and author, she recorded an album, "It's Time for Tina", a sultry warm and breathy collection of standards. The enchanting album features music from saxophone legend Coleman Hawkins and lyrics and music by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, Jule Styne and Cole Porter. She also made her debut as a visual artist when she exhibited her paintings at the Ambassador Galleries, and later with newer works at the notable Gallery Stendhal in Soho. Most recently she exhibited her original paintings at the Patterson Museum of Art. Tina Louise continues to live in New York City.- Actress
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From working for the exacting Alfred Hitchcock to a film written by Edward D. Wood Jr., Tippi Hedren, the Minnesota blonde, has had a distinctive career. She was born Nathalie Kay Hedren in New Ulm, MN, to Dorothea (née Eckhardt) and Bernard Hedren, who ran a general store, and is of Swedish, Norwegian, and German descent. Tippi was working as a New York fashion model when she married her first husband, former actor and later advertising executive Peter Griffith, in 1952 (married until 1961). She gave birth to her only child, future star Melanie Griffith, on August 9, 1957. Alfred Hitchcock discovered Tippi, the pretty cover girl, while viewing a commercial on NBC's Today (1952) show. He put her under personal contract and cast her in The Birds (1963). In a cover article about the movie in Look magazine (Dec. 4, 1962), Hitchcock praised her; he also told the Associated Press: "Tippi Hedren is really remarkable. She's already reaching the lows and highs of terror". Her performance in the film earned her both the Golden Globe award and the Photoplay award as Most Promising Newcomer. Her next film was playing the title role in Hitchcock's Marnie (1964), where she played a challenging and difficult role of a frigid, habitual thief. The film wasn't as big a hit as "The Birds," and it would take years before she won well-deserved admiration for her work. The professional relationship with Hitchcock ended with mutual bitterness and disappointment during the filming of "Marnie." That year, she married her agent, Noel Marshall (married until 1982). Charles Chaplin cast her in a supporting role in his final film A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), which flopped. Thereafter, Tippi and her husband Marshall collected big cats and other wildlife for the film Roar (1981), which they starred in and produced. The film took 11 years and $17 million to make, but it only made $2 million worldwide. Nevertheless, the film was a turning point in her life; she became actively involved in animal rights, as well as a wide variety of humanitarian and environmental causes. She married her third husband, businessman Luis Barrenecha, in 1985 but divorced him seven years later. In 2002, she became engaged to veterinarian Martin Dinnes, but after six years and no wedding, the couple called it quits. Tippi has devoted much time and effort to charitable causes: she is a volunteer International Relief Coordinator for "Food for the Hungry". She has traveled worldwide to set up relief programs following earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and war, and has received numerous awards for her efforts, including the Humanitarian Award presented to her by the Baha'i Faith. As for animal causes, she is founder and president of The Roar Foundation. Onscreen, she continues to work frequently in films, theater and TV. She appeared in I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998), finally bringing to the big screen the last screenplay written by the late Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1974 (and featuring Wood regulars Maila Nurmi and Conrad Brooks, just about the only surviving members of Wood's stock company). She also enjoyed playing comedic roles, such as an abortion rights activist in Alexander Payne's satire Citizen Ruth (1996) and slapping Jude Law in I Heart Huckabees (2004). Tippi's contributions to world cinema have been honored with Life Achievement awards in France at The Beauvais Film Festival Cinemalia 1994; in Spain, by The Fundacion Municipal De Cine in 1995; and at the Riverside International Film Festival in 2007. In 1999, Tippi was honored as "Woman of Vision" by Women in Film and Video in Washington, D.C., and received the Presidential Medal for her work in film from Hofstra University. She enjoys spending time with her daughter and grandchildren: Alexander Bauer, Dakota Johnson and Stella Banderas.- Actress
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Tisha Sterling was born on 10 December 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Coogan's Bluff (1968), Village of the Giants (1965) and The Whales of August (1987). She was previously married to Lal Baum.- Actress
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It's pretty unusual for a mostly unbilled chorus girl to rate a star on Hollywood Boulevard, but Toby Wing was unique. A genuine granddaughter of the Confederacy (on her mother's side at least; her father's family was pure Maine Yankee), she was born Martha Virginia Wing in Amelia Court House, Virginia in 1915, later taking the stage name Toby after a family nickname (for a horse!). Her father Paul Wing was an Army officer and she spent her childhood divided between Virginia and the Panama Canal's American Zone. Toby moved to Hollywood in the 1920s with her father, who, after his discharge, became an assistant director and Paramount Studios mid-level manager. Toby and her sister Pat Wing grew up fantasizing about becoming movie stars and moving to Hollywood in the mid-1920's afforded her to score a small number of juvenile parts in Paramount silents her dad was working on, most notably appearing as 12-year old Nan in The Pony Express (1925).
