Armenian-American celebrities
Celebrities with Armenian ancestry.
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Kourtney was born in Los Angeles, California as the eldest of four children of Kris Jenner (née Kristen Mary Houghton) and attorney Robert Kardashian, with siblings Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, and Rob Kardashian. Her father was of Armenian descent and her mother is of mostly English and Scots-Irish ancestry. In 1991, when she was age 12, her parents divorced and she spent her time between their separate houses in Beverly Hills. Her mother married Caitlyn Jenner, 1976 Olympic Gold Metal Champion for the Decathlon and later had two children with him, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner. After the O.J. Simpson murder trial propelled Kourtney's father, Bob, into the spotlight (he was a member of the "Dream Team" of lawyers defending the accused murderer in what journalists hail the "Trial of the Century"), her mother decided it would be safer to move her family to Hidden Hills, California.
Kourtney attended Marymount High School in Los Angeles, an all-girls private Catholic high school. After graduation, she enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. After two years, she transferred to the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. She graduated in May of 2002 with a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Arts with a minor in Spanish. After graduation, she and her mother opened up children's clothing boutiques in both the Los Angeles Area (818) and New York City, called "Smooch", which carries the brand "Crib Rock Couture." At the age of 26, she starred in a reality television show called Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive (2005) that earned money for charity.
Kourtney has a son and daughter with her boyfriend Scott Disick, who she met in 2006.- Producer
- Actress
- Writer
TV star, entrepreneur, fashion designer, and author (New York Times best-seller - "Kardashian Konfidential"), Kim Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, to Kris Jenner (née Kristen Mary Houghton) and attorney Robert Kardashian. Her father was of Armenian descent and her mother is of mostly English and Scots-Irish ancestry. Kim first burst onto the scene in 2007, after the premiere of her hit E! Entertainment reality series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007). The show follows the exploits of the Kardashian/Jenner family, which includes her stepfather Caitlyn Jenner, her mother, Kim, her siblings Kourtney Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, and younger half-sisters Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner. The show was the highest-rated program on the E! Network. She also stars alongside her sister Kourtney in Kourtney & Kim Take New York (2011), which premiered its second season in November of this year. Most recently, Kardashian shared her wedding with the world in a two-part special, Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event - Part 1 (2011) and Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event - Part 2 (2011). The special ranks as E!'s most-watched event, ever, bringing in 10.5 million viewers. In addition to starring in her own reality shows for E!, she has appeared as an actress in a number of other projects, including the feature, Disaster Movie (2008) (Lionsgate), CW's hit show, 90210 (2008) and TV's How I Met Your Mother (2005) and Brothers (2009), among others. In 2010, she produced The Spin Crowd (2010), her first TV show for E!, which premiered to 2.46 million households. Additionally, in September 2008, Kardashian competed on the ABC hit series, Dancing with the Stars (2005), where she was paired with defending Champion Mark Ballas.
In recent years, Kardashian has become a highly-sought-after name and face for a number of high profile brands. She is the face of "Sketchers Shape-ups", the sneaker designed to get you fit while you walk, work, shop, and more. She was featured in a Sketchers commercial during Super Bowl XLV. Also, she (along with her sisters), has her own line of "Nicole by OPI" nail polish, "Kardashian Kolors", which will be available on holiday 2011. She has created a line of contemporary jewelry line, "Belle Noel", with famed jewelry designer Pascal Mouawad. Kardashian also serves as the official spokesperson for "Midori Melon Liqueur" and its new "Stand-Out" marketing campaign.
Employing her entrepreneurial business skills, Kim began her fashion career as a stylist and became an immediate sought-after wardrobe stylist for infomercials, television shows, music videos and photo shoots. But it was her organizational, orderly arrangement and construction of high-fashion closets that led her into a unique line of work, overhauling and designing closets for celebrities.
In 2006, together with her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, Kardashian opened the designer clothing store, "Dash", in Calabasas, California; a must-shop-at store for those with discriminating, yet fashionable taste. Because of high consumer demands, other stores in Miami and New York opened in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In 2010, Kim co-designed a fashion line with her sisters, Kourtney and Khloe, in conjunction with the Bebe fashion brand. This collaboration led to a partnership between the three sisters and Bruno Schiavi on a complete brand launch, "Kardashian Kollection", encompassing apparel, shoes, lingerie, home, jewelry and accessories. "Kardashian Kollection" is sold at over 500 Sears, nationwide. Sears has created a store within a store concept, specifically for "Kardashian Kollection". It is also sold in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany.
In 2009, Kim launched her own perfume, "Kim Kardashian", which is available worldwide. Her second perfume, "Kim Kardashian Gold", was launched in 2010. A limited edition scent, "Kim Kardashian Gold", launched in August 2011. Her online shoe company, "ShoeDazzle.com", was launched in March 2009 and provides affordable, fashionable shoes to its members.
Kim has graced the covers of numerous publications around the world, including Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Allure, Harper's Bazaar, Prestige (Hong Kong), and Self, among others. Additionally, she has appeared, as a guest, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), Late Show with David Letterman (1993), Larry King Live (1985), among others.
Kardashian's official website gets 6 million page views a month, making it the fastest growing celebrity blog on the web. She also has over 10 million followers on Twitter.
When not working, Kim gives her time to charitable causes. She is a Dream Foundation ambassador which grants last wishes to terminally ill adults and does regular sales on Ebay to generate donations for the charity. She enjoys spending time with children at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and is passionate about cancer foundations since her father, the late Robert Kardashian, passed away from esophageal cancer. Kardashian recently gave a heart-felt speech about her father at Gabrielle's Angel Foundations' Angel Ball which supports cancer research.- Producer
- Actress
- Executive
Born in Los Angeles, Khloé Alexandra Kardashian is a model, actress, and businesswoman who became famous with the reality TV series Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007) where she shared the success with her family, most notably her older sister Kim Kardashian. On top of spin-offs with her sister Kourtney Kardashian with whom she launched many fashion clothing lines and fragrances, she also had her own reality show after marrying basketball player Lamar Odom. They divorced in 2018, since then she had a relationship with Tristan Thompson and they had a daughter together. Khloé learned the ropes of production which allowed her to executive-produce her own talk show Kocktails with Khloé (2016) and more recently she hosted Revenge Body with Khloé Kardashian (2017), a reality show where she and personal trainers helped people taking revenge on their body.- Producer
- Actor
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rob Kardashian was born on 17 March 1987 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Raiding MLK (2014), Dancing with the Stars (2005) and Meow (2008).- Robert Kardashian was born on 22 February 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was married to Ellen Pierson, Jan Ashley and Kris Jenner. He died on 30 September 2003 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
He once jokingly described himself as 'a frustrated song-and-dance man' who wound up typecast as a TV crime fighter. Tall, handsome Armenian-American Mike Connors had a minor career in the movies before becoming a star on the small screen as the impeccably dressed macho sleuth Joe Mannix. Towards the end of the series, his earnings per episode averaged a respectable $40,000. He was four times nominated for an Emmy Award and won a Golden Globe in 1969. Mannix (1967) was highly innovative in its day: among its winning combination were an upbeat jazzy score (composed by Lalo Schifrin), teasers, fast cuts from scene to scene, a car replete with a computer transmitting and receiving fingerprints and an African-American co-star (the charming Gail Fisher, who played Joe's secretary Peggy Fair). Many notable names guested in the show, some at very beginning of their careers (Diane Keaton and Martin Sheen, among others). 'Mannix' ran for eight seasons (1967-1975), a testament to its enduring popularity.
Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in Fresno, California. His mother wanted him to become an attorney. After wartime service in the Army Air Force he enrolled at UCLA on the G. I. Bill of Rights, began in law school but eventually took up theatre studies as his major. The nickname "Touch', Mike acquired on the basketball court where he first came to the attention of the director William A. Wellman who considered his features 'expressive'. He was first signed by Goldwyn studios on a 90-day contract. However, Goldwyn never took up the option and Mike never appeared in any of his films (it turned out that his signing had been no more than leverage to bring Farley Granger back in line who was causing Goldwyn some trouble). Through a talent agent, Mike got an interview at Republic to do a film with Joan Crawford called Sudden Fear (1952). That same guy also decided that his original surname Ohanian sounded too much like O'Hanlon -- George O'Hanlon was already a well-established film actor and writer -- and consequently changed his name to 'Connors'. Until 1957, Mike appeared in mainly low budget movies and TV anthologies, billed as 'Touch Connors' (an appellation he thoroughly disliked). He did several films for Roger Corman for $400 a pop. Arguably, the one highlight of his film career -- several years later -- could be said to be his role as one of a pair of American bomber crew (the other being Robert Redford) held captive in a cellar by a lonely German drug store clerk who chooses to withhold from them the trivial matter of Germany's surrender to the Allies (played with whimsical aplomb by the brilliant Alec Guinness) in the underrated and very funny black comedy Situation Hopeless -- But Not Serious (1965).
After many years as a struggling actor, Mike's first TV hit was Tightrope (1959) for CBS in which he starred as an undercover cop infiltrating an organized crime syndicate. Though the story lines became increasingly repetitive through its 37 episodes, the role pretty much defined his subsequent tough-guy image. During the original pilot for 'Mannix', which initially had Joe Mannix as the top investigator for the computerized Intertect detective agency under boss Joseph Campanella, Mike performed many of the stunts himself, in the process breaking a wrist and dislocating a shoulder. In an effort to make his character 'more real' than the traditional cynical Bogart-style gumshoe, he played Mannix as being more 'humane', often becoming emotionally involved in his cases and -- just as often -- ending up on the wrong end of a knuckle sandwich (in the course of the 194 episodes, poor old Joe was knocked unconscious on fifty-five occasions and shot seventeen times), or watching his beautiful client walk off with another man.
Another subsequent starring role as a modern-day G-Man in the short-lived Today's F.B.I. (1981) did not come close to rekindling his earlier success. Most of Mike's later appearances were as guest stars, notably a return as Joe Mannix in an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993). Later interviews revealed him to have been acutely aware of the transitory nature of TV stardom and exceedingly grateful for his one opportunity to shine. Mike Connors was happily married to Mary Lou Willey for 67 years.- Writer
- Actor
- Music Department
Composer, prolific songwriter ("Come On-a My House", "Witch Doctor", "Chipmunk Song"), author, actor, producer, impressionist, educated at Coll. Writer, and has made many records. He joined ASCAP in 1951, and specialized in catchy, hummable melodies. Some of his other popular-song compositions include "Armen's Theme"; "Safari"; "Freddy, Freddy"; "Copyright 1960"; "Medicore"; "Sack Time"; "A Little Beauty"; "The Prom"; "Bagdad Express"; "Little Brass Band"; "Maria from Madrid"; "Gotta Get to Your House"; "The Donkey and the School Boy", and many more.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Ross Bagdasarian Jr. was born on 25 October 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Alvin & the Chipmunks (1983), The Chipmunk Adventure (1987) and Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007). He has been married to Janice Karman since 27 September 1980. They have two children.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Heralded as "one of the funniest women on Broadway" by the New York Times, ANDREA MARTIN is a multi-talented award-winning actress who won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in MY FAVORITE YEAR. She has since become the featured actress with the most Tony Award nominations in a musical, with a record number for her performances in CANDIDE (also Drama Desk Award nomination), OKLAHOMA! (also Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (also Drama Desk Award nomination), and PIPPIN for which she received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Elliot Norton, and IRNE Awards. Her Broadway appearance in the revival of NOISES OFF earned her an additional Tony Award nomination. She has also been seen on stage in the revival of EXIT THE KING (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), in the Broadway adaptation of Moss Hart's ACT ONE (Outer Critics Circle Award), which also aired on PBS, and in her one-person play NUDE NUDE TOTALLY NUDE (Drama Desk Award nomination).
Martin received two Emmy Awards for writing and an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Variety Series for her work on the legendary sketch comedy show SCTV. She also received a special Emmy Award for her contributions on SESAME STREET and had her own special for Showtime, ANDREA MARTIN, TOGETHER AGAIN. Her additional television appearances include HAIRSPRAY LIVE!, MODERN FAMILY, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, 30 ROCK, THE GOOD FIGHT, and HARLEM. Following her simultaneous runs on the NBC comedy series GREAT NEWS and the Hulu series DIFFICULT PEOPLE. Martin appears in the hit Hulu show, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, as well as the Paramount + series EVIL, for which she received a Critics Choice Award nomination.
Martin's film appearances include CANNIBAL GIRLS, CLUB PARADISE, STEPPING OUT, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS, WAG THE DOG, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, ALL OVER THE GUY, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 3, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble and People's Choice Award), and its sequels MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 and 3.
Martin recently received a star on the Canada Walk of Fame. Her critically acclaimed book LADY PARTS was released by Harper Collins.- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Eddie Mekka was born on 14 June 1952 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Laverne & Shirley (1976), Dreamgirls (2006) and A League of Their Own (1992). He was married to Yvonne Marie Grace and DeLee Lively. He died on 27 November 2021 in Santa Clarita, California, USA.- Editorial Department
- Sound Department
- Producer
Carl Mahakian was born on 7 March 1926 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was a producer, known for American Gigolo (1980), The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Mannequin (1987). He was married to Patricia Kathleen Wall. He died on 9 March 2015 in Palm Desert, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Richard Bakalyan was born on 29 January 1931 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Chinatown (1974), The Fox and the Hound (1981) and Von Ryan's Express (1965). He was married to Elizabeth Lena (Betty Lee) Baumann. He died on 27 February 2015 in Elmira, New York, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
James Adomian was born on 31 January 1980 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), Trunk'd (2014) and California's Lost Gold (2012).- Actor
- Additional Crew
Val Avery was born on 14 July 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Amityville Horror (1979) and Cobra (1986). He was married to Margot Stevenson. He died on 12 December 2009 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
John Derderian is known for Reign of Fire (2002), Hercules (1997) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
English film actor, director and author Andy Serkis is known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for such computer-generated characters as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-2003) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), the eponymous King Kong in the 2005 film, Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Captain Haddock / Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). Serkis earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for his portrayal of serial killer Ian Brady in the British television film Longford (2006), and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his portrayal of new wave and punk rock musician Ian Dury in the biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010). In 2015, he had a small role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Serkis has his own motion capture workshop, The Imaginarium Studios in London, which he will use for his directorial debut, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018).
