The 63th Annual Tony Awards (2009) Premiere
June 7,2009
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Angela Lansbury was born in 1925 into a prominent family of the upper middle class living in the Regent's Park neighborhood of London. Her father was socialist politician Edgar Isaac Lansbury (1887-1935), a member of both the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Labour Party. Edgar served as Honorary Treasurer of the East London Federation of Suffragettes (term 1915), and Mayor of Poplar (term 1924-1925). He was the second Communist mayor in British history, the first being Joe Vaughan (1878-1938). Lansbury's mother was Irish film actress Moyna Macgill (1895-1975), originally from Belfast. During the first five years of Angela's life, the Lansbury family lived in a flat located in Poplar. In 1930, they moved to a house located in the Mill Hill neighborhood of north London. They spend their weekends vacationing in a farm located in Berrick Salome, a village in South Oxfordshire.
In 1935, Edgar Lansbury died from stomach cancer. Angela reportedly retreated into "playing characters", as a coping mechanism to deal with the loss. The widowed Moyna Macgill soon became engaged to Leckie Forbes, a Scottish colonel. Moyna moved into his house in Hampstead.
From 1934 to 1939, Angela was a student at South Hampstead High School. During these years, she became interested in films.. She regularly visited the local cinema, and imagined herself in various roles. Angela learned how to play the piano, and received a musical education at the Ritman School of Dancing.
In 1940, Lansbury started her acting education at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, located in Kensington, West London. She made her theatrical debut in the school's production of the play "Mary of Scotland" (1933) by Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959). The play depicted the life of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587, reigned 1542-1567), and Lansbury played one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting.
Also in 1940, Lansbury's paternal grandfather, George Lansbury, died from stomach cancer. When the Blitz started, Moyna Macgill had reasons to fear for the safety of her family and few remaining ties to England. Macgill moved to the United States to escape the Blitz, taking her three youngest children with her. Isolde was already a married adult, and was left behind in England.
Macgill secured financial sponsorship from American businessman Charles T. Smith. She and her children (including Angela) moved into Smith's house in Mahopac, New York, a hamlet in Putnam County. Lansbury was interested in continuing her studies, and secured a scholarship from the American Theatre Wing. From 1940 to 1942, Lansbury studied acting at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art, located in New York City. She appeared in performances organized by the school.
In 1942, Lansbury moved with her family to a flat located in Morton Street, Greenwich Village. She soon followed her mother in her theatrical tour of Canada. Lansbury secured her first paying job in Montreal, singing at the nightclub Samovar Club for a payment of 60 dollars per week. Lansbury was 16 years old at the time, but lied about her age and claimed to be 19 in order to be hired.
Lansbury returned to New York City in August, 1942, but Moyna Macgill soon moved herself and her family again. The family moved to Los Angeles, where Moyna was interested in resurrecting her film career. Their first home there was a bungalow in Laurel Canyon, a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills.
Lansbury helped financially support her family by working for the Bullocks Wilshire department store in Los Angeles. Her weekly wages were only 28 dollars, but she had a secure income while her mother was unemployed. Through her mother, Lansbury was introduced to screenwriter John Van Druten (1901-1957), who had recently completed his script of "Gaslight" (1944). He suggested that young Lansbury would be perfect for the role of Nancy Oliver, the film's conniving cockney maid. This helped secure Lansbury's first film role at the age of 17, and a seven-year contract with the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She earned 500 dollars per week, and chose to continue using her own name instead of a stage name.
In 1945, Lansbury married actor Richard Cromwell (1910-1960), who was 15 years older than she. The troubled marriage ended in a divorce in 1946. The former spouses remained friends until Cromwell's death.
In 1946, Lansbury started a romantic relationship with aspiring actor Peter Shaw (1918-2003), who was 7 years older than her. Shaw had recently ended his relationship with actress Joan Crawford (c. 1908-1977). The new couple started living together, while planning marriage. They wanted to be married in the United Kingdom, but the Church of England refused to marry two divorcees. They were married in 1949, in a Church of Scotland ceremony at St. Columba's Church, located in Knightsbridge, London. After their return to the United States, they settled into Lansbury's home in Rustic Canyon, Malibu. In 1951, both Lansbury and Shaw became naturalized citizens of the United States, while retaining their British citizenship.
Meanwhile, Lansbury continued appearing in MGM films. She appeared in 11 MGM films between 1945 and 1952. MGM at times loaned Lansbury to other film studios. She appeared in United Artists' "The Private Affairs of Bel Ami" (1947), and Paramount Pictures' "Samson and Delilah" (1949). In 1948, Lansbury made her debut in radio roles, followed by her television debut in 1950.
In 1952, Lansbury requested the termination of her contract with MGM, instead of its renewal. She felt unsatisfied with her film career as an MGM contract player. She then joined the East Coast touring productions of two former Broadway plays. By 1953, Lansbury had two children of her own and was also raising a stepson. She and her family moved into a larger house, located on San Vincente Boulevard in Santa Monica. In 1959, she and her family moved into a house in Malibu. The married couple were able to send their children to a local public school.
Meanwhile she continued her film career as a freelance actress, but continued to be cast in middle-aged roles. She regained her A-picture actress through well-received roles in the drama film "The Long, Hot Summer" (1958) and the comedy film "The Reluctant Debutante" (1958). She also appeared regularly in television roles, and became a regular on game show "Pantomime Quiz" (1947-1959).
In 1957, Lansbury made her Broadway debut in a performance of "Hotel Paradiso". The play was an adaptation of the 1894 "L'Hôtel du libre échange" ("Free Exchange Hotel"), written by Maurice Desvallières (1857-1926) and Georges Feydeau (1862-1921). Lansbury's role as "Marcel Cat" was critically well received. She continued appearing in Broadway over the next several years, most notably cast as the verbally abusive mother in "A Taste of Honey". She was cast as the mother of co-star Joan Plowright (1929-), who was only four years younger.
In the early 1960s, Lansbury was cast as an overbearing mother in "Blue Hawaii" (1961). The role of her son was played by Elvis Presley (1935-1977), who was only 10 years than her. The film was a box office hit, it finished as the 10th-top-grossing film of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the "Variety" national box office survey. It gained Lansbury renewed fame, at a difficult point of her career.
Lansbury gained critical praise for a sympathetic role in the drama film "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (1960), and the role of a manipulative mother in the drama film "All Fall Down" (1962). Based on her success in "All Fall Down", she was cast in a similar role in the Cold War-themed thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962). She was cast as Eleanor Iselin, the mother of her co-star Laurence Harvey (1928-1973), who was only 3 years younger than she. This turned out to be one of the most memorable roles in her career. She received critical acclaim and was nominated for a third time for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was instead won by Patty Duke (1946-2016).
Lansbury made a comeback in the starring role of Mame Dennis in the musical "Mame" (1966), by Jerome Lawrence (1915-2004) and Robert Edwin Lee (1918-1994). The play was an adaptation of the novel "Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade" (1955) by Patrick Dennis (1921-1976), and focused on the life and ideas of eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis. The musical received critical and popular praise, and Lansbury won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Lansbury gained significant fame from her success, becoming a "superstar".
Her newfound fame led to other high-profile appearances by Lansbury. She starred in a musical performance at the 1968 Academy Awards ceremony, and co-hosted the 1968 Tony Awards. The Hasty Pudding Club, a social club for Harvard students. elected her "Woman of the Year" in 1968.
Lansbury's next theatrical success was in 1969 "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1945) by Jean Giraudoux (1882-1944). The play concerns an eccentric Parisian woman's struggles with authority figures. Lansbury was cast in the starring role of 75-year-old Countess Aurelia, despite her actual age of 44. The show was well received and lasted for 132 performances. Lansbury won her second Tony Award for this role.
In 1970, Lansbury's Malibu home was destroyed in a brush fire. Lansbury and her husband decided to buy Knockmourne Glebe, an 1820s Irish farmhouse, located near the village of Conna in rural County Cork.
Her film career reached a new height. She was cast in the starring role of benevolent witch Eglantine Price in Disney's fantasy film "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). The film was a box-office hit; it was critically well received, and introduced Lansbury to a wider audience of children and families.
In 1972, Lansbury returned to the British stage, performing in London's West End with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1973, Lansbury appeared in the role of Rose in London performances of the musical "Gypsy" (1959) by Arthur Laurents. It was quite successful. In 1974, "Gypsy" went on tour in the United States. with the same cast. For her role, Lanbury won the Sarah Siddons Award and her third Tony Award. The musical had its second tour in 1975.
Tired from musicals. Lansbury next sought Shakespearean roles in the United Kingdom. From 1975 to 1976, she appeared as Queen Gertrude in the National Theatre Company's production of Hamlet. In November 1975, Lansbury's mother Moyna Macgill died at the age of 79. Lansbury arranged for her mother's remains to be cremated, and the ashes scattered near her own County Cork home.
In 1976, Lansbury returned to the American stage. In 1978, Lansbury temporarily replaced Constance Towers (1933-) in the starring role of Anna Leonowens (1831-1915) in The King and I. While Towers was on a break from the role, Lansbury appeared in 24 performances.
In 1978, Lansbury appeared in her first film role in seven years, as the novelist and murder victim Salome Otterbourne in the mystery film "Death on the Nile" (1978). The film was an adaptation of the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie (1890-1976); Otterbourne was loosely based on real-life novelist Elinor Glyn (1864-1943). The film was a modest box-office hit, and Lansbury befriended her co-star Bette Davis (1908-1989).
In 1979, Lansbury was cast in the role of meat pie seller Mrs. Lovett in the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (1979), by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (1912-1987). The musical was loosely based on the penny dreadful serial novel "The String of Pearls: A Domestic Romance" (1846-1847), which first depicted fictional serial killer Sweeney Todd. Lansbury remained in the role for 14 months, and was then replaced by Dorothy Loudon (1925-2003). Lansbury won her fourth Tony Award for this role. She returned to the role for 10 months in 1980.
Lansbury's next prominent film role was that of Miss Froy in "The Lady Vanishes" (1979), a remake of the 1938 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). She was next cast in the role of amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple in the mystery film "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980), an adaptation of the novel "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" (1962) by Agatha Christie. The novel was loosely inspired by the life of Gene Tierney (1920-1991). The film was a modest commercial success. There were plans for at least two sequels, but they ended in development hell.
In 1982, Lansbury was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame, She appeared at the time in the new play "A Little Family Business" and a revival of "Mame", but both shows were commercial failures. In film, Lansbury voiced the witch Mommy Fortuna in the animated fantasy film "The Last Unicorn" (1982). The film was critically well received, but was not a box-office hit.
Lansbury played Ruth in the musical comedy "The Pirates of Penzance" (1983), a film adaptation of the 1879 comic opera by William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). The film was a box office bomb, earning about 695,000 dollars.
