Money Train 1995 premiere
Sunday November 12th, Century Plaza Cinemas 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, CA 90067
List activity
50 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
136 people
- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Wesley Trent Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, to Marian (Long), a teacher's assistant, and SMSGT Wesley Rudolph Snipes, an aircraft engineer. He grew up on the streets of the South Bronx in New York City, where he very early decided that dance and the theatre were to be his career. He attended the High School for the Performing Arts (popularized in Fame (1980)). But dreams of the musical theater (and maybe a few commercials) faded when his mother moved to Orlando, Florida before he could graduate. Fortune would have it that he along with two friends and his "Drama class" teachers Mr. S Porro and K. Rugerio, would start a bus-n-truck theatre company (Struttin Street Stuff) be instrumental in his high schools (Jones High) induction into the International Thespian Society, Orlando Chapter and help lay the foundation for what would become Dr. Phillips High Schools theatre arts program. Musical theatre rooted Snipes performed song-n-dance, puppetry, and acrobatics in city parks, dinner clubs, and performing arts centers around central Florida. As a recipient of a Victor Borge Scholarship, Snipes left Orlando and entered the world-renowned professional theatre arts program at SUNY Purchase in New York, now Purchase College, where he honed his theatrical performance and martial arts skills. Graduating with a BFA, he went on to co-star in a few soap operas and nighttime dramas, peppered in between critical acclaim performances Broadway. It was there in a Broadway theater An agent saw him on stage and invited him to audition for his first feature film role.
Goldie Hawn Wildcats (1986). Athletic roles such as that gave way to dramatic roles such as that gave way to tough guy roles as in New Jack City (1991), and to the action hero in Passenger 57 (1992). Wesley feels that at least with the Hollywood heavyweights he must be doing something right - Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Dennis Hopper and Sean Connery all had veto power over casting and all approved his role. Wesley also founded Amen Ra Films Production Company, and is a Multi System Combat Arts Black Belt Holder IT Technologist & VC.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Woodrow Tracy Harrelson was born on July 23, 1961 in Midland, Texas, to Diane Lou (Oswald) and Charles Harrelson. He grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, where his mother was from. After receiving degrees in theater arts and English from Hanover College, he had a brief stint in New York theater. He was soon cast as Woody on TV series Cheers (1982), which wound up being one of the most-popular TV shows ever and also earned Harrelson an Emmy for his performance in 1989.
While he dabbled in film during his time on Cheers (1982), that area of his career didn't fully take off until towards the end of the show's run. In 1991, Doc Hollywood (1991) gave him his first widely-seen movie role, and he followed that up with White Men Can't Jump (1992), Indecent Proposal (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). More recently, Harrelson was seen in No Country for Old Men (2007), Zombieland (2009), 2012 (2009), and Friends with Benefits (2011), along with the acclaimed HBO movie Game Change (2012).
In 2011, Harrelson snagged the coveted role of fan-favorite drunk Haymitch Abernathy in the big-screen adaptation of The Hunger Games (2012), which ended up being one of the highest-grossing movies ever at the domestic box office. Harrelson is set to reprise that role for the sequels, which are scheduled for release in November 2013, 2014 and 2015. Harrelson has received two Academy Award nominations, first for his role as controversial Hustler founder Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and then for a role in The Messenger (2009). He also received Golden Globe nominations for both of these parts. In 2016, he had a stand-out role as a wise teacher in the teen drama The Edge of Seventeen (2016).
Harrelson was briefly married to Nancy Simon in the 80s, and later married his former assistant, Laura Louie, with whom he has three daughters.- Music Artist
- Producer
- Actress
Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24, 1969 in The Bronx, New York City, New York to teacher Lupe López and computer specialist David López. The two Puerto Ricans were brought to the continental United States during their childhoods and eventually met while living in New York City. Their daughters would have a stable, middle-class upbringing.
Jennifer always dreamed of being a multi-tasking superstar. As a child, she enjoyed a variety of musical genres, mainly Afro-Caribbean rhythms like salsa, merengue, and bachata, and mainstream music like pop, hip-hop, and R&B. Although she loved music, the film industry also intrigued her. Her biggest influence was the Rita Moreno musical, West Side Story (1961). At 5, Jennifer began taking singing and dancing lessons. Aside from being a budding entertainer, Jennifer was also a Catholic schoolgirl, attending eight years at a Catholic elementary school named Holy Family, located in The Bronx, before graduating from all-girls prep school Preston High School after a four-year stay. At school, Jennifer was an amazing athlete and participated in track and field and tennis. She spent most of her upbringing in a two-story house in the Castle Hill neighborhood.
At 18, Jennifer moved out of her parents' home. After high school, she briefly worked in a law office and took dance classes at night. During this time, she continued dance classes at night. Her big break came when she was offered a job as a fly girl on Fox's hit comedy In Living Color (1990). After a two-year stay at In Living Color (1990) where actress Rosie Perez served as choreographer, Lopez then went on to dance for famed singer-actress Janet Jackson. Her first major film was Gregory Nava's My Family/Mi familia (1995), and her career went into overdrive when she portrayed late Tejana singer Selena in Selena (1997).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
American actor who began as a child in Our Gang comedies and reappeared as a powerful adult performer of leading and character roles. Born in New Jersey, the young Mickey Gubitosi won a role in MGM's Our Gang series at the age of 5. As one of the more prominent children in the Gang, he gained attention for his cute good looks and his lovable, if somewhat melancholy, personality.
In 1940 he took on the stage name Bobby Blake (though he continued to use the name Mickey Gubitosi in the Our Gang series for another three years) and began playing child roles in a wide range of films. He gained a good deal of fame as the Indian sidekick Little Beaver in the Red Ryder series of Westerns. Though roles were sporadic as he grew to manhood, he was never long off the screen (except for a period of military service, 1954-56). But despite some fine work in films like Pork Chop Hill (1959) and Town Without Pity (1961), his career did not take off until his stunning portrayal of killer Perry Smith in In Cold Blood (1967). A number of telling performances in films of the next decade, stardom in a popular television series (Baretta (1975), and several ruefully comic appearances as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) made him a popular figure even as his personal difficulties increased.
Consumed with anger over his treatment by his family and the studio as a child, he denigrated his early work, suffered bouts of difficulty with drugs, and became known as a difficult, perfectionist person to work with. He quit his successful TV series Hell Town (1985) when his personal demons became overwhelming. After a self-imposed exile of nearly eight years, during which he struggled to right his life, he successfully returned to films and television work, appearing renewed and more confident in himself and his work.
In 2001, though, the murder of his wife, Bonnie Bakley, thrust Blake into the limelight in a different way. Admittedly having married Bakley through the coercion of her pregnancy, a routine Bakley had apparently tried with various other celebrities, Blake made no denial of his distaste for the woman, but was by all accounts thrilled with the daughter born to them. Blake was arrested for his wife's murder, but the presumption of innocence trumped when jurors didn't believe what they thought was flimsy evidence, and Blake was acquitted in a trial that made worldwide headlines. Reportedly broke from legal costs, Blake indicated hopefulness that he might be allowed to return to acting work.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Joseph Ruben was born on 10 May 1950 in Briarcliff, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Dreamscape (1984), Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) and The Stepfather (1987).- Producer
- Actor
- Make-Up Department
Peters made his Hollywood debut in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956) as the boy on the donkey crossing the Red Sea. He went on to be a hard-case kid who spent his formative years in and out of reform school. Peters entered the family business of hairdressing at age 14. Armed with an instinctive genius for self-promotion, he amassed a huge celebrity clientele at his trendy Jon Peters Salon on Rodeo Drive, raking in millions by merchandising the salon's ancillary cosmetic products. Privy to confidences that the rich and famous only reveal to their hairdressers, Peters became hip to the ways and means of Hollywood. In 1973, he fell in love with his client Barbra Streisand and proceeded to manage her early music and film career. He produced her 1976 remake of A Star Is Born (1976) which yielded over $100 million at the box office and four Oscar nominations including the Oscar-winning song, "Evergreen". Peters went on to produce a string of best-selling Streisand albums, "The Main Event", The Eyes of Laura Mars" and "Caddyshack". Peters blossomed into an A-list producer, a status he's maintained over 30 years.
In 1980, Peters teamed with former Casablanca Records and Filmworks exec Peter Guber; together with Neil Bogart, Peters and Guber formed the Polygram Productions, later renamed the Boardwalk Company. A series of mergers and sell-offs later, Guber-Peters was born in 1983. The team's willingness to take enormous chances with huge amounts of money transformed Guber and Peters into the wunderkind of Hollywood, especially after such critical and financial successes as Missing (1982), Flashdance (1983), The Color Purple (1985), Witches of Eastwick (1987), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), and Rain Man (1989). Guber-Peters acquired Chuck Barris Productions (The Gong Show, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game), cementing their role in television as Guber-Peters-Barris. The partnership took its biggest risk and scored its biggest hit with Batman (1989) which won Peters and his partner a multimillion-dollar seven-year WB contract. Within months, they were wooed away by Sony Corporation, which offered Guber and Peters one billion dollars to assume chief executive posts.
Peters left to start Peters Entertainment which has produced such blockbusters as Batman Returns, Wild Wild West, Ali, and Superman Returns. Peters has received over 254 nominations, and won multiple Oscars, Golden Globes, and Grammys. The producer's combined grosses exceed $6 Billion worldwide and will continue to soar with two Superman sequels and a Star is Born remake in development. Peters is the proud father of five children: Christopher, Caleigh, Jordan, Skye, and Kendyl. Through the Peters Family Foundation he supports the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Life Rolls On, Homeboy Industries, My Friend's Place, Cambodian Children's Fund, Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, Heartfelt Foundation, The Laurence School, the Sheriff's Youth Foundation, and countless other youth charities.- Producer
- Additional Crew
Neil Canton was born on 30 May 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer, known for Interstate 60 (2002), Back to the Future (1985) and Money Train (1995). He is married to Marie Jacqueline Spicer. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Muhammad Ali beat more champions and top contenders than any heavyweight champion in history. He defeated heavyweight kings Sonny Liston (twice), Floyd Patterson (twice), Ernie Terrell, Jimmy Ellis, Ken Norton (twice), Joe Frazier (twice), George Foreman and Leon Spinks. He defeated light-heavyweight champs Archie Moore and Bob Foster. Ali defeated European heavyweight champions Henry Cooper, Karl Mildenberger, Jürgen Blin, Joe Bugner, Richard Dunn, Jean-Pierre Coopman and Alfredo Evangelista. He defeated British and Commonwealth king Brian London. All of Ali's defeats were by heavyweight champions: Frazier, Norton, Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Ali also beat undefeated fighters Sonny Banks (12-0), Billy Daniels (16-0), 'Rudi Lubbers' (21-0) and George Foreman (40-0).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Martin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an African-American comedian, producer, writer, director and actor. He is known for his roles in the Bad Boys trilogy, Martin, Def Comedy Jam, Big Momma's House, Open Season, House Party, Boomerang, Wild Hogs, What's Happening Now!!, Nothing to Lose, Life and Blue Streak. He has three daughters.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
The trail-blazing linchpin of a sprawling family dynasty of comic entertainers, it was multi-talented writer/director/producer Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958, in New York City) who led the familial pack and was the first to achieve national prominence when he successfully created, launched, wrote, hosted and starred in In Living Color (1990), a landmark 1990s black-oriented comedy sketch satire on Fox TV that beat the odds and transcended the then-narrow periphery of TV comedy to became a defiant movement of inclusion. It was a brilliant showcase for up and coming comics and not only ignited/advanced the careers of his own younger talented siblings (Damon Wayans, Kim Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans), but the superstar film careers of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx.
The second of ten children of Howell Wayans, a grocery store manager, and Elvira Wayans, a social worker and singer, Keenan attended Seward Park High School, then majored in engineering at Alabama's Tuskegee University. He dropped out during his senior year when the comedy bug hit him full force. Heavily influenced by Richard Pryor, he found only lukewarm success on the New York stand-up stage, deciding later to relocate to Los Angeles in order to pursue film and TV opportunities. After being glimpsed in bit parts in such TV shows as "CHiPs" "The Renegades" and "Cheers" along with the minor part of a stand-up comic in the Bob Fosse-directed biopic Star 80 (1983), Keenen found his first real break in the sudsy ensemble TV military series For Love and Honor (1983) as Army Pvt. Duke Johnson, part of an artillery unit who aspired to become a professional boxer. From this, he moved onto more visible roles on nighttime TV, including "Hill Street Blues," "Benson" and "A Different World."
After hooking up with star comedian Eddie Murphy and earning a writing credit for the opening sketch of the star's raunchy live performance documentary Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) and a TV writing nod for Joan Rivers's nighttime chat show The Late Show (1986), Keenen's name became known as an actor and writer. Partnering with actor/writer/producer/director Robert Townsend, he had his first film hit with the film Hollywood Shuffle (1987), a biting satire highlighting the plight of the black actor in 70's Hollywood. Done in hilariously stereotypical fashion, one great bit had detective Townsend battling a blaxploitation villain named Jerry Curl (Wayans). Keenan went solo (writer/director/star) for his next similar 70s blaxploitation parody, the even bigger hit I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988). Here he played the revenge-minded, but not particularly macho Jack Spade alongside such icons of blaxploitation cinema as Jim Brown, Isaac Hayes, Bernie Casey and Antonio Fargas, as well as several members of his family.
These two major successes led to the irreverent, controversial, Emmy-winning TV satire In Living Color (1990). This Fox show would become Keenen's creative baby and prized pièce de résistance that would effectively showcase his deviously scathing social humor. He also turned the show into a family act as well with Damon, Kim, Marlon and Shawn all part of the wild and woolly ensemble. Opening each episode surrounded by the beautiful dancing "Fly Girls" (one of the season's replacements would be Jennifer Lopez), the nattily-dressed Keenen would graciously spotlight his comedy troupe more than himself. The show caught on quick; however, squabbles with the network over creative control, censorship and financial issues led to an incensed Keenen abruptly leaving his show in 1992, after only two seasons. His exit was quickly followed by his family performers.
When it comes to outrageous satire, Keenen has few peers and immediately picked up where he left off as a writer, director and star of in his own film comedy vehicle, the action-filled A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) in which he plays a private detective named Shame who takes on drug lords. He next supported brothers Shawn and Marlon with a bit role as a mailman in their own popular crime comedy vehicle Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), then was given the chance to hang opposite action star Steven Seagal in Seagal's producing vehicle The Glimmer Man (1996) as two cops out to solve some murders. With his next film vehicle project, Keenen decided to write but left the directing chores to David Hogan in a dramatic change of pace with Most Wanted (1997). He plays a Marine and special operations officer on a top secret mission who gets framed for an attempted assassination.
Towards the end of the 1990's Keenen attempted his own nighttime talk show, described as ("late night talk the Wayans way"). As host, writer and executive producer, The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997) had heavy competition and did not catch fire, barely lasting a couple of seasons. Come the millennium, however, Keenen set his sights on directing (and appearing in a minor role) the riotously crude horror film spoof Scary Movie (2000), which prominently displayed brothers Shawn and Marlon (also co-writers). This would become a blockbuster hit. The following year he also directed the first sequel Scary Movie 2 (2001).