Andrew Clement G. Serkis was born April 20, 1964, in Ruislip Manor, West London, England. He has three sisters and a brother. His father, Clement Serkis, an ethnic Armenian whose original family surname was Serkissian, was a medical doctor working abroad, in Iraq; the Serkis family spent time around the Middle East, and for the first ten years of his life, Andy traveled between Baghdad and London. His mother, Lylie (Weech), who is British-born, was busy working as a special education teacher of handicapped children, so Andy and his four siblings were raised with au pairs in the house. Young Serkis wanted to be an artist; he was fond of painting and drawing, and visualized himself working behind the scenes. He attended St. Benedict's School, a Roman Catholic School for boys at the Benedictine Abbey in London. Serkis studied visual arts at Lancaster University in the north-west of England. There, he became involved in mechanical aspects of the theatre and did stage design and set building for theatrical productions. Then, Serkis was asked to play a role in a student production, and made his stage debut in Barrie Keeffe's play, "Gotcha"; thereafter, he switched from stage design to acting, which was a real calling that transformed his life.
Instead of going to an acting college, Serkis, in 1985, began his professional acting career at the Duke's Playhouse in Lancaster, where he was given an Equity card and performed in fourteen plays, one after another, as an apprentice of Jonathan Petherbridge. After that, he worked in touring theatre companies, doing it for no money, fueled by a sense of enthusiasm, moving to a new town every week. He has thus appeared in a host of popular plays and on almost every renowned British stage. In 1989, he appeared in a stage production of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth", so beginning his long association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, where he would return many times, to appear in "She Stoops to Conquer", "Your Home in the West" and the "True Nature of Love", among other plays. In the 1990s, Serkis began to make his mark on the London stage, appearing at the Royal Court Theatre as "The Fool" in "King Lear", making his interpretation of "The Fool" as the woman that "Lear", a widower, could relate to - a man, in drag, as a Victorian musician. He also appeared as "Potts" in the hit play, "Mojo", playing in front of full houses and earning huge critical success. In 1987, Serkis made his debut on television, and he acted in several major British TV miniseries throughout the 1990s.
In 1999, Andy Serkis landed the prize role of "Gollum" in Peter Jackson's epic film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's saga, "The Lord of the Rings". He spent four years in the part and received awards and nominations for his performance as "Gollum", a computer-generated character in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which won 11 Oscars. "Gollum" was the collaborative team's effort around Serkis's work in performance capture - an art form based on CGI-assisted acting. Serkis's work was an interactive performance in a skin-tight CGI suit with markers allowing cameras to track and register 3D position for each marker. Serkis' every nuance was picked up by several cameras positioned at precisely calculated angles to allow for the software to see enough information to process the image. The images of Serkis' performances were translated into the digital format by animators at Weta Digital studio in New Zealand. There, his image was key-frame animated and then edited into the movie, Serkis did have one scene in "The Return of the King" showing how he originally had the ring, killing another hobbit to posses it after they found it during a fishing trip. He drew from his three cats clearing fur balls out of their throats to develop the constricted voice he produced for "Gollum" and "Sméagol", and it was also enhanced by sound editing in post-production.
Serkis spent almost two years in New Zealand and away from his family, and much of 2002 and 2003 in post-production studios for large periods of time, due to complexity of the creative process of bringing the character of "Gollum" to the screen. Serkis had to shoot two versions for every scene; one version was with him on camera, acting with (chiefly) Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, which served both to show Wood and Astin the moves so that they could precisely interact with the movements of "Gollum", and to provide the CGI artists the subtleties of Gollum's physical movements and facial expressions for their manual finishing of the animated images. In the other version, he'd go the voice off-camera, as Wood and Astin repeated their movements as though "Gollum" were there with them; that take would be the basis for inserting the CGI Gollum used in the released movie. In post-production, Serkis was doing motion-capture wearing a skintight motion capture suit with CGI gear while acting as a virtual puppeteer redoing every single scene in the studio. Additional CGI rotomation was done by animators using the human eye instead of the computer to capture the subtleties of Serkis' performance. Serkis also used this art form in his performance as "Kong" in King Kong (2005), which won him a Toronto Film Critics Association Award (2005) for his unprecedented work helping to realize the main character in "King Kong", and a Visual Effects Society Award (2006) for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture.
Apart from his line of CGI-driven characters, Serkis continued with traditional acting in several leading and supporting roles, such as his appearances as "Richard Kneeland" opposite Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30 (2004), and "Alley" opposite David Bowie in The Prestige (2006), among other film performances. On television, he starred as 'Vincent Van Gogh' in the sixth episode of Simon Schama's Power of Art (2006), the BBC2 series about artists. Serkis is billed as "Capricorn" in the upcoming adventure film, Inkheart (2008). At the same time, he continued the development of performance capture while expanding his career into computer games. He starred as "King Bothan" in the martial arts drama, Heavenly Sword (2007), a Playstation 3 title, for which he provided a basis for his in-game face and also acts as a dramatic director on the project.
Andy Serkis married actress and singer Lorraine Ashbourne, and the couple have three children: daughter Ruby Serkis (born in 1998), and two sons Sonny Serkis (born in 2000) and Louis Ashbourne Serkis (born on 19 June 2004), who is now also a movie star. Away from acting, Andy Serkis is an accomplished amateur painter. Since his school years at Lancaster, being so close to the Lake District, Serkis developed his other passion in life: mountaineering. He is a pescetarian. Serkis has been active in charitable causes, such as The Hope Foundation, which provides essential life-saving medical aid for children suffering from Leukemia and children from countries devastated by war. In October 2006, he was a presenter at the first annual British Academy Video Games Awards at the Roundhouse, London. Andy Serkis lives with his family in North London, England.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Andrew M. Costikyan was born on 10 October 1922. He was a cinematographer, known for Bananas (1971), Beast from Haunted Cave (1959) and Ski Troop Attack (1960). He died on 10 October 2012 in Evanston, Illinois, USA.- Director
- Art Department
- Writer
Adam Paloian was born on 9 September 1991 in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for The Cuphead Show! (2022), SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015).- Animation Department
- Art Director
- Art Department
Lucy Tanashian-Gentry was born on 2 February 1962 in the USA. She is an art director, known for Dick Tracy (1990), Space Jam (1996) and Winnie the Pooh (2011).- Animation Department
- Editorial Department
- Art Department
Artin Aghamalian is known for Batman Beyond (1999), Justice League (2001) and Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (1993).- Costume Designer
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Art Department
Nominated for fifteen Academy Awards, charismatic costumer Irene Sharaff once declared "you can acquire chic and elegance, but style itself is a a rare thing" (NY Times, August 17, 1993). During her long and distinguished career, Sharaff became known as much for her meticulous attention to detail and her sense of colour as for her versatility in adapting to many genres and periods. For this, she drew inspiration from a wide variety of sources, which included impressionist and post-impressionist painting.