Lansbury's next film role was that of Granny in the gothic fantasy film "The Company of Wolves" (1984), based on a 1979 short story by Angela Carter (1940-1992). Lansbury was cast as the grandmother of protagonist Rosaleen (played by Sarah Patterson), in a tale featuring werewolves and shape-shifting. The film was critically well received, but barely broke even at the box office.
At about that time, Lansbury appeared regularly in television films and mini-series. Her most prominent television role was that of Jessica Fletcher in the detective series "Murder, She Wrote" (1984-1996). Jessica was depicted as a successful mystery novelist from Maine who encounters and solves many murders. The character was considered an American counterpart to Miss Marple. The series followed the "whodunit" format and mostly avoided depictions of violence or gore.
The series was considered a television landmark for having an older female character as the protagonist. It was aimed primarily at middle-aged audiences, but also attracted both younger viewers and senior citizen viewers. Ratings remained high for most of its run. Lansbury rejected pressure from network executives to put her character in a relationship, as she believed that Fletcher should remain a strong single female.
In 1989, Lansbury co-founded the production company Corymore Productions, which started co-producing the television series with Universal Television. This allowed Lansbury to have more creative input on the series. She was appointed an executive producer. By the time the series ended in 1996, it tied with the original "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-1980) as the longest-running detective drama series in television history.
Her popularity from "Murder, She Wrote" made Lansbury a much-sought figure for advertisers. She appeared in advertisements and infomercials for Bufferin, MasterCard and the Beatrix Potter Company.
Lansbury's highest-profile film role in decades was voicing the character of singing teapot Mrs. Potts in Disney's animated fantasy film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Lansbury performed the film's title song, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
During the late 1980s and 1990s, Lansbury lived most of the year in California. In 1991, she had Corymore House, a farmhouse at Ballywilliam, County Cork, built as her new family home. She spend Christmases and summers there.
Following the end of "Murder, She Wrote", Lansbury returned to a career as a theatrical actress. She temporarily retired from the stage in 2001, to take care of her husband Peter Shaw, whose health was failing. Shaw died in 2003, from congestive heart failure at the couple's Brentwood, California home. Their marriage had lasted for 54 years (1949-2003).
Lansbury felt at the time that she could not take on any more major acting roles, but that she could still make cameos. She moved back to New York City in 2006, buying a condominium in Manhattan. Her first prominent film role in years was that of Aunt Adelaide in the fantasy film "Nanny McPhee" (2005). She credits her performance in the film with pulling her out of depression, a state of mind which had lasted since her husband's death.
Lansbury returned to performing on the Broadway stage in 2007, after an absence of 23 years. In 2009, she won her fifth Tony Award. She shared the record for most Tony Award victories with Julie Harris (1925-2013). In the 2010s, she continued regularly appearing in theatrical performances. In 2014, she returned to the London stage, after an absence of nearly 40 years.
In 2015, Lansbury received her first Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress. At age 89, she was among the oldest first-time winners. Also in 2015, November 2015 was awarded the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
In 2017, she was cast as Aunt March in the mini-series "Little Women". The mini-series was an adaptation of the 1868-1869 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). The series lasted for 3 episodes, and was critically well received.
In 2018, Lansbury gained her next film role in Disney's fantasy film "Mary Poppins Returns" (2018), a sequel to "Mary Poppins". Lansbury was cast in the role of the Balloon Lady, a kindly old woman who sells balloons at the park. The films was a commercial hit, earning about 350 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
In 2019, Lansbury performed at a one-night benefit staging of Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1895). a farce satirizing Victorian morals. She was cast in the role of society lady Lady Bracknell, mother to Gwendolen Fairfax.
By 2020, Lansbury was 95 years old, one of the oldest-living actresses. She has never retired from acting, and remains a popular icon.- Actor
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Neil Patrick Harris was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 15, 1973. His parents, Sheila Gail (Scott) and Ronald Gene Harris, were lawyers and ran a restaurant. He grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, a small town 120 miles south of Albuquerque, where he first took up acting in the fourth grade. While tagging along with his older brother of 3 years, Harris won the part of Toto in a school production of The Wizard of Oz (1939).
His parents moved the family to Albuquerque in 1988, the same year that Harris made his film debut in two movies: Purple People Eater (1988) and Clara's Heart (1988), which starred Whoopi Goldberg. A year later, when Neil was 16, he landed the lead role in Steven Bochco's television series about a teen prodigy doctor at a local hospital, Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989), which launched Harris into teen-heartthrob status. The series lasted1989-1993 and earned him a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Series (1990) and a Golden Globe Nomination (1990). Harris attended the same high school as Freddie Prinze Jr., La Cueva High School in Albuquerque. Neil acted on stage in a few plays while there, one of which was his senior play, Fiddler on the Roof (1971), in which he portrayed Lazar Wolf the butcher (1991).
When "Doogie Howser, M.D." stopped production in 1993, Harris took up stage acting, which he had always wanted to do. After a string of made-for-television movies, Harris acted in his first big screen roles in nine years, Starship Troopers (1997) with Casper Van Dien and then The Proposition (1998). In July 1997, Harris accepted the role of Mark Cohen for the Los Angeles production of the beloved musical, Rent (2005). His performance in "Rent" garnered him a Drama-League Award in 1997. He continued in the musical, to rave reviews, until January 1998. He later reprised the role for six nights in his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in December 1998.
In 1999, Harris returned to television in the short-lived sitcom Stark Raving Mad (1999), with Tony Shalhoub. He was also in the big-screen projects The Next Best Thing (2000) and Undercover Brother (2002), and he can be heard as the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the newest animated Spider-Man (2003) series. Harris has continued his stage work, making his Broadway debut in 2001 in "Proof." He has also appeared on stage in "Romeo and Juliet," "Cabaret," Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Concert (2001), and, most recently, "Assassins." In 2005, Harris returned to the small screen in a guest-starring role on Numb3rs (2005) and a starring role in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005). Neil played the title role in the web-exclusive musical comedy Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008), widely downloaded via iTunes to become the #1 TV series for five straight weeks, despite not actually being on television.- Actor
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Ryan was born in Ft. Devens, Massachusetts and moved around quite a bit after that due to being in a military family. His family finally settled in the Washington D.C. area (Woodbridge, VA) which is where he spent most of his time before moving to New York City in 1997.
Ryan has a degree in Foreign Language from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, and got his start in D.C. area professional theaters and industrial films. He is fluent in Spanish, and has a love and knowledge of various other languages.
In New York, he was in the original cast of the Off-Broadway hit, Altar Boyz as 'Juan' and went on to perform in Shrek the Musical on Broadway as one of the three Pigs ('Bricks') and performed the role of Donkey many times. Ryan was also in the Broadway cast of Gettin' the Band Back Together, for which he wrote and created much of his material and was in the original Off-Broadway cast of Titanique as 'Ruth'. Ryan can be seen as 'Benny' in the popular series "He's With Me" as well as the award winning short, Obits, for which he won Best Actor of the 48 Hour Film Festival.
Ryan also volunteers and works with such organizations as TDF (Theater Development Fund), ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty), and Only Make Believe which provides interactive theater for children in hospitals around the NYC area.- Actor
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George Akram was born George Akram Drija Vivas in Caracas, Venezuela. From Syrian descent, he is the son of two highly recognized dancers and choreographers in his native country. He became the first Venezuelan to star on a Broadway musical; But his first job, at the age of 6, was as a host for a kids' TV show called "Video Time" which led to his appearance in significant national events, sports opening ceremonies and many commercials.
At age 17, George successfully hosted one of South America's biggest live summer shows "Rugemanía"; where he had the opportunity to show his versatility as a host, actor, dancer and singer five times a week. After finishing his first musical as a lead titled " Celebremos La Vida", Akram decided to emigrate to the United States.
George had the tremendous honor to be part of several major events including the Latin Grammys, Latin Billboards, Viña del Mar in Chile, among others, sharing stages with esteemed artists like Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz, Alejandro Sanz, Shakira, Daddy Yankee and many more.
Akram's first major film role was Carlos Verastegui in the film KM72 (2015). He also participated in Vijay And I (2013) alongside Patricia Arquette; Stuck On You (2006) alongside Meryl Streep and Greg Kinnear and Sins Of Our Youth (2014) alongside Ally Sheedy. In addition to film, he can be seen on the Amazon Prime comedy Borderline. An appearance on the television series NCIS Los Angeles (2017), and roles for Hispanics soaps Las Dos Caras de Ana (2006) and Escándalos: Todo es real excepto sus nombres (2015).
In 2008 by the hand of legend Arthur Laurents, George was given the opportunity to play the role of Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, in the Broadway Revival of West Side Story at the Palace Theater in NYC. Worth mentioning, George completed the longest running Broadway production of WSS in January 2011, with a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Show Album" and a Tony Award nomination for Best Revival.
Since then George has been invited to play the same role for Rita Moreno's tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors (2015), Hollywood Bowl (2016) (conducted by Gustavo Dudamel) and at The Salzburg Opera Festival in 2016.
Following the Broadway run, Akram joined the world tour of "Between Worlds, The Musical", "Carmen: An Afro Cuban Jazz Musical" (2016) Directed by Moisés Kaufman and once again conducted by Dudamel: "Amor Brujo" at the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2015).- Sound Department
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Paul Arditti is known for National Theatre Live: Amadeus (2017), The Camomile Lawn (1992) and National Theatre Live: The Threepenny Opera (2016).- Actress
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Lucie Arnaz was born on 17 July 1951 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Jazz Singer (1980), Here's Lucy (1968) and Smoking Nonsmoking (2011). She has been married to Laurence Luckinbill since 22 June 1980. They have three children. She was previously married to Phil Vandervort.- Actress
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Tiffani Barbour is known for Law & Order (1990), The Leftovers (2014) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).- Actor
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- Soundtrack
Craig Bierko was born on 18 August 1964 in Rye Brook, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) and Scary Movie 4 (2006).- Actress
- Music Department
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Stephanie J. Block was born on 19 September 1972 in Brea, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Madam Secretary (2014), Orange Is the New Black (2013) and Homeland (2011). She has been married to Sebastian Arcelus since 25 October 2007. They have one child.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Matt Bogart was born on 22 March 1971 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Jersey Boys Live! (2022), Vinyl (2016) and Bloodstock.- David Bologna is known for Going the Distance (2010), The 63rd Annual Tony Awards (2009) and The Visa Signature Tony Awards Season Celebration (2009).
