Cinderella Liberty 1973 premiere
Monday December 17th, iPic Westwood
10840 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024
10840 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024
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Marsha Mason has a wonderful, extremely engaging "feel good" quality about her, an innate warmth that makes you root for her whether she's playing a stubborn single mom, brittle prostitute, or strung-out alcoholic. She was a resoundingly respected and popular film actress of the 1970s and 1980s whose career skyrocketed in the bittersweet comedies/dramas of award-winning Neil Simon. Earning a string of leading lady Oscar nominations within a short span of time (three of them, courtesy of husband Simon), Marsha's movie career suffered a major fall-out when the famed couple parted ways in 1983 -- most probably due to her almost exclusive, amazingly successful association with him.
The elder of two sisters born to James Joseph Mason and Jacqueline Helena (Rachowsky) Mason in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 3, 1942, Marsha was raised, for a time, in Crestwood, Missouri, before moving to Webster Groves (a suburb of St. Louis) and graduating from Nerinx Hall High School. There, she attended Webster University and, after receiving her degree, moved to New York where she began taking acting classes and finding some work in TV commercials in-between regular job-hunting.
Marrying fellow struggling actor Gary Campbell in 1965, Marsha made an inauspicious movie debut with the forgettable Hot Rod Hullabaloo (1966). Focusing intently on stage work, she made her professional debut in 1967 with "The Deer Park" at the Theatre de Lys and, the next year, joined the cast as a replacement in the established hit comedy, "Cactus Flower", at the Royale Theatre. Subsequent work came her way both on- and off-Broadway ("It's Called the Sugar Plum", "The Indian Wants the Bronx", "Happy Birthday, Wanda June", "Richard III"). She later hooked up with San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theatre and appeared in an enviable number of their productions ("The Merchant of Venice", "Private Lives", "You Can't Take It With You", "A Doll's House", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "The Crucible").
Daytime soaps played a vital part during this period of time (1969-1972), playing a hooker-turned-vampire on the popular Dark Shadows (1966) series and winning regular roles on Where the Heart Is (1969) and Love of Life (1951). Divorced after five years from actor Gary Campbell in 1970, the pert-nosed, dark-haired beauty met Neil Simon, a recent widower, when he cast her in his 1973 original Broadway production of "The Good Doctor". They had a whirlwind romance and married with a few weeks.
1973 was an excellent year in other ways in that Marsha won the second femme lead in Blume in Love (1973), starring George Segal and Susan Anspach, and then beat out such stars as Barbra Streisand for the coveted role of the hooker opposite James Caan's sailor in the realistic drama Cinderella Liberty (1973). The chemistry was electric between the two and Mason earned her first Oscar nod. Following a leading stage role in "The Heiress" (1975) and playing "Roxane" in a TV version of Cyrano de Bergerac (1975), Marsha earned two more Neil Simon-driven Oscar nominations with The Goodbye Girl (1977), opposite Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, and Chapter Two (1979), which reunited her with James Caan and was based on Mason and Simon's own relationship.
Simon would offer his wife Oscar-worthy material one more time with Only When I Laugh (1981), as an alcoholic trying to stay on the wagon for daughter Kristy McNichol. This would be Marsha's fourth Academy Award nod. The couple's last film project together came in the form of Max Dugan Returns (1983), which was a major misfire.
Following Marsha's divorce from Simon, her film product decreased rapidly in quantity as well as quality. With the exception of the Clint Eastwood vehicle, Heartbreak Ridge (1986), she made no other films in the 1980s. While her film output did increase in the 1990s, none of them -- Stella (1990), Drop Dead Fred (1991), I Love Trouble (1994), Nick of Time (1995) and 2 Days in the Valley (1996) -- did anything to jump-start her waning cinematic career.
Over the years, Marsha maintained by focusing on TV and stage work. More recent theatre credits have included "The Night of the Iguana", "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (another popular Simon work in which she appeared opposite Richard Dreyfuss in London), "Wintertime", "Steel Magnolias", "I Never Sang for My Father", "All's Well that Ends Well" and the Simon play "California Suite", some of which played Broadway.
On the small screen, Marsha starred in her own short-lived series Sibs (1991) and appeared in an Emmy-nominated recurring role on the series, Frasier (1993), as a love interest for Martin Crane. She has also appeared in a number of TV-movies, including one as Judy Garland's mother, "Ethel Gumm", in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), and has guest-starred on such series as "Seinfeld," "The Education of Max Bickford," "Lipstick Jungle," "Army Wives," "The Good Wife," "Madame Secretary." Her more recent recurring parts have been on the comedy series The Middle (2009) and Grace and Frankie (2015).
On a rare occasion, the veteran actress has directed both on film and TV. Feeling out of sorts in Hollywood at one stage, Marsha strongly pursued her spiritual side, primarily as a disciple of Swami Muktananda. She later moved to New Mexico in 1993 and she became an owner of an organic farm where she raised herbs and operated a wellness line of bath and body products. She also enjoyed professional race car driving at one point. An insightful, highly revealing autobiography came out in the form of "Journal: A Personal Odyssey" in 2000.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City, on January 24, 1941. His father, Akeeba "Kieve" Diamond, was a dry-goods merchant. Both he and wife Rose were Jewish immigrants from Poland. The Diamond family temporarily relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming, because of Kieve Diamond's military service during World War II. During their time in Wyoming, Neil fell in love with "singing cowboy" movies on matinée showings at the local cinema. After the end of World War II, Neil and his parents returned to Brooklyn. He was given a $9 acoustic guitar for a birthday gift, which began his interest in music. At age 15 Neil wrote his first song, which he titled "Here Them Bells".
At Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School, Neil sang in the 100-member fixed chorus, with classmate Barbra Streisand, although the two would not formally meet until over 20 years later. Neil and a friend, Jack Packer, formed a duo singing group called Neil & Jack, and they sang at Long Island's Little Neck Country Club and recorded a single for Shell Records. The record failed to sell, however, and the duo soon broke up.
In 1958 Neil entered New York University's pre-med program to become a doctor, on a fencing scholarship. Medicine did not catch his interest as much as music did, though, and he dropped out at the end of his junior year, only 10 credits shy of graduation. He Diamond went to work for Sunbeam Music on Manhattan's famous Tin Pan Alley. Making $50 a week, he worked at tailoring songs to the needs and abilities of the company's B-grade performers. Finding the work unrewarding, Neil soon quit. Renting a storage room in a printer's shop located above the famed Birdland nightclub on Broadway, Neil began to live there and installed a $30 piano and a pay telephone, and set about writing his songs his own way.
A chance encounter with the songwriting/record producing team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich led to a contract with Bang Records. In 1966 he recorded his first album, featuring hit singles such as "Solitary Man" and "Cherry, Cherry". That same year Diamond appeared twice on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1952) TV musical variety show. Also, The Monkees recorded several songs to which he wrote the music, including "I'm a Believer" which was a hit in 1967. A number of TV appearances followed, including singing gigs on The Mike Douglas Show (1961), The Merv Griffin Show (1962) and een a dramatic part as a rock singer on an episode of Mannix (1967). Filling a musical void that existed between Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, Diamond found wide acceptance among the young and old with his songs, but endured criticism that his music was too middle-of-the-road.
Diamond split with Bang Records in 1969, and signed a contract with California's Uni label, for which he recorded his first gold records. In 1970 he introduced British rock star Elton John in his first Stateside appearance at Hollywood's Troubador nightclub. In December 1971 Diamond signed a $5-million contract with Columbia Records, which led to more recording contracts and live concert appearances. In 1972 Diamond took a 40-month break from touring, during which he agreed to score the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973). Although Diamond's soundtrack for that film earned him a Grammy Award, it was a box-office failure. Despite having worked with an acting coach since 1968, and talk of a five-picture acting contract with Universal Studios, Diamond remained inhibited by shyness of being in front of a camera. He turned down acting roles in every movie contract he was offered (among them was Bob Fosse's Lenny (1974) and Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976)). However, he did appear as himself with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young in the 1978 documentary The Last Waltz (1978). He appeared at the 1977 Academy Awards where he presented Barbra Streisand the Oscar for Best Song.
In the summer of 1976, on the eve of three Las Vegas shows, Diamond's house in Bel Air was raided by the police because they received an anonymous tip that there were drugs and weapons stored there. The police found less than an ounce of marijuana. To have the arrest expunged from his recored, Diamond agreed to a six-month drug aversion program. In 1977 he starred in two TV specials for NBC. He had a cancer scare in 1979, when a tumor was found on his spine and had to be surgically removed, which confined him to a wheelchair for three months. During his recuperation he was given the script for the lead role in a planned remake of the early sound film The Jazz Singer (1927). Signing a $1-million contract to appear as the son of a Jewish cantor trying to succeed in the music industry, Diamond was cast opposite the legendary Laurence Olivier and Broadway actress Lucie Arnaz. Despite the almost universally negative reviews of the film, it grossed three times its budget when released late in 1980. In 1981 Diamond's hit single, "America", which was part of the film's soundtrack, was used on news broadcasts to underscore the return of the American hostages from Iran.
Aware of his lack of acting talent, Diamond never acted in movie roles again, aside from making appearances as himself. A movie fan, he collaborated on writing the scores of many different soundtracks, which can be heard in such films as Cactus Flower (1969), Pulp Fiction (1994), Beautiful Girls (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) and many more. He continues to occasionally perform in concerts and write a vast catalog of music which is recored by both him and other artists.- Writer
- Producer
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Neil Simon was born on 4 July 1927 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Odd Couple (1968), Murder by Death (1976) and The Goodbye Girl (1977). He was married to Elaine Joyce, Diane Lander, Marsha Mason and Joan Baim. He died on 26 August 2018 in New York City, New York, USA.- Producer
- Production Manager
Lee Rich was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a banker and his wife. He graduated from the University of Ohio in Athens with a marketing degree. During World War II Mr. Rich served in the United States Navy reaching the rank of Lieutenant.
Mr. Rich began his career in advertising as an office boy at Lord & Thomas in New York. At the renowned ad agency Benton & Bowles Mr. Rich rose to senior vice president and a member of the board. In this position he ran the agency's program department and served as the sponsors' representative on numerous television shows including "The Andy Griffith Show," "Make Room for Daddy," "The Edge Of Night," "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" among many others.
In 1965, Rich became a producer when he became a partner in the Mirisch-Rich Co where he was the executive in charge of production on the World War II series "The Rat Patrol" and the sitcom "Hey, Landlord" created by Garry Marshall.