Irene Sharaff received her training from the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, the Arts Student League and at La Grande Chaumiere in Paris. Her first work in the world of fashion was as illustrator for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She then served a two-year apprenticeship as assistant designer under Aline Bernstein at the Civic Repertory Theatre Company. Her first own creations appeared in Broadway by 1932. She also added scenery design to her portfolio for Eva Le Gallienne's production of "Alice in Wonderland" (1932) and for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. Further accolades came her way for her costuming of Gertrude Lawrence, who played a fashion designer in "Lady in the Dark". Sharaff was nothing, if not prolific on Broadway, beginning with the musical revue "As Thousands Cheer" (1934), for which she created an entire ensemble of sepia-toned costumes to resemble early rotogravure pictures. Her versatility also encompassed designing for the American Ballet Theater and the New York City Ballet. Her private time was spent sculpting and painting.
Sharaff eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood producers. However, she would only spend a total of four years under contract: at MGM, for the Arthur Freed unit, between 1943 and 1945; and at RKO from 1946 to 1948. The rest of her time in Hollywood was strictly free-lance. At MGM, her use of vibrant colours (she was fond of saying, that she saw everything "in blocks of colour"), became ideally suited to the new Technicolor process. An understanding of movement in the design of dresses also became a key element in her work on musicals. Sharaff did her best designs in the 1950's on Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), Guys and Dolls (1955) and The King and I (1956). For the latter, she created history twice: first, by convincing Yul Brynner to shave his head; secondly, for her prodigious use of Thai silk, which created such a stir in the world of high fashion that the product ended up becoming Thailand's number one export.
From the late 1950's, Sharaff often alternated work on the same production for both Broadway and Hollywood, notably West Side Story (1961)(stage version, 1964) , Flower Drum Song (1961) (stage version, 1958) and Funny Girl (1968) (stage version, 1964). She became a favorite costumer of Elizabeth Taylor, designing in starkly contrasting styles the bohemian/swinging sixties outfits she wore in The Sandpiper (1965), her flowing, ornate renaissance dress in The Taming of The Shrew (1967) and, in collaboration with Renié, her opulent costumes for Cleopatra (1963).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Arlene Francis, the witty actress and popular television personality, was born Arlene Francis Kazanjian on Oct. 20, 1907, in Boston. Her father was an Armenian immigrant, later painter and portrait photographer; her mother was the daughter of actor Alfred Davis. Even at an early age, Arlene said, "I started out with one goal: I wanted to be a serious actress." She studied at the Theatre Guild and then went to Hollywood. Her movie debut was in Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), in which Bela Lugosi (often cast as a villain or mad scientist in many of his over 40 horror movies) tied her to an X-cross to extract her blood (trivia: Arlene and Bela were both born on Oct. 20). The live theater, however, was her first love, and she appeared in many plays. In 1935, she married movie executive Neil Agnew; they'd stay together for 10 years. Arlene made her Broadway debut in 1936 and had her first major role in "All That Glitters" two years later. She appeared with Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre production of "Danton's Death" in 1938, and in "Journey to Jerusalem" in 1940. Her big hit was "The Doughgirls" in 1942; it ran for 1-1/2 years. Arlene had auditioned for her first radio part at the same time she was getting started in the theater; she later recalled, "Radio came easily." In the 1940s, she played in as many as five radio serials a day. Arlene married actor Martin Gabel in 1946 (he died in 1986), and they had a son, Peter. She also was host of a radio dating show called "Blind Date," which was adapted to a TV series in 1949 (Your Big Moment (1949)), and she was the host (1949-1952). It was television that brought Arlene fame, and she became one of the highest-paid women in TV. Arlene was a permanent panelist on CBS' What's My Line? (1950) (a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production) from 1950 through 1967 and continued as a panelist in a syndicated version that ran until 1975, thus being with the show for its entire 25-year run. She was warm, witty and had a cute laugh--and was always fashionably dressed. She wore a diamond heart-shaped necklace, which started a fad. She was still doing radio while on TV, and in 1960, she was the star of "The Arlene Francis Show," a daily interview show in New York, on WOR; it ran for 23 years. Arlene retired from show business after that and lived comfortably. She was still giving interviews in 1991. Arlene spent her last years living in San Francisco. Arlene died of cancer on Thursday, May 31, 2001, in a San Francisco hospital, at age 93. Her many fans will miss her, Arlene was truly one of the greats.- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Art Laboe was born on 7 August 1925 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He is known for Colors (1988), The Outsiders (1983) and Senior Week (1988). He died on 7 October 2022 in Palm Springs, California, USA.- Actor
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- Writer
Harrison Cosmo Krikoryan Jarvis is an British actor, musician and filmmaker. Born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA to an Armenian-American mother and English father. He moved to England with his parents as a baby, growing up in Totnes, Devon, England with his mother and younger brother. In 2015, he auditioned and was cast to portray the character of Sebastian in William Oldroyd's debut feature film 'Lady Macbeth' (2016).- Paul Abrahamian Age: 23 Hometown: Tarzana, CA Occupation: Clothing Designer Favorite Activities: He loves to play music and loves going to shows and concerts
Paul has been on the block and is currently as of August 12, still in the Big Brother house. He has made alliances with Paulie, Victor, Cory and James He has also made a final 3 with Paulie and Victor He loves friendship and PP (Paul and Paulie) - Marie Rose Abousefian is a stage director, actress and playwright. She has worked at the Arshaluys Theatre and Yerevan Dramatic Theatre, taking on numerous roles in television, radio, and literary and theatrical shows, filmed by Hayfilm. After emigrating to San Francisco in 1983, she formed the "Saroyan Theatre" of Hamazkayin, San Francisco, for five years as a producer.
- Producer
- Actor
- Stunts
A venture capitalist by trade, Dan Bilzerian (a.k.a. "Blitz") has made a name for himself as a high-stakes poker player, thrill seeker and, more recently, Hollywood actor. His lavish lifestyle, penchant for danger and carefree attitude has gotten him attention around the world as an international playboy.
Bilzerian, 32, is a regular on the high-stakes poker scene, playing in private games with the rich and famous where every hand is more than most people's yearly salary. He has played in games where the minimum buy-in has been millions of dollars.
Bilzerian is a relentless gambler who makes some of the most outrageous bets that are regularly the talk of the gambling world. From swimming across an alligator infested lake or jumping off a 90-foot cliff to simply betting on a random person's opinion or the flip of a coin, Bilzerian will take almost any wager. He made headlines when he competed in what has to have been the highest-stakes drag race in history, winning $385,000 at the Las Vegas Speedway. Bilzerian was driving a 1965 A/C Cobra and beat a 2011 Ferrari 458, which was considered at the time to be one of the fastest cars in the world.
As an actor and stuntman, Bilzerian's credits include "Olympus Has Fallen," starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman, as well as three films to be released in 2014:"Lone Survivor," starring Mark Wahlberg; "The Equalizer," starring Denzel Washington; and "The Other Woman," starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton.
True to his nature, Bilzerian spends his free time doing extreme sports around the world as well as training MMA, scuba diving, mountain biking, snowmobiling and racing cars.