Continuing to keeping things more or less a family affair, he directed and co-wrote (only) Shawn and Marlon's crime comedy vehicles White Chicks (2004), as two FBI agents who go undercover in drag, and Little Man (2006), as criminal brothers, one being a dwarf(!); appeared as a guest on brother Damon's sitcom "My Wife and Kids"; and co-wrote and had a featured part in another all-inclusive Wayans project Dance Flick (2009), which mercilessly pokes fun at dance movies. This film was directed by nephew Damien Dante Wayans, co-written by Keenen, Shaun, Marlon, Damien and Craig Wayans, produced by Keenen, Shawn, Marlon, Damien and Craig, and starring nephew Fast Girl (2008) with other performances by Keenen, Shawn, Marlon, Damien, Kim, Craig, niece Chaunte Wayans and nephew Michael Wayans.
After laying low for several years, Keenen, the divorced father of five children, returned to direct several episodes of the comedy series The Last O.G. (2018) starring Tracy Morgan as an ex-con adjusting to the outside.- Additional Crew
- Producer
- Actor
Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. was born on November 1, 1942, in Lakeville, a small isolated community in the hills of Magoffin County, in eastern Kentucky. He was the son of Edith (Arnett) and Larry Claxton Flynt, a sharecropper. He had a sister named Judy who died in 1951 from leukemia at age five, and a brother, Jimmy, born in 1948. His parents separated when he was ten, and he moved with his mother and brother to Hamlet, Indiana.
Flynt ran away from home at age 16 in 1958 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Discharged a year later, he took odd jobs as a farm picker, dishwasher and manual laborer. Moving on to Dayton, Ohio, he enlisted in the US Navy in 1960 and worked as a radar operator on the USS Enterprise until October 1962. After his discharge in 1964, he was married for a time while trying to open his own bar in Dayton, selling his own moonshine whiskey; he also opened another bar that same year. His next experiment in strip clubs proved more of a success, in particular the Hustler Club which opened in 1968.
By 1971 Flynt owned a string of Hustler strip clubs all over Ohio, in Dayton, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati and Akron. During that period he had affairs with three strippers, resulting in a child by each of them. By 1973 he owned eight Hustler clubs with annual incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 each. Wanting to expand his empire, he decided to publish his own girlie magazine, "Hustler", named after his clubs. The first issue came out in July 1974 and was instantly a hit, owing to its detailed pornographic descriptions of women. After a few months, however, sales dipped to a low point, resulting in bankruptcy by 1975, although candid photographs of a nude Jacqueline Kennedy--at that time Jackie Kennedy Onassis--published in August 1975 put Hustler back in the national spotlight.
Flynt's controversial and unconventional ways earned him both respect and hatred from a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations, including many feminists who found the articles in Hustler misogynist, offensive and demeaning. He continued having affairs with various women, including a model named Althea Leasure (1953-1987), whom he married in August 1976. Charged in February of 1977 with obscenity and organized crime ties, he was tried in Cincinnati and convicted of all charges, although the verdict was later overturned on appeal due to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and judicial and jury bias.
Flynt's legal hassles brought him to the attention of Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister of President Jimmy Carter, who inspired him to make a career turn. Becoming a born-again Christian, Flynt soon included religion in his Hustler issues, which infuriated Christian and religious fundamentalist groups. He abandoned his faith in March 1978 when he was shot by a sniper outside a courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down (as it turned out, the shooter--a neo-Nazi white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin took offense at several photo spreads in Hustler depicting black men having simulated sex with white women and stalked Flynt until he had a chance to shoot him). With daily death threats against him, and the police both unwilling and unable to protect him, Flynt moved his publishing company from Ohio to Los Angeles at the end of 1978, living in a huge mansion in Bel Air with Althea. Wracked by constant back pain from internal injuries as a result of the gunshot wounds, and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he lived almost as a recluse, seldom venturing outside his house unless accompanied by several burly, armed-to-the-teeth bodyguards.
Addicted to painkillers, Flynt took Valium, Percodan, Percocette, Librium, Demerol, morphine and Dialdud pills and injections on a daily basis. In 1980 he suffered a near-fatal stroke caused by one of several overdoses of his analgesic medications; he recovered but has had speech pronunciation difficulties since. In 1983 he underwent the first of a series of DREZ laser surgeries on his back to repair the damage to the nerve center around his bullet wounds (the second was in 1987, the third in 1994), which slowly cured him of his back pain and his painkiller addiction.
Flynt continued his practice of bringing lawsuits against various parties, one of which, in November 1983, involved his ownership of a videotape showing the real nature of the arrest and entrapment of car entrepreneur John DeLorean for drug trafficking. Flynt then (and to this day) refused to disclose how he came to acquire the videotape and was sentenced to 15 months in a mental hospital for contempt of court. During his stay in the hospital, he was clinically diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, which is responsible for his unpredictable verbal outbursts and fits of rage in which he remains on medication to this day. That same month Hustler magazine published an article lampooning Christian fundamentalist televangelist Jerry Falwell, a longtime opponent of Flynt's polices; the article portrayed Falwell as a drunkard who had committed incest with his mother. Flynt was flown to Virginia in December 1984 after Falwell filed a $45-million civil suit against him. After a week-long trial, a jury ruled that Flynt was not liable for the article, but published it deliberately to cause emotional distress, and awarded Falwell $200,000. Flynt took his appeal against the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in December 1987, and the verdict was overturned two months later.
Flynt's marriage to Althea Flynt deteriorated when she was diagnosed with AIDS in 1983, aggravated by her drug addiction. She died in June 1987 at age 33 from drowning in her bathtub following a heroin overdose. Flynt continued running his publishing company, Flynt Publications, in Los Angeles, and to the day of his death, on February 10, 2021, was hated and admired by many.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Fast-talking and feisty-looking John Leguizamo has continued to impress movie audiences with his versatility: he can play sensitive and naïve young men, such as Johnny in Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991); cold-blooded killers like Benny Blanco in Carlito's Way (1993); a heroic Army Green Beret, stopping aerial terrorists in Executive Decision (1996); and drag queen Chi-Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995). Arguably, not since ill-fated actor and comedian Freddie Prinze starred in the smash TV series Chico and the Man (1974) had a youthful Latino personality had such a powerful impact on critics and fans alike.
John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez was born July 22, 1960, in Bogotá, Colombia, to Luz Marina Peláez and Alberto Rudolfo Leguizamo. He was a child when his family emigrated to the United States. He was raised in Queens, New York, attended New York University and studied under legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg for only one day before Strasberg passed away. The extroverted Leguizamo started working the comedy club circuit in New York and first appeared in front of the cameras in an episode of Miami Vice (1984). His first film appearance was a small part in Mixed Blood (1984), and he had minor roles in Casualties of War (1989) and Die Hard 2 (1990) before playing a liquor store thief who shoots Harrison Ford in Regarding Henry (1991). His career really started to soar after his first-rate performance in the independent film Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991) as a nervous young teenager from the Bronx out for a night in brightly lit Manhattan with his buddies, facing the career choice of staying in a supermarket or heading off to college and finding out that the girl he loves from afar isn't quite what he thought she was.
The year 1991 was also memorable for other reasons, as he hit the stage with his show John Leguizamo: Mambo Mouth (1991), in which he portrayed seven different Latino characters. The witty and incisive show was a smash hit and won the Obie and Outer Circle Critics Award, and later was filmed for HBO, where it picked up a CableACE Award. He returned to the stage two years later with another satirical production poking fun at Latino stereotypes titled John Leguizamo: Spic-O-Rama (1993). It played in Chicago and New York, and won the Drama Desk Award and four CableACE Awards.
In 1995 he created and starred in the short-lived TV series House of Buggin' (1995), an all-Latino-cast comedy variety show featuring hilarious sketches and comedic routines. The show scored two Emmy nominations and received positive reviews from critics, but it was canceled after only one season. The gifted Leguizamo was still keeping busy in films, with key appearances in Super Mario Bros. (1993), Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Spawn (1997). In 1998 he made his Broadway debut in John Leguizamo: Freak (1998), a "demi-semi-quasi-pseudo-autobiographical" one-man show, which was filmed for HBO by Spike Lee.
Utilizing his distinctive vocal talents, he next voiced a pesky rat in Doctor Dolittle (1998) before appearing in the dynamic Spike Lee-directed Summer of Sam (1999) as a guilt-ridden womanizer, as the Genie of The Lamp in the exciting Arabian Nights (2000) and as Henri DE Toulouse Lautrec in the visually spectacular Moulin Rouge! (2001). He also voiced Sid in the animated Ice Age (2002), co-starred alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Collateral Damage (2002) and directed and starred in the boxing film Undefeated (2003). Subsequently, Leguizamo starred in the remake of the John Carpenter hit Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and George A. Romero's long-awaited fourth "Dead" film, Land of the Dead (2005).
There can be no doubt that the remarkably talented Leguizamo has been a breakthrough performer for the Latino community in mainstream Hollywood, in much the same way that Sidney Poitier crashed through celluloid barriers for African-Americans in the early 1960s. Among his many strengths lies his ability to not take his ethnic background too seriously but also to take pride in his Latino heritage. He has opened many doors for his countrymen. A masterly and accomplished performer, movie audiences await Leguizamo's next exciting performance.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Executive
Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, has been a force in the entertainment industry for over fifty years. He has leveraged his creativity and business acumen into record-breaking profits and critical acclaim, establishing him as an enormously successful executive and entrepreneur in the entertainment and communications industries. Films he personally produced or executive produced, including Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas In The Mist, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing and Flashdance, have resonated with audiences all over the world, earning over three billion dollars worldwide and garnering more than 50 Academy Award nominations.
Guber joined Columbia pictures in 1968 and within three years became Studio Chief. During his tenure at the creative helm, Columbia surged to record breaking profits on the strength of such box office hits as Shampoo, Taxi Driver, Tommy, The Way We Were and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In 1975, Guber quit Columbia Pictures and started Filmworks with a three-year producing pact, but over a year later, in 1976, Guber merged Filmworks with Casablanca Records to form Casablanca Record and Filmworks. Its record operation included such superstars as KISS, Donna Summer and The Village People, and included some of the most successful soundtracks of all time including Flashdance, which sold more than 14 million albums. In 1979 Guber renamed the film unit to PolyGram Pictures after PolyGram took a stake in the company, where he was Chairman of the Board and CEO. He sold his interest in Polygram in 1982 and formed and served as Co-Owner of the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company (GPEC) which established a major presence in motion pictures, television and music including producing the Grammy Award winning music and official soundtrack for the 1984 Summer Olympics. Within five years, GPEC became a public company and in 1989, was acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
In 1989, Guber was named Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Under his visionary leadership, the company re-framed its entire Loews exhibition circuit, introducing Sony's SDDS sound system, introduced the concept of IMAX theater and films integrated into multi-plex theaters and transformed the Sony lot into a state of the art digital production facility. Guber acquired for Sony the Magic Johnson Theatres and began an ongoing twenty year business relationship with Magic Johnson. SPE's motion picture business earned an industry best domestic box office market share averaging 17% over four years, propelled by an enormous string of successes including A Few Good Men, Philadelphia, Basic Instinct, A League of Their Own and Sleepless in Seattle among many others. During this same period, Sony Pictures led all competitors with a total of 120 Academy Award Nominations.
After leaving Sony as CEO in 1995, Guber formed Mandalay Entertainment Group as a multi-media joint venture with Sony in motion pictures and television. Mandalay Entertainment Group later added professional sports, sports entertainment and digital media as business enterprises.
Mandalay Pictures, a division of Mandalay Entertainment Group, produces motion pictures for the global marketplace. The company's rich history of creating filmed entertainment includes the box office hits, Donnie Brasco, Seven Years in Tibet, Wild Things, Les Miserables, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Sleepy Hollow, Enemy At The Gates, The Score, Beyond Borders, Into the Blue, The Jacket, Never Back Down, When The Game Stands Tall, Horns, and Dark Places. Mandalay's most recent release, The Birth of a Nation, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and swept the two top prizes - the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the prestigious U.S. Dramatic Jury Award. The film sold to Fox Searchlight for a record breaking price.
Mandalay Vision is the company's independent development, production and financing label that focuses on innovative storytelling with premier talent. Mandalay Vision's first release, The Kids Are All Right, won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Mandalay Vision also released Soul Surfer starring Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and Carrie Underwood, The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds, and Bernie, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jack Black. Bernie garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Jack Black and was selected as a 2012 Top Independent Film by the National Board of Review.
Following his location based entertainment leadership experience with Loews, Guber expanded Mandalay into a national entertainment sports provider with Mandalay Sports Entertainment. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and is the Managing Partner of Mandalay Baseball LLC, which is a joint venture with ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers that recently acquired the Triple-A affiliated Minor League Baseball franchise in Oklahoma City, and commencing with the 2015 baseball season, became the Triple-A affiliate of the Dodgers. He also continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Mandalay Baseball Properties, which has owned and operated a national array of affiliated Minor League Baseball franchises and venues.
Peter Guber is the owner and serves as the Co-Executive Chairman of the NBA's Golden State Warriors. As co-managing partner, he and Joe Lacob were the driving forces behind the ownership group's NBA record-setting bid (at the time) to purchase the Warriors in 2010. The Warriors were named "Sports Team of the Year" by the Sports Business Journal at the seventh annual Sports Business Awards.
2015 was a monumental year for the Golden State Warriors. In April, two-time NBA All-Star, Steph Curry, was voted the NBA's Most Valuable Player. In May, the Warriors won the Western Conference Finals. In June, the Warriors won the NBA Championship. Also, in 2015, Steph Curry won the ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete and Steve Kerr won the ESPY Award for Best Coach/Manager.
2016 brought great success to the Golden State Warriors. The franchise went 73-9, breaking the record for the most wins in a single NBA season. Steve Kerr was named NBA Coach of the Year. Three-time NBA All-Star, Steph Curry, was unanimously voted the NBA's Most Valuable Player for a second year in a row. The Warriors were named "Sports Team of the Year" by the Sports Business Journal at the ninth annual Sports Business Awards. The team has 183 consecutive sellouts with over 28,000 members currently on the Season Ticket Priority Wait List.
In 2014, Guber and Lacob proposed to build a new state-of-the-art privately financed sports and entertainment venue in San Francisco and entered into an agreement with salesforce.com to purchase private land in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood. In 2016, the ownership group announced a 20 year naming rights partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. The new arena will be called the Chase Center where the team will play their 2019-2020 season.
Prior to the 2011-12 season, the Warriors ownership group acquired the D-League team, the Dakota Wizards, and moved the franchise to Santa Cruz, California. With a new name and location, the Santa Cruz Warriors are the official NBA D-League affiliate of the Golden State Warriors and play in the newly built Kaiser Permanente Arena. In 2015, the team won the NBA D-League Championship.