She retreated from acting to finish her schooling at her parents' insistence. Stories differ, but she struck up a friendship with Jack Oakie who introduced her to Samuel Goldwyn at a party (Paramount studio publicists, always a questionable source of facts, claimed she was discovered by Mack Sennett with her sister, Pat, while walking to the Santa Monica Pier. Either story seems plausible since she soon found herself working for both men). She was the last graduate of the studio's in-house high school in 1933. A natural brunette, she dyed her hair platinum blond and by 1932, at age 16, she landed rather historic place in Hollywood history as one of the original Goldwyn Girls, billed as the girl "with a face like the morning sun" in Eddie Cantor's hit Palmy Days (1931) and then found herself at Paramount working on an early Bing Crosby short. The choreographer on the Eddie Cantor film was Busby Berkeley who would later hire her for a choice, albeit unbilled, role in 42nd Street (1933).
Her remarkable beauty was not just in the movies; off camera, she lured to her door many a celebrated suitor (Maurice Chevalier, Alfred Vanderbilt, Franklin Roosevelt Jr., Jackie Coogan-- to whom she was engaged to during most of 1935, singer Pinky Tomlin -- briefly engaged in late 1937-- and wealthy Toronto playboy Erskine Eaton - to name a few). In 1936, while mourning the untimely death of one of her suitors (army pilot John T. Helms, whom she claimed to be secretly engaged) Wing swore off men - falling in love with them, that is. She announced "I have really given up falling in love with men! Oh, yes! My career is now to be my life." Her numerous engagements became something of a joke around Hollywood.
Career-wise, she was seen to her best benefit while on loan to Warner Bros. in 42nd Street (1933), prominently featuring her in the unbilled part as the so-called "Young and Healthy Girl" (the 17-year old knockout wearing a fox bra being warbled to by Dick Powell with dances staged by Berkeley). Anyone watching the hit film would have assumed she was headed for bigger and better things in Hollywood but it was not meant to be. Toby's career would never show any logical ascent toward stardom. She would be cast in a prominent billed part, only to revert back as uncredited eye candy, with some appearances lasting mere seconds (such as those as the party guest in Torch Singer (1933), Private Detective 62 (1933) -- a 3-second shot as Warren William's supposed girlfriend-- and Baby Face (1933) where she simply glares at Barbara Stanwyck), and a feature appearance would be followed by a short. Initially signed to the financially ailing Paramount, she spent much of her contract there on loan. The 1934 Production Code effectively prevented anything approaching her barely clothed appearances in Come On, Marines! (1934), Murder at the Vanities (1934) and Search for Beauty (1934) from being repeated. In 1935 she made a tantalizingly brief - yet silent - appearance in La Fiesta de Santa Barbara (1935), an MGM short promoting early 3-strip Technicolor, more notable today for containing the Gumm Sisters' rendition of "La Cucaracha" (sung by 15-year old Judy Garland).
Toby occasionally scored meatier roles in poverty row efforts, receiving star billing in the cheapie Canadian production of Thoroughbred (1936), financed by a suitor, and later in struggling Grand National's Mr. Boggs Steps Out (1938), a low budget Stuart Erwin Jr. vehicle. But in the end her Hollywood career was a frustrating mix of intense publicity with little substance - and summed up, she had a vastly better press agent than a talent agent. On the publicity side, from mid-1933 -early 1938 Toby appeared in a dizzying array of movie magazines, scored numerous endorsement contracts and was easily one of the most photographed starlets in Hollywood. Her personal life also fueled the gossip fires by being pursued by many prominent men -- there are dozens of press photos documenting her at nightclubs surrounded by admiring men well before she was 21 -- and announcing numerous engagements (notably to Jackie Coogan during the period he discovered his mother and stepfather had squandered his childhood acting fortune, resulting in the so-called "Coogan Law").