Bilzerian was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. Along with his brother Adam, Bilzerian invests in and manages business interests across a wide array of industries, including real estate, oil and entertainment. He enlisted in the Navy for four years and went directly into SEAL training. After completing 2 hell-weeks and 500 days of training, Bilzerian was dropped from the program for a safety violation two days before graduation. He received an honorable discharge and spent the following four years at the University of Florida majoring in business and criminology. Bilzerian left college after achieving significant financial success and focused his time on funding start up companies. Bilzerian divides his time between homes in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Christy Canyon is in both the AVN Hall of Fame and the XRCO Hall of Fame, and also received a Free Speech Coalition Award. Christy grew up and attended schools in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County. Her father was of Armenian descent and her mother of Italian descent. Christy was discovered and represented by the famous Jim South. She has been rated by AVN and most critics as one of the top 20 porn actresses of all time. Christy entered the industry in the golden age of pornography, and performed early scenes with such greats as Ginger Lynn and Ron Jeremy. She debuted about the same time as Traci Lords and Christy, Ginger and Traci were the three top female porn stars of the time. After the "Traci Lords" underage scandal, Christy stated that she never suspected that Traci was not of legal age, as she seemed so experienced in their scenes. Christy's first stint making films lasted from 1984 through 1986, when she left to join her father's business, but her films continued to be released during her "retirement". She returned in 1989 working with Video Exclusives on her label Canyon Video, before joining Vivid as one of their contract girls, following in the tradition of the large movie studios' contract stars. Although she stopped making films in 1997, compilations and re-issues continue to be sold. Since retiring from films, she continued to dance until 2001. Christy's autobiography was released in 2003 and continues to sell well at Amazon, eBay and other sites. Christy also established a career as a television and radio personality, as host of Playboy Radio's "Night Calls" on Sirius. She subsequently broadcast on Spice Radio, Radio Sex and since 2014 on Vivid Radio, all carried by Sirius/XM and on the Internet. Unlike Traci and others who have tried to forget their porn pasts, Christy is proud of her body of work, and maintains an active presence in the industry, on eBay and ABIBIDS, and operating her website. Wanting to give back to the industry she loves so much, she offers advice and counsel to aspiring new entrants to the adult industry.- Actor
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- Producer
David Dastmalchian is originally from Kansas. He moved to Chicago, IL, to study acting at The Theatre School, DePaul University. After college, David worked as a professional fisherman in Alaska, a circus performer, movie theatre usher and playwright. He is an ensemble member of Shattered Globe Theatre Company and Caffeine Theatre in Chicago.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ken Davitian was born on 19 June 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Borat (2006), Get Smart (2008) and S.W.A.T. (2003). He has been married to Ellen Baca since 22 July 1977. They have two children.- Actress
Cyrinda Foxe was born Kathleen Hetzekian, and she says that she grew up in an abusive household. Kathleen left home before she graduated from high school and lived for a while in Texas before settling in New York City. Kathleen changed her name to Cyrinda Foxe and became part of the New York nightlife crowd in the 1970s at famed nightclub Max's Kansas City. She also became an actress; her best known role was in Andy Warhol's movie Bad (1977). While she was making a name for herself as an actress, Cyrinda had an affair with David Bowie, became pregnant with his child, and had an abortion. Cyrinda grew up idolizing the Rolling Stones and she eventually became involved with the New York Dolls, a glam-rock band often compared to the Stones. In 1977, Cyrinda married David Johansen, frontman for the New York Dolls. At the time, the New York Dolls had the same management as Aerosmith, and while Cyrinda was involved with David, she met Aerosmith's lead singer Steven Tyler. After less than a year of marriage to David, Cyrinda left David for Steven. Cyrinda and Steven married and had a daughter, Mia Tyler, but the marriage was troubled by drug addiction, extramarital affairs, and physical and emotional abuse. Cyrinda and Steven divorced shortly before Aerosmith made a comeback in the late '80s. In 1997, Cyrinda's tell-all memoir, "Dream On", was published to conflicting reaction (mostly negative) from Aerosmith fans. Not long after the book was released, Cyrinda announced that the paperback edition of "Dream On" would include nude photos of Steven. But in 1999, Steven won a lawsuit against Cyrinda to prevent her from publishing the nude pictures. In 2000, Cyrinda launched a web site in which she was selling nude pictures of Steven, but by the end of the year, the site was shut down for undisclosed reasons. In 2001, Cyrinda had a stroke that left her partially paralyzed. She subsequently died from a brain tumor.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Naz Edwards was born on 2 February 1952 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress, known for Sailor Moon (1995), Meet Prince Charming (1999) and A Fine Romance (1989).- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Victor French was the son of a stuntman. His debut was a small role in Lassie (1954), uncredited. He had his first real acting experiences in western-films, where he usually played the "bad guy" due to his rather gruff look. This changed with Little House on the Prairie (1974), (as Isaiah Edwards). In 1977, he left Little House on the Prairie (1974) to play in his own sitcom Carter Country (1977), which lasted for two seasons. French then teamed up again with Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven (1984), as (Mark Gordon). French, along with Leonard Nimoy, founded LA's "Company of Angels", one of the area's earliest attempts to establish LA as a type of "Off-Broadway-West Coast". Its limited seating arrangement (99 seats) served as the prototype of LA's Equity-Waiver code. After he left the company in the mid 1970s, he went on to teach acting privately. He was well sought-after, and it became apparent that he had to take students on "by referral only". His philosophy and style was gentle and encouraging to young actors just entering the field. He directed in LA Theaters and won the Critics Circle Award for "12 Angry Men." In the 1980s, he declined to play "bad guys." Victor French died 1989 after finishing the last episode of Highway to Heaven (1984).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Michael Goorjian, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, is an American actor, filmmaker, and writer. As an actor, Michael won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for David's Mother (1994) with Kirstie Alley. He is also well known for his role as Justin, Neve Campbell's love interest on the Golden Globe winning series Party of Five (1994), as well as Heroin Bob in SLC Punk! (1998). As a director, Michael achieved widespread recognition for his first major independent film, Illusion (2004), a film he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Hollywood-legend Kirk Douglas
Michael's acting career began at the early age of 14 when he decided to audition for a local theatre company thinking it was a 'cool way' to skip class. After landing the lead role in a 'not-so-cool play called Computer Crazy, Michael soon found out that the rest of the cast were all senior citizens and that he would have to perform the play at his own junior high. Despite this rather humiliating experience, Michael stuck with acting and eventually trained at UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television.
Michael's first big Hollywood break came as a dancer when in 1992 he was cast as Skittery in the Disney film, Newsies (1992), starring Christian Bale and Robert Duvall. What followed was starring roles in numerous films including Chaplin (1992) with Robert Downey Jr., Forever Young (1992) with Mel Gibson, Oscar-winning Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Hard Rain (1998) with Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater, SLC Punk! (1998), The Invisibles (1999) with Portia de Rossi, Broken (2006) with Heather Graham and Conversations with God (2006).