After briefly returning to the advertising industry with the Leo Burnett Agency, Mr. Rich returned to Hollywood when he formed Lorimar Productions with Merv Adelson. Some of their many successes include "The Waltons," "Falcon Crest," "Eight Is Enough," "Dallas," "Flamingo Road," "The Blue Knight," "Sybil" and "Helter Skelter."
In 1986 Mr. Rich left Lorimar to join MGM/UA as Chairman and CEO. In that position he greenlit a number of modern classics such as "A Fish Called Wanda,", "Moonstruck" and "Rain Man."
After leaving MGM/UA Mr. Rich set up Lee Rich Productions which was based at Warner Brothers.- Actress
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Lovely, red-headed Pippa Scott is the daughter of noted stage actress Laura Straub and playwright/screenwriter Allan Scott, who wrote most of the Astaire/Rogers musical films. She is also the niece of the writer/producer Adrian Scott, one of the legendary "Hollywood Ten" of the Hollywood Blacklist.
Educated at Radcliffe and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London, Scott debuted in Jed Harris' last Broadway production, "Child of Fortune" (1956), based upon Henry James' Wings of the Dove. That same year she had a featured role as Lucy in John Ford's classic western film The Searchers (1956). The following year she returned to Broadway with a brief run of "Miss Lonelyhearts" and added a couple of films to her résumé when she co-starred as a novice schoolteacher who is harassed in the low-budget, highly obscure drama As Young as We Are (1958) and portrayed young love interest Pegeen Ryan in the iconic comedy hit Auntie Mame (1958) starring Rosalind Russell in the title role.
TV took a strong focus from the late '50s on with recurring parts on the series Mr. Lucky (1959) and The Virginian (1962), plus a host of guest parts in "Maverick," "The Twilight Zone," "Thriller," "Have Gun - Will Travel," "United States Steel Hour," "Dr. Kildare," "The Fugitive," "Gomer Pyle," "Wagon Train," "The Rogues," "Ben Casey," "Perry Mason," "Wagon Train," "The Dick Van Dyke," "F Troop," "Tarzan, "I Spy," "Family Affair," "Medical Center," "Gunsmoke," "The Mary Tyler Moore," "Mission: Impossible," "Love, American Style," "Barnaby Jones," "Columbo," "The Waltons," "Ironside," "The Streets of San Francisco," "Mannix," "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" and "Remington Steele." She also had a regular role in the short-lived series Jigsaw John (1976) as a love interest for star Jack Warden.
Sporadic stage and film roles came about in between all the TV work. On stage she appeared in the New York company of "Look Back in Anger" and a national tour of "Mary, Mary." She also collaborated with John Houseman at UCLA in preparation for the start of the Center Theater Group and performed in scores of episodic television productions in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's. The few films she appeared in included My Six Loves (1963), The Confession (1964), For Pete's Sake! (1966), Petulia (1968), Cold Turkey (1971) (co-starring with Dick Van Dyke), The Sound of Murder (1982).
Along with her then-husband, producer Lee Rich, Pippa was a founding partner of Lorimar Productions, an Emmy-award winning television company and the single largest provider of programming to the networks for two and a half decades. They produced such classics as the Emmy-winning "The Waltons," "Dallas," "Falcon Crest," "Knots Landing," "Eight is Enough" and "The Blue Knight." Lorimar produced many films as well including Oscar and Emmy-winning films Moonstruck (1987), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Sybil (1976) and Being There (1979).
In the 1980s a long-standing concern caused Ms. Scott to focus on humanitarian issues. She founded The International Monitor Institute (IMI), a non-profit dealing with the prosecution of war crimes. IMI was requested by the War Crimes Tribunal to locate, collect and provide visual evidence for prosecutors to use in the trials for the conviction of war criminals. IMI concentrated on the Balkans, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Cambodia, Iraq and Child Soldiers. IMI assisted many organizations both nationally and internationally, in the investigation of human rights violations and in documenting the circumstances that produced such conditions. The work of the Institute was intended to help nations remove the impediment which block respect for individual rights, civil society and development. The International Monitor continues to be in use today, residing in the Human Rights department at Duke University.
Ms. Scott also began Linden Productions to develop and produce documentaries related to international conflict and human rights violations. Linden has made numerous films for organizations such as the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee to name only a few. A feature documentary, King Leopold's Ghost, based on the bestselling book by Adam Hochschild is about colonial greed and its ravages past and present in the Congo. Scott's film won Best Documentary at seven film festivals and today is playing on Amazon Prime and other online platforms. Another documentary, PBS Frontline's, "The Most Wanted Man, the Hunt for Radovan Karadzic" [a Serbian War Criminal] won at the Berlin Film Festival.
Away from the film camera for over two decades, Pippa returned for a couple parts into the millennium -- Footprints (2009) and Automotive (2013).- Actor
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Noah Keen was born on 10 October 1920 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and Gable and Lombard (1976). He was married to Gerrianne Raphael and Barbara Corday. He died on 24 March 2019 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
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Barbara Corday was born on 15 October 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for American Dream (1981), The Office (1995) and Cagney & Lacey (1981). She was previously married to Barney Rosenzweig, Noah Keen and Michael Gershman.- Additional Crew
Jet Fore is known for Promises..... Promises! (1963), Man, Woman and Child (1983) and Talking Film (1978).- When we think of the term "worse for wear," somehow provocative images of 39-26-37 Edwina Beth Williams (better known as Edy Williams) and her outrageous apparel at film festivals and award shows instantly stand out in one's mind. You have to admit that this wild child, who has now come into her seventies (born on July 9, 1941), can never be accused of being a shrinking violet or not giving her all to her chosen profession.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, this courageous perennial starlet grew up in all sorts of ways in southern California. She first began her career chasing after modeling work with local photographers while in her teens and has not slowed down since. An undeniably fetching and voluptuous presence, she was the recipient of several California beauty titles which led to her eventual signing by 20th Century-Fox in the early 1960s.