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- Producer
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Daniel Breaker was born on 2 June 1980 in Manhattan, Kansas, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Girls5eva (2021), Billions (2016) and Limitless (2011).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tituss Burgess was born on 21 February 1979 in Athens, Georgia, USA. He is an actor, known for Central Park (2020), Dolemite Is My Name (2019) and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015).- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Jackie Burns was born on 4 October 1980 in Connecticut, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for In the Heights (2021), Set It Up (2018) and FBI: Most Wanted (2020).- Swiss-born Welsh-American actress Kate Burton is the daughter of Welsh actors Richard Burton and Sybil Williams. She graduated Brown University (1979), majoring in Russian studies and European history. She served on the board of 'Production Workshop', the university's student-run theater group. She earned her master's at Yale Drama School (1983). She received an honorary doctorate from Brown University (2007). Her dedicated stage, film and television work earned a number of awards and nominations.
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James Carpinello was born on 13 August 1975 in Albany, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Punisher (2004), Midway (2019) and The Great Raid (2005). He has been married to Amy Acker since 25 April 2003. They have two children.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Matt Cavenaugh was born on 31 May 1978 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA. He is an actor, known for Submissions Only (2010), As the World Turns (1956) and Great Performances (1971). He has been married to Jenny Powers since 23 August 2009.- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of Broadway and Hollywood's perennial and cleverer talents who tends to shine a smart, cynical light on her surroundings, Stockard Channing was born Susan Williams Antonia Stockard on February 13, 1944 in New York City to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother of Irish descent. Her parents were Mary Alice (née English) and well-to-do shipping executive Lester Napier Stockard; the latter died when his daughter was 16 and left her a sizable estate.
Channing attended the eminent Chapin School in NYC, then later attended the Madeira School, a girls' boarding school in Virginia. She majored in both literature and history at Radcliffe College, from which she graduated summa cum laude in 1965. In 1964 she married Walter Channing Jr., a businessman whose surname she kept for part of her own stage moniker after their divorce four years later.
Interested in acting, she made her stage debut in a production of "The Investigation" at the experimental Theatre Company of Boston in 1966. She went on to play a number of offbeat roles with the company. She eventually migrated to New York where she took her first Broadway bow as a chorus member and understudy in the musical version of 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' in 1971. Two years later she would take over the prime role of Julia in the L.A. national company. Other theater roles during this time included 'Adaptation/Next' (1970) 'Arsenic and Old Lace' (1970), 'Play Strindberg' (1971), and 'No Hard Feelings' (1973).
Somewhat plaintive yet magnetic and unique-looking, the dark-haired actress began first appearing in pictures with small parts in the dark comedy The Hospital (1971) and the edgy Barbra Streisand fantasy-drama Up the Sandbox (1972). Taking on the top female lead as an heiress and potential victim of shysters Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty in Mike Nichols' comedy The Fortune (1975), the film, despite its male star power and her Golden Globe nomination, would not become the star-making hit for Channing as initially predicted.
While her next two films, (The Big Bus (1976) and Sweet Revenge (1976)), didn't get her to first base with the public either, Channing hit a major home run with the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely to... (1973), a clever black comedy written by Joan Rivers wherein she played a former ugly duckling-turned-beauty (à la plastic surgery) who decides to attract and knock off the men who cruelly cast her aside earlier. Channing found her niche with this smart, sardonic character and it would take her quite far in Hollywood.
At age 33(!), Stockard was handed the feisty role of high-school "tough girl" Betty Rizzo in the box-office film version of the hit musical Grease (1978), starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. While long in the tooth for such a role (as were most of the others in the lead cast), she compelled the audience to suspend disbelief in her sly performance, which earned her a People's Choice Award (Favorite Motion Picture Supporting Actress). This blockbuster clinched her place as a top-ranking star contender.
Handed two sitcom vehicles of her own within a year on CBS, Stockard Channing in Just Friends (1979) had her playing a newly-separated wife starting life anew in another city (L.A.) while The Stockard Channing Show (1980) starred her as a divorced lady again trying to find herself in L.A. Neither caught on and lasted but a few months. Stalled at a critical juncture in her career, she decided to return to her first love -- the theater. With 'Vanities', 'Absurd Person Singular', and 'As You Like It' (as Rosalind) already on her resume, she earned fine notices on Broadway with the musical 'They're Playing Our Song', succeeding Lucie Arnaz in 1980, then garnered rave reviews as the mother of a developmentally disabled child in the New Haven production of Peter Nichols' 'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg' in 1982. The actress repeated her role on Broadway a few years later (the title now shortened to "Joe Egg") and copped the 1985 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. Subsequent Tony nominations came her way for her offbeat work in 'The House of Blue Leaves' (1986); 'Six Degrees of Separation' (for which she also won an Off-Broadway Obie), 'Four Baboons Adoring the Sun' (1992); and for her Eleanor of Aquitaine in 'The Lion in Winter' in 1999.
Award-worthy projects again came her way on TV. Nominated for an Emmy for the CBS miniseries Echoes in the Darkness (1987), she also won a CableACE Award for her work in Tidy Endings (1988). In film, she received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations when her stage triumph, Six Degrees of Separation (1993), was turned into a film. This was followed by a rare vulnerable role as an abused, small-town housewife in the popular drag queen dramedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), a co-star role alongside Jennifer Tilly as two divorce-bound women who meet in Reno in Edie & Pen (1996), a prime role in the remake of Moll Flanders (1996) and as an eccentric aunt in the comedy/fantasy Practical Magic (1998). She also provided the voice of Barbara Gordon in several episodes of Batman Beyond (1999).
Channing has remained a highly productive, award-winning presence into the millennium on film, TV and the occasional stage. Beginning with a London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in the film The Business of Strangers (2001), her other movies have included co-star or featured roles in Life or Something Like It (2002), Behind the Red Door (2003), The Divorce (2003), Must Love Dogs (2005), Sparkle (2007), Multiple Sarcasms (2010), and Pulling Strings (2013).
As part of the acclaimed cast of The West Wing (1999) as "First Lady" Abigail Bartlet, audiences were so drawn to her shrewd, classy character that producers wisely started featuring her regularly into the third season, winning both Emmy and SAG awards and a slew of nominations for this long-running role. Other awards came for social dramas. She received a second Emmy for her supporting turn as mother Judy Sheppard in The Matthew Shepard Story (2002), a docudrama about the gay-bashing murder of young Matthew Shepard, a Daytime Emmy for her role in the TV movie Jack (2004) in which she plays a wife who finds out her husband is gay, and a SAG nomination as a mother who discovers her teenage daughter is lesbian in The Truth About Jane (2000).
Stockard thought she finally found sitcom success with the series Out of Practice (2005) and was even Emmy-nominated for her role as a sharp-tongued but caring doctor. As luck would have it, however, a core audience was not to be found and the show lasted but a mere season. She fared better in a recurring part as Julianna Margulies' mother on the popular dramatic series The Good Wife (2009).
Returning to the stage, Stockard played "Lady Bracknell" in a 2010 Dublin production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', and the following year was nominated for a Tony and Drama Desk for 'Other Desert Cities'. In 2018, she appeared in the play 'Apologia', co-starring Hugh Dancy in London.
Divorced four times, including to actor Paul Schmidt and writer/producer David Debin, she has no children. She has been in a three-decade-long relationship with cinematographer/gaffer Dan Gillham.- Actress
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Kristin Chenoweth is an American stage, screen and television actress, though, depending on who you ask, Chenoweth fans may disagree on what her most famous roles are. Since Chenoweth began her career, she has been credited with roles in musicals and plays on and off-Broadway, on various television shows and can be seen in movies on television and the big screen. She has also lent her recognizable voice numerous times to animated features.
Chenoweth was born in the small town of Broken Arrow, OK. Soon after her birth, Chenoweth was adopted by Jerry and Junie Chenoweth. She is very open about her adoption and has been known to support various adoption causes and organizations around the U.S. Although Chenoweth knows the backgrounds of her birth parents, she has commented that she has little interest in meeting them. The Chenoweth family includes older brother Mark. Chenoweth graduated from Broken Arrow High School and went on to study Musical Theater at Oklahoma City University. Under the guidance of Florence Birdwell, Chenoweth flourished in stage and vocal performance. She later received her Master's Degree in Opera Performance at OCU.
An avid fan of all things Oklahoman, Chenoweth was inducted into the 2010 State Hall of Fame. Fans of Kristin Chenoweth, the stage actress, have seen her stealing performances in Steel Pier, Epic Proportions, and The Apple Tree. In 1999, Chenoweth received the Tony Award for her performance as "Sally" in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". Chenoweth is well-known as the originator of "Glinda" in the 2003 mega-hit musical "Wicked". The role, written with Chenoweth in mind, earned her a Tony Award Nomination amongst many other accolades. Chenoweth returned to Broadway in 2010, alongside Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of "Promises, Promises". In January of 2007, Chenoweth became the third musical theater performer in history to have a solo performance at NYC's Metropolitan Opera. She has also performed with various Symphonies around the world. Chenoweth has recorded 3 studio albums. Those who know Kristin best from her various television performances remember her as the quirky, down on love, "Olive Snook" on Pushing Daisies (2007). The role won Ms. Chenoweth an Emmy Award in 2009 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The show, ultimately canceled shortly after its 2nd season, is still considered by Kristin to be one of her favorite characters to play.
In 2001, Chenoweth starred in the short-lived NBC comedy Kristin (2001). She has also been seen on The West Wing (1999), Ugly Betty (2006) and has a recurring role on Fox's Glee (2009) as the recovering alcoholic has-been, but lovable "April Rhodes" . Her appearances on "Glee" earned her a 3rd Emmy nomination. Most recently, Ms. Chenoweth had a small part in the 2010 comedy, You Again (2010). She has also had roles in Four Christmases (2008), Deck the Halls (2006), Running with Scissors (2006) and link=tt0420223]. In 2009, Chenoweth took on the challenging role as "Linda" in the film, Into Temptation (2009). Ms. Chenoweth is bi-coastal, spending a good amount of time in both New York and Los Angeles.- Art Director
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- Jennifer Cody was born on 10 November 1969 in Greece, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for The Princess and the Frog (2009), Shrek the Musical (2013) and Winx Club (2004). She has been married to Hunter Foster since 1998.