After appearing in thirty-eight films over five years she ended her movie career where she pretty much began, in an uncredited bit role in the MGM Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald musical Sweethearts (1938) as a telephone operator (note: her appearance in this film is in dispute and may have been cut from the final print). Remarkably, despite a film resume overloaded with 5-second walk-ons and parts calling for idiotic-yet-sexy squeals in her underwear (she was actually quite intelligent), her stunning beauty guaranteed her lasting appeal. After a typically brief engagement to singer and one-time co-star Pinky Tomlin, she met the man who would be the love of her life, world-record setting Eastern Airlines pilot Dick Merrill, who was more than two decades her senior. They married in June 1938 and went on to share a remarkable 44-year marriage. After her Hollywood career ended she accepted a role on Broadway, co-starring in the troubled Cole Porter musical, "You Never Know" that starred Clifton Webb, Libby Holman and Lupe Velez which flopped after 73 performances.
She happily retired to their home on Di Lido Island to life as a Miami housewife, where her husband flew the Miami-NYC EAL route. Her beauty and the vast number of cheesecake photos she took in the 1930s had her competing in good stead with the likes of Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable as a soldier's favorite pinup girl during WWII. During her heyday, she reputedly received more fan mail than Paramount stars, Claudette Colbert and Marlene Dietrich. She suffered through the loss of her first child in 1940 and like thousands of wives, a long separation from her husband during WW2. He flew "The Hump" for the MTD and endured her father's capture at Bataan (he survived the Death March and subsequent imprisonment). She had a second child, Ricky, in 1941 and involved herself in civic affairs, church and successfully dabbled in real estate in Florida and California.
Toby and her husband were devoutly religious and she taught Sunday school at Miami's All Saints Episcopal Church well into her 80s. She performed in two stage productions in the 1940s : "Father of the Bride" with Pat O'Brien at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, and a benefit production of "The Women" and occasionally made the national press when photographed with her famous husband, who was General Eisenhower's pilot during his 1952 presidential campaign. The couple continued to appear publicly at aviation events throughout the 1960s and 1970s during which time Dick Merrill was actively involved in Sidney Shannon's Air Museum in Virginia. Sadly, the couple also outlived their youngest child, who was involved in large-scale marijuana smuggling and murdered in their Miami home while the Merrills were living in Virginia in 1982. She was widowed soon afterward and spent the remainder of her life actively promoting her husband's rightful legacy as an aviation pioneer. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the 1980s and was briefly interviewed in TCM's Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof (1998) with her lesser-known chorus girl sister, Pat Wing [Gill]. Toby died peacefully in her home in Mathews, Virginia in 2001, survived by, among others, two granddaughters. Her sister died a year later.- Actress
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Tori Anderson was born on 29 December 1988 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an actress, known for Killjoys (2015), Tru Calling (2003) and No Tomorrow (2016). She has been married to Mitch Myers since January 2018.- Actress
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Born to a Norwegian mother and a Nigerian father, Toks Olagundoye is a native of Lagos, Nigeria. Educated in Nigeria, Switzerland and England for elementary, middle and high school, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from Smith College. Captivated by cinema from a very early age, Toks was always eager to move to the United States, the location of all of her favorite films (except the James Bond series, of course) and motherland to many of her favorite actors. She was beside herself with joy when she moved to Massachusetts for college. She now resides and works on the US.- Actress
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Traci Lind was born on 1 April 1968 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Class of 1999 (1990), Bugsy (1991) and Fright Night Part 2 (1988). She has been married to Shakil Richardson since 27 February 1992. They have two children.- Actress
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Traylor Howard was born and raised in Orlando. She attended Lake Highland Preparatory School, and while there, appeared in a Juicy Fruit gum commercial. Howard graduated from Lake Highland Preparatory School in 1984. Howard then went on to graduate from Florida State University with a degree in communications and advertising and a minor in English.- Actress
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Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror film The Frighteners. She also has had notable stage performances and singing roles in musicals.- Actress