Known for her untamed chestnut hair, she displayed her talents initially with taunting, decorative roles in such pictures as For Love or Money (1963), Man's Favorite Sport? (1964), A House Is Not a Home (1964) (in which she and fellow glamazon Raquel Welch played call girls), The Naked Kiss (1964), the Elvis Presley musical Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) and Nevada Smith (1966) starring Steve McQueen. Television utilized her as sexy scenery or a vapid foil on such series as The Twilight Zone (1959), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Burke's Law (1963) and Batman (1966).
In her more mainstream prime, Edy earned second-femme lead status next to James Farentino, Julie Sommars and Brian Bedford in the teasing comedy The Pad (and How to Use It) (1966) and Walter Matthau and Anne Jackson in The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968), but things changed big-time once she associated with producer-director Russ Meyer, her mentor-turned-husband. She was displayed front-and-center as a predatory porn star in his campy softcore erotica Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) and The Seven Minutes (1971), but in the end he failed to make her anything but a cult figure.
She and Meyer divorced in 1975, and since then she has been more or less promoting herself. The notorious publicity hound who could make even Jayne Mansfield wince a little, Edy has made annual cheesecake appearances (not usually in a positive way), opting for jaw-dropping bordello-chic formal wear to get the flashbulbs popping at entertainment events. Her scanty gowns have earned her numerous worst-dressed awards from here to Timbuktu. In later years, she has occasionally departed exploitation with roles in such films as Chained Heat (1983), Lady Lust (1984), Hollywood Hot Tubs (1984), Nudity Required (1989), Bad Girls from Mars (1990) and Snatch Masters 6 (1995). You have to give her credit or praise, Edy Williams certainly succeeded her way. - Army Archerd was born on 13 January 1922 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Burke's Law (1963) and Gable and Lombard (1976). He was married to Selma Archerd and Joan Carol Paul. He died on 8 September 2009 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Stunts
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Born in Beverly Hills, California, Ernie F. Orsatti started in the film industry at the age of sixteen. His mother, Inez Gorman, was a noted opera singer. His father, Ernie Orsatti, was a famous baseball player who played for The St. Louis Cardinals, known as "the gas house gang". He was the nephew of Victor M. Orsatti and Frank Orsatti and the brother of Frank Orsatti. The surname Orsatti name has been associated with Hollywood for decades, starting with the Orsatti agency, during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood.- Chris Forbes was born on 3 February 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Sleeper (1973), Moonrunners (1975) and Emergency! (1972).
- Actress
Deanna Lund is best known for her role as "Valerie Scott" in the two-season cult series of the 1960s: Land of the Giants (1968), produced by Irwin Allen.
Irwin Allen cast Lund in the series, when he saw her in a recently made motion picture. Lund started out as the bad girl of the series, getting herself (and others) into trouble when she searched for food in the "giant land"; and another time trying to cause a mutiny in the castaway group, in the episode, The Bounty Hunter (1969).
As the 51 episode series moved forward, Valerie became more of a team player in the castaway group. Perhaps her best line in the series came in the episode, Wild Journey (1970), when she turns to the series star and says, "Captain, nobody tells me what I can and can't do".
In 1995, Lund was interviewed about her work on "Land of the Giants" and this interview can be found on the "Land of the Giants" DVD set. In the interview, Lund explains how she "felt so silly" acting in "Giants", as she was often talking to people (aka giants) who were not actually on the set. So she was often talking to nobody at all.
Much to the delight of young male viewers of the time, Valerie was often seen wearing sexy outfits in "Giants", and in one episode, Graveyard of Fools (1970), one outfit crossed the line as too sexy, in the eyes of the network.- Don Matheson was born on 5 August 1929 in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Land of the Giants (1968), Lost in Space (1965) and Murph the Surf (1975). He was married to Deanna Lund and Maxine Arnold. He died on 29 June 2014 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.