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Douglas Crawford is known for La Femme Nikita (1997), Steel (2015) and For the Next 7 Generations (2009).- Actor
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Gavin Creel was born on 18 April 1976 in Findlay, Ohio, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Submissions Only (2010), The Ceiling Fan (2016) and She Loves Me (2016).- Actor
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Brian d'Arcy James was born on 29 June 1968 in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Spotlight (2015), West Side Story (2021) and Shrek the Musical (2013).- Producer
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In 1989, Stephen Daldry worked as a freelance reader of unsolicited manuscripts for Literary Manager Nicholas Wright in the Scripts Department at the Royal National Theatre. In July of that year, he directed a Dadaist/expressionist production of "Judgement Day," a play by Odon von Horvath, at the Old Red Lion in London.- Actress
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Jenn is an actress and singer who is most known for her critically acclaimed work on Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony Award at age seventeen for her work in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical, Next to Normal. Two years prior, she was the youngest member of the original cast of Duncan Sheik's groundbreaking, Tony winning musical, Spring Awakening. When she was nineteen, Jenn originated the role of Mary-Jane Watson in the notable Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, working alongside Julie Taymor and Bono and The Edge of U2. She later went on to star in the Broadway adaptation of the cult classic, American Psycho, directed by Rupert Goold. Jenn has headlined various concerts and cabarets in prestigious New York venues while continuing to establish a progressing string of off-Broadway, TV, and film credits as well. Her most recent work includes The New Group's Black No More, adapted for stage by Oscar winning screenwriter, John Ridley (12 Years a Slave).- Actor
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Actor Jeff Daniels was born in Athens, Georgia, but was raised in Chelsea, Michigan. He is the son of Marjorie J. (Ferguson) and Robert Lee Daniels, who owned The Chelsea Lumber Company and was also mayor of Chelsea. Jeff attended Central Michigan University, but became involved in acting and dropped out to pursue a career as an actor. Daniels made his feature film debut in Milos Forman's Ragtime (1981).
Daniels went on to prove himself to be one of Hollywood's most reliable and versatile actors with roles in successes such as Terms of Endearment (1983), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Something Wild (1986), Arachnophobia (1990), Dumb and Dumber (1994), Pleasantville (1998), The Hours (2002) and Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), to name a few.
Alongside screen work, Daniels has many stage credits to his name and is the founder of The Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea, Michigan. He is also a musician and songwriter and has recorded two albums. Daniels is married to his childhood sweetheart, Kathleen Treado and they have three children.- Additional Crew
Peter Darling is known for The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Billy Elliot (2000) and Billy Elliot (2014).- Actress
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Davis, second of three children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan, a librarian (at one time, for the elementary section of Elisabeth Morrow School), and William Davis, an engineer. Davis has described her mother as a "great storyteller" who would take Davis and her siblings to museums or to "something cultural" every Sunday after church. Davis was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated in 1982 from Tenafly High School. She was a childhood friend of Mira Sorvino, with whom she wrote and acted in backyard plays. She is married to actor Jon Patrick Walker. They have two daughters, Georgia (born August 31, 2002) and Mae (born December 30, 2004).- Actor
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Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage, screen, and voice actor. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of Company and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.- Additional Crew
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Edith Falco, called Edie, was born on July 5, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith Anderson, an actress, and Frank Falco, a jazz drummer. She is of Italian (father) and Swedish, English, and Cornish (mother) descent. Edie grew up on Long Island and attended SUNY Purchase, where she was trained in acting at the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film. She moved to Manhattan after graduation, auditioning for roles and supporting herself as best she could; for example, working parties for an entertainment company where she would wear a Cookie Monster costume and urge people to get on the dance floor. Falco began getting film roles, mostly smaller supporting parts, starting in the late 1980s. Her first notable role was a supporting part in Bullets Over Broadway (1994).
Ironically, it was in television where the conservatory-trained Falco's career first flowered. She obtained her first recurring roles in 1993, on the acclaimed police dramas Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), as the wife of a blinded police officer, and Law & Order (1990) as a Legal Aid attorney. Next came a recurring role on the prison drama Oz (1997), as a sympathetic corrections officer. All the while she continued to work in film, still in small supporting roles.
Supporting herself in acting continued to be a challenge until at last Falco found success in 1999, when she was cast in the HBO series The Sopranos (1999), as Carmela, the wife of New Jersey Mafia street boss Tony Soprano. "The Sopranos" gained her a great deal of visibility and praise for her exceptionally strong dramatic skills. In 2000 Falco became one of the few actresses in history to sweep all of the major television awards (the Emmy, the Golden Globe and the SAG Award) in one year for a dramatic role. She is also the first female actor ever to receive the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.
Interestingly, her roles have frequently put her on one side of the law or the other--a defense attorney, a corrections officer, a cop's wife, a mobster's wife, a police officer (in a pilot for a television adaptation of the movie Fargo (1996)). She has also worked frequently on the stage, such as her award-winning work in the play "Sideman," in "The Vagina Monologues," and in revivals of "Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (which was hugely successful) and "'night Mother."
Unlike her brashly assertive alter-ego Carmela Soprano, Falco is self-described as shy, but is clearly a witty and down-to-earth person. She sometimes travels with her beloved dog Marley, driving so that the dog does not have to travel in the baggage compartment. At one point Falco had a relationship with her "Frankie and Johnny" co-star Stanley Tucci. She was treated for breast cancer in 2004 and her prognosis is very good. In December 2004, Falco adopted a baby boy, whom she named Anderson, after her mother's surname. Another adoption, of a baby girl named Macy, followed in 2008.- Producer
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Eric Fellner was born on 10 October 1959 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. He is a producer and executive, known for Les Misérables (2012), United 93 (2006) and Atonement (2007).- Producer
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John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student at University High School in Irvine, where he made his school's daily morning announcements over the public address system in disguised voices. He started as a member of the Los Angeles comedy/improvisation group The Groundlings, where fellow cast members Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and former Saturday Night Live (1975) repertory players such as Laraine Newman, Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman began their careers. It was there he met Chris Kattan and the two became good friends and both went on to Saturday Night Live (1975) later. He has also appeared on several television programs, including Strangers with Candy (1999), Grace Under Fire (1993) and Living Single (1993) during his time at The Groundlings. Will also lent his voice to the armless and legless dad of cartoon family "The Oblongs".
In 1995 he became a feature cast member at Saturday Night Live (1975) during the show's rapid re-casting. He was declared quite possibly the worst cast member ever during his first season. However, his talents of impersonations and range of characters shot him forward to making him arguably the greatest Saturday Night Live (1975) cast member ever. During his seven year run he is one of the few cast members to ever be nominated for an Emmy for a performance and played George W. Bush during the 2000 elections. He has appeared in every Saturday Night Live (1975) movie since his premiere on the show in 1995. In 2002 he left Saturday Night Live (1975) and was the only cast member to ever receive a farewell from all the current cast members at the end of the season finale show. Since leaving the show Will has pursued a career in films. In 2000, he married Viveca Paulin, and lives in L.A.- Actor
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Harvey Fierstein is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright who has been in several stage productions, films, shows and games. He voiced Yao in Mulan and Huaca in Kingdom of the Sun (prototype for The Emperor's New Groove). He also acted in Hairspray, Independence Day, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bros, Big Mouth, Death to Smoochy and Bullets Over Broadway,- Actress
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Carrie Frances Fisher was born on October 21, 1956 in Burbank, California, to singers/actors Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. She was an actress and writer known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Fisher is also known for her book, "Postcards from the Edge", and she wrote the screenplay for the movie based on her novel. Carrie Fisher and talent agent Bryan Lourd have a daughter, Billie Lourd (Billie Catherine Lourd), born on July 17, 1992.- Location Management
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Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario-born New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was prompted by Joshua Logan to appear with her father in the 1954 Omaha Community Theatre production of "The Country Girl". Her interest in acting grew after meeting Lee Strasberg in 1958 and joining the Actors Studio. Her screen debut in Tall Story (1960) (directed by Logan) marked the beginning of a highly successful and respected acting career highlighted by two Academy Awards for her performances in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), and five Oscar nominations for Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981), which was the only film she made with her father. Her professional success contrasted with her personal life, which was often laden with scandal and controversy. Her appearance in several risqué movies (including Barbarella (1968)) by then-husband Roger Vadim was followed by what was to become her most debated and controversial period: her espousal of anti-establishment causes and especially her anti-war activities during the Vietnam War. Her political involvement continued with fellow activist and husband Tom Hayden in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1980s she started the aerobic exercise craze with the publication of the "Jane Fonda's Workout Book". She and Hayden divorced, and she married broadcasting mogul Ted Turner in 1991.- Actress
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Hallie Foote was born on 31 March 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Paranormal Activity 3 (2011), Friends with Money (2006) and One Armed Man (2014). She has been married to Devon Abner since 16 November 1994.- Actress
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Sutton Lenore Foster (born March 18, 1975) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her work on the Broadway stage, for which she has received two Tony Awards for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, in 2002 for her role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and in 2011 for her performance as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes. Her other Broadway credits include Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Young Frankenstein, Shrek the Musical, and Violet. On television, Foster played the lead role in the short-lived ABC Family comedy-drama Bunheads from 2012 to 2013. Since March 2015, she has starred in the TV Land comedy-drama Younger.
Foster was born in Statesboro, Georgia, and raised in Troy, Michigan. At the age of 15, she was a contestant on the reality competition show Star Search and also auditioned for the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. She left Troy High School before graduating (she received her diploma via correspondence courses) to join the national tour of The Will Rogers Follies directed by Tommy Tune. She then attended Carnegie Mellon University for one year, but left to pursue a theatrical career full-time. In May 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Ball State University, "in recognition of her outstanding career in theater, television and music and for her contributions to the educational experience and professional growth of Ball State students."
Her older brother is actor Hunter Foster.
Foster met actor Christian Borle in college, and married him on September 18, 2006. During a radio interview in 2010, it was confirmed that Foster and Borle divorced. Foster and Borle still remain friends and continue to support each other's work. On September 19, 2013, Foster confirmed that she became engaged to screenwriter Ted Griffin. She and Griffin married on October 25, 2014. In April 2017, Foster announced that she and her husband adopted a baby girl, Emily Dale Griffin, born March 5, 2017.
Foster is a self-proclaimed dog lover, and has had three dogs since her Broadway debut, Linus, Mabel, and Brody.
She makes artwork which she sells online and occasionally at art exhibits. She has collaborated with visual artist Julien Havard, who previously worked as her dresser for nine years, beginning with Thoroughly Modern Millie.- Producer
Robert Fox was born on 25 March 1952 in England, UK. He is a producer, known for The Hours (2002), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and Iris (2001). He has been married to Fiona Golfar since 27 August 1996. They have two children. He was previously married to Natasha Richardson and Celestia Fox.- Producer
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Prior to forming SFP, Sonia spent three years as the producer for the Ambassador Theatre Group. Before joining ATG she was the producer and co-founder of Out of Joint, now one of Britain's leading theatre companies. From 1989 to 1993 she was a producer at the National Theatre, specialising in touring productions and theatre for young people.- Actor
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James Gandolfini was born in Westwood, New Jersey, to Santa (Penna), a high school lunchlady, and James Joseph Gandolfini, Sr., a bricklayer and head school janitor. His parents were both of Italian origin. Gandolfini began acting in the New York theater. His Broadway debut was in the 1992 revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" with Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin. James' breakthrough role was his portrayal of Virgil the hitman in Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), but the role that brought him worldwide fame and accolades was as complex Mafia boss Tony Soprano in HBO's smash hit series The Sopranos (1999). He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2013 while vacationing in Italy.- Actress
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Since making her uncredited debut as a dancer in Beatlemania (1981), Gina Gershon has established herself as a character actress and one of the leading icons of American camp. For it was fourteen years after her movie debut that Gina made movie history as the predatory bisexual who was the leading light of a Las Vegas leg-line in director Paul Verhoeven's kitsch classic Showgirls (1995). Exploding out of a plaster-of-Paris volcano clad in nothing but body makeup and a G-string, Gina Gershon obtained cinema immortality. After Showgirls (1995), she solidified her reputation, playing a lesbian sexpot in the Wachowskis' neo-noir Bound (1996).