Michael also guest starred in countless television series including Lie to Me (2009), House (2004), Alias (2001), Monk (2002), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), CSI: Miami (2002), Without a Trace (2002), Chicago Hope (1994) as well as a recurring role on Life Goes On (1989) as Ray Nelson.
Never straying far from the stage, Michael is a founding member of the Los Angeles based theater group, Buffalo Nights and starred in the West Coast premiere of Dennis McIntyre's powerful drama, Modigliani, which won him a L.A. Weekly Theater Award nomination for Best Lead Actor. With the 'Nights', Michael also received tremendous critical acclaim for playing title roles in both productions of, The Apollo of Bellac by Jean Giraudoux, and J.B. by Archibald MacLeish. Michael also won a LA Critics Choice and a Garland Backstage West awards for his original choreography for the L.A. production of the musical Refer Madness.- Actor
- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tall, bald and nearly always bearded, Sid Haig provided hulking menace to many a low-budget exploitation film and high-priced action film.
Sid Haig was born Sidney Eddie Mosesian on July 14, 1939 in Fresno, California, a screaming ball of hair. His parents, Roxy (Mooradian) and Haig Mosesian, an electrician, were of Armenian descent. Sid's career was somewhat of an accident. He was growing so fast that he had absolutely no coordination. It was decided that he would take dancing lessons, and that's when it all began. At the age of seven, he was dancing for pay in a children's Christmas Show, then a revival of a vaudeville show... and on it went.
Sid also showed a musical inclination, particularly for the drums. So when his parents got tired of him denting all the pots and pans in the house, they bought him a drum set. The music was in him and he took to it immediately, a born natural. First it was swing, then country, then jazz, blues and rock 'n' roll. Sid always found it easy to make money with his music, and did very well. One year out of high school and signing a recording contract is not too bad. Sid went on to record the single "Full House" with the T-Birds in 1958. However, back while he was in high school, Sid got bitten by the "acting bug". Alice Merrill was the head of the drama department at that time and gave him all the encouragement in the world to pursue an acting career. The clincher came in his senior year. The way that the senior play was cast was that she would double cast the show, then have one of her friends from Hollywood come up and pick the final cast.
You see, Merrill was quite famous as an actress on Broadway and kept up her contacts in the business. When the appointed day came, the "friend" that showed up was Dennis Morgan, a big musical comedy star from the 1940s. The rest is history -- he picked Sid for the role, then two weeks later came back to see the show and told Sid that he should continue his education down south and consider acting as a career path. Two years later, Sid enrolled in the world famous Pasadena Playhouse, the school that trained such actors as Robert Preston, Robert Young, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and so on. After two years of "actor's hell" (non-stop 7:00 am to 11:00 pm with homework thrown in just for the fun of it), it was time to move on to the big "H", Hollywood! Sid did so with longtime friend and roommate Stuart Margolin (Angel on The Rockford Files (1974)).
Sid's first acting job was in Jack Hill's student film at UCLA. It was called The Host (2000), which was released in 2004 on DVD as a companion to Switchblade Sisters (1975), another Hill film. That role launched a 40-year acting career during which Haig appeared in over 50 films and 350 television series. He has proven himself quite valuable to such filmmakers as producer Roger Corman. He also became a staple in the pictures of Jack Hill, appearing in Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967), Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Haig's other memorable credits include George Lucas' THX 1138 (1971), and the James Bond opus Diamonds Are Forever (1971) (he is one of the Slumber Brothers, and got to toss a topless Lana Wood from the window of a high-rise Vegas hotel).
Among his most significant television credits are appearances on such landmark series as The A-Team (1983), T.J. Hooker (1982), The Dukes of Hazzard (1979), Quincy M.E. (1976), Hart to Hart (1979), Fantasy Island (1977), Charlie's Angels (1976), Police Woman (1974), The Rockford Files (1974), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), Mannix (1967), Mission: Impossible (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), Get Smart (1965), Here's Lucy (1968), The Flying Nun (1967), Daniel Boone (1964), Star Trek (1966), Batman (1966) and The Untouchables (1959).
Sid was never one to give-up on anything but after nearly 40 years of carrying a gun (except for the occasional Jack Hill or Roger Corman film), his dreams of being recognized as a more than competent actor were fading. Then in 1992, frustrated with being typecast, Sid retired from acting and quoted, "I'll never play another stupid heavy again, and I don't care if that means that I never work, ever." This just proves that if you take a stand people will listen, for Quentin Tarantino wrote for Sid the role of the judge in Jackie Brown (1997). Then things got better, much better. During the mid and late 1990s, Sid managed a community theatre company, as well as dabbled occasionally in theater in Los Angeles.
Then in 2000, Sid came out of his self-imposed retirement at the request of Rob Zombie for a role in Zombie's debut film House of 1000 Corpses (2003). He starred as the fun-loving, but murderous, Captain Spaulding. This role breathed new life into Sid's acting career and earned him an award for Best Supporting Actor in the 13th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, as well as an induction into the Horror Hall of Fame. Sid's character Captain Spaulding became an icon for the new horror genre. Sid has recently enjoyed success as Captain Spaulding once again in Rob Zombie's follow-up to House of 1000 Corpses (2003), entitled, The Devil's Rejects (2005). For this film, Sid received the award for best Actor in the 15th Annual Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, as well as sharing the award for "Most Vile Villain" at the First Annual Spike TV Scream Awards with Leslie Easterbrook, Sheri Moon Zombie and Bill Moseley as The Firefly Family.
In the 2000s and 2010s, Sid continued to enjoy his renewed success as an actor. In September 2019, he was hospitalized after falling in his home in Los Angeles, California. While recovering, he suffered from a lung infection after vomiting in his sleep. He died on September 21, 2019, from complications of the infection at age 80.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Alexandra Hedison was born on 10 July 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Prey (1998), Alok (2024) and The L Word (2004). She has been married to Jodie Foster since 19 April 2014.- Albert David Hedison Jr. was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the elder son of Albert and Rose Hedison, naturalized United States citizens from Armenia. His father owned a jewelry enameling business and his son was expected to follow in his footsteps. Young Al had other ideas, having put his sights on an acting career after seeing Tyrone Power on the screen in Blood and Sand (1941).
Following the completion of military service in the navy (as a Seaman 2nd Class, working on mothballing decommissioned warships), he enrolled at Brown University. Three years later, he joined the Neighborhood Playhouse School in Manhattan and studied acting under Sanford Meisner. He then underwent further training at the Actor's Studio with the legendary Lee Strasberg.
When he finally made his theatrical debut he was billed as 'Al Hedison'. Voted most promising newcomer for his performance in the off-Broadway play "A Month in the Country", he received a Theatre World Award. More importantly, this opened the doors to work in the film business, albeit slowly. One of a myriad of struggling actors, Hedison had taken a temporary job as a radio announcer for a local station in North Carolina to make ends meet. Upon his return to New York, the offers began to come in and he made his screen bow in 1954.
His first significant role was as the unfortunate scientist André Delambre whose matter transmitter experiments end up with him being turned into The Fly (1958). It did not end well for the poor man. For the actor, however, it set the tone for other forays into the genres of fantasy and science fiction, notably as Ed Malone in The Lost World (1960) and as Captain Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964) (arguably his most famous role), both Irwin Allen productions. He later recalled really 'hitting it off' with co-star Richard Basehart, saying "Richard and I had real chemistry. He taught me so much about being camera ready when I needed to be. Television filming is so very fast, we always had to keep moving on."