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Clean cut and smoothly handsome as a youth, Mike Evans got on board the Norman Lear TV train in the early 1970s and took a straight ride to sitcom stardom in both a landmark comedy series and its black-oriented spin-off. Born Michael Jonas Evans in Salisbury, North Carolina, on November 3, 1949, his dentist father and school instructor mother moved the family to Los Angeles when Mike was quite young. Graduating from Los Angeles High School, he attended Los Angeles City College before his abrupt TV success. Landing the role of black next-door neighbor Lionel Jefferson in Lear's iconic sitcom All in the Family (1971) was a lucky fluke -- something every fledgling actor should get to experience. In fact, Mike was still attending acting school when he was cast in the 1971 show at age 21. The series altered the course of TV comedy while tackling many then-taboo subjects, including racial prejudice. Due to the quality of the cast and writing, the series managed to thoroughly engage and entertain an audience despite being fronted by a blue-collar bigot in the form of Archie Bunker (played by the great Carroll O'Connor). As the calm, intelligent, level-headed Lionel, son of hothead George (Sherman Hemsley) and his beleaguered wife, Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford), Lionel's liberal-minded stance was more akin to Archie's live-in younger generation. As friend to Archie's daughter, Gloria, and her husband, Mike, Lionel had to somehow tolerate his grouchy neighbor's exasperating politically incorrect banter but made up for it with clever, carefully worded digs at the often-clueless Archie. During the run of the show, Mike also boosted his visibility with the TV movies Killer by Night (1972), Call Her Mom (1972), and Voyage of the Yes (1973), costarring Desi Arnaz Jr., not to mention the Disney family comedy feature Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), starring Kurt Russell. The hit series spun the Jefferson clan into its own "moving-on-up" sitcom The Jeffersons (1975) four years later. The "moving on up" was from Queens to a "deluxe apartment" in Manhattan, where the burgeoning, financially successful George now held court as head intolerant. Mike's character eventually met and fell for Jenny, the beautiful product of an interracial marriage. This became a major source of combustible comedy material that initially fed the new sitcom. In the meantime, Mike and writing partner Eric Monte also cocreated and were writing for another Lear sitcom, Good Times (1974), which was a spin-off of Lear's comedy hit Maude (1972), which in turn was a spin-off of sitcom daddy All in the Family (1971). The major responsibilities and hardships of writing for "Good Times", which became one of the first TV sitcoms to feature a primarily African American cast in quite some time, took its toll, and Mike began making fewer appearances as Lionel. In fact, he left the role completely in the fall of 1975 after only eight months to focus on his writing and was replaced by actor Damon Evans (no relation to Mike), who inhabited the part for four seasons. Mike eventually reclaimed the part in 1979 after the cancellation of "Good Times". His character of Lionel, however, had dwindled so significantly in importance that he left the show again in 1981, this time for good. The family show ended its long run in 1985 after a decade. Mike took on a low profile after his 1970s successes and was not seen onscreen again. By this time he had delved into Southern California real estate. He died of throat cancer in 2006 at age 57 at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, California.- Director
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- Actor
Mark Rydell was born on 23 March 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for The Long Goodbye (1973), On Golden Pond (1981) and Hollywood Ending (2002). He was previously married to Esther Jacobs and Joanne Linville.- Actress
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Amy Rydell was born on 27 September 1971 in Culver City, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Star Trek Continues (2013) and James Dean (2001).- Actor
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A masculine and enigmatic actor whose life and movie career have had more ups and downs than the average rollercoaster and whose selection of roles has arguably derailed him from achieving true superstar status, James Caan is New York-born and bred.
He was born in the Bronx, to Sophie (Falkenstein) and Arthur Caan, Jewish immigrants from Germany. His father was a meat dealer and butcher. The athletically gifted Caan played football at Michigan State University while studying economics, holds a black belt in karate and for several years was even a regular on the rodeo circuit, where he was nicknamed "The Jewish Cowboy". However, while studying at Hofstra University, he became intrigued by acting and was interviewed and accepted at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. He then won a scholarship to study under acting coach Wynn Handman and began to appear in several off-Broadway productions, including "I Roam" and "Mandingo".
He made his screen debut as a sailor in Irma la Douce (1963) and began to impress audiences with his work in Red Line 7000 (1965) and the western El Dorado (1966) alongside John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Further work followed in Journey to Shiloh (1968) and in the sensitive The Rain People (1969). However, audiences were moved to tears as he put in a heart-rending performance as cancer-stricken Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo in the highly rated made-for-TV film Brian's Song (1971).
With these strong performances under his belt, Francis Ford Coppola then cast him as hot-tempered gangster Santino "Sonny" Corleone in the Mafia epic The Godfather (1972). The film was an enormous success, Caan scored a Best Supporting Actor nomination and, in the years since, the role has proven to be the one most fondly remembered by his legion of fans. He reprised the role for several flashback scenes in the sequel The Godfather Part II (1974) and then moved on to several very diverse projects. These included a cop-buddy crime partnership with Alan Arkin in the uneven Freebie and the Bean (1974), a superb performance as a man playing for his life in The Gambler (1974) alongside Lauren Hutton, and pairing with Barbra Streisand in Funny Lady (1975). Two further strong lead roles came up for him in 1975, first as futuristic sports star "Jonathon E" questioning the moral fiber of a sterile society in Rollerball (1975) and teaming up with Robert Duvall in the Sam Peckinpah spy thriller The Killer Elite (1975).
Unfortunately, Caan's rising star sputtered badly at this stage of his career, and several film projects failed to find fire with either critics or audiences. These included such failures as the hokey Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976), the quasi-western Comes a Horseman (1978) and the saccharine Chapter Two (1979). However, he did score again with the stylish Michael Mann-directed heist movie Thief (1981). He followed this with a supernatural romantic comedy titled Kiss Me Goodbye (1982) and then, due to personal conflicts, dropped out of the spotlight for several years before returning with a stellar performance under old friend Francis Ford Coppola in the moving Gardens of Stone (1987).
Caan appeared back in favor with fans and critics alike and raised his visibility with the sci-fi hit Alien Nation (1988) and Dick Tracy (1990), then surprised everyone by playing a meek romance novelist held captive after a car accident by a deranged fan in the dynamic Misery (1990). The 1990s were kind to him and he notched up roles as a band leader in For the Boys (1991), another gangster in Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), appeared in the indie hit Bottle Rocket (1996) and pursued Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser (1996).