In 2012, in a third partnership with Magic Johnson, Peter Guber became an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the storied Major League Baseball franchise, led by the Guggenheim Baseball Management group headed by Mark Walter together with Magic Johnson. Under their ownership, the franchise has won the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 National League West championships.
Also in 2012, Guber and Mandalay Entertainment partnered with CAA Sports, the world's leading athlete representation agency and Mike Tollin, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning film and television producer/director to create Mandalay Sports Media. The diversified sports media business creates, finances, and acquires operating businesses, intellectual property, and varied enterprises within the sports and media sectors, as well as develops high-quality sports-themed entertainment programming for distribution across multiple platforms including film, television, mobile and digital. Mandalay Sports Media has several entertainment projects in development with ESPN, Turner Sports, New Line Cinema, and Incognito Pictures, among other distribution media venues.
In addition, in 2012, Guber joined with Guggenheim Partners and Allen Shapiro as CEO to purchase Dick Clark Productions. Founded by the late Dick Clark, Dick Clark Productions is a leading independent producer of television programming including perennial hits such as the American Music Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and So You Think You Can Dance.
Peter Guber is an investor, board member, and Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Board for NextVR. NextVR enables the transmission of live, long-form virtual reality content in broadcast quality - leading the way for live and on-demand VR to become a mainstream experience for sporting events, concerts, cinematic productions and more. As a board member and Chairman of the advisory board, Peter develops initiatives with established leagues and musical venues. In addition, he develops IP opportunities, creating value propositions from sponsors, investors and advertisers. In 2016, NextVR received the "Best in Sports Technology" Award at the ninth annual Sports Business Awards.
In October of 2014, Peter Guber became the owner and executive chairman of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC). The ownership group includes sports veteran Tom Penn, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Mia Hamm Garciaparra and Tony Robbins, among others. LAFC is scheduled to debut in 2018 in the Banc of California Stadium, the first new open-air stadium built in the city of Los Angeles since Dodger Stadium in 1962.
In September of 2016, Peter Guber and Ted Leonsis led an ownership group in the purchase of the controlling interest in Team Liquid, one of the most successful global esports team franchises. Team Liquid competes at the highest level in global tournaments including StarCraft 2, League of Legends, Dota 2, Hearthstone, CS:GO, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, Halo, Street Fighter, and SSBM.
Peter Guber is a full professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and has been a member of the faculty for over 30 years. He also co-teaches an annual MBA course with the dean of UCLA's Anderson School of Management. He is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Trustees, as well as the winner of UCLA's prestigious Service Award for his accomplishments and association with the university. Guber is the Chair of the Founding Board of Advisors for The Center for Managing Enterprises in Media, Entertainment & Sports (MEMES) at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. MEMES is the preeminent Center for thought leadership and management education in the global media, entertainment and sports industries.
Guber has turned this legacy and experience in front of the camera where he has been seen every Sunday morning for six years on American Movie Classics (AMC) cable network, as co-host of the critically acclaimed national TV show, Shootout. AMC moved Guber's talents to prime time with a series of one hour specials in 2009 called StoryMakers. Guber was most recently seen as co-host of In the House, a weekly, national half-hour news and interview show on Encore and KNBC.
Peter Guber is a noted author with works including "Inside The Deep" and the L.A. Times best-seller "Shootout: Surviving Fame and (Mis)Fortune in Hollywood," which was the impetus of his long running TV show of the same title. In December 2007, Guber wrote the cover article for the Harvard Business Review titled," The Four Truths of the Storyteller." He has also authored op-ed pieces for the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Guber recently released his third book, Tell To Win - Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story, which became an instant #1 best seller in the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and on Amazon.com. Fortune magazine chose Tell To Win as one of their "5 Business Books You Can Really Use" and Hudson Booksellers, retail book stores in airports throughout North America, chose Tell To Win as one of the "5 Best Business Books of the Year."
A passionate, humorous, and tireless motivator, Guber is a sought after speaker for corporations and global events. He is a regular contributor in the national media, both in print and on television. Since October of 2008, he has been seen on Fox Business News, appearing on America's Nightly Scoreboard and After The Bell as an Entertainment and Media Analyst. He has also appeared on Good Morning America (ABC), Today (NBC), The Charlie Rose Show (PBS), Your World with Neil Cavuto (FOX NEWS), Lou Dobbs Tonight (FOX NEWS), Bloomberg TV and Morning Joe (MSNBC), among others.- Additional Crew
- Actor
- Legal
Internationally renowned litigator Robert Shapiro is a senior name partner at Glaser Weil and was named one of the 100 most influential attorneys in America by the prestigious National Law Journal. He has consistently been named to Southern California Super Lawyers, has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, and is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell.
Mr. Shapiro's business and personal clients rely on his expertise in complex business litigation, class actions representing both plaintiffs and defendants, international law, white collar defense, SEC enforcement, and Foreign Corrupt Practice litigation. His corporate clients include multinational companies and major hotels. Well-known business figures and industry leaders such as Sumner Redstone, Kirk Kerkorian, Steve Wynn, Berry Gordy, Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum, Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Investments, and Stephen Cloobeck of Diamond Resorts, International, have sought his counsel. He also represents sports figures, entertainers, and celebrities such as Oscar de la Hoya, Darryl Strawberry, Jose Conseco, George Brett, Ricky Henderson, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Billy Preston, Chaka Kahn, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Rod Stewart, Lamar Odom, Rob Kardashian, Smokey Robinson, Robert Evans, Evan Ross, Eva Longoria, and David Lee Roth.
Mr. Shapiro's transition to civil litigation from criminal defense in high profile cases such as those involving O.J. Simpson, Christian Brando, and F. Lee Bailey has given him a unique and extensive trial background. He successfully represented Wynn Resorts Ltd and the Wynn Resorts Board of Directors in the removal of their largest shareholder encompassing 5 years of litigation. He was lead counsel in Rockstar v. Pepsi, a contract dispute involving energy drinks, and successfully negotiated the extension of a distribution contract for his client. His successful representation of the president of Mobil Oil in proceedings arising out of a refinery explosion resulted in the dismissal of all claims and restoration of his client's reputation. His vigorous representation of Ecology Control Industries resulted a favorable settlement of a wage and hours class action. Diamond Resorts has relied on his expertise for numerous corporate and litigation matters involving its vacation, time share, and hospitality businesses. He also successfully defended Occidental Petroleum in a lawsuit brought in Los Angeles by Colombian residents arising out of the bombing in Colombia by the Colombian air force which killed 17 people. He acted as lead defense counsel in United States v. Samango, 450 F.Supp. 1097 (D.Hi. 1978), winning a dismissal of all charges against his client. On appeal, Mr. Shapiro secured Ninth Circuit's affirmance of the dismissal in a published opinion which is the leading decision in the Ninth Circuit on grand jury misconduct. United States v. Samango, 607 F.2d 877 (9th Cir. 1979).
Mr. Shapiro received his undergraduate degree in finance from the UCLA Anderson Business School. He was a member of the UCLA board of governors and numerous honor societies. He received his law degree from Loyola Law School, where he received two American Jurisprudence awards, won the Scott Moot Court Competition, and was the Chief Justice of the Moot Court, as well as the president of the Loyola chapter of the legal society, Phi Alpha Delta.
Mr. Shapiro is admitted to all state and federal courts in California, and has been admitted pro hac vice in many state and federal courts including those of Nevada, Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, Washington DC and Oregon.- Actress
- Producer
Dina Meyer is an American film and television actress best known for her roles as Barbara Gordon in Birds of Prey (2002), Dizzy Flores in Starship Troopers (1997) and Detective Allison Kerry in the Saw installments. Meyer started acting in 1993, with her first major role playing Lucinda Nicholson in the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990). In the same year she made her film debut in the TV movie Strapped (1993). She broke out two years later, playing the cybernetically enhanced bodyguard Jane in the cyberpunk thriller Johnny Mnemonic (1995). In addition to Johnny Mnemonic, Meyer has played roles in other science fiction productions including Starship Troopers, Birds of Prey and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). She also starred as Detective Allison Kerry in the horror/thriller film Saw (2004) and its sequels as well. She has made many guest appearances and played one of the series regular roles in FOX's Point Pleasant (2005). Her additional guest star roles include Criminal Minds (2005), Castle (2009), The Mentalist (2008), Burn Notice (2007), and Nip/Tuck (2003), and she has recurred on ABC's Scoundrels (2010), CW's 90210 (2008), CBS's CSI: Miami (2002), and NCIS (2003).
Meyer resides in Los Angeles.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kelly Emberg was born on 2 July 1959 in Houston, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Dumb Luck in Vegas (1997), Portfolio (1986) and Art Be Damned!.- Producer
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
Amongst Mark Canton's most notable films are 300, 300: Rise of an Empire, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Immortals. 300, based on the Frank Miller graphic novel and directed by Zack Snyder for Warner Bros Pictures, opened in 2007 to record-setting box office numbers, having grossed more than $460 million worldwide and is the highest-grossing March release in the history of the motion picture business. The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the best-selling children books by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black with Mark Waters (Mean Girls) directing, was released in February 2008 by Paramount Pictures and was the highest-grossing family film of early 2008. Immortals, an epic mythological tale set in war torn ancient Greece, was released on 11/11/11 and has amassed a worldwide gross of almost $250 million.
Canton initially joined Warner Bros. as Vice President of Production, rising to Senior Vice President and President of Worldwide Theatrical Production. During his tenure at the studio, Canton was instrumental in creating the notable Batman, Lethal Weapon and National Lampoon's Vacation film franchises. His creative influence brought some of today's most powerful filmmakers to the fore and some of the studio's most successful films to the screen. The latter included Tim Burton's Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Beetlejuice, the Academy award winning Driving Miss Daisy and Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. Canton also put into production such popular hits as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Purple Rain, Above the Law, The Witches of Eastwick, The Mission, and Presumed Innocent, among others.
He departed Warner Bros. to join Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia Pictures as Chairman. In the ensuing years, he rose to Chairman of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Companies, with all creative, operational and management responsibility for Columbia Pictures, Triumph Films, Sony Pictures Classics SPE's international theatrical operations and Columbia TriStar's strategic motion picture alliances
Among the films produced under Canton's aegis at Sony were the Academy Award winning As Good as It Gets, starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt; Oscar-winner Jerry Maguire, starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.; Men in Black, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones; the Julia Roberts romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding; the thriller Anaconda; and the Wolfgang Peterson film Air Force One starring Harrison Ford.
A native of New York, Canton is a UCLA graduate (magna cum laude) and a member of UCLA's National Honor Society for American Studies. He delivered the 2011 commencement address at UCLA's School of History. In addition to serving on the UCLA Board of Councilors and the Deans Advisory Board for the School of Theatre, Film, and Television, Canton was Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute and Founder and is Chairman Emeritus of AFI's Third Decade Council. In recent years, he has been Honorary Chair of the prestigious Ischia Global Film & Music Festival and the Los Angeles, Italia Film Festival.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Actress
As CEO of The Jim Henson Company, Lisa Henson oversees all television and feature film production, from early development through post-production. She served as producer of the critically acclaimed, Oscar®-winning Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio for Netflix and executive produced the feature film The Portable Door for MGM+, as well as the Emmy-winning Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock and Harriet the Spy, both for Apple TV+. Lisa's many television credits include the Emmy®-winning series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the popular Word Party, both for Netflix, as well as the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS series Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, and Splash and Bubbles.
Lisa's feature credits include Sony Pictures Animation's The Star, Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, as well as MirrorMask, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Good Boy!, and Henson Alternative's The Happytime Murders. She is currently developing the highly anticipated sequel to the classic fantasy film Labyrinth, and The Conductors in partnership with Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit Entertainment.
Prior to becoming CEO of The Jim Henson Company, Lisa was President of Columbia Pictures where she oversaw a string of critical and commercial successes including Little Women (1994), Immortal Beloved, and Ang Lee's Oscar®-winning Sense and Sensibility. Before joining Columbia Pictures, Lisa served as an executive at Warner Bros. for ten years.
Lisa was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Greenwich, CT and Westchester Country, NY. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University, where she was the first female president of The Harvard Lampoon.- Art Department
- Production Manager
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Barry Josephson is known for Enchanted (2007), Bones (2005) and TURN: Washington's Spies (2014). He has been married to Brooke Josephson since 27 October 2007. He was previously married to Jackie Marcus Schaffer.- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Sidney Ganis was born on 8 January 1940 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Akeelah and the Bee (2006), Iron Man (2008) and Little Nicky (2000).- Actor
- Producer
- Composer
A blond-haired, fair-complexioned actor with a toothy grin and capable of an unsettling glint in his eyes, Gary Busey was born in Goose Creek, Texas, and was raised in Oklahoma. He is the son of Sadie Virginia (Arnett), a homemaker, and Delmar Lloyd Busey, a construction design manager. He has English, as well as Irish, Scottish, and German, ancestry. He graduated from Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1962 and for a while was a professional musician. A talented drummer, he played in several bands, including those of country-and-western legends Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.
Busey's first film appearance was as a biker in the low-budget Angels Hard as They Come (1971) and, over the next few years, he landed several film roles generally as a country hick/redneck or surly, rebellious types. His real breakthrough came in the dynamic film The Buddy Holly Story (1978), with Busey taking the lead role as Buddy Holly, in addition to playing guitar and singing all the vocals! His stellar performance scored him a Best Actor nomination and the attention of Hollywood taking overcasting agents. Next up, he joined fellow young actors William Katt and Jan-Michael Vincent as surfing buddies growing up together in the cult surf film Big Wednesday (1978), directed by John Milius. However, a string of appearances in somewhat mediocre films took him out of the spotlight for several years, until he played the brutal assassin Mr. Joshua trying to kill Los Angeles cops Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the runaway mega-hit Lethal Weapon (1987). Further strong roles followed, including alongside Danny Glover once again in Predator 2 (1990). He was back on the beaches, this time tracking bank robbers with FBI agent Keanu Reeves, in Point Break (1991) and nearly stole the show as a psychotic Navy officer in league with terrorists led by Tommy Lee Jones taking over the USS Missouri in the highly popular Under Siege (1992).
The entertaining Busey has continued to remain busy in front of the cameras and has certainly developed a minor cult following among many film fans. Plus, he's also the proud father of accomplished young actor Jake Busey, whose looks make him almost a dead ringer for his famous father.- Liz Flynt was previously married to Larry Flynt.
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Son of Danny Singleton, a mortgage broker, and Sheila Ward, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Film Writing Program at USC, after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three writing awards from the university, which led to a contract with Creative Artists Agency during his sophomore year. Columbia Pictures bought his script for Boyz n the Hood (1991) and budgeted it at $7 million. Singleton noted that much of the story comes from his own experiences in South Central LA and credited his parents with keeping him off the street.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Randy Quaid is an Academy Award-nominated actor, for his performance in The Last Detail (1973). Hal Ashby directed Quaid in the role of Meadows opposite Jack Nicholson and Otis Young. Quaid is a great and much-admired actor that has been recognized by Hollywood and the world's finest directors, Midnight Express, The Last Picture Show, Ice Harvest (2005), Real Time (2008), King Carlos in Goya's Ghosts (2006) for director Milos Forman. Forman cast Quaid as "King Carlos IV of Spain" after seeing his Golden Globe-nominated performance as The Colonel in Elvis. Quaid also starred in such mainstream favorites as Kingpin (1996), Vacation (1983), Christmas Vacation (1989) and Independence day (1996).