Under contract to 20th Century Fox from 1958, Hedison next starred in the Cold War spy series Five Fingers (1959) portraying the part of an American counterintelligence officer (the accompanying change of his stage moniker to 'David Hedison' came about at the insistence of NBC and Fox). By the early 60s, Hedison had become a much sought-after, robust lead for made-for-TV films and TV series. He had befriended the actor Roger Moore while filming an episode of The Saint (1962) and this paved the way for him to appear in two James Bond films -- Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989) -- on both occasions as CIA operative Felix Leiter. Over the years followed numerous guest spots on crime dramas like The F.B.I. (1965), Cannon (1971), Ellery Queen (1975), Barnaby Jones (1973) and Murder, She Wrote (1984). In 2004, he joined the regular cast of the TV soap The Young and the Restless (1973) for some fifty episodes. Ultimately, however, he came to regard the stage as his favorite medium, saying "When I go back to the theater, I feel good about myself. When I do films or TV, it's to make a little bread to pay my mortgage..." - Dan Janjigian was born on 30 April 1972 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor, known for The Room (2003), Irangeles (2003) and Take Out (2005).
- Actress
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- Producer
Sylva Kelegian was born in New York City, New York, USA. She has been married to Jude Ciccolella since December 20, 1997.
Sylva's memoir, GOD SPELLED BACKWARDS: The Journey of an Actress into the World of Dog Rescue, is a 2016 Book Excellence Award Winner, a 2015 Global Ebook Award memoir winner and a memoir finalist in the 2015 Beverly Hills Book Awards. Her children's book, THE DOLPHIN PRINCESS, is a 2015 winner of The Beverly Hills Book Award for children's fiction and a 2015 Global Ebook Award winner for children's literature fiction and a CIPA Award Winner for Children's Story books. More information can be found at her website sylvakelegian {dot} com.- Additional Crew
- Actress
Sona Movsesian was born on 13 October 1982 in Montebello, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Power Players (2019), Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009).- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Deran Sarafian began his filmmaking career attending UCLA and working for Roger Corman on films such as ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. Inspired by European filmmakers, he moved to Rome where he began writing and quickly sold and directed his first low budget independent feature film THE FALLING, starring Dennis Christopher and Lynn-Holly Johnson. Deran moved back to the states, where he continued to direct genre thrillers including GUNMEN, TO DIE FOR, DEATH WARRANT, and BACK IN THE USSR starring Roman Polanski. The critical success of these films led to his first Hollywood blockbuster feature, TERMINAL VELOCITY, starring Charlie Sheen, Natassja Kinski, and James Gandolfini.
By the end of the 1990's Deran transitioned into television. He has since become one of the most prolific directors/producer working in television today, winning the prestigious American Film Institute award for HOUSE M.D, starring Hugh Laurie. Deran found a new home on HOUSE where he co-executive produced over forty episodes, and directed twenty-three of the first one hundred episodes. For his work on the series, Deran has won the AFI Award for Best Director in 2007, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmys, and has won two People's Choice Awards in 2008 and 2009.
Deran has produced and directed network pilots including K-VILLE and PAST LIFE for Fox, as well as one hundred plus episodes of critically acclaimed network, cable, and streaming series including the CSI franchise, LOST, SWAMP THING, GAME OF SILENCE, HEMLOCK GROVE, HELL ON WHEELS, DOMINION, CROSSBONES, LEGENDS, THE STRAIN and THE RETURNED.- Actress
- Producer
Angela Sarafyan is an Armenian American actress. She has appeared as a guest-star in several television series such as Judging Amy (1999) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997).
Sarafyan has acted in the feature films: On the Doll (2007), Kabluey (2007), The Informers (2008), A Beautiful Life (2008), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012), A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (2011), and Lost and Found in Armenia (2012).
In 2016 she starred as Clementine Pennyfeather in HBO's Westworld (2016).- Lucy Saroyan was born on 17 January 1946 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Hopscotch (1980) and Mannix (1967). She died on 11 April 2003 in Thousand Oaks, California, USA.
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Oscar winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient William Saroyan, who gained world fame with his classic book "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" (1934), was born in California to Armenak and Takoohi Saroyan.
With his unmistakably American literary works, deeply rooted in his Armenian heritage, William Saroyan soon established himself as one of the preeminent short story writers, playwrights and novelists in the United States.
In 1939 and 1940 William Saroyan's "My Heart's in the Highlands" and "The Time of Your Life" were staged for theater and "Love's Old Sweet Song" opened on Broadway, winning the New York Critics Circle Award.
In 1943 his MGM screenplay "The Human Comedy" was novelized and published and received great reviews, and he won the Academy Award for Best Writing Original Story for "The Human Comedy".
He wrote the lyrics of Ross Bagdasarian's famous # 1 hit song "Come On-a My House", performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and Rosemary Clooney, which was featured in Madonna's "Swept Away" (2002) and Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952).
William Saroyan is one of the most important American writers of the 20th century -- along with such masters as John Updike, John Steinbeck, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, who admired him. Saroyan is perhaps the only major and influential writer to receive both the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy Award, and his work continues to appear on the theater stage and the silver screen worldwide.- Adam Sevani was born on 29 June 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Step Up 3D (2010), Step Up 2: The Streets (2008) and Step Up All In (2014).
- Editor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Aram Avakian was born on 23 April 1926 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an editor and director, known for End of the Road (1970), Lad: A Dog (1962) and 11 Harrowhouse (1974). He was married to Dorothy Tristan. He died on 17 January 1987 in New York City, New York, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Steve Dildarian is known for The Life & Times of Tim (2008), Ten Year Old Tom (2021) and The New V.I.P.'s (2017).- Samuel Aroutiounian is known for A Warrior's Tail (2015) and Eye Disease and Child Cancer Concert (2010).