Gina Gershon was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, the last in a brood of three kids. Her mother, Mickey (Koppel), worked as an interior decorator, and her father, Stanley Gershon, was a salesman and worked in the import/export business. Her paternal grandparents were from Russian Jewish families, and her maternal grandparents were born in Holland and Belgium, both of them to Jewish families from Poland. Gina was raised in the San Fernando Valley, and got the acting bug early, appearing at the age of seven in a school production of Bye Bye Birdie (1963). Because of her acting ambitions, her parents moved to Beverly Hills so Gina could attend Beverly Hills High, where she indulged her acting jones by appearing in a student production of The Music Man (1962). Her first love, she says, is singing.
After graduating from high school in 1980, she attended Emerson College in Boston, but took a part in the musical "Runaways". She transferred to New York University, where her official biography says she studied philosophy and psychology, but she graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts, taking a bachelor of fine arts degree in drama in 1983. In New York City, while perfecting her craft, she co-founded the theater company Naked Angels with Helen Slater.
Her big-screen breakthrough came with a part in the 1986 "Brat Pack" teenage hit Pretty in Pink (1986). She also had parts in the Tom Cruise vehicle Cocktail (1988) and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Red Heat (1988). Of this period, she says, "One of my first gigs, a movie called Cocktail (1988), I found myself at 8 in the morning, in bed, practically naked, having to make out with Tom Cruise; hmmmm... movie business - so far, so good".
Citing Frank Sinatra's song "My Way" as an inspiration, she says that following Cocktail (1988), "I was fortunate enough to play many diversified roles in film, television and stage. Not always to the liking of my managers and agents, but I always did what I wanted...." She played Nancy Barbato Sinatra, Frank's first wife, in the TV miniseries Sinatra (1992).
Gina Gershon became a celebrity in Showgirls (1995). The following year, Gershon solidified her claim on second-tier stardom playing the calculating lesbian "Corky" in the crime movie Bound (1995). She never did capitalize on her mid-1990s breakthrough, but Gershon is established as a character actress and is never out of work, unlike most of her female peers who started out in the industry at the same time. Though no classic beauty, the talented thespian remains gainfully employed while many actresses of her vintage are out of work as she is possessed of a unique look and smoldering sex appeal that comes across on camera.
Gershon is versatile, too, as at home on stage as she is in front of the camera. After appearing in off-Broadway and regional theater productions, she made her Broadway debut as a replacement in Sam Mendes' revival of Cabaret (1972) in January 2001. For six months, she played the key role of "Sally Bowles", returning that October to reprise the role for another month. In 2008, she once again appeared on Broadway in the revival of the farce "Boeing Boeing" on Broadway, which won the Tony award for Best Revival.
Gina Gershon also is a children's book writer. In 2008, Putmam Juvenile published her "Camp Creepy Time", a tale of a boy who discovers aliens at his summer camp, which she co-wrote with her brother, Dann Gershon. "Camp Creepy Time" recently was optioned by DreamWorks, which plans to turn it into a movie. In 2008, she also released "In Search Of Cleo", a CD featuring nine songs which she wrote or co-wrote.- Actor
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John Soursby Glover, Jr., is an American actor, known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville. In 1993 he co-starred in the dark comedy Ed and His Dead Mother with Steve Buscemi and Ned Beatty.Glover was born in Salisbury, Maryland, the son of Cade (née Mullins) and John Soursby Glover, Sr., a television salesman. Glover attended Wicomico High School and acted at Towson University. Glover began his career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and later studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas. Aside from his theatrical endeavors, Glover is also actively involved with the Alzheimer's Association. His inspiration for joining this cause was his own father's experience with Alzheimer's disease.- Actress
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Lauren Graham was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Donna Grant and Lawrence Graham, a candy industry lobbyist. Her father was from New York and her mother was from the American South, and Lauren has Irish, English, and Scottish ancestry. She grew up in Northern Virginia, USA (Fairfax, Arlington, and Great Falls, VA) Graduate of Langley High School, McLean, VA Graduate of Barnard College with a Bachelor's Degree in English. Graduate of Southern Methodist University with a Master's Degree in Acting. She was raised by a single parent, her father. Her parents divorced when she was 5. Growing up she wanted to be a jockey but her height precluded it. She traveled extensively with her father during her childhood and discovered acting while in elementary school. Her resume includes theatre, film and television.- Cody most recently worked with Kenneth Branagh on the Broadway and UK productions of Macbeth. He performed alongside Catherine Zeta Jones at the "Oscars". He has been seen on the hit shows "True Blood", "How I Met Your Mother" and "Parks and Recreation" . He performed for Mia Michaels on "Dancing With The Stars" for the "Rock of Ages" movie. He originated the role of "Riff" in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, and can be heard on the show's Grammy Award-winning cast recording. Originally from B.C., Canada, and an alumnus of The Juilliard School in New York City, Cody was the winner of Bravo TV's reality show series Step It Up & Dance. Cody received unanimous rave reviews, starring as "Sid" in the National Tour of Twyla Tharp's Come Fly Away. Lewis Segal of the Los Angeles Times touted: "Cody Green as Sid, passionately dancing out his demons and making every move unforgettable. By the highest Tharpian standards -- Baryshnikov in "Sinatra Suite," Tom Rawe in "Nine Sinatra Songs" -- this is a great performance". On Television, Green has performed on Good Morning America as "Riff" (ABC), Shall We Dance as himself (NBC), Fashion Rocks with Rihanna (CBS), The Tony Awards (CBS), and The "American Music Awards" with Taylor Swift. Other stage credits include: as "Sid" in Come Fly Away (Broadway) New Grease Broadway, Eddie in Movin' Out (London West End & Broadway), Sinatra Dance With Me (Wynn Las Vegas); and the First National Tour of Mamma Mia!. He also performed alongside Ann Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Seth MacFarlane at the Oscars. On Film, Cody played Nick Hoffman in Center Stage 2, and danced in Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, and David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Cody is from Canada and resides in Los Angeles.
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Michael Greif is known for Dear Evan Hansen (2021), Stuck in Greece: An LGBT Refugee Crisis (2023) and Rent: Live (2019).- Actor
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Zach Grenier was born in Englewood, New Jersey, USA. Zach is an actor, known for Devs (2020), Fight Club (1999) and Ray Donovan (2013).- Actress
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- Haydn Gwynne was fluent in French and Italian. She studied Modern Languages at the University of Warwick before taking a five-year lectureship in Italy, where she taught English. She also drove across the United States before becoming an actress in her mid-twenties.
She first came to notice on television as starring in the David Lodge campus comedy/drama Nice Work (1989), before joining the sharp comedy series set in a television newsroom, Drop the Dead Donkey (1990). She was known for her roles in the medical series Peak Practice (1993) and the police drama Merseybeat (2001), but later played in the stage musicals 'Billy Elliot' and 'Ziegfeld'.
She lived in London with her partner Jason Phipps, a psychotherapist, and their two sons, Orlando and Harry. Offscreen, she volunteered for Sightsavers, a group committed to combating blindness in under-developed countries. - Writer
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Lee Hall has been the recipient of many awards for all aspects of his work. He won the Alfred Bradley Bursary and the Richard Imison Prize with his first play for radio, "I Luv You Jimmy Spud", which he adapted for the screen as "Gabriel and Me" and which premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Growing up he was inspired by seeing plays in Newcastle, particularly those by C. P. Taylor, Tom Hadaway and the R.S.C. His career stemmed from seeing the film "Kes", which inspired him to try his hand at writing and led to him spending some time as Pearson Writer in Residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He received a Writers Guild and Talkie Award in 1997 for "Spoonface Steinberg", one of his God's Country series of plays for BBC Radio which was then adapted for television.
Later working on a regular basis with Newcastle's Live Theatre whose production of his 'Cooking With Elvis', which Hall adapted from his own radio play "Blood Sugar", had a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival in 1999 and opened in the West End in March the following year. For the National Theatre he adapted an old Dutch play, "The Good Hope" but changed the setting from the Hook of Holland to Whitby. His first screenplay for a feature film was 'Billy Elliot' which was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay 'Oscar' and screened at Cannes 2000 in the closing slot of 'Directors' Fortnight' and since then he's written a script every year.
His stage play 'Cooking With Elvis adapted from his radio play Blood Sugar opened in London's West End in March 2000 after a successful run at the 1999 Edinburgh Festival. He went onto work on screenplays of Uri Gargarin for Film Four and an adaption of the novel Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach. He then became Writer in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company- Director
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Kristin is best known for directing and developing the international smash-hit Rock of Ages. In 2009, Ms. Hanggi's rocking jukebox musical received five Tony Award nominations, including a nomination for Best Direction of a Musical for Kristin. She has directed the productions on Broadway, the West End, Australia, Toronto, Las Vegas, and two National Tours.
Ms. Hanggi made her feature directorial debut with Grantham & Rose starring Jake T. Austin and Marla Gibbs. Ms. Hanggi recently directed her follow-up, Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List, an adaption of Rachel Kohn & David Levithan's novel of the same name, starring Victoria Justice.
For television, Ms. Hanggi adapted and directed the hit book series, Dear Dumb Diary into a musical movie, under Executive Producer Jerry Zucker for Walden Media.
Ms. Hanggi's other stage productions include the acclaimed pop opera bare, which ran to sold-out audiences in Los Angeles and off-Broadway. Bare brought Ms. Hanggi numerous accolades including the Ovation Award for Best Musical, LA Weekly Award for Best Musical, and the Robby Award for Best Director.
Ms. Hanggi also directed the initial production that launched the Pussycat Dolls, Pussycat Dolls Live at the Roxy with stars such as Christina Applegate, Carmen Electra, and special guests Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Brittany Murphy, Nikka Costa, and Academy Award winner Charlize Theron.
Other stage productions include: And the Curtain Rises at the Signature Theater; the winner of the New York's Fringe Festival, Catch The Fish; Twelfth Premise (LA Times Critics Pick); the Los Angeles Premiere of Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi (Ticketholder Award, Best Production; Ticketholder Award, Best Director; Robby Award, Best Director of a Play); Crane, Mississippi (LA Times Critic's Choice, Backstage West Critic's Pick).
Ms. Hanggi is working alongside Amy Heckerling to develop Ms. Heckerling's hit 1995 film Clueless into a musical for the stage.