The demand on Caan's talents seems to have increased steadily over the past few years as he is making himself known to a new generation of fans. Recent hot onscreen roles have included The Yards (2000), City of Ghosts (2002) and Dogville (2003). In addition, he finds himself at the helm of the hit TV series Las Vegas (2003) as casino security chief "Big Ed" Deline. An actor of undeniably manly appeal, James Caan continued to surprise and delight audiences with his invigorating performances up until his death in July 2022 at the age of 82.- Music Artist
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Best known as the the lead singer of the popular 1960s singing group The Supremes, Diana Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, the second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian (Moten), a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the army. After being raised in housing projects for most of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Diana started singing in the gospel choir of a Baptist church. With friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin, she formed a vocal group, The Primettes, at age 15. After Barbara had departed the group, the remaining three girls inked a deal with Motown Records and were renamed The Supremes. Ross wasn't picked to become the group's lead singer until Motown honcho Berry Gordy decided that the time was exactly right, and from then on he described the group as "Diana Ross and the Supremes." From 1965 to 1969 the group had a string of #1 records. In late 1969 Gordy announced that Ross would be leaving the group for a solo career. In the third week of 1970 she played her last concert with The Supremes and started working with the songwriting team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Ross' first two songs by the team reached #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, justifying her move. Prior to starting a family of her own, she won the title role in the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which was extremely successful at the box office, and had the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for her first film. The movie's soundtrack reached #1 on the U.S. charts. Despite fame and fortune, her next two big films,Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978), didn't meet with the same success. However, she had a #1 hit single with "Mahogany" to make up for it. In February 1976, just before another #1 hit with "Love Hangover," she was stunned when her singing partner and friend, Florence Ballard, died after complications from a combination of alcohol abuse and long-term depression, which led to cardiac arrest. Ballard was only 32 years old and Ross was devastated by the loss.
After recovering from Ballard's death, Ross went on to focus on her singing career and continued having more #1 songs, including "Upside Down". The following year she performed the theme song from Endless Love (1981), which was composed by Lionel Richie. That same year she left Motown Records and signed contracts with various record companies across the globe, and formed her own production company. The following year she released "Silk Electric," on which she sang "Muscles," a song written and produced by Michael Jackson.
After she sang a tribute song dedicated to the late Marvin Gaye, Ross scored another #1 song in 1986 in the UK with "Chain Reaction," which brought back her days as the member of The Supremes , and was written and produced by The Bee Gees. Unlike the song she sang when Florence died, this song was about how she became accustomed to Marvin over the years. After an eight-year absence, in 1989 she came back to Motown. Ross had gained more fame through concert appearances over the years, and in April 1993 she became a best-selling author with her first and only children's book, "When You Dream," which featured a CD with four songs that were dedicated to the book. That same year she was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the most successful female singer of all times. Two years later she was honored with the Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on the Soul Train Awards. After receiving those honors, she came back to the studio in 1999 with "Every Day Is A New Day," and the song reached the UK Top 10. The following year, with Mary Wilson--the only other surviving original Supremes member--she planned to book a Supremes reunion tour, but this was eventually canceled.
She was arrested in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence and after pleading guilty was sentenced to two days in jail, 36 hours of counseling and one year probation. Today she is hard at work finishing her forthcoming book, "Upside Down: Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead."- Robert Ellis Silberstein was previously married to Diana Ross.
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Lane Bradbury was born on 17 June 1938 in Buckhead, Georgia, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for From the Midst of Pain (2010), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) and Then Came Bronson (1969). She was previously married to Lou Antonio.- Director
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Oklahoma-born Lou Antonio is English-French-German on his mother's side and Greek on his father's side. A talented baseball player as a teenager, he was scouted by the Boston Red Sox while in high school, but an injury ended his dreams of playing professional baseball. He attended Oklahoma University on a journalism scholarship and graduated with a degree in French, all the while acting in school plays.
Accepted into the prestigious Actors Studio in 1958, Antonio was a working actor through much of the 1960s, doing summer stock, plays, TV guest roles, and the occasional movie, most notably Cool Hand Luke (1967).
After moving to Hollywood, TV work became more consistent over the next 40+ years, both as an actor, such as in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (1969), and even more as a director.- Actor
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Ralph Waite was born in White Plains, New York on June 22, 1928. Educated at Bucknell University where he graduated with a BA degree, Waite existed rather aimlessly as a young adult while trying to find his way in the world. Occupations came and went, including social worker, religious editor for Harper & Row, and even Presbyterian minister after spending three years at the Yale School of Divinity. At age 30, however, he began to study acting and found his true life's passion.
Waite made his professional NY debut in a 1960 production of "The Balcony" at the Circle in the Square and was seen on Broadway in "Blues for Mister Charlie" before earning fine reviews in 1965 alongside Faye Dunaway in "Hogan's Goat". This was enough to encourage him to move West where he began collecting bit parts in prestigious movies, including Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). One of those films, the coming-of-age Last Summer (1969) starred an up-and-coming talent named Richard Thomas, who, of course, would figure prominently in Waite's success story in years to come. Waite continued to thrive as well on the stage appearing in both contemporary plays ("The Trial of Lee Harvey Osward") as well as Shakespearean classics (Claudius in "Hamlet" and Orsino in "Twelfth Night").