Quaid earned a Golden Globe for portraying Lyndon Johnson, and received a Golden Globe Nomination for incarnating "Colonel" Tom Parker in Elvis (2005). The portrait of Colonel Parker, a former carnival barker with a murky past, is dark. The New York Times said "Mr. Quaid is riveting as the bully of Graceland" when he has Elvis firmly under his thumb, he is the L.B.J. of rock 'n' roll - a towering, wheedling, tirelessly self-promoting Southern fox in the rare instances when Elvis defies him, Colonel Parker shrinks into a hand-wringing phony, cajoling his only client in the overly ornate language of Professor Marvel in "The Wizard of Oz".
Quaid stars in and was nominated for The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a cast for his work in Brokeback Mountain (2005), directed by Ang Lee from a script written by Larry McMurtry, who also wrote The Last Picture Show (1971) in which Quaid had his first feature film role. Working with McMurtry and supporting his material has become a Randy Quaid career tradition. Quaid's performance in Brokeback Mountain (2005) was listed as one of the New York Observer's 2005 Noteworthy male performances. In 2009 Randy Quaid Won the Vancouver Critics Award for Best Male Performance in the Feature Film Real-Time for the Role of Rubin an Australian Hit Man.
Randy Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, to Juanita Bonnie Dale (Jordan), a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. He grew up in the Houston suburban city of Bellaire, along with his brother, actor Dennis Quaid.
Quaid is married to American Film Director Evi Quaid.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Marlon Wayans is an American actor, writer and comedian. He is known for playing Tyrone C. Love in Requiem for a Dream, Shorty Meeks from Scary Movie, Marcus Anthony Copeland II from White Chicks and Thunder from Marmaduke. He played Drake Winston/Robin in deleted scenes of Batman Returns and Batman Forever, a character that finally debuted in the Batman 89 comic book series.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Shawn Mathis Wayans is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. Along with his brother Marlon Wayans, he wrote and starred in The WB's sitcom The Wayans Bros.(1995-1999) and in the comedy films Don't Be a Menace (1996), Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 2 (2001), White Chicks (2004), Little Man (2006), and Dance Flick (2009). He made his debut on In Living Color (1990-1993).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Sharon Lawrence grew up in North Carolina (Charlotte and Raleigh), graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in Journalism and spent her college summers doing musicals in summer stock. She became an Actors Equity Member in 1984 and a SAG-AFTRA member in 1987. She may be best known for her multiply Emmy Award-nominated and SAG Award-winning portrayal of ADA Sylvia Costas Sipowicz in NYPD Blue. She also played, among many roles, a stay-at-home prostitute in Desperate Housewives, a charming but murderous realtor on Monk, the twisted jailbird mother of a sociopath on Criminal Minds, a serial killer on Law and Order: SVU, and a mother coming to terms with her long-lost daughter on Rizzoli & Isles -- not to mention bantering with Alfred Molina on Ladies Man or beating up Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
More recent work includes Blunt Talk (opposite Sir Patrick Stewart) and an arc on NBC's Game Of Silence. Recent film includes Solace (opposite Sir Anthony Hopkins), Of Music and Mind (with Joaquim de Almeida and Aunjanue Ellis), and the award-winning The Bridge Partner (with Beth Grant).
An accomplished stage actress, Lawrence played twenty different female characters in the Noel Coward cabaret, Love, Noel at the Wallis. Lawrence starred in Sir Noel Coward's final play, A Song at Twilight, at the Pasadena Playhouse, and as Vivien Leigh in Orson's Shadow (winner LA Drama Critics Circle Award, nominated for Ovation Award). At the Mark Taper Forum, she created the role of Maureen in the premiere of Theresa Rebeck's Poor Behavior and was featured Carl Reiner's gala, Enter Laughing. Her Broadway credits include revivals of Cabaret, Fiddler On The Roof and Chicago (as Velma Kelly).
A former Chair of Women In Film Foundation, she is affiliated with the Board of Directors of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation as well as WeForShe.org, HealTheBay.org and UNC-Chapel Hill General Alumni Association.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Born in Portland, Oregon, she grew up in on a farm in Ketchum, Idaho. But dad was Jack Hemingway, son of the Nobel prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway and, with that heritage, fame was almost foreordained. By the time she was 21, after the lead in the rape melodrama Lipstick (1976), she had a budding movie career, a $1 million promotional contract with Faberge perfume, and her face on magazine covers around the world. But, within the decade, it was all lost. Her sister Mariel Hemingway, whose role in Lipstick (1976) had been suggested by Margaux, was a much greater success. Margaux had started drinking heavily; two marriages had failed. In 1988, she checked herself into the Betty Ford Center for rehabilitation. Attempts to parley her recovery from alcohol into a revived career failed and, by the time she was 41, almost nothing was left. She lived alone in a studio apartment, no children, no lover, few friends. Neighbors informed police that she had not been seen for days and, on July 1, they entered through a 2nd-floor window. Dental records had to be used to confirm her identity.- Laura Louie was born on 28 February 1965. Laura has been married to Woody Harrelson since 28 December 2008. They have three children.
- Amy Yasbeck was born on 12 September 1962 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She is an actress, known for The Mask (1994), Pretty Woman (1990) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). She was previously married to John Ritter.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
- Producer
Tia Carrere, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, was discovered in a grocery store and landed the female lead in the film Aloha Summer. She then moved to Los Angeles and continued her ascent in the acting world as a series regular on General Hospital as well as a string of guest starring roles on MacGyver, Quantum Leap, Married With Children, and Friday the 13th among others. With her iconic breakthrough role as Cassandra in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Tia was able to showcase both her considerable singing as well as acting chops. Wayne's World was a worldwide phenom and set the stage for the femme fatale role of Juno Skinner in James Cameron's film True Lies, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger; the computer whiz Jingo Asakuma in Rising Sun opposite Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes; and her very own series lead as Sydney Fox in Relic Hunter. Other work includes Nip/Tuck, In Plain Sight, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and many more. Subsequently Tia returned to her Hawaii roots starring in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch, while on the musical front, being nominated four times and winning the Grammy twice with her records 'ikena and Huana Ke Aloha. She also co-hosted and performed during the ceremony. Lately, Tia can be seen in Michael Patrick King's series AJ & the Queen starring RuPaul, Amblin Films "Easter Sunday" starring JoKoy and Mindy Kaling's Never Have I Ever. She also just released a single and video of a song she wrote called "I'm Still Here".- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Elie Samaha was born on 10 May 1955 in Beirut, Lebanon. He is a producer and actor, known for Battlefield Earth (2000), The Boondock Saints (1999) and The Art of War (2000). He was previously married to Tia Carrere.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Julie McCullough was born on 30 January 1965 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for The Blob (1988), 2012: Ice Age (2011) and Top of the World (1997). She was previously married to David Sutcliffe.- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
As flamboyant as any character in his movies, Joel Silver can be credited along with Jerry Bruckheimer as practically reinventing the action film genre in the 1980s. Born in New Jersey, he attended the New York University Film School. After college, he worked at Lawrence Gordon Pictures, earning his first onscreen credit as associate producer of The Warriors (1979). He eventually became president of the motion picture division of Gordon Pictures. Together with Gordon, Silver produced 48 Hrs. (1982) and Streets of Fire (1984). In 1983 he formed Silver Pictures and initially set up shop at Universal Pictures to produce Brewster's Millions (1985) before going to Fox and continued producing hit action films such as Commando (1985), the "Lethal Weapon" franchise, the first two films of the "Die Hard" franchise and the three films of "Matrix" franchise of action films. He had then subsequently joined Warner Bros. in 1987 after leaving Fox. Despite these successes, he has hit some rough spots and has been banned from working on several studio lots. He was unable to produce the "48 Hrs" sequel Another 48 Hrs. (1990), the third "Die Hard" film, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) and the fourth "Matrix" installment The Matrix Resurrections (2021) because of past run-ins with studio executives. Because of his habit of wearing sport shirts and talking loudly and quickly, he has been parodied in several films, even spoofing himself in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) by playing the frustrated cartoon director in the film's opening sequence. In order to perform in that role, he had to use an alias to get onto the Walt Disney lot, and his onscreen credit was not revealed to Disney executives until the very last minute. He had worked in television, setting up his own television branch with his first project Parker Kane (1990), a project that would eventually never made to series, and then worked at HBO for many years, until he found a home at Warner Bros. Television in 1998, where he had developed two UPN shows The Strip (1999) and Freedom (2000) before finding commercial success with the hit Veronica Mars (2004). In 1999, Silver Pictures had teamed up with film director/producer Robert Zemeckis to set up Dark Castle Entertainment to produce genre and horror films with the first film under Dark Castle being House on Haunted Hill (1999). Joel Silver pioneered the practice of shooting action movies in Australia with the "Matrix" films, and has been credited with either inventing or reinventing the careers of Eddie Murphy, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steven Seagal. He was mentioned in Halle Berry's Academy Award acceptance speech. Other credits include non-action pictures, ranging from Xanadu (1980), Weird Science (1985) and Fred Claus (2007) to HBO's long-running TV series, Tales from the Crypt (1989). He had resigned from his founding production company in 2019.- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Jack Gill has created some of the movie industries' most memorable action sequences. He directed 2nd unit and/or was the stunt coordinator on blockbuster movies such as Bad Boys for Life (2020) Venom (2018) Jumanji (2017) Fate of the Furious(2017) Furious 7 (2015), Ride Along 2 (2016), Ride Along (2014), Fast Five (2011), The Hangover Part III (2013), Date Night (2010), Wild Hogs (2007), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Showtime (2002), Money Train (1995) and many more. As a stuntman, he has jumped cars and motorcycles through walls of wood, glass and flame on Knight Rider (1982) and The Dukes of Hazzard (1979); he has taken falls from buildings as high as twelve stories, and jumped from exploding boats and mountain tops; he has flown through the air hanging from helicopter struts and streaked through the sky in the F-16 Fighter aircraft. Jack is a past President of Stunts Unlimited, a member of the Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and has been nominated and won many stunt awards over the past years. His preparation, precision and safety practices are well-known and followed throughout the business. He and his wife, actress Morgan Brittany, their daughter Katie Gill and son Cody Gill, reside in the hills of Agoura, California.- Actress
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Born on December 5, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, Morgan Brittany was like most little girls and wanted to be an actress. She began her acting career as a child under her real name Suzanne Cupito. Her big break came in the musical film Gypsy (1962), where played the sister of Natalie Wood's character. Morgan's career would continue to grow and would make a name for herself when she landed a role on the soap opera Dallas (1978). On the soap opera, she played Katherine Wentworth, the scheming half-sister of Pamela Ewing and Cliff Barnes. She continues acting but now loves the job of raising her children.
Since 2009, Morgan has been a conservative political commentator appearing on such shows as "Hannity" (FOX News), "The Rick Amato Show" (One America) and "The Kudrow Report" (CNBC). She is also the co-author of the best-selling book "What Women Really Want", released on September 2, 2014. She continues to make appearances all across the United States speaking for conservative values and issues concerning out veterans. She is also the co-owner and anchor for "PolitiChicks", an online news site with a conservative perspective. Morgan also writes a weekly column for "World Net Daily" (WND) and "Townhall Finance".- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
James L. Brooks was born on 9 May 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Broadcast News (1987), As Good as It Gets (1997) and Terms of Endearment (1983). He was previously married to Holly Holmberg Brooks and Marianne Catherine Morrissey.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Emmy-nominated actor and director Malcolm-Jamal Warner was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was named after Malcolm X and legendary jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal.
Warner first rose to national prominence by starring on the celebrated and long-running classic television series "The Cosby Show." His work on the show garnered him a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
As a seasoned director, Warner has worked on a host of television series, including being a regular director [and producer] on the comedy series "Malcolm & Eddie," and also having directed several episodes of "The Cosby Show," "All That," "Keenan & Kel," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Sesame Street," and the AIDS awareness video "Timeout: The Truth about HIV, AIDS, and You' [which starred Magic Johnson and Arsenio Hall, and earned Warner the NAACP Key of Life Image Award. His short film, "This Old Man," received critical acclaim on the theater festival circuit.
In addition to his television credits, Warner made his feature film debut in Paramount Pictures' "Drop Zone," and was also seen in Warner Bros' Pictures "Fools Gold" opposite Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, and Donald Sutherland. He also co-starred in the independent films "Restaurant" with Adrien Brody, "A Fare to Remember," and "The List" with Wayne Brady.
On stage, Warner has starred in the off-Broadway plays "Three Ways Home," "Cryin' Shame," for which he received the NAACP Theater Award for Best Supporting Actor, "Freefall" at the Victory Garden Theatre in Chicago, and in "A Midsummer Nights' Dream," at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. Warner received critical acclaim for his West Coast debut of his one-man theatrical production of "Love and Other Social Issues." He will return to the stage in September 2014, reprising Sidney Poitier's role as Dr. John Prentice in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," opening in Boston at The Huntington Theatre. Warner has held this role before, previously performing in the play at Washington D.C.'s esteemed Arena Theater.
In 2014, Warner can be seen recurring on two hit series: TNT's "Major Crimes," and FX's "Sons of Anarchy." He was most recently seen on NBC's critically acclaimed series "Community," and recently guest starred on "The Michael J. Fox Show," TNT's "Hawthorne", AMC's "The Cleaner," and Showtime's "Dexter." In 2011, Warner produced, directed, and starred in the BET original series "Reed Between the Lines" opposite Tracee Ellis Ross.
Warner's voice may be as well known as his likeness, for four seasons he was heard as the voice of the "Producer" on PBS' "The Magic School Bus." Currently, he can be heard on the audio book version of "The Marvelous Effect" published by Berkley Trade, as well as in Simon & Schuster's "Fatherhood" by Bill Cosby. When not acting and directing, Warner is a poet and a bass player. His jazz-funk band Miles Long has performed in several major jazz festivals, including the Playboy Jazz Festival, and has opened for high profile artists including Earl Klugh and the late Luther Vandross, and he recently performed at the historic Apollo Theater. Both of Warner's independently distributed CD's, "The Miles Long Mix Tape" and "Love and Other Social Issues". Warner is set to release brand new music, fall 2014.
Warner currently lives in Los Angeles, California.- Kristian Alfonso was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. Kristian is an actor, known for Days of Our Lives (1965), Joshua Tree (1993) and Friends (1994). Kristian has been married to Danny Daggenhurst since 6 October 2001. They have one child. Kristian was previously married to Simon Macauley.