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Susan Ker Weld was born on August 27, 1943 (Friday), in New York City. When her father, Lathrop Motley Weld, died three years later at the age of 49, the cute little girl, whose name by then had somehow been transmogrified into "Tuesday", took over the role of the family breadwinner. She became a successful child model, posing for advertisements and mail-order catalogs. Her work and the burden of responsibility estranged her from her mother Aileen, her two elder siblings, and catapulted the preteen girl into adulthood. At nine years of age, she suffered a nervous breakdown; at ten, she started heavy drinking; one year later, she began to have love affairs, all of which led to a suicide attempt at age twelve. In 1956 she debuted in the low-budget exploitation movie Rock Rock Rock! (1956) and decided to become an actress. After numerous TV appearances in New York she went to Hollywood in 1958 and was cast for Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), something of a breakthrough for her. Over the next few years Tuesday became Hollywood's queen of teen, playing mainly precocious sex kittens. Her wild private life added to the entertainment of her fans. Critics acknowledged her talent, directors approved of her professionalism, and in the mid-1970s she even managed to grow out of her child/woman image and find more demanding roles - she had been "sweet little 16" for about 16 years. However, Tuesday Weld didn't achieve first-magnitude stardom. Maybe she was just unlucky with her selection of jobs (she turned down Lolita (1962), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), True Grit (1969), Cactus Flower (1969), among others); maybe her independence-loving mind made her instinctively shrink back from the restraints of super stardom. In any case, she kept on performing well in films that had either not much flair or not much success. From the early '80s on she focused more and more on made-for-TV movies, which was ironic in that the best (Once Upon a Time in America (1984)) and the most successful (Falling Down (1993)) films that came her way happened as her big-screen career was already petering out.- Actress
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Twiggy is a top model of the late 1960s, who made skinny an "inny," along with other famous skinny models such as Jean Shrimpton ("The Shrimp"), Veruschka von Lehndorff, and Penelope Tree ("The Tree"). She was born Leslie Hornby on September 19, 1949, in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, one of three daughters of Nell Hornby (née Nellie Lydia Reeman), a factory worker, and Norman Hornby, a master carpenter and joiner. By blending pop art with fashion, the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped gamine with the angelic puss and boyish crop took the industry by storm at age 17 defining the age of "flower power." She originally was nicknamed "Sticks" because of her reed-thin figure, but then switched it to "Twigs" and, finally, "Twiggy." A model for a scant four years, she had never even walked the runways by the time she exploded onto the scene. Educated at the Kilburn High School for Girls, her look and image was an instant globular sensation. She was even imitated by Mattel when they issued a "Twiggy Barbie" in 1967 and by Milton Bradley who created a board game out of her. Lunch boxes, false eye lashes, tights, sweaters, tote bags and paper dolls -- all these bore her famous moniker. In her prime she graced the covers of Vogue and Tatler, and even had her own American publication "Her Mod, Mod Teen World." The "psychedelic '60s" would not have been the same without her.
In 1970, Twiggy was able to parlay her incredible success into a respectable career in film and TV and on the musical theater stage. It was the iconoclastic director Ken Russell who instilled in her the ambition to move away from modeling and study acting, voice and dance. An extra in his movie The Devils (1971), Russell ushered her front-and-center with the jazz-age musical The Boy Friend (1971), his homage to the Busby Berkeley Hollywood musicals. Taking on the role originated on stage by Julie Andrews, Twiggy was awarded a Golden Globe for her efforts.
Her second feature, the thriller W (1974) cast her with future husband Michael Witney, who was nearly two decades her senior. They married in 1977 and later appeared together in There Goes the Bride (1980). She also cameoed in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Following Witney's untimely death in 1983, she appeared in The Doctor and the Devils (1985) and the comedy Club Paradise (1986) with Robin Williams before meeting her second husband, actor Leigh Lawson, while filming Madame Sousatzka (1988) in which she played a singer.
Though Twiggy has worked from time to time on TV, her exposure has been somewhat limited. She hosted a couple of self-titled shows in England and co-starred in the very short-lived sitcom Princesses (1991) here in America, but not too much else. The singing stage is a different story. She made her West End debut as "Cinderella" in 1974 and played Eliza Doolittle in a legit performance of "Pygmalion" in 1981. In 1983 she reunited with her "Boy Friend" co-star Tommy Tune and together dazzled Broadway audiences as a tapping twosome with "My One and Only," a warm, nostalgic revamping of the Gershwin classic "Funny Face." The charming waif went on to appear in a 1997 London revival of Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit," then played star Gertrude Lawrence alongside Harry Groener's Coward in the song-and-sketch musical "Noel and Gertie" (later retitled "If Love Were All"), which focused on the close "blendship" between the two icons all to the accompaniment of 20 Coward songs.
Back to her modeling ways, Twiggy came out of retirement to be photographed by the likes of John Fwanel and Annie Liebovitz in the 90s and has recently joined the professional elite of judges led by Tyra Banks on the reality show America's Next Top Model (2003), her warmer, more unassuming demeanor filling in for the aggressive, vitriolic Janice Dickinson.