Ms. Hanggi graduated with her Masters from USC after receiving her Bachelors from UCLA in Theater. In June of 2013, Kristin returned to her alma mater when she received the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & Television Distinguished Alumni Award.- Actor
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Colin Lewes Hanks is an American actor. He was born in Sacramento, California, to actors Samantha Lewes and Tom Hanks. Colin is best-known for his work as "Jack Bailey" in the series, The Good Guys (2010) and as "Alex Whitman" in Roswell (1999). Hanks' best-known film role may be in the teen movie, Orange County (2002), with Jack Black and John Lithgow. His best-known television role was "Alex Whitman", the love interest of Katherine Heigl in the science fiction series, Roswell (1999) between 1999 and 2001. Hanks also made an appearance in an episode of The O.C. (2003). He appeared in part eight of the HBO mini-series, Band of Brothers (2001).- Stephen Hanna was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for Center Stage (2000), Forever (2014) and Disney Royals (2017). He has been married to Bret Shuford since 18 April 2011.
- Actress
- Producer
Marcia Gay Harden was born on August 14, 1959, in La Jolla, California, the third of five children. Her mother, Beverly (Bushfield), was a homemaker, and her father, Thad Harold Harden, was in the military. The family relocated often -- she first became interested in the theatre when the family was living in Greece, and she had attended plays in Athens. Harden began her college education at American universities in Europe and returned to the US to complete her studies at the University of Texas in 1983; went on to earn an MFA at NYU, and, thereafter, embarked on her acting career.
Although she had acted in a movie as early as 1986, in the little-known The Imagemaker (1986), her first mainstream role, coming alongside some TV movie work, was as a sultry femme fatale in the Coen Brothers' cleverly offbeat homage to the gangster movie, Miller's Crossing (1990). Harden received good reviews for her sultry performance as Verna, a seductive, trouble-making moll. Harden thereafter worked steadily in supporting roles, including the portrayal of Ava Gardner in Sinatra (1992), a television biopic about Frank Sinatra. Harden also worked in the theater and, in 1993, was part of the Broadway cast of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America", playing Harper, the alienated wife of a closeted gay man. It was a demanding dramatic role, and Harden won acclaim for her work, including a Tony award nomination. She returned to movie making in the mid-1990s, continuing to turn in superb supporting performances in films and television.
Harden's road to success was a long one, her work generally being overlooked because the productions were either critically panned or ignored by audiences. However, it was just a matter of time before Harden got a chance to truly show her quality on-screen, and that time came in 2000, with Ed Harris's Pollock (2000), in which she played Lee Krasner, artist and long-suffering wife of Jackson Pollock. Harden's performance was deeply moving and unforgettable and earned her the Oscar and New York Film Critic's Circle awards for best supporting actress. Continuing to work prolifically in features and television, she earned another Oscar nomination in 2003 for her supporting role in Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003), Harden having earlier worked with Eastwood in 2000's Space Cowboys (2000).
Harden's work often makes otherwise mediocre productions worth watching, fully inhabiting any character she portrays. She was married to Thaddaeus Scheel, with whom she worked on The Spitfire Grill (1996), from 1996 to 2012. The couple have three children, a daughter Eulala Scheel, and twins Julitta and Hudson.- Actress
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Anne Jacqueline Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Kate McCauley Hathaway, an actress, and Gerald T. Hathaway, a lawyer, both originally from Philadelphia. She is of mostly Irish descent, along with English, German, and French. Her first major role came in the short-lived television series Get Real (1999). She gained widespread recognition for her roles in The Princess Diaries (2001) and its 2004 sequel as a young girl who discovers she is a member of royalty, opposite Julie Andrews and Heather Matarazzo.
She also had a notable role in Nicholas Nickleby (2002) opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, and a starring role in Ella Enchanted (2004). A former top-ranking soprano in New York, Hathaway was reportedly a front-runner for the role of "Christine" in the 2004 The Phantom of the Opera (2004). However, due to scheduling conflicts with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she couldn't take the role, which was later given to newcomer Emmy Rossum.
Hathaway soon started to move away from family-friendly films. Following The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she appeared topless in the films Havoc (2005) opposite Josh Peck and Brokeback Mountain (2005) opposite Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her desire to break out of her "Princess Diaries" image parallels that of her one-time co-star, Julie Andrews, who went topless in the film S.O.B. (1981) in order to break away from the image she created from her 1960s musicals. In interviews, Hathaway said that doing family-friendly films didn't mean she was similar to their characters or mean she objected to appearing nude in other films.- Costume Designer
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Grammy award-winning songwriter ("Hello Dolly!" [1965]), composer and author, educated at the University of Miami (Bachelor of Arts) and the Parsons School of Design. His stage scores include "I Feel Wonderful" and "Parade" (off-Broadway), "Night Cap" (for night clubs), and "Milk and Honey", "Mame", and "Hello Dolly!" (Tony and New York Drama Critic awards, 1964) for Broadway. Joining ASCAP in 1963, his other popular-song compositions include "That Was Yesterday", "I Will Follow You", "Show Tune in 3[4 Time", "If He Walked Into My Life", "So Long, Dearie', "Mame", "Jolly Theatrical Season", "Your Good Morning", "Your Hand In My Hand", "Shalom", "There's No Reason In the World", "Milk and Honey', "It Only Takes a Moment", and "Ribbons Down My Back".- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Megan Hilty was born on 29 March 1981 in Bellevue, Washington, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Smash (2012), Secret of the Wings (2012) and Centaurworld (2021). She has been married to Brian Gallagher since 2 November 2013. They have two children.- Actor
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David Hyde Pierce was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, USA. He is the youngest child of George and Laura Pierce (both deceased) and has two older sisters (Barbara and Nancy) and an older brother (Thomas). As a child, he was very interested in music (particularly piano) and regularly played the organ at his local church (Bethesda Episcopal Church). David discovered a love of drama in high school and, upon his graduation in 1977, he received the Yaddo Medal which is to honor academic achievement and personal character. However, his love of music was still strong so he decided to study classical piano at Yale University.
Unfortunately, he soon grew bored with music history lessons and found that he wasn't dedicated enough to practice the required amount of hours to become a successful concert pianist. Instead, he returned to his love of drama and graduated in 1981 with a double major in English and Theatre Arts. He then moved to New York where he worked several menial jobs (including selling ties at Bloomingdales and working as a security guard) while acting in the theater during the late 80s and early 90s. He appeared in small roles in films such as Bright Lights, Big City (1988) before his life and career changed forever when he landed the role of "Dr. Niles Crane" in the television series Frasier (1993). Throughout the show's eleven year run (1993-2004), David was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series each year (he won four times: 1995, 1998-1999 and 2004). David resides in Los Angeles with his romantic partner, Brian Hargrove, and their two Wheaton Terriers, Maude and Mabel. He remains very close to his three siblings.- Actress
- Writer
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As both a writer and performer, Jessica Hynes has worked prolifically in television, film and theatre. Born in Lewisham, South London in 1972, she was brought up in Brighton, Sussex. At school, she would write bizarre sci-fi stories. At age 15, she joined the National Youth Theatre and left home at age 18. She then moved to London and took bit parts as an actress and comedienne. She worked on stage with Katy Carmichael, who would later appear as "Twist" on Spaced (1999), they both joined Simon Pegg on the sketch show, Six Pairs of Pants (1995). Simon Pegg recommended Jessica for a part on another sketch show, Asylum (1996), which was directed by Edgar Wright. Simon and Jessica became friends, immediately, and decided that they wanted to write comedy together. They came up with Spaced (1999), a sitcom about dysfunction among a group of strange twenty-somethings. Edgar Wright was brought in to direct and the show was filmed in 1998 in North London, during Jessica's first pregnancy. An instant success, "Spaced" was commissioned for a second series and Jessica moved on to work in films, winning two British Comedy Awards. She was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for her work in the play, "The Night Heron", in 2001, during filming of series 2. She was also nominated for a Best Actress BAFTA Award for the film, Tomorrow La Scala! (2002). Jessica, Simon and Edgar was reunited for the film, Shaun of the Dead (2004), in which Jessica played Simon's school-friend, "Yvonne". Her second child was born in 2002. She is now working mainly in film, and is still writing comedy.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marin Ireland was born in Camarillo, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Hell or High Water (2016), Glass Chin (2014) and Homeland (2011).- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Allison Janney is an award-winning actress who has earned a solid reputation in stage productions and in many supporting roles on screen, and who more recently has become prominent by portraying one of the major characters in the popular TV series The West Wing (1999).
Entertainment Weekly magazine describes Janney's screen presence as "uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive." As an actor, the magazine deems her to be "one to watch."
Janney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Macy Brooks (Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. While studying at Kenyon College, Janney answered a casting call for an on-campus play that was to be directed by Kenyon's most famous alumnus, the legendary actor Paul Newman. During her audition/interview, Janney played upon Newman's known passion for race car driving - she explained how she cut thirty minutes off of the 130 mile journey from her home town to the college. She got chosen for the play's cast.
After earning her degree in drama, Janney took Joanne Woodward's suggestion to do further study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Early in her career Janney got comedic roles in the soap operas As the World Turns (1956) and Guiding Light (1952). Later, she gave memorable movie performances in supporting roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), American Beauty (1999) and Nurse Betty (2000), and in the made-for-TV movie ...First Do No Harm (1997), among others.
Among her stage work, Janney has played in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" on Broadway opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which earned her a Tony Award nomination, and a Drama League Award for outstanding artist for the 1997-98 season. She played in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" opposite Frank Langella, which earned her the Outer Critics Circle Award and an Actors' Equity award. Janney also appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Taming of the Shrew."
In 1999 Janney became part of the original cast of the acclaimed TV series The West Wing (1999) where she played the President's press secretary who eventually gets promoted to the White House Chief of Staff. Her impressive work during the seven seasons of that renowned series earned her four Emmys and two SAG Awards.
With her reputation becoming more broadly established during her work on "The West Wing" Janney won more substantive roles in feature films, in the acclaimed The Hours (2002) where she was Meryl Streep's lesbian lover, and in How to Deal (2003) where she played Mandy Moore's mother.- Actor
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Mitchell Jarvis was born in Granada Hills, CA, and raised in Burnsville, MN. The son of Gary and Jennifer Jarvis. He has two sisters; Rachel and Amanda. The family toured through Mitchell's childhood as a musical act known as; The Jarvis Family. With an eye on the Broadway stage he studied theatre at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh, PA (class of 2002). He worked his way into the New York theatre scene over the course of the next decade making a splash as Lonny the narrator in the Original Broadway company of "Rock of Ages". Mitchell is a film maker, and an accomplished singer.- Actor
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Born and raised in suburban Detroit, Gregory Jbara transferred from the University of Michigan School of Music musical theatre program to complete his BFA in acting at the Juilliard School.