- Actor
- Director
Michael T. Weiss is an award nominated actor. He is a Chicago native where he studied at the famed "Second City". He has a BFA in Acting from The University of Southern California's prestigious school of Drama. He has had a diverse career in film, television, and theater both as an actor and a director. He is well known for his portrayal of the human chameleon Jarod on the NBC hit The Pretender (1996) playing more than 50 different characters, reprising his role as Jarod in the TV movies The Pretender 2001 (2001) and The Pretender: Island of the Haunted (2001). He also portrayed a corrupt cop on the first season of TV series procedural drama Blue Bloods (2010) for CBS. He recreated the character of Joe Haskell for the remake of TV series Dark Shadows (1991) for NBC.
His feature film credits include: Sex and the City 2 (2010), Freeway (1996) opposite Reese Witherspoon, Amanda Plummer, Kiefer Sutherland and produced by Oliver Stone which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. He starred in the film version of Jeffrey (1995) which was based on Paul Rudnick's off-Broadway hit play, opposite Patrick Stewart, Steven Weber, Sigourney Weaver, Olympia Dukakis, and Nathan Lane. He played a dirty cop in the New Line Cinema film Bones (2001) with Pam Grier and Snoop Dogg. He played duel characters on 2000 Malibu Road (1992) directed by Joel Schumacher with Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Beals. He received a "Midwest Film Festival Best Actor Award" for his work in IOWA (2005) which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Other notable films include: Net Worth (2001), Until the Night (2004), and Marmalade (2004). He also starred in the TV movie Sunset Park (2017) filmed near his second home in Brooklyn, New York City. He voiced Tarzan in The Legend of Tarzan (2001) for Walt Disney Animation and Voiced "The Nameless One" for the computer game Planescape: Torment (1999) where Eurogamer gave the character the "Gaming Globes 2000" in the Male Lead Character category and Empire placed the character 4th on a list of the greatest video game characters.
On the NYC stage Weiss appeared in The Pulitzer Prize finalist, "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity" at the "Second Stage Theater" which won the Obie Award for best play. He has appeared on Broadway with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons in "Impressionism" directed by Jack O'Brien. He received a Drama Desk Nomination for his work at The Atlantic Theater Company's "Scarcity" with Kristen Johnston and Jesse Eisenberg. He worked with director Wilson Milam on "A Perfect Future" at the Cherry Lane Theater. In Boston he was on stage in Eve Ensler's comedy "O.P.C." (Obsessive Political Correctness) at American Repertory Theater. He spent two seasons with The Huntington Theater Company playing Pale in Landford Wilson's "Burn This" and Valmont In "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". In Los Angeles he was on stage in "Of Equal Measure" by Tanya Harding directed by Leigh Silverman For the Center Theater Group. His television credits are numerous including many TV films, series regular, recurring and guest star roles. He directed the play "The Pornographers Daughter" in San Francisco and his play "Streams of Consciousness" which he wrote and directed was produced at The Met Theater in Los Angeles.
He is also a visual artist shown in Los Angeles as well as a Playwright and Theater Director. Also an environmental activist, Weiss served on the board of directors for the Earth Communications Office. He had one of the first all Electric Cars in the world and was a pioneer test driver of the first Hybrid Vehicle (The Toyota Prius) years before it hit the market. Weiss resides in Los Angeles and New York City.- Additional Crew
Pat Kingsley was born on 7 May 1932 in Gastonia, North Carolina, USA. She is known for The Thin Red Line (1998), Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) and Looking for Richard (1996). She was previously married to Walter Kingsley.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
German actor Christian Oliver worked in the entertainment industry for more than 15 years, with, among others, Steven Soderbergh in The Good German; with Brian Singer and Tom Cruise in Valkyrie; and with the Wachowski sisters in Speed Racer. He also starred in Europe's Number One action series Alarm for Cobra 11 (RTL) for two years and had numerous other TV appearances in the US and Germany.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
A longtime student of acting, David grew up on and around the stages of New York City. He is a graduate of NYC's High School of Performing Arts. He studied extensively after high school, with his prime mentor, Anthony Abeson. He also attended H.B. Studios, where he had the pleasure of studying with such teachers (and actors) as Herbert Berghof, Carol Rosenfeld, William Hickey and Uta Hagen.
As an actor, David performed on and off-Broadway. Most notable was his critically-acclaimed portrayal of "Rodolpho" in the Tony Award-winning production of Arthur Miller's "A View From The Bridge". He has performed at Lincoln Center, The John Houseman Theater, Playwright Horizons and many other venues in NYC. He is a company member at South Coast Reperetory Theater in Orange County, California.
He has appeared in several feature films, working with Academy Award-winning directors Oliver Stone in Nixon (1995), and Anthony Minghella in Mr. Wonderful (1993). As well as other feature films, like One Good Cop (1991), Mr. Wonderful (1993), S.F.W. (1994), Mutiny (1999), Dead Presidents (1995), Lawn Dogs (1997), Cops and Robbersons (1994), Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), Soldier Boyz (1997) and more... He has been a regular on three network series... Fox's 21 Jump Street (1987), NBC's Dream Street (1989) and NBC's The Client (1995), as well as many guest star appearances, and lead roles in movies of the week, and miniseries. Most recently in 2008, he completed a episode of ABC's new show, Eli Stone (2008).- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Shaggy was born on 22 October 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica. He is a music artist and actor, known for Money Train (1995), No Time to Die (2021) and Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997). He has been married to Rebecca Parker since 2014. They have three children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Noah Blake was born on 1 February 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Teen Witch (1989), Mystery Men (1999) and Red Rooms (2023).- Terri Wilgren is known for Within the Lines (1996), Shooter on the Side (1996) and Married... with Children (1987).
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Christa Miller was introduced to the entertainment world at a very young age. As a toddler, she was photographed by the acclaimed Francesco Scavullo for an Ivory Snow ad with her mother, and, at the age of three, appeared on the cover of "Redbook". Miller was bitten by the acting bug as a child, but couldn't pursue her passion because her parents had other plans for her. Her father hoped she'd have a law career, while her mother, a 1960s supermodel, knew all too well how tough a career in entertainment could be. Despite her parents' concern and her rigorous studies at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, she pursued a modeling career. She appeared in national magazines while working steadily in Europe and Japan. She landed her first commercial (for Polaroid) at age 16. Her first prime-time television role was on Kate & Allie (1984), a part she auditioned for and landed without the help of her aunt, series co-star Susan Saint James. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1990, Miller won a guest role in an episode of Northern Exposure (1990). Other television credits include guest roles on Seinfeld (1989), Party of Five (1994) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). Her film credits include Deceived (1991) and Love and Happiness (1995). She also starred with Kellie Martin in the acclaimed made-for-television movie Death of A Cheerleader (1994).- Rodney Rowland was born in Newport Beach, California, the youngest of four children of a pastor and an aquatics athlete. Before he turned to acting he had a variety of model jobs for such brands as Calvin Klein, J. Crew and Perry Ellis. An immensely passionate actor, he prepares thoroughly for his roles. For an episode of Space: Above and Beyond (1995) ("Who Monitors the Birds?") he had to be hospitalized twice due to exhaustion.
- When asked to describe herself, Daphne Wayans will tell you she's her children's mom - their happiness her calling, their well-being her mission, their pain her own, and their love her life. Her focus on family is impossible to overstate and immeasurably unyielding. She is a mother. And she wouldn't have it any other way. As the ex-wife of Hollywood mogul Keenen Ivory Wayans, and close-knit friend for over 20 years of Nicole Murphy (ex-wife of Eddie Murphy) and Sheree Fletcher (ex-wife of Will Smith), Daphne is a natural fit for the season-2 cast of VH1's "Hollywood Exes."
Born and raised an only child in Inglewood, California, Daphne's relationship with her blue-collar parents was nurturing and unrestricted, one in which she was encouraged to be and do whatever she truly desired. With a passion for the arts, she attended Otis Parsons and FIDM, but was always drawn to the allure of a family.
As a teenager, Daphne spent summer vacations with her friends Shawn and Marlon Wayans. It was here where her relationship with Keenen began. First as a friend, who made her laugh like she had never laughed before. But as she grew up, so grew her feelings. And at the age of 18, the only child was welcomed into the vibrant and ubiquitous Wayans family, to which she and Keenen added with their own beautiful brood of five: Jolie, Nala, Keenen, Bella, Daphne.
Ever the people person, and with an innate inclination to help, Daphne has become a confidant and trusted adviser in her A-list Hollywood circles. She is a strong supporter of many philanthropic causes - including The Way to Happiness Foundation, Keep a Child Alive and New Village Leadership Academy - and is a woman of unshakable faith and values. She is an ardent traveler and a lover of languages, and enjoys expressing her care of others by way of her culinary skills. But first and foremost, Daphne remains a mother. And one of the most devoted and consummate ones at that. - Producer
- Director
- Actress
Evi Quaid Is an American Film Director and Quaid left home permanently at age 12. Her Greek grandfather financed her education at five different New England boarding schools, all of which she was summarily expelled from for intentionally altering the interpretation of school regulations such as bedtime curfews, dress codes, and for escaping campus boundaries after dark. After four years of attendance at five schools, her high school diploma was withheld for bad behavior. While pursuing her film and visual arts projects, Evi Quaid is Married to actor Randy Quaid . While working to create diverse characters for photographers, Evi developed a penchant for imprinting humor and immediate gratification on the viewer. In her early work, she experiments with stereotypes of the nude to such an extreme, photographers found their own work unrecognizable, even somewhat vulgar. She sought to push boundaries to create nudes that reverse the traditional focus away from the breast, while exposing elements bare to penetrate in a confrontational and liberal manner, both inviting and repelling. Nude portraits of Evi have been prominently featured in Helmut Newton's exhibitions, including "Sex and Landscapes", which appeared at the Mary Boone Gallery in the United States, and at the De Pury Luxembourg Gallery in Europe. Numerous portraits of Evi have also appeared in Italian, American, and British Vogue. Evi wrote and directed her first feature length film entitled The Debtors (1999), which gained praise when it was accepted into the Toronto International Film Festival in 1998. Peirs Handling writes, "Evi's directorial debut adopts the style and mannerisms of the screwball comedies of Hollywood's greatest era. Evi has fearlessly updated the formula." (Toronto Film Festival, 1998) When the film was ultimately banned from release, Evi managed to set legal precedent in preserving the rights of the filmmaker to protect his or her creation against the interference of a financier. Evi Quaid is the second woman in feature film history, after Ida Lupino, to direct her own husband in a feature film.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Michael DeLorenzo was born on 31 October 1959 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Alive (1993), Resurrection Blvd. (2000) and A Few Good Men (1992).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The middle of five children, Bratt hails from a close-knit family. His mother, an indigenous Quechua Peruvian from Lima, moved to the U.S. at age 14. He grew up in San Francisco. He is known for his roles in the films Traffic (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), and Despicable Me 2 (2013). He is married to actress Talisa Soto.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cheech Marin was born on 13 July 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Born in East L.A. (1987), Tin Cup (1996) and Up in Smoke (1978). He has been married to Natasha Rubin since 8 August 2009. He was previously married to Rikki Marin and Patti Heid.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Eddie Velez was born and raised in Manhattan by Puerto Rican parents Ramon Velez and Mercedes Luciano. He graduated from the High School Of Art and Design in 1976 majoring in Advertising Art, however a course in Film Appreciation caught his attention and led him to think about a career in show business.
During a four year stint in the U.S. Air Force, Space Division's Satellite Control Center as the Vice Commander's Administrative Aide from 1978 to 1982, Velez began his theatrical career by joining a theater group on the base with fellow military personnel called The Moffett Players performing for the sailors and airmen stationed at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. He portrayed Speed in the The Odd Couple in their inaugural production and his first lead roles as Dracula in Count Dracula and Paul Bratter in Barefoot In The Park.
While in the military, Velez took advantage of being stationed in the theater-rich location of Northern California's Bay Area by branching out into the local theater community. He was cast as The Attendant in Bruce Jay Friedman's Steambath at the Palo Alto Playhouse and as Duke Mantee in Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest. Both shows were huge critical successes and solidified Velez' passion for acting. Dr. Doyne Mraz, the artistic director from The Los Altos Conservatory Theater, saw Velez in these plays and recruited him to perform at his theater as Nicky Holroyd in Bell, Book and Candle, and Crook-Fingered Jake in The Three Penny Opera.
After Velez' Honorable Discharge from the Air Force as a Sergeant in 1982, he immediately moved to Hollywood and enrolled at the Estelle Harmon Actor's Workshop to further his acting aspirations. Velez' first role in Hollywood was as Xavier in the 1983 smash-hit West Coast Premier production of Lanford Wilson's Balm In Gilead at The Pan Andreas Theater in West Hollywood now known as The Coast Theater. Velez soon followed up with the role of Lenny in the critically-acclaimed World Premiere production of Delirious at the Matrix Theater in Hollywood, both plays winning the Dramalogue Award for Best Ensemble.
Whether in comedy or drama, as a hero or villain, in theatre, film or television, Velez has displayed versatility as an actor throughout his career. His first television role was as a love-struck soldier in the NBC Pilot For Love And Honor in 1983. That same year he was cast in a recurring role as the shortstop Pepe Garcia in Steven Bochco's baseball series Bay City Blues for NBC.
Velez went on to star as a regular in six prime-time television series starting in 1984 with NBC's night-time soap Berrenger's as Julio Morales, an up-and-coming fashion designer opposite Anita Morris and Sam Wannamaker; the CBS sitcom Charlie & Co. with Flip Wilson in 1985; NBC's The A-Team in 1986; the lead role in the CBS sitcom Trial And Error as the rookie attorney John Hernandez opposite Paul Rodriguez in 1988 (this role brought Velez a Golden Eagle Award from the Nosotros Organization and a Cesar Award from the Hispanic Achievement Society); as Officer Frankie Avila in Sonny Grosso's cop rescue drama True Blue for NBC in 1990 where he got to shoot in his beloved New York City, and as reporter Ricardo Sandoval in Live Shot, a satire on local newscasts for UPN during the network's inaugural season.
Velez' other television work include several Movies of the Week, most notably starring as the infamous 'Carlos' in the NBC movie C.A.T. Squad directed by William Friedkin; the Emmy Award-winning NBC mini-series Drug Wars: The Camarena Story where he worked with Treat Williams and a very young Benicio Del Toro for the first time; Bitter Vengeance opposite Virginia Madsen; From The Files Of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury Of One opposite John Spencer; The Presence for NBC; and as the lead Detectives in Lifetime's By Appointment Only and A Father's Choice for CBS with Peter Strauss and Mary McDonnell.
Velez' numerous television guest-star appearances include Numbers, Charmed, Just Shoot Me, Profiler, Soldier Of Fortune, Gun, Jag, L.A. Firefighters, High Tide, Walker: Texas Ranger, The Commish, Flying Blind, recurring in The Trials Of Rosie O'Neill opposite Sharon Gless, Empty Nest, Midnight Caller, Shannon's Deal, Tour Of Duty, Tracy Takes On... opposite Tracy Ullman, Hill Street Blues, Cagney And Lacey, Murder, She Wrote, and in the daytime soaps Port Charles, General Hospital, Capitol and Days Of Our Lives.