Stardom came for him in the form of the gentle, homespun Depression-era series The Waltons (1972). In the TV-movie pilot, the roles of John and Olivia Walton were played by Andrew Duggan and Patricia Neal. The Earl Hamner Jr. series, however, would welcome Waite along with Michael Learned, and make both, as well as Richard Thomas playing their son John-Boy, household names. Waite also directed several episodes of the series during the nine seasons. Throughout the seventies, he strove to expand outside his Walton patriarchal casting with other TV mini-movie endeavors. Those included Roots (1977), for which he received an Emmy nomination, the title role in The Secret Life of John Chapman (1976), OHMS (1980), Angel City (1980) and The Gentleman Bandit (1981). He also appeared in a few films including On the Nickel (1980) which he wrote and directed.
Throughout the run of the series, Waite continued to revert back to his theater roots from time to time. Notable was his role as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot (1977), which was televised by PBS, and a return to Broadway with "The Father" in 1981. Waite also founded the Los Angeles Actors Theatre in 1975 and served as its artistic director.
The Waltons (1972), which earned him an Emmy nomination, ended in 1981 and Waite ventured on to other TV character roles during the 80s and 90s but less visibly. In his second TV series The Mississippi (1982), which was produced by his company Ralph Waite Productions, he played a criminal lawyer who abandoned his practice (almost) for a leisurely life captaining a riverboat. It lasted only a year. There have been other more recent theater excursions including "Death of a Salesman" (1998), "The Gin Game" (1999), "Ancestral Voices (2000) and "This Thing of Darkness" (2002). He also had a recurring role on the offbeat HBO series Carnivàle (2003) and in 2009 began putting time in on the daytime soap Days of Our Lives (1965) as Father Matt. Waite was able to carry with him a certain grizzled, rumpled, craggy-faced, settled-in benevolence, although he was quite capable of villainy. He always seemed more comfortable in front of the camera wearing a dusty pair of work clothes than a suit. He continued to act well into his 80s, most notably playing the father of Mark Harmon on NCIS (2003).
For many years, Waite had held passionate political ambitions. He twice ran unsuccessfully for a Congressional seat -- in 1990 and 1998. A Palm Desert resident during his second attempt, the 70-year-old Californian was a Democratic hopeful for a seat left vacant by the late Sonny Bono after his fatal skiing accident in 1998. He was ultimately defeated by Bono's widow, Mary Bono.
Waite died in Palm Desert, California on February 13, 2014, at age 85. He is survived by his third wife, Linda East, whom he married in 1982 and two daughters from his first marriage.- Actor
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Will Geer was born William Aughe Ghere in Frankfort, Indiana, to Katherine (Aughe), a teacher, and Roy Aaron Ghere, a postal worker. Will admired his grandfather, a man who said hello to trees by their Latin names and who had used what he brought back to Indiana from the California gold rush to build Frankfort's first opera house. Will pursued a college major in botany, from Chicago through a Master's degree at Columbia, but ultimately gave in to his need to perform. Starting with touring company tent shows and river boats, his six-decade career included Broadway, movies, television; many Shakespeare roles; one-man performances as Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. His best known role was his last, Zebulon Walton, grandpa in the long-running television series The Waltons (1972). Less well-known was his life-long role as a political agitator and radical ("Someone who goes to the roots, which is the Latin derivation of radical") and folklorist/folksinger - he toured U.S. government work camps in the 1930s, singing with Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In 1951, he formed the "Theatricum Botanicum," a repertory theater in Topanga Canyon, California, where he not only coached actors but also encouraged outdoor philosophical discussion and, of course, folksinging. At his deathbed, his family sang "This Land Is Your Land" and recited Robert Frost poems. His ashes lie in a corner of the Shakespearean garden on the grounds of his Theatricum Botanicum.- Actress
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Ellen Corby was born Ellen Hansen on June 3, 1911, in Racine, Wisconsin. She played many uncredited bit parts from the late '20s through the '30s. Ellen would not be seen on the big screen again until 1945 in Cornered (1945). In 1946, she appeared in 14 films, although mostly in small, minor roles. One of them was in the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). One of the highlights of her career came about in 1948 in I Remember Mama (1948) as Aunt Trina. Ellen garnered a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which was ultimately won by Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948). The Oscar nomination didn't send her to the heights she had hoped. This wonderful actress continued in roles that were mostly minor compared to some of her contemporaries. However, it was television where she would receive the acclaim that had eluded her on the screen. Time after time she played parts that were absolutely outstanding. One of the funniest was as Myrt "Hubcaps" Lesh in The Andy Griffith Show (1960). She was the ringleader of a gang that stole cars and then sold them, and she sold Barney Fife a stolen car that turned out to be a real lemon. The series that brought her worldwide recognition, though, was the highly acclaimed The Waltons (1972) as Esther "Grandma" Walton. The role got her Emmy awards in 1973, 1974, and 1975. Although a stroke in 1976 slowed her down, Ellen still made appearances on the series. Her last TV appearance was in 1997 in the TV movie A Walton Easter (1997). On April 14, 1999, Ellen died at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 87 years old.- Ralph Greenson was born on 20 September 1911 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer, known for Love, Marilyn (2012) and Life with Linkletter (1950). He was married to Hildegard Troesch. He died on 24 November 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Comedian David Steinberg, born in 1942, grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. He left home to attend the University of Chicago. The family moved to Chicago when he was a teen. It was there that he saw a performance by the Second City Chicago Troupe and it changed the course of his life. With another student at the university, he started a comedy act called Kadish and Steinberg. After members of Second City saw them, he was invited to join the company and was with them for four years. In the late 60's he moved on to Broadway with leading roles in "Little Murders" and "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights", the latter directed by Sidney Poitier. From there he moved to stand up comedy opening at the Bitter End in 1969. He received a rave review from the New York times, calling him a cross between Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen. After his first appearance on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), he became one of Johnny Carson's most popular guests and guest hosts, with 140 appearances, second only to Bob Hope. He wrote and performed for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967) where his irreverent "sermons" were often censored and cited as the reason for the show's cancellation.