- Producer
- Director
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Filmmaker, Director of the award-winning film "Screamers" as well as various documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 [UK], including "Lifting the Veil," "Children of the Secret State," "Dying for the President," "Iran Undercover," and "My Friend the Mercenary." Former BBC World anchor. Executive Director of the Pomegranate Foundation, promoting genocide education and the Rwanda Testimonies archive. Leader of the Armenian Film Foundation's Armenian Genocide Testimonies Project for USC Shoah Foundation's Digital History Archive.- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Howard G. Kazanjian was born on 26 July 1942 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a producer and assistant director, known for Demolition Man (1993), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). He has been married to Carol Anne Eskijian since 29 May 1970. They have three children.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Alek Keshishian was born on 30 July 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a director and writer, known for Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me (2022), Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) and Selena Gomez: Hands to Myself (2015).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Rouben Mamoulian was born on 8 October 1897 in Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and writer, known for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Applause (1929) and Becky Sharp (1935). He was married to Catharine Azadia Newman. He died on 4 December 1987 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
Peter Manoogian was born on 16 December 1949 in the USA. He is an assistant director and producer, known for The Dungeonmaster (1984), The Howling (1981) and Eliminators (1986).- Additional Crew
- Producer
Haig Manoogian was an American citizen of Armenian descent and worked as a Professor of Film at 'New York University'(NYU). Manoogian was a major influence on filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, who was one of his students. Manoogian co-produced Scorsese's first feature film Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967). Scorsese's masterpiece Raging Bull (1980) is dedicated "with love and resolution" to his former teacher Manoogian.- Camera and Electrical Department
Carl Manoogian was born on 16 October 1925. He is known for The Last Picture Show (1971), The Driver (1978) and Hard Times (1975). He died on 3 November 2015.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Mardik Martin is in the elite group of screenwriters on WGA's list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written. He immigrated to the United States from Iraq to attend 'New York University'. He won the Mahler award and graduated with a Master's degree in Screenwriting in 1968, then went on to teach at NYU from 1968 to 1973. Mardik moved to Hollywood after Mean Streets (1973), which he co-wrote with Martin Scorsese, became a huge success. He worked for Chartoff-Winkler Productions in the years following, writing screenplays like Valentino (1977) and collaborating with Scorsese on multiple projects before writing the first three drafts of Raging Bull (1980). Recently Martin co-wrote the screenplay to Fatih Akin's The Cut (2014) which premiered in the Competition at the 'Venice Int. Film Festival 2014'. Mardik Martin is a professor at the prestigious 'USC School of Cinematic Arts', having mentored and taught thousands of the brightest young luminaries in the movie business.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Richard C. Sarafian was born on 28 April 1930 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Vanishing Point (1971), Bugsy (1991) and Blue Streak (1999). He was married to Helen Joan Altman. He died on 18 September 2013 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
Tanya Seghatchian was born on 17 April 1968 in Paddington, London, England, UK. She is a producer, known for The Power of the Dog (2021), Cold War (2018) and Attack the Block (2011).- Eric Esrailian is known for The Promise (2016), Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial & Depiction (2017) and I Am Not Alone (2019).
- Producer
- Writer
- Susan Beaubian was born on 7 September 1951 in the USA. She is an actress, known for American Crime Story (2016), Norbit (2007) and Numb3rs (2005).
- Art Department
- Visual Effects
- Special Effects
- Buck Kartalian was born on 13 August 1922 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Planet of the Apes (1968), The Rock (1996) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972). He was married to Margaret Poloshjian and Mary E. Bannister. He died on 24 May 2016 in Mission Hills, California, USA.
- Editor
- Sound Department
George Ohanian was born on 30 September 1924. George was an editor, known for Bride of the Incredible Hulk (1980), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and The Bionic Woman (1976). George was married to Eileen D Bear Stecyk. George died on 20 April 2021 in Glendale, California, USA.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
With 35 years of Hollywood experience, Jerry Perzigian has been a showrunner, writer, and producer on some of the most successful half-hour sitcoms in television history, which include Sanford and Son, The Golden Girls, Frasier, The Nanny, Married... with Children, and Malcom & Eddie. Perzigian was nominated for three Emmys and won one Emmy Award in 2004. Jerry also served as the producer of the Fox Sports Net series "The Best Damn Sports Show", which was co-hosted by former MLB player John Kruk, former NBA star center John Salley and Chris Rose.
Jerry currently teaches comedy script writing at The Television Comedy Workshop at Jacob Krueger Studio in NYC. Jerry has previously taught television-writing at The University of Chicago as a Visiting Professor three separate academic years. In 2010, he was dispatched by Sony Pictures Television to Moscow to supervise production of the Russian version of Married...with Children for a network there.- Michael George Bedrossian or "Bedrock" known for his size and presence 6'5 300lbs he was born in Pawtucket Rhode Island Bedrossian moved to Seekonk Massachusetts in 1987 and attended Seekonk HIgh School (94) Bedrossian was a standout in Athletics while at Seekonk and was the first boys basketball player to score over 1000 pts in the Schools history in 1994. He was also a standout in football and baseball. Bedrossian went on to play Junior college Basketball and transferred to Rhode Island College in 1997 where he Played both basketball and baseball. He received a Bachelors degree in Education in 2001 from Rhode Island College and currently is a Physical Education Teacher and Coach. Bedrossian had been interested in acting since a young age and finally came upon an opportunity. (Higher Methods 2017) when former classmate Nathan Sure who is an actor and director was about to film and direct his first feature film Higher Methods Sure gave Bedrossian the opportunity and he jumped on it. Bedrossian also ran in to his former student Chris Esper who is also a Director and writer and worked as the assistant director on Higher Methods. Bedrossian only a featured extra in the film is continuously working and finding new films and TV projects to appear in and work on
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Ramy Zada was born in Hawthorne, CA.,and raised in the West San Fernando Valley. He is of Greek, Finnish and Armenian descent. While in school, he excelled in most sports, including football, baseball, basketball and track and field. He is a film school graduate with a major in film production and directing from C.S.U.N.
Through college and after graduation, he worked in construction as a glazer (glass man) and a carpenter, and then as a camera asst. on low budget films. His first play in L.A. was Sam Shepard's "Cowboys #2". From there, he used his construction skills to build LA's The Court Theatre, of which he was the Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director. There he acted in, directed, and co-produced many productions. He Co-Produced John Cassavetes last play, A Woman Of Mystery, starring Gena Rowlands. His performance of "Green Eyes" in the inaugural production of Jean Genet's Death Watch was well received and lead him to be cast as Armand in London playwright Pam Gem's version of "Camille" opposite Kathleen Turner at the Long Wharf Theatre, and in Michael Gazzo's The October Night of Tommy Zero at the Actors Studio West.
Ramy then moved from the stage to starring in many film and TV series roles, and was cast as the series lead, Judge Nicholas Marshall, in CBS's Dark Justice, which was the first network TV series shot in a foreign country ~ Barcelona, Spain. Appearing in numerous T.V. series and films throughout his career, he is equally at home in sitcoms and hour-long dramas. He is also a screenwriter, director, voice over actor, and has created/hosted a food reality TV show, "America's Happy Hour".
He is at home in the outdoors, loves golfing, cooking, working on his home, and traveling with his wonderful wife, and is always looking for his next adventure.- Set Decorator
- Art Department
- Production Designer
Anne Kuljian was born on 17 June 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is a set decorator and production designer, known for Minority Report (2002), The Abyss (1989) and Mulan (2020).- Producer
- Production Manager
- Animation Department
- Laura Efrikian was born on 14 June 1940 in Treviso, Veneto, Italy. She is an actress, known for Hercules and the Captive Women (1961), David Copperfield (1965) and The Young Nun (1964). She was previously married to Gianni Morandi.
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Amerian is known for The Blues Brothers (1980), The Usual Suspects (1995) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).- Special Effects
- Additional Crew
- Visual Effects
Mark Setrakian was born on 7 May 1965 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is known for Men in Black (1997), Hellboy (2004) and Pacific Rim (2013).- Richard Foronjy was born on 3 August 1937 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Repo Man (1984), Midnight Run (1988) and Serpico (1973). He died on 19 May 2024 in Fishkill, New York, USA.