Velez' first feature film role was in 1983 as Napolean Rodriguez, one half of the Rodriguez Brothers in Alex Cox' cult-classic film Repo Man. Years later in 2009, Velez portrayed Judge "Two Strikes" Espinoza in Repo Chick, the long-awaited follow-up to Repo Man. Other film roles include the Playboy photographer in Anna Nicole; the tortured Priest Father Anthony in the horror film Born; Eric Muller, the sadistic drug lord in Albert Pyun's neo-noir crime-drama Bulletface; Reuben Alvarez in Running Woman opposite Teresa Russell; the prize-fighter Julian "Snake" Pedroza in the boxing drama Split Decisions starring Gene Hackman; Detective Ray Ramirez in Under Oath opposite Jack Scalia and James Russo; Detective Morales in A Passion To Kill opposite Scott Bakula; the long-lost love interest, Diego, in the romantic film Beautiful Loser opposite Cynthia Gibb; and as Lobo, the villain in Rooftops, shot in New York's Alphabet City and directed by the legendary Robert Wise.
Proudest career highlights include sharing scenes with Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro in Steven Soderbergh's Oscar winning film Traffic and in Paramount's action-thriller The Hunted, again directed by William Friedkin; the late great Raul Julia in the powerful and critically acclaimed Romero; Jon Voight in Most Wanted, and with the Wayans brothers in the Revolution Studio comedy hit White Chicks directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans.
Velez also co-produced the highly-rated CBS Television Movie of the Week Scattered Dreams: The Kathryn Messenger Story starring Tyne Daly and Gerald McRaney, and co-wrote, produced and directed The Cross-Up, a comedy short on Amazon Prime Video.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Greg Serano was born on 7 August 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Legally Blonde (2001), The Postman (1997) and Felon (2008). He was previously married to Carmen Serano.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jaime Gomez was born and raised in the Southern California sunshine. College was for the studying of art history and literature as well the history of the world and his personal favorite, philosophy. Jaime has had a successful acting career spanning 20 years. He's best known for his role in the hit CBS series Nash Bridges playing young super cop Evan Cortez. Jaime has worked with major stars the likes of Denzel Washington, twice, (Training Day, Crimson Tide) to Harrison Ford (Clear and Present Danger) to Gene Hackman to Willem Dafoe. In addition to acting, Jaime has branched out into the producing/writing/directing side of the entertainment business, having completed his own feature film "In the Blink of an Eye", the documentary "Quincy Coleman: It's All in the Song" and other projects, many having screened in film festivals around the world.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
The whole Turturro clan and their extended family seem to have gotten into the show biz act at one time or another. The youngest of three boys, including famous older brother (by five years) John Turturro, Nicholas Turturro was born on January 29, 1962, in Queens, New York, and grew up in its Rosedale section. He is the son of Italian-American parents, Katherine (Incerella), a jazz singer, and Nicholas Turturro, a construction worker and carpenter, who was born in Giovinazzo.
After attending various Catholic schools, he graduated and majored in theater at Adelphi University for two years, but left to marry Jami Biunno and help raise their child, Erica. The couple later divorced. While working as a doorman at the St. Moritz Hotel in New York City, Nick managed to find a job as both an extra and voice-over artist in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989) after brother John introduced Nick to Spike. Spike took an immediate interest in the rough-edged Nick and wrote a featured role for him in his next film Mo' Better Blues (1990) in which John and Nick played repugnant Jewish brothers and co-owners of a club. Both the brothers went on to appear together again in Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) and Nick also appeared in Lee's Malcolm X (1992).
Nick branched out on his own after this and earned parts in the movies Federal Hill (1994) and Excess Baggage (1997), and garnered serious TV attention as rookie detective "James Martinez" on NYPD Blue (1993) earning a couple of Emmy nominations in the process. His character was originally created as a foil to David Caruso star character, but he lost momentum after Caruso's early departure from the show. Still, he managed to hang around for seven seasons.
Very dark in tone and complexion, the compact-framed Nick certainly has had a wealth of experience in mob drama, playing a young Al Capone in one guest appearance, and assorted mobster types in other TV-movies. Plenty of guest-starring roles have also come his way with episodes of Law & Order (1990), L.A. Law (1986) and The Twilight Zone (1985) and a recurring role on Third Watch (1999). He has lightened up on a rare occasion in such comedies as The Drew Carey Show (1995) and in a couple of failed pilots.
Into the millennium, Nicholas continues to work steadily including the comedies The Shipment (2001) and The Biz (2002); played the title role of Angelo Buono in the crime drama The Hillside Strangler (2004) and then turned around to play a good guy officer in First Sunday (2008); appeared in the sports comedy remake of The Longest Yard (2005) starring Adam Sandler; starred as the title TV producer nobody recalls in Remembering Phil (2008); co-starred in the gangster movie Street Boss (2009); as well as the low level comedy The Deported (2009); supported comic actor Kevin James in both Zookeeper (2011) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015); appeared as part of the kidnapped ensemble in the crime comedy The Wretched (2020); had parts in a couple of biographical dramas including A Chance in the World (2017) and the Oscar-winning BlacKkKlansman (2018); as well as the action thrillers Las Vegas Vietnam: The Movie (2019) and Shooting Heroin (2020).
On stage, Nick has appeared in "Wild Goose", "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" (with John) "Lusting After Popino's Wife" and "Siddown: Conversations With the Mob". Nick's never strayed too far from the family fold. He's appeared in a number of John's projects over the years that have also occasionally featured cousin Aida Turturro (from The Sopranos (1999) fame). His mother has also appeared in a few films, as has John's wife and sons. Nick remarried a number of years ago.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Born February 24, 1947, in East Los Angeles, at The First Japanese Hospital to Pedro Olmos and Eleanor Huizar. Raised on Cheesebrough's Lane, he attended Greenwood Elementary and Montebello Junior High. He then graduated from Montebello High School in 1964. After which he received an Associative Arts Degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice at East Los Angeles College in 1966. Olmos since then has gone on to receive many accolades from the City of Montebello, including the Alumni of The Year from Montebello High School in 2014, and Man of the Year Award from The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in 2015.
He has achieved extraordinary success as an actor, producer and humanitarian. The Tony, Emmy and Academy Award® Nominated actor, is probably best known to young audiences for his work on the SYFY television series "Battlestar Galatica" as Admiral William Adama. Although the series kept the actor busy during its run from 2003 through 2009, it didn't stop him from directing the HBO movie "Walkout" in 2007, for which he earned a DGA Nomination in the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television category.
Olmos' career in entertainment spans over 30 years. In that time he created a signature style and aesthetic that he applies to every artist endeavor, often grounding his characters in reality and gravitas. His dedication to his craft has brought him attention across the industry, and with audiences worldwide.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Antonio Banderas, one of Spain's most famous faces, was a soccer player until breaking his foot at the age of fourteen; he is now an international movie star known for playing Zorro in the eponymous movie series.
He was born José Antonio Domínguez Banderas on August 10, 1960, in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. His father, Jose Dominguez, was a policeman in the Spanish civil guards. His mother, Doña Ana Banderas Gallego, was a school teacher. Young Banderas was brought up a Roman Catholic. He wanted to play soccer professionally and made much success playing for his school team until the age of 14, albeit his dream ended when he broke his foot. At that time, he developed a passion for theatre after seeing the stage production of "Hair". Banderas began his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Arts in Málaga, and made his acting debut at a small theatre in Málaga. He was arrested by the Spanish police for performance in a play by Bertolt Brecht, because of political censorship under the rule of General Francisco Franco. Banderas spent a whole night at the police station, he had three or four such arrests while he was working with a small theatre troupe that toured all over Spain and was giving performances in small town theatres and on the street.
In 1979, at age 19, he moved to Madrid in pursuit of an acting career. Being a struggling young actor, he also worked as a waiter and took small modeling jobs. At that time, he joined the troupe at the National Theatre of Spain, becoming the youngest member of the company. Banderas' stage performances caught the attention of movie director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in his movie debut Labyrinth of Passion (1982). Banderas and Almodovar joined forces in making innovative and sexually provocative movies during the 1980s. In 1984, Banderas made headlines in Spain with his performance as a gay man, making his first male-to-male on-screen kiss in Almodovar's Law of Desire (1987). Banderas' long and fruitful collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar eventually prepared him for international recognition that came with his work in the Academy Award-nominated film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). In 1991, he appeared as an object of Madonna's affection in Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991).
In 1992, Banderas made his Hollywood debut with The Mambo Kings (1992). Because he did not speak English at that time, his dialogue for the movie was taught to him phonetically. Banderas shot to international fame with his sensitive performance as a lover of Tom Hanks' AIDS-infected lawyer in Philadelphia (1993), then played opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994). Banderas further established himself as one of Hollywood's leading men after co-starring in Evita (1996) opposite Madonna in the title role. In 1998, he won acclaim for his portrayal of Zorro, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones, in The Mask of Zorro (1998). For the role as Zorro, Banderas took training with the Olympic national fencing team in Spain, and practiced his moves with real steel swords, then he used the lighter aluminum swords in the movie. He also took a month-long course of horse-riding before the filming. He later returned to the role in The Legend of Zorro (2005). In 1999, Banderas made his directorial debut in Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife, Melanie Griffith. He received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros opposite Salma Hayek in Frida (2002). He voiced Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise.
Banderas established himself as internationally known Latin heartthrob with charismatic looks, and was chosen as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine in 1996. He won numerous awards and nominations for his works in film, including three ALMA awards and three Golden Globe nominations, among many other. From 1996 to 2014, Banderas was married to American actress Melanie Griffith and the couple have one daughter, Stella (born 1996). Outside of his acting profession, Banderas has been a passionate soccer fan and a staunch supporter of the Real Madrid Football Club. He shares time between his two residencies, one in the United States, and one in the South of Spain.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
Benicio was born on February 19, 1967 in San Germán, Puerto Rico, the son of lawyer parents Fausta Genoveva Sanchez Rivera and Gustavo Adolfo Del Toro Bermudez. His mother died when he was young, and his father moved the family to a farm in Pennsylvania. A basketball player with an interest in acting, he decided to follow the family way and study business at the University of California in San Diego. A class in acting resulted in his being bitten by the acting bug, and he subsequently dropped out and began studying with legendary acting teacher Stella Adler in Los Angeles and at the Circle in the Square Acting School in New York City. Telling his parents that he was taking courses in business, Del Toro hid his new studies from his family for a little while.
During the late 1980s, he made several television appearances, most notably in an episode of Miami Vice (1984) and in the NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990). Del Toro's big-screen career got off to a slower start, however--his first role was Duke the Dog-Faced Boy in Big Top Pee-wee (1988). However, things looked better when he landed the role of Dario, the vicious henchman in the James Bond film Licence to Kill (1989). Surprising his co-stars at age 21, Del Toro was the youngest actor ever to portray a Bond villain. However, the potential break was spoiled as the picture turned out to be one of the most disappointing Bond films ever; this was lost amid bigger summer competition.
Benicio gave creditable performances in many overlooked films for the next several years, such as The Indian Runner (1991), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and Money for Nothing (1993). His roles in Fearless (1993) and China Moon (1994) gained him more critical notices, and 1995 proved to be the first "Year of Benicio" as he gave a memorable performance in Swimming with Sharks (1994) before taking critics and film buffs by storm as the mumbling, mysterious gangster in The Usual Suspects (1995), directed by Bryan Singer. Del Toro won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role in the Oscar-winning film.
Staying true to his independent roots, he next gave a charismatic turn as cold-blooded gangster Gaspare Spoglia in The Funeral (1996) directed by Abel Ferrara. He also appeared as Benny Dalmau in Basquiat (1996), directed by artist friend Julian Schnabel. That year also marked his first truly commercial film, as he played cocky Spanish baseball star Juan Primo in The Fan (1996), which starred Robert De Niro. Del Toro took his first leading man role in Excess Baggage (1997), starring and produced by Alicia Silverstone. Hand-picked by Silverstone, Del Toro's performance was pretty much the only thing critics praised about the film, and showed the level of consciousness he was beginning to have in the minds of film fans.
He took a leading role with his good friend Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), co-written and directed by the legendary Terry Gilliam. Gaining 40 pounds for the role of Dr. Gonzo, the drug-addicted lawyer to sportswriter Raoul Duke, Benicio immersed himself totally in the role. Using his method acting training so far as to burn himself with cigarettes for a scene, this was a trying time for Del Toro. The harsh critical reviews proved tough on him, as he felt he had given his all for the role and been dismissed. Many saw the crazed, psychotic performance as a confirmation of the rumors and overall weirdness that people seemed to place on Del Toro.
Taking a short break after the ordeal, 2000 proved to be the second "Year of Benicio". He first appeared in The Way of the Gun (2000), directed by friend and writer Christopher McQuarrie. Then he went to work for actor's director Steven Soderbergh in Traffic (2000). A complex and graphic film, this nonetheless became a widespread success and Oscar winner. His role as conflicted Mexican policeman Javier Rodriguez functions as the movie's real heart amid an all-star ensemble cast, and many praised this as the year's best performance, a sentiment validated by a Screen Actor's Guild Award for "Best Actor". He also gave a notable performance in Snatch (2000) directed by Guy Ritchie, which was released several weeks later, and The Pledge (2001) directed by Sean Penn. Possessing sleepy good looks reminiscent of James Dean or Marlon Brando, Del Toro has often jokingly been referred to as the "Spanish Brad Pitt".
With his newfound celebrity, Del Toro has become a sort of heartthrob, being voted one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" as well as "Most Eligible Bachelors." A favorite of film fans for years for his diverse and "cool guy" gangster roles, he has become a mainstream favorite, respected for his acting skills and choices. So far very careful in his projects and who he works with, Del Toro can boast an impressive resume of films alongside some of the most influential and talented people in the film business.- Anthony Genaro Acosta was born on October 15, 1941 in Gallup, New Mexico, he was a Mexican-American actor. The oldest sibling in a family of four boys and one girl, Genaro attended San Diego State University and worked as a licensed psychiatric technician at Patton State Hospital in Patton, California for several years prior to embarking on an acting career in the early 1970's. Tony was a member of both SAG/AFTRA and Actors Equity since 1970. Genaro died of natural causes at his home in Hollywood, California on May 7, 2014. He was survived by his sister DeAnna, brothers Michael, Carlos, and Larry, and his children Zhanara, Lauren, Brenden, and Christopher.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
As an actor Tony Plana has performed in more than 70 feature films. Recent films include Pain & Gain with Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg directed by Michael Bay, Roman J. Israel, Esquire starring Denzel Washington directed by Dan Gilroy, and the soon to be released, Bombshell, directed by Jay Roach starring Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie and Wasp Network, directed by Olivier Assayas with Penelope Cruz and Edgar Ramirez.