Jbara won the 2009 Tony®, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actor in a Musical originating the role of "Jackie Elliot" in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot. He also starred on Broadway as "Billy Flynn" in the Tony Award winning revival of Chicago. He originated the role of "Andre Thibault" in the Broadway musical comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, also starring John Lithgow, Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott, Joanna Gleason, and Sara Gettelfinger.
Other Broadway musical roles originated by Jbara are "Squash Bernstein" in Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews, and that of dimwitted catcher "Sohovik" in the Damn Yankees revival starring Bebe Neuwirth, Victor Garber, and Jerry Lewis.
Jbara received the BackStageWest Garland 2000 Award for his performance in the West Coast Premiere of George Furth's Precious Sons with Nora Dunn.
Other stage credits include: "Mr. Bunder" in the West Coast premiere of Michael John LaChiusa's Little Fish at the Blank Theatre, "Vinnie" in the Geffen Playhouse Premiere of Neil Simon's Felix & Oscar; "Ike/Bess Truman" in the West Coast Premiere of LaChiusa's First Lady Suite; "Clark Gable" in The Blank Theatre Company's Living Room Series presentation of Mark Saltzman's new play, Mr. Shaw Goes To Hollywood; "Chick Clark" in Wonderful Town for City Center Encores; the Broadway revival of Born Yesterday with Edward Asner and Madeline Kahn; Serious Money with Alec Baldwin and Kate Nelligan; Privates On Parade with Jim Dale and Simon Jones; Forever Plaid, Das Barbecu, and Have I Got A Girl For You!.
Additional film and TV credits include: The Pied Piper and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Jbara is the voice of the animatronic radio newscaster in Epcot Center's Spaceship Earth. Disney animated feature credits include "Bruiser/Thug Chorus" in Tangled, featured chorus in Enchanted and "Willie 3/Chorus" in Home On The Range. He also sang Randy Newman's, "You've Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story for U.S. Olympic Ice Skater, Michelle Kwan's 75 Years Of Disney Music/TV Special.
Jbara appeared as "Kenny" in the Carnegie Hall concert version of Very Warm For May with Jon Lovitz for conductor/director John McGlinn.
Recordings include the Broadway cast recordings of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Victor/Victoria and Damn Yankees!; Little Fish on Ghostlight Records; First Lady Suite on PS Classics; Brigadoon and Annie Get Your Gun on EMI; A Broadway Christmas, Unsung Musicals II, Unsung Berlin, Peter Pan, and Drat The Cat! on Varese/Sarabande; Enchanted, Tangled and Home On The Range for Disney.
Jbara was the narrator for Ripley's Believe it Or Not on TBS, and his voice is featured on the Best Of Ripley's DVD release.
Jbara resides with his wife Julie and their sons Zachary and Aidan in Los Angeles.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
Sir Elton John is one of pop music's great survivors. Born 25 March, 1947, as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, he started to play the piano at the early age of four. At the age of 11, he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. His first band was called Bluesology. He later auditioned (unsuccessfully) as lead singer for the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Gentle Giant. Dwight teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin and changed his name to Elton John (merging the names of saxophonist Elton Dean and Long John Baldry). The duo wrote songs for Lulu and Roger Cook. In the early 1970s, he recorded the concept album "Tumbleweed Connection." He became the most successful pop artist of the 1970s, and he has survived many different pop fads including punk, the New Romantics and Britpop to remain one of Britain's most internationally acclaimed musicians.
Elton John announced he was a bisexual in 1976, and in 1984, he married Renate Blauel. The marriage lasted four years before he finally came to terms with the fact that he was actually homosexual. In the 1970s and 1980s, he suffered from drug and alcohol addiction and bulimia but came through it. He is well known as a campaigner for AIDS research and he keeps his finger on the pulse of modern music, enjoying artists such as Eminem, Radiohead, Coldplay and Robbie Williams. He was knighted in 1997.- Music Department
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- Martin Koch is known for Esbjerg: Crime Family (2018).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Trent Kowalik was born on 22 February 1995 in Wantagh, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Like Nobody's Watching, Finding Billy (2012) and The 63rd Annual Tony Awards (2009).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jeff Kready was born on 4 June 1982 in Topeka, Kansas, USA. He is an actor, known for Elementary (2012), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) and Boardwalk Empire (2010). He has been married to Nikki Renee Daniels since 12 October 2009.- Actor
- Music Department
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Marc Kudisch was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, and grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the second child of four (older brother, two sisters, all connected to the medical profession in some way). He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 1989. He was engaged to Kristin Chenoweth for three years; the relationship ended in 2001.
Marc appeared as "TV Guy" in Toyota commercials, 1999-2000. He starred as Conrad Birdie in the national tour of "Bye Bye Birdie" in 1992, and reprised the role in the 1995 ABC TV movie remake. He has also starred on Broadway in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", as Gaston in "Beauty and the Beast" (1995-97), "High Society" (1998), 'The Scarlet Pimpernell" (1999), "The Wild Party" (2000) and as Jeff Moss in "Bells Are Ringing" (2001)..- Kiril's parents, Raisa Kulish and Phil Axelrod, emigrated from Ukraine in 1989 and settled near San Diego, where Kiril was born five years later. His mother is a concert pianist, and taught him to play. A big fan of sports and physical activity, Kiril also began dancing at a young age, concentrating on ballet and Latin ballroom. He has won numerous competitions and awards for dance. In 2008, his skills landed him a spot on Broadway as one of the three original Billys in Billy Elliot: The Musical. He and his co-stars, David Alvarez and Trent Kowalik, jointly won the 2009 Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for the strenuous show.
- Actress
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Jessica Lange was born in 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota, USA, where her father worked as a traveling salesman. She obtained a scholarship to study art at the University of Minnesota, but instead went to Paris to study drama. She moved to New York, working as a model, until producer Dino De Laurentiis cast her as the female lead in King Kong (1976). The film attracted much unfavorable comment and, as a result, Lange was off the screen for three years. She was given a small but showy part in Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979), before giving a memorable performance in Bob Rafelson's The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), as an adulterous waitress. The following year, she won rave reviews for her exceptional portrayal of actress Frances Farmer in Frances (1982) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her work in Sydney Pollack's Tootsie (1982) (as a beautiful soap-opera actress). She was also outstanding as country singer Patsy Cline in Karel Reisz's Sweet Dreams (1985) and as a lawyer who defends her father and discovers his past in Music Box (1989). Other important films include Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991) (as a frightened housewife) and Tony Richardson's Blue Sky (1994), for which she won a Best Actress Academy Award as the mentally unbalanced wife of a military officer. She made her Broadway debut in 1992, playing "Blanche" in Tennessee Williams "A Streetcar Named Desire".- Actor
- Producer
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Frank Langella was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Angelina and Frank A. Langella, a business executive. He is of Italian descent.
A stage and screen actor of extreme versatility, Frank Langella won acclaim on the New York stage in "Seascape" and followed it up with the title role in the Edward Gorey production of "Dracula". He repeated the role for the screen in Dracula (1979) and became an international star. Over the years, he has done occasional films but prefers to concentrate on his first love, the legitimate theatre. His stage performance ranged from Strindberg drama ("The Father") to Noël Coward comedy ("Present Laughter"). He also appeared in several productions for the New York Shakespeare festival.- Marina Lazzaretto is known for Schmigadoon! (2021), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017) and Fosse/Verdon (2019).
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- Executive
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David Lindsay-Abaire was born on 30 November 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is a writer, known for Rabbit Hole (2010), Poltergeist (2015) and Rise of the Guardians (2012).- Director
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Phyllida Lloyd was born on 17 June 1957 in Bristol, England, UK. She is a director and producer, known for Mamma Mia! (2008), The Iron Lady (2011) and Herself (2020).- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Brian MacDevitt is known for Cornfield (2011), The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006) and You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush (2009).- Writer
- Director
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Ian MacNeill was born in 1919 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a writer and director, known for Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 2: The City - Cars or People? (1963), Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 3: The City and Its Region (1963) and Lewis Mumford on the City, Part 1: The City - Heaven and Hell (1963).- Actor
- Music Department
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Ben is a New York based actor, musician, and writer. In 2005, Ben played his cello and the role of Anthony in the Tony Award winning Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. He performed on the Grammy nominated original cast recording and performed the entire run at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre. He recreated his role on the road in the subsequent national tour; earning the IRNE award for Best Supporting Actor.
Favorite credits include Des McAnuff's 2009 Broadway revival of Guys & Dolls at the Nederlander Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh's reimagined 25th Anniversary National Tour of Les Misérables. Ben spent two years playing the Bank Manager (and several musical instruments) in the 1st National Tour and Broadway productions of Once, the musical. Favorite credits include John Doyle's recent off-Broadway revival of Assassins at Classic Stage Company, Lemml in Paula Vogel's Indecent at Victory Gardens Theater, and Tateh in the Jeff Award-Winning production of Ragtime in Chicago. Other regional credits include Sunday In The Park With George at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Man of La Mancha at Long Wharf, ACT, Cape Playhouse, Drury Lane, Geva Theatre Center, and Paper Mill Playhouse. On screen, you may have seen Ben as Paul Revere on NBC's 30 Rock, pouring shots for Paul Giamatti in Showtime's Billions, demonizing the highway in CBS's Evil, or singing with Will Ferrell in The Other Guys.
His theater work also includes multiple projects with the immersive NYC dance company, Third Rail Productions. He served as a collaborating musician on their productions of Then She Fell, The Grand Paradise, and Lincoln Center's Ghost Light. Ben served as co-composer for their most recent Drama-Desk Nominated production of Midsummer: A Banquet.
As a singer and musician, he has played in venues as varied as San Francisco's Plush Room to New York's Bowery Ballroom and Sin-é; from The Boston Opera House to The Pantages in Los Angeles. He has contributed string arrangements, cello, and various other instruments on dozens of indie albums, including Old Songs with The Fret Knots that was released 10" on vinyl. Most recently, Ben released his album Safe In Tomorrow in January, 2021- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
After graduating from RADA in 1994, Cambridge law graduate Mangan did not pursue lead roles on-screen, preferring to take what he saw as the less limited opportunities on the stage. Between 1994 and 2000, he performed in plays by (among others) Shakespeare, Shaw, Coward, Benn and Goldsmith throughout the UK and the West End before joining world-renowned theatre company Cheek by Jowl for an international tour of Much Ado About Nothing, earning him a nomination for a National Theatre Ian Charleson Award.
He worked again for director Declan Donnellan at the Royal Shakespeare Company in School for Scandal, and at the Savoy Theatre, London in Hay Fever. In 2008 he played the title role in The Norman Conquests, directed by Matthew Warchus, at The Old Vic Theatre, London and then at the Circle in the Square on Broadway. The production earned several Tony Award nominations, including one for Mangan himself. In 2012 he appeared at the Royal Court, London (for the second time) in a Joe Penhall play, Birthday, directed by Roger Michell, playing a pregnant man. He also starred as Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre alongside Matthew Macfadyen as Jeeves.