Steinberg's sometimes racy, usually anti-establishment stance of the late 60s/early 70s made him a favorite among the young and disillusioned. Steinberg released four solo comedy albums and CBS gave him his own summer comedy variety series with The David Steinberg Show (1972). In 1976, Steinberg returned to Canada to create and star in another series, also called _'The David Steinberg Show'. Gary Shandling credits this show as being one of the influences for _The Larry Sanders Show(1992)_. It featured John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Martin Short and Dave Thomas who went on to form the legendary SCTV troupe.
In 1982 Steinberg made his directorial debut with the feature Paternity (1981) and, the following year, his TV directorial debut with an episode of Newhart (1982). In the 90s, he became the executive producer of the popular CBS-TV Designing Women (1986) and continued to direct. Other TV credits as director include episodes of The Golden Girls (1985), Seinfeld (1989) , Mad About You (1992), Weeds (2005), and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000). He won two Emmy Awards for his writing on Oscar telecasts in the early 90s. Steinberg has also directed over 300 television commercials, winning two Clio Awards and the prestigious Silver Lion Award at the Cannes International Film Festival.
As a film director, he directed Paternity (1981) with Burt Reynolds, Going Berserk (1983) with John Candy and The Wrong Guy (1997) with David Foley. In 2007, Simon and Schuster published his memoir about his life in comedy called "The Book of David".- Judy Marcione is known for Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972). She was previously married to David Steinberg and Gary Allen Pevnick.
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Former star player with the Los Angeles Rams during the 1960s, this impressively built African-American athlete broke into acting via appearances in TV shows including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965).
Grier received positive reviews for his role in the TV movie The Desperate Mission (1969) and then landed a recurring role alongside Fess Parker in the hugely popular children's TV series Daniel Boone (1964). This led to a short-lived stint as host of his own variety show The Rosey Grier Show (1968) which only ran the one season. He kept busy with work in other TV shows and appeared in several feature films including Skyjacked (1972), The Thing with Two Heads (1972) and The Timber Tramps (1973).
He continued to turn up in a handful of minor roles throughout the 1970s, but arguably did not possess the acting skill of other prominent African-American athletes-turned-actors such as Fred Williamson, Jim Brown and Jim Kelly.
He became an ordained minister in 1983, and has continued to champion the causes of those less fortunate, and to guide inner city teens from poor backgrounds.- Actress
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Making people laugh was only one facet of Valerie Harper's career, which extended from the stage to television and feature films. A native of Suffern, New York -- "I was born to suffer" -- Harper began her career as a dancer with the corps de ballet at Radio City Hall during its spectacular heyday. She gradually moved into acting, working in everything from industrial shows to regional theatre to the Second City comedy troupe of Chicago. Eventually, she made it to Broadway in productions of Dear Liar, the Tony Award winning Story Theatre, Something Different and Metamorphosis. Stardom came with television, including four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and Rhoda (1974), in which the latter she played the title role. Harper won Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, and her Rhoda's Wedding episode set that 1974's ratings record. Since retiring Rhoda Morganstern to re-runs, Harper was active on stage and in movies. Her feature films included Freebie and the Bean (1974), Chapter Two (1979), The Last Married Couple in America (1980) and Blame It on Rio (1984). In television, she starred on all three networks in movies of the week, including Farrell for the People (1982) (NBC), Don't Go to Sleep (1982) (ABC) and An Invasion of Privacy (1983) (CBS). A strong supporter of women's rights, Harper worked since the mid-80s on a film with second husband Tony Cacciotti which will probably never reach fruition after all this time, based on a true story involving domestic violence.- Actor
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Richard Schaal was born on 5 May 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970), Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) and The Hollywood Knights (1980). He was married to Tasha Brittain, Valerie Harper and Lois Treacy. He died on 4 November 2014 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Chuck Woolery originally set his sights on a career in the music industry but had a change of heart when he joined the U.S. Navy instead. After two years military service, he attended college in his home state of Kentucky and afterward held various jobs including a stint as a sales rep at Pillsbury. He later moved to Nashville where he formed the rock band "Avant Garde". He has one daughter and an adopted son from his first marriage, and one daughter from his second marriage and two boys from his third marriage.- Jo Ann Pflug was born on 2 May 1940 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for M*A*S*H (1970), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) and The Fall Guy (1981). She has been married to Charles Stuck Young since 14 May 1988. She was previously married to Chuck Woolery.
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Sheila Ryan was born on 8 June 1921 in Topeka, Kansas, USA. She was an actress, known for Deadline for Murder (1946), The Lone Wolf in Mexico (1947) and Song of Texas (1943). She was married to Pat Buttram, Edward Norris and Allan Lane. She died on 4 November 1975 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.