His latest television projects include principal roles in Academy Award winner Paolo Sorrentino's The Young Pope with Jude Law and Diane Keaton for HBO, Jugar Con Fuego for Telemundo and the recently released Mayans MC on the FX Channel. Current recurring roles include the comedies One Day at a Time with Rita Moreno and Super Store with America Ferrera, as well as the dramas, The Affair with Anna Paquin. Start Up with Martin Freeman and Ron Perlman, The Punisher with Jon Bernthal, Madam Secretary, Lethal Weapon, Colony, Alpha House, Elementary, The Fosters, and The Blacklist.
Tony Plana also starred as Ignacio Suarez, the widowed father to America Ferrera's Ugly Betty, in ABC's landmark, groundbreaking hit series for which he received the 2006 Golden Satellite Award from the International Press Academy, an Imagen Award, and an Alma Award. Ugly Betty received the highest ratings and the most critical acclaim of any Latino-based show in the history of television, most notably 11 Emmy nominations and a Golden Glove Award for best comedy.
Previously, he also starred in Showtime's original series, Resurrection Boulevard, and was nominated for two Alma Awards for best actor. Resurrection Boulevard was the first series to be produced, written, directed and starring Latinos and awarded an Alma Award for the best television series of 2002.
Other feature film credits include JFK, Nixon, Salvador, An Officer and a Gentleman, Lone Star, Three Amigos, Born in East L.A., El Norte, 187, Primal Fear, Romero, One Good Cop, Havana, The Rookie, Silver Strand and Picking Up the Pieces with Woody Allen. He has also appeared in the action thriller Half Past Dead with Steven Segal; The Lost City, with Andy Garcia, Bill Murray, and Dustin Hoffman; and Disney's highly acclaimed GOAL, The Dream Begins.
He has produced and directed two feature film comedies, A Million to Juan with Paul Rodriguez and The Princess and the Barrio Boy, the first Latino family film to be produced by Showtime, starring academy award nominee Edward James Olmos and Maria Conchita Alonso. The film received two 2001 Alma Award nominations for Best Made for Television Movie and Best Ensemble Acting and won the 2001 Imagen Award for Best Made for Television Movie. Plana's television episodic debut was 2001's Resurrection Blvd.'s Saliendo, which garnered critical acclaim, receiving a GLAAD Award for best dramatic episode of the year and a SHINE Award nomination for sensitive portrayal of sexuality. He has directed several episodes of Nickelodeon's hit series, The Brothers Garcia, receiving a Humanitas Award nomination and winning the Imagen Award for its third season finale, Don't Judge a Book by its Cover. He also directed the season finale of Greetings from Tucson for the Warner Brothers Network and the Halloween episode of Desperate Housewives in its final season on ABC.
Plana was the Co-founder and served as Producing Artistic Director of the East LA Classic Theatre (ECT), a group comprised of multicultural, classically trained theatre professionals, for over 20 years. The EastLA Classic Theatre was dedicated to serving economically challenged communities through educational outreach programs for primary and secondary schools. As ECT's Producing Artistic Director, Plana defined its mission as 'educational' with a priority on creating access to classic dramatic literature for young minority audiences, emphasizing interpretations filtered through a multicultural, non-traditional perspective and presented with a contemporary, populist aesthetic. His provocative adaptations of classic Shakespearean plays were specifically conceived for students with little or no theatre going experience. He produced, directed and adapted these plays set against curriculum relevant historical backgrounds that served as catalysts for the investigation of personal and interpersonal psychology, race and cultural relations, socio-political issues and world history. Such as A zoot suit styled, musical Romeo & Juliet, was set during World War II with 1940's swing music and dance, featuring an East L.A. Latina Juliet and a West L.A. Anglo sailor Romeo struggling to define their love and identities in a wartime city sharply divided by racism, xenophobia, and economics and a Mariachi Musical production of Much Ado About Nothing set in early California.
Plana has continued to challenge the boundaries of teaching and learning language through an innovative approach called Language in Play (LIP). Working directly with language arts teachers, LIP utilizes the performing arts to impact literacy skills in academically at risk and bi-lingual students. Evolved collaboratively with educators over the last fifteen years, ECT's unique process of 'personalizing' language, through student play writing and play acting based on autobiographical experience, has proven more effective in achieving academic advancement and personal growth than established, traditional methods. It has consistently improved students' reading, writing and speaking skills resulting in higher attendance and lower drop-out rates, increased class participation and homework completion, as well as achieved better test scores, strengthened self-confidence and provided an engaging and meaningful school experience.
In 2005 he was honored as Educator of the Year by Loyola Marymount University's Department of Education. In 2008 he was awarded Loyola High School's Cahalan Award as a distinguished alumnus and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Imagen Foundation. In 2009 the HOLA organization honored him with the Raul Julia HOLA Founders Award for excellence. In 2010, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa selected him as worthy of one of the highest honors bestowed by the City of Los Angeles, The Dream of Los Angeles Award for his contributions to the media arts and education. He is the proud recipient of the 2013 ALMA Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of La Raza, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers' Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016, and the 2018 Nosotros Lifetime Impact Golden Eagle Award. He is currently an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University School of Education.- Born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, New York among eight siblings, including her twin sister Lorraine, Lauren Velez dreamed of becoming an actress ever since she played a groundhog in a school play in second grade. Immediately following high school, she received a scholarship from the Alvin Ailey Dance School which led to her first job performing in the national touring company of the musical "Dreamgirls". Later she became understudy for actress Phylicia Rashad in Broadway's "Into the Woods". Her most visible role was that of "Nina Moreno" on the cop drama New York Undercover (1994). With her varied performances and Afro-Latin background and appearance, Velez's success is considered -- by fans and critics alike -- a breakthrough for Latina actresses who do not fit the stereotypical "Europeanized Hollywood" version of Latin females. As a result, Velez deservedly has a large multi-ethnic following.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jenny Gago is one of Hollywood's most versatile and respected Latina actresses. Her powerful portrayal of the matriarch Maria Sanchez in Gregory Nava's hit film, My Family/Mi familia (1995), was a critically acclaimed contribution to what she describes as "an honorable and poignant script."
Gago has starred in many feature films, including Coach Carter (2005) with Samuel L. Jackson, The Tie That Binds (1995), Blood In, Blood Out (1993), Under Fire (1983) and Nurse Betty (2000) with Renée Zellweger. She was honored with the Golden Eagle Award for her performance as Garduna in the film Old Gringo (1989) in which she starred with Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda. Her television films include Grand Avenue (1996), Nowhere to Hide (1994) and Sweet 15 (1990). Series regular roles include DEA (1990), Dangerous Minds (1996), Alien Nation (1989), and Freddie (2005). Gago was also a member of the esteemed cast of the recent Golden Globe-nominated mini-series, American Family (2002), on PBS. Some of her more recent guest starring roles include Crossing Jordan (2001), 24 (2001), The West Wing (1999), The Agency (2001), Alias (2001), Jack & Bobby (2004), Without a Trace (2002), and Lost (2004).
Gago earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from UCLA. She was then personally awarded a scholarship by Lee Strasberg to attend his Institute.
Honored by such prestigious organizations as the Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans, the Image Awards, the National Council of La Raza, the TELACU Education Foundation, The Hispanic Women's Network of Texas, the BRAVO Awards and the Alma Awards, Gago has also received awards from the County of Los Angeles and El Centro. The U.S. House of Representatives recently acknowledged her for "her talents and portrayal of Latino characters in the film and television industry, as well as her dedication and drive to pursue nontraditional roles to pave the way for other Latinos."
Gago's passion is her 13-year-old son, Sean. She loves family, friends, music and dancing (especially salsa), and believes in the spiritual evolution of man towards one human family on earth. She volunteers regularly in schools to support the importance of education.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Lisa Vidal was born on 13 June 1965 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Star Trek (2009), Being Mary Jane (2013) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995). She has been married to Jay Cohen since 6 January 1990. They have three children.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Award-winning actress/writer/comedienne Maria Costa's groundbreaking and dynamic humor has critics calling her the "Latina Lucille Ball". Her chameleon-like virtuosity has her being compared to the likes of Tracey Ullman and Gilda Radner. Costa is best known for her Imagen Award-nominated, Viva America, and her award-winning, Macho Men and the Women Who Love Them comedy concert filmed live at the Kodak Theater which is distributed worldwide by Image Entertainment and is streaming on Amazon Prime. Costa is also the recipient of the prestigious Kresge Foundation Performing Artist Fellowship, an awardee of the Maverick Award from the Los Angeles Women in Theater and is set to receive a star on the Motown Walk to Fame alongside other honorees, including singer Aretha Franklin and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Costa has toured her comedic work in over one hundred cities and has a number of TV credits including: Ugly Betty (ABC), Universal Remote (Showtime), Strong Medicine (Lifetime) and Joan of Arcadia (CBS). Costa was also a series regular on The It Factor (Bravo) and Dangerous Minds (ABC).
Maria began her career as a classically trained actress who starred in productions Checkmates and Cracksteppin' written by renowned playwright, Ron Milner. She has also starred in a number of theatrical productions, including Anthony and Cleopatra and For Colored Girls Who Have Committed Suicide at the Hillberry Theater and Latinologes at the South Coast Repertory Theatre. Maria's early original wors include her one-person show, AfroSpic and sketch comedy spectacle No-Spic Inglish in several performances at the Ice House and the Improv in Los Angeles.
Maria received her formal training at Wayne State University through the College of Fine Performing and Communications Arts and studied with theater legend Uta Hagan as well as with acclaimed mime master Marcel Marceau.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Roxann Dawson was born in Los Angeles, California, to Richard and Rosalie Caballero. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley (Theater Arts major). She soon landed her first role as Diana Morales in the Broadway production of "A Chorus Line". During her acting career, she performed in numerous productions including plays at Circle Reoertory Theatre, where she was a member and Julie Taymor's "The Tempest", George Abbott's "Tropicana", "Six Characters in Search of An Author" , "Accelerando", "Rose Tattoo", "Daughters", among others.
She has also been on many television series and movies - including popular series such as Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Baywatch (1989), Matlock (1986), Jake and the Fatman (1987), The Untouchables (1993), Nightingales (1989), Any Day Now (1998), Seven Days (1998), Coupling (2003), Another World (1964), The Fortunate Pilgrim (1988), The Round Table (1992), among others, but her television experience includes roles in a number of television movies such as Broken Angel (1988), Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Dirty Work (1992), Mortal Sins (1992), Pointman (1994), Greyhounds (1994) and Foto Novelas: Seeing Through Walls (1997).
Dawson works as a writer as well as director -- She made her directorial debut on Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and continued directing on series like Any Day Now (1998), Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) and Charmed (1998). She does also practice writing -- a trilogy called "Tenebrea" was co-written by her and Daniel Graham! She resides in Los Angeles with her husband Eric Dawson and their children.- Tia Texada, is an American actor best known for her role as Cruz on NBC's critically acclaimed series Third Watch, and her recurring role as an undercover agent Ribera on The Unit for CBS. Other roles include, In Plain Sight, Saving Grace, Chuck for NBC, HBO's Mind of the Married Man, Everybody Hates Chris, The Amazing Spiderman feature film, Batman and Beyond, Static Shock, Firebreather, and Handy Manny. She was the voice of Maybelline New York for 15 years, the number one selling cosmetic brand in the world and during her campaign of "Maybe She's Born With it... Maybe Its Maybelline" it was named Brand of the Year and Launch of the Year for Lash Sensational. She was first female live announcer for the Espy Awards where she worked alongside Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx, Lebron James, and Samuel Jackson for seven years. She was the voice of the winning Golden Trailer award for the RoboCop feature film. Tia was the voice for launching Super Bowl 50 for The NFL Today on CBS, Flesh and Bone for Starz, Lindt Gold Bunny, Zales, Unstoppable Collection, JC Penney World Cup Soccer IS for Girls, World Series of Poker Lady Luck for ESPN, and Skittles 'Taste the Rainbow'.
new bio Tia Texada is the voice of The Nfl Today on CBS. Live announce credits include The Golden Globe Awards, The ESPY Awards,The Heisman Awards,Pegasus World Cup, The College Football Awards, Nascar Sprint Cup Series Awards ,and the Sports Humanitarian Awards ,the MTV Movie and TV Awards.She was the voice of the winning Golden Trailer award for the RoboCop feature film-other trailers include FutureWorld,Hunter Killer,The Anomaly,Black Swan, and 50 Shades of Grey. You have heard her narrations on US Women's Soccer, The US Open, The Breeders Cup and Preakness for NBC, The Indy 500 for ABC , World Series of Poker Lady Luck for ESPN, US Open and Wimbledon, NHL's Voice of the Future , and The Big Theory Promo Campaign,Texas Rangers Baseball Campaign,Formula One Racing ,MSG New York Knicks ,and the lead promo voice campaign for Batwoman and In the Dark for the CW. She helped make the phrase "Maybe She's Born With it"the most recognized tag line in advertising and was part of Maybelline New York becoming brand of the year and have advertising's launch of the year. Other commercial credits include Lindt Gold Bunny, Zales The Unstoppable Collection, JC Penney World Cup" Soccer IS for Girls," and Skittles 'Taste the Rainbow',Crest, Veet, Lipton, Bacardi, and Diet Dr.Pepper.She was a part of the narration launches for R.Kelly Impact Documentary ,The Jamie Closs Story, Alita Battle Angel for James Cameron, Altered Carbon for Netflix and Mindhunter for Netflix and David Fincher. She has had a double wall professional home studio for ten years, and offers Isdn,Source Connect,Ipdtl,and broadcast quality phone patch. - Wanda De Jesus was born on 26 August 1958 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for Blood Work (2002), RoboCop 2 (1990) and Ghosts of Mars (2001).
- Actress
- Director
As she inherited her love for the arts by her father, well-known playwright, actor, director and novelist Mario Peña, it is not hard to understand that actress Elizabeth Pena already had designs to become an actress by the time she was eight years old.
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on September 23, 1959, the petite (5' 2") actress was raised in New York City. Elizabeth's (and sister Tania's) parents, Cuban immigrants Mario and Estella Margarita Peña, would achieve a strong Latino reputation as the founders of the off-Broadway Latin-American Theatre Ensemble. They also encouraged Elizabeth's talent. In 1975, the young teenager became a founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors, and two years later graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts, now the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts.
Elizabeth found occasional work in repertory theater and in television commercials. Making her film debut in the independent Spanish-speaking feature El Super (1979), about Cuban refugees, she continued with playing a long line of independent and rebellious characters, which showed plenty of attitude and independence. Playing offbeat roles -- from a knife-threatening waitress to a disco queen -- she appeared in such early films as They All Laughed (1981) and Crossover Dreams (1985). Elizabeth's big break came in the form a support role in the hugely popular and entertaining comedy Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), co-starring Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss and Nick Nolte, in which she stole several scenes as the sultry, smoky-voiced, politically-minded maid Carmen.