His breakthrough performance was Adrian Mole in the six-part TV show "Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years" (2001). In the same year he also appeared in "Sword of Honour" on Channel 4 alongside Daniel Craig. Since then he has worked extensively in British television as a lead actor in both serious drama and comedy. His most recent success is the British/American television comedy series "Episodes" created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, starring Mangan alongside Matt Le Blanc and Tamsin Greig. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011.
His first film part was as Doctor Crane in Billy Elliot. He went on to appear in many other films such Chunky Monkey, Birthday Girl, Festival and Beyong The Pole. His most recent film is as the voice of Postman Pat in "Postman Pat: The Movie" a British 3D computer-animated comedy film. He was host of the Evening Standard British Film Awards for 4 years (2009-2013) and will host the Olivier Awards in 2014. In April 2014, Mangan will return to host the British Academy Television Craft Awards in London for a third time. He is a well-known voiceover artist - voicing animation, commercials and documentaries.- Actor
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Constantine Maroulis was born on 17 September 1975 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Rock of Ages (2012), The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) and Kittens in a Cage (2015).- Actress
- Executive
- Soundtrack
Samantha Mathis was born in 1970 in New York, to Donald Mathis and Austrian-born Bibi Besch, an aspiring actress at the time. Her maternal grandmother was actress Gusti Huber. Her first acting job was in a commercial for baby products with her mother. Since her parents divorced when she was only three years old, Samantha was very exposed to the acting industry from a very young age, which made her almost destined to become an actress. Samantha's first feature film was Pump Up the Volume (1990) opposite her on- and off-screen love at the time, Christian Slater.- Producer
- Additional Crew
Kevin McCollum is an American theatrical booking executive and producer of musical theater and plays, many on Broadway. During a producing career spanning over twenty-five years, McCollum has received three Tony Awards for Best Musical for "In the Heights," "Avenue Q," and "Rent." He produced "Motown: The Musical" (Broadway & National Tour), "The Drowsy Chaperone" in 2006, which won five Tony Awards, Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's "La Boheme" in 2002, "[title of show]" in 2008, the touring and Broadway productions of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas," the off Broadway hit "De La Guarda," the recent hit revival of "West Side Story," and "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo." In 1995 Mr. McCollum co-founded the Producing Office, and has since created Alchemation, a theatrical and media producing company committed to new work. Mr. McCollum was trained at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and earned his Master's degree in film producing from the Peter Stark Program at the University of Southern California. In 1995, he received the Robert Whitehead Award for Outstanding Commercial Theatre Producing.- Actress
- Producer
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Audra McDonald was born on July 3, 1970 in Berlin, Germany as Audra Ann McDonald. She's an actress and singer, best known for her many roles on Broadway. Her mother was a university administrator and her father was a high school principal stationed in West Berlin with the U.S. Army. She has a younger sister and grew up in Fresno, California. She graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and went on to study classical singing at Julliard, from which she graduated in 1993. A year later, she won her first Tony Award for her role in Carousel. In 1998, she released her first solo album Way Back to Paradise. She was nominated for her first Emmy Award in 2001 for her role in Wit (2001). In 2006, she debuted as an opera singer in a production of a one-act opera La Voix humaine at the Houston Grand Opera. By 2014, she had won 6 Tonys, becoming the first person to win the award in all 4 acting categories. She planned to make her West End debut in 2016 but postponed it in order to go on maternity leave, eventually debuting at the Wyndham's Theater in the West End in June 2017. She has made many TV and movie appearances, most notably in 4 seasons of Private Practice (2007) & in Disney's remake of Beauty and the Beast (2017). She also performs at concerts throughout the U.S. She was married to Peter Donovan from 2000 to 2009, they have a daughter, Zoe Madeline. Since 2012 she's been married to Will Swenson, they have a daughter, Sally James.- Production Designer
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McRaney holds the distinction of being the last guest star to meet "Matt Dillon" in a gunfight on Gunsmoke (1955) - in the episode, Hard Labor (1975), first broadcast on February 24, 1975 (he lost). In fact, in the early portion of Gerald McRaney's career he almost always played the villain; but, since his first series, Simon & Simon (1981), hit it big, he's played mostly good guys. The character of passionate but irresponsible "Rick Simon" gave McRaney the opportunity to play a dramatic role with a comedic edge. A second hit series, Major Dad (1989), showcased his talent for comedy. McRaney met and fell in love with fellow southerner Delta Burke when she guest-starred on Simon & Simon (1981). He later appeared on her series, Designing Women (1986), as her ex-husband, although it is an unwritten rule that actors with current series don't do guest roles; they were married not long after.- Actress
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Janet McTeer was born on August 5, 1961 in Newcastle, England, UK to parents Jean and Allan McTeer. She was raised in York from the age of 6. She attended Queen Anne Grammar School for Girls, where there was not much opportunity for drama. She became interested in acting at age 16, when she saw "She Stoops to Conquer" at the York Theater. She worked as a waitress at the same theater, where she once served a coffee to Gary Oldman. He suggested that she apply to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he had just finished studying. She successfully gained a place at RADA. After graduation, she began her career acting on stage by joining the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Her on-screen film debut came in Half Moon Street (1986), an erotic thriller based on a novel by Paul Theroux. In 2000, she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Tumbleweeds (1999). She was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.- Actor
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Bret Michaels was born on 15 March 1963 in Butler, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for A Letter from Death Row (1998), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) and Friday Night Lights (2004).- Ben Miles trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, following next a memorable course of solid performances on both stage and screen, such as in the Old Vic's production of William Shakespeare's "Richard II" (as Bolingbroke) in 2005 alongside his father-in-law Gary Raymond and in Harold Pinter's Harold Pinter's "Betrayal" at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, with Kristin Scott Thomas and Douglas Henshall in 2011, directed by Ian Rickson. In 2014 Miles played Thomas Cromwell in the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) version of Hilary Mantel's novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London. In 2015 the RSC brought the plays to New York City, where his interpretation was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor at the Tony Awards. Among others, his notable stage work in prolific plays also includes an acclaimed production of Alexi Kaye Campbell's "Sunset at the Villa Thalia" premiered in London at the National Theatre of Great Britain in May 2016, directed by Simon Godwin together with Elizabeth McGovern, Sam Crane, Pippa Nixon, Christos Callow, Glykeria Dimou and Eve Polycarpou in the brilliant cast.
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Liza Minnelli was born on March 12, 1946, the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. She was practically raised at MGM studios while her parents worked long hours there and she made her film debut at 14 months of age in the movie In the Good Old Summertime (1949). Her parents divorced in 1951 and, in 1952, her mother married Sidney Luft, with sister Lorna Luft and brother Joey Luft subsequently being born. Her father, Vincente Minnelli, later married Georgette Magnani, mother of her half-sister Christiane Nina "Tina Nina" Minnelli.
At 16, Liza was on her own in New York City, struggling to begin her career in show business. Her first recognition came for the play "Best Foot Forward" which ran for seven months in 1963. The following year, Judy invited Liza to appear at a show with her at the London Palladium. This show sold out immediately and a second night was added to it. Liza's performance in London was a huge turning point in both her career and her relationship with her mother. The audience absolutely loved Liza and Judy realized that Liza was now an adult with her own career. It was at the Palladium where Liza met her first husband, Peter Allen, a friend of Judy's.
Liza won a Tony award at age 19 and was nominated for her first Academy Award at age 23 for the role of Pookie Adams in The Sterile Cuckoo (1969). Other dramatic roles followed and, in 1972, she won an Oscar for her performance as Sally Bowles in the movie Cabaret (1972). The 1970s were a busy time for Liza. She worked steadily in film, stage, and music. She and her good friend Halston were regulars at Studio 54, the trendiest disco club in the world. Marriages to filmmaker Jack Haley Jr. and Mark Gero, a sculptor who earned his living in the theater, followed. Each marriage ended in divorce.
Over the past years, her career has leaned more towards stage performances and she has a long list of musical albums to which she continues to add. She teamed with Frank Sinatra in his "Duets" CD, and Sammy Davis Jr. joined them for a series of concerts and TV shows that were extremely well-received.
She has had to deal with tabloid stories of drug abuse and ill-health and has had a number of high profile stays at drug-rehabilitation clinics. Her hectic schedule may have slowed down in recent years, but she still has a large following of immensely loyal fans who continue to cheer her on.- Actor
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Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the first incarnation of "In the Heights" his sophomore year at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Off-Broadway, "In The Heights" received nine Drama Desk nominations, including best music, best lyrics, and it won the award for outstanding ensemble performance; received the Lucille Lortel Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for best musical; received the Obie Award for outstanding music and lyrics; received a Theater World Award for outstanding debut Performance and the Clarence Derwent Award both for Mr. Miranda's performance. He is the recipient of the 2007 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award. He has appeared on The Sopranos (1999) and Sex and the City (1998), House (2004), and The Electric Company (2006). He is also a co-founding member of Freestyle Love Supreme, a hip-hop comedy group that tours comedy festivals all over the world.- Actor
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Brian Stokes Mitchell was born on 31 October 1957 in Seattle, Washington, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for The Prince of Egypt (1998), tick, tick... BOOM! (2021) and Ghost Dad (1990). He has been married to Allyson Tucker since 3 September 1994. They have one child.- Additional Crew
- Actor
Christian Moralde is an actor, writer and host. As a frequent staple on the red carpet, 2016 marks Moralde's 20th year of living in Los Angeles.
With spanning worldwide, Moralde's on-camera work has been seen nationally and internationally. Moralde is notably known for writing, production and performing in his one-man show, "Don't Call Me Walter!" which has been performed in Los Angeles, Phoenix and New York. He has taught acting workshops in high schools and helped start an acting group geared towards educating students on HIV awareness. Despite his industry contributions, Moralde believes that his greatest contribution to the acting community is the nonprofit acting organization he founded in 1998 called Powerful Actors Anonymous. It is a group focused on the business of acting and achieving success.- Actor
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Spencer made his Broadway debut in the Aaron Sorkin drama, "The Farnsworth Invention." He was mostly raised in San Diego, California, where he attended Point Loma High School and later, San Diego State University. In both high school and college, he made pottery which he sold at art fairs.
Spencer lives in New York, acting and teaching ukulele lessons to hipsters, children and older folks.- Actress
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Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is the daughter of Sydney Anne, an artist, and Lee Paul Neuwirth, a mathematician. Born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, she started out as a dancer. Her New York career started out in "A Chorus Line". She won a Tony Award for her part in "Sweet Charity" and two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Lilith Sternin Crane of Cheers (1982).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Karen Olivo was born on 7 August 1976 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Harry's Law (2011), Chase (2010) and Generation Um... (2012). She has been married to Jim Uphoff since September 2014. She was previously married to Matt Caplan.