Two consecutive short-lived television series came about around this time. Her first, the ensemble comedy Tough Cookies (1986), had her playing a police officer, and the second was the title housekeeper role in the sitcom I Married Dora (1987). High in demand now, Elizabeth continued to spice up both the big and small screen in such roles as Ritchie Valens' stepsister-in-law in the well-received biopic La Bamba (1987); a drug enforcement agent in the miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990); PTSD-suffering Tim Robbins' live-in girlfriend in the complex drama Jacob's Ladder (1990); and a dedicated legal secretary on the corporate drama series Shannon's Deal (1990) starring Jamey Sheridan.
Honors also came Elizabeth's way when she received the Independent Spirit and Bravo awards for the film Lone Star (1996), and four ALMA Awards for her performances in the television movie Contagious (1997), the films Tortilla Soup (2001) and Rush Hour (1998), and her regular role on the Latino drama series Resurrection Blvd. (2000).
Into the millennium, Elizabeth found steady employment on television with guest roles on Boston Public (2000), CSI: Miami (2002), Without a Trace (2002), Numb3rs (2005), Ghost Whisperer (2005), Charlie's Angels (2011), Prime Suspect (2011), Common Law (2012), and Modern Family (2009). One of her last roles was on the television series Matador (2014). She also found herself further down the credits in films such as On the Borderline (2001), Transamerica (2005), The Lost City (2005), Mother and Child (2009), The Perfect Family (2011), Plush (2013), and Grandma (2015). Three other films -- Girl on the Edge (2015), Ana Maria in Novela Land (2015), and The Song of Sway Lake (2018) -- were released posthumously. She also provided a voice in the popular Disney/Pixar animated film The Incredibles (2004).
A chronic alcohol problem severely hampered Elizabeth's life and she died suddenly from cirrhosis of the liver in Los Angeles, California on October 14, 2014, at age 55. She was survived by her second husband (from 1994), Hans Rolla, and their two children, son Kælan and daughter Fiona.- Actor
- Stunts
Marco Rodriguez is a film, television, and stage actor. Received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California and trained with notable acting coaches, Jeff Corey and Jose Quintero. After a short stint as a teacher in the Lausd, Rodriguez embarked on a professional acting career with his debut as "El Pachuco" in the Mark Taper Forum production of Zoot Suit and then toured Europe with Luis Valdez' Teatro Campesino. While at the Taper, Marco joined the Improvisational Theatre Project (now known as P.l.a.y.) collaborating on the critically acclaimed play School Talk. Other writing projects include the award-winning Espernaza Del Valle for the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (Osap) and Natividad, a solo Christmas play in Spanish. Rodriguez is also a founding member of the East Los Angeles. Classic Theatre, an organization dedicated to exposing disadvantaged youth to classic dramatic literature and the theatrical experience. In 1998, Marco founded Dejando Huellas (Leaving a Mark), a bilingual drama outreach program including coaching, workshops and performance opportunities for the under served Latino population. Since 2007, Marco has also been involved as a lead teaching artist with the acclaimed Los Angeles theatre company, About Productions, and its innovative educational programming that introduces at-risk youth to the importance of writing and the power of communication through artistic expression, facilitated dialogue and live performance. Rodriguez worked also in many films and series Tv in supporting roles.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Rose Portillo is an accomplished American actress/writer/director/educator and visual artist whose stage and film career began with a lead role in Luis Valdez's 'Zoot Suit' (original L.A. and Broadway productions and the film). She played the role of Mother in the critically acclaimed 2017 revival, starring Demián Bichir. She was Associate Director of About Productions, now celebrating 24 years of creating original Theaterworks and founded the company's Young Theaterworks, which serves students in Continuation/Options High Schools primarily in East Los Angeles. Since appearing in Theresa Chavez's solo play, L.A. Real, she has directly partnered with Chavez (the company's Artistic Director) on at least 10 critically acclaimed productions.
As an actress, Portillo has extensive credits in regional theater, film and television. Some personal highlights include starring in the award winning film, ...and the Earth Did Not Swallow Him (1994) (by Severo Perez and based on Tomas Rivera's groundbreaking novel); recurring or regular roles on such television series as Vida (2018) and Eisenhower & Lutz (1988); playing Sonia in the Antaeus Company's production of Anton Chekhov's 'The Wood Demon' at the Mark Taper Forum; 'Death and the Maiden' at San Diego Rep; and 'Other People's Money' at The Mixed Blood. She has directed in Los Angeles and at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis, and recently, directed an adaptation of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' for the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles.
Portillo earned writing commissions from Center Theatre Group's P.L.A.Y., Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, and California Institute of the Arts' Community Arts Program, and has been Writer-in-Residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts. A respected educator, Portillo is Faculty member at Pomona College in Claremont, where she directs "Theater for (and with) Young Audiences". Theresa Chavez and Rose Portillo were honored by Playwrights' Arena with the Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles theatre community.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Lupe Ontiveros was born on 17 September 1942 in El Paso, Texas, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for As Good as It Gets (1997), Selena (1997) and Chuck & Buck (2000). She was married to Elias P. Ontiveros. She died on 26 July 2012 in Whittier, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Sal Lopez grew up in a bilingual home in South Central Los Angeles. He is the second of eight boys born to immigrant parents and attended public schools. He is a founding member of The Latino Theater Company and has co-created theater with the company for over 38 years. A veteran actor he has worked with numerous oscar nominated actors and directors. He is married with two children and resides in Los Angeles.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Sônia Braga was born June 8, 1950, in Maringá, Paraná State, Brazil, to a seamstress mother and a realtor father. She starred in the film adaptation of Jorge Amado's Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1976), in the central role of Dona Flor. She earned American recognition and a Golden Globe nomination for performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), and was nominated for a second Golden Globe for her performance in Moon Over Parador (1988), where she played the part of Madonna Mendez.- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Spunky actress, singer and comedienne all rolled up into one, Puerto Rican-American Liz Torres was born on September 27, 1947, a native of the Bronx. She began her stand-up/singing career as a regular performing in various small NYC niteries. It wasn't until she received an invite to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) that her comic career started blooming on TV and in film.
Liz has been a broadly familiar ethnic face on the sitcom circuit, having had regular or recurring parts in numerous series. In addition to regular roles on 70s TV variety shows for Melba Moore, Clifton Davis and Ben Vereen, she replaced the late Barbara Colby in the Mary Tyler Moore spinoff Phyllis (1975) starring Cloris Leachman following Colby's tragic murder. A year later she joined the All in the Family (1971) cast for a season. Liz co-starred in a number of short-lived series such as Checking In (1981), The New Odd Couple (1982) and City (1990) before hitting paydirt and scoring multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her prime role of Mahalia on The John Larroquette Show (1993). She has continued to make the guest rounds on such popular series as Ally McBeal (1997), The Nanny (1993), Quantum Leap (1989), The Wonder Years (1988) and L.A. Law (1986), often providing some necessary comedy relief amid the drama, and she is a veteran of many mini-movies, both comedic and dramatic.
On Broadway, Torres replaced Tony-winning Rita Moreno as men's bathhouse entertainer Googie Gomez in the wacky comedy "The Ritz" and portrayed the bizarre character of Bunny in "House of Blue Leaves." The musical part of her has recorded for RCA and appeared in a number of stage roles that have ranged from Aldonza/Dulcinea in "Man of La Mancha" to lightweight roles in "Bye Bye Birdie" and "See Saw."
She has provided amusing vignettes in such film comedies as The Odd Couple II (1998) starring the late Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Sunset (1988) with Bruce Willis and Permanent Midnight (1998) showcasing Ben Stiller. She was nominated for her the
Although comedy has been Liz's primary career outlet, her millennium film credits have leaned toward heavier material with featured parts in the romantic drama Gabriela (2001), the urban drama King Rikki (2002), the social drama Taylor (2005) and the dramedy West of Brooklyn (2008). Outside the recurring roles on the law series First Monday (2002) and the Latino family drama American Family (2002), TV has proven a different story where she is best remembered for her series role as "Miss Patty" in the long-running sitcom Gilmore Girls (2000), and made numerous amusing appearances on such regular comedies as "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," "The Brothers Garcia," "Ugly Betty," "Desperate Housewives," "Devious Maids" and the Cuban-American sitcom "One Day at a Time."
Long married to producer Peter Locke, the couple resides in Los Angeles.- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Greg Giraldo was born on 10 December 1965 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He was a writer and actor, known for Common Law (1996), Z Rock (2008) and Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices (2009). He was married to MaryAnne McAlpin-Giraldo. He died on 29 September 2010 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.- Jackie Guerra was born on 25 July 1965 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Selena (1997), Picking Up the Pieces (2000) and First Time Out (1995). She is married to Bill Torres.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
He is most often recognized for his integral role in the series "Lost" as Richard Alpert, as well as his turn as Mayor Anthony Garcia opposite Gary Oldman in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight". He reprised his role as the Mayor in the box-office hit "The Dark Knight Rises".
Nestor can be seen starring in Universal's "Bates Motel" (2013-2017) as Sheriff Alex Romero, lover to Vera Farmiga's Norma Bates and nemesis to her son Norman. In the final season Nestor directed his third episode, which introduces Rihanna playing the role of Marion Crane from "Psycho". On the feature side, he will next be seen in the (2017) Sundance world premier of "Crown Heights". He most recently starred with Daniel Radcliffe and Toni Collette in Lion's Gates' release, "Imperium" (2016).
He has demonstrated his versatility through a variety of film roles including his turn as the emotionally tortured hitman Pasquale Acosta in Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces", the socially conscious theater director Moises Kaufman in "The Laramie Project", the idealistic revolutionary Luis Fellove in Andy Garcia's "The Lost City", the pragmatic and ruthless Mayor Picazo in "For Greater Glory", and the womanizing and morally conflicted father in the title role of the Sundance indies, "Jack the Dog" and "Manhood".
Nestor was born in New York City and raised in numerous locales including, Mexico, Venezuela, Florida, Connecticut, the Bahamas and London. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English. It was during his time in college that a first-year drama course led to his interest in performing. Upon graduating he moved to New York and starred in the Off Broadway world premier of the two-hander, "A Silent Thunder". He continued to work in theater, most notably in Stephen Sondheim's premier of "The Doctor is Out" at The Old Globe in San Diego.
Nestor currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Shannon Kenny, and their two sons Rafa and Marco.- Actress
- Casting Department
- Casting Director
Tracy Vilar was born on 12 April 1968 in New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress and casting director, known for Double Jeopardy (1999), K-PAX (2001) and Missing (2023). She has been married to Eric Daniel since 2 September 2000. They have two children.- Merlin Santana was born in New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. His mother pushed him into a showbusiness career to keep him off the mean streets and out of trouble. He began as an advertising model for a fast-food chain at age 3, and soon became noticed as Stanley, one of Rudy Huxtable's admirers on the hit TV show The Cosby Show (1984). At 15, he co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Getting By (1993) alongside Cindy Williams and Telma Hopkins. His best-known role was as smooth-talking Romeo Santana on the popular WB series The Steve Harvey Show (1996) in 1996.
Merlin Santana was murdered on November 9, 2002 in Los Angeles, California, while he was sitting in a car. He was 26 years old. - Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actress
Gloria Estefan was born on 1 September 1957 in Havana, Cuba. She is a music artist and actress, known for Music of the Heart (1999), Poseidon (2006) and The Specialist (1994). She has been married to Emilio Estefan Jr. since 2 September 1978. They have two children.- Maty Monfort, host of Smart Solutions (on HGTV), has an extensive background in broadcast journalism. She began her career at the Univision network while attending the University of Miami, and was best known for her work on Hola America. Her interviewing skills were put to the test on ABC's Mike and Maty Show, where she did everything from in-studio interviews and cooking segments to pulling 9Gs in an F-16 with the Air Force Thunderbirds. Maty has even guest starred as herself on episodes of ABC's Lois & Clark and NBC's Caroline in the City. Maty and her husband, Tony Novia, live in Los Angeles.
- Ada Maris was born on 13 June 1957 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Brothers Garcia (2000), Nurses (1991) and Knight Rider (1982). She has been married to Tony Plana since 1988. They have two children. She was previously married to Jack N. Stein.
- Actress
Marga Gómez was born in New York City, New York, USA. She is known for Sphere (1998), Batman Forever (1995) and Sense8 (2015).- Daisy Fuentes was born on 17 November 1966 in Havana, Cuba. She is an actress, known for Baywatch (1989), Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995) and Curdled (1996). She has been married to Richard Marx since 23 December 2015. She was previously married to Timothy Adams.
- Actress
- Producer
- Composer
Maria Conchita Alonso was born Maria Concepcion Alonso Bustillo on June 29, 1957 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, but raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She was crowned Miss Teenager World in 1971 and later as Miss Distrito Federal became the first runner up in the Miss Venezuela 1975 competition placing later that year in the top seven of the Miss World 1975. She became a popular actress in Latin America, working in ten telenovelas (soap operas) and starred in a quartet of Venezuelan films. She was also a popular singer, and has three Grammy Award nominations.
In 1982, she emigrated to the United States, and made her Hollywood film debut in Paul Mazursky's Moscow on the Hudson (1984), opposite Robin Williams. She also starred in movies such as Touch and Go (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), The Running Man (1987), Colors (1988), Vampire's Kiss (1988), Predator 2 (1990) and The House of the Spirits (1993). In 1995, she was playing Aurora/Spider Woman in a Broadway production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman", making her the first South American woman to star on the Great White Way.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Friendly as all get-out, Latino stand-up comic Paul Rodriguez was born in Mexico but raised in East Los Angeles. After finishing his military service, he went to college on the GI bill with the idea of becoming an attorney, but developed an interest in comedy while taking elective courses.
Paul honed his stand-up act at L.A.'s famous The Comedy Store while working as a doorman there, and got his break as an opening act for others at various concerts and universities and as a warm-up comic on Norman Lear's short-lived sitcom Gloria (1982) starring Sally Struthers.
Lear was so impressed that he wrote and developed a sitcom specifically for Paul entitled a.k.a. Pablo (1984), which caught the public's eye only briefly. Other comedy series followed, however, including Trial and Error (1988) and Grand Slam (1990), and a few movies also came his way with D.C. Cab (1983) and Born in East L.A. (1987). Sticking to his Latino roots as the basis for his comedy, he has made an appealing crossover hit.
The comedian broke through the talk show venue with "El Show de Paul Rodriguez", which had a four-year run, and branched out into directing with the film A Million to Juan (1994), which he also co-wrote and starred in. More recently, he appeared with Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001) and had an atypical role in director Clint Eastwood's Blood Work (2002) as an arrogant, smarmy police detective. More recently, he has been visible (good or bad) in A Cinderella Story (2004), The World's Fastest Indian (2005) and Cloud 9 (2006).
He also executive-produced and starred in the comedy concert film The Original Latin Kings of Comedy (2002). He has been seen everywhere on cable comedy showcases, including Paul Rodriguez: Behind Bars (1991), Crossing White Lines (1999), Paul Rodriguez Live!: I Need the Couch (1987), Paul Rodriguez: Live in San Quentin (1995), Paul Rodriguez & Friends: Comedy Rehab (2009) and Paul Rodriguez: The Here & Wow (2018)., all of which solidified his reputation as one of the country's best known Hispanic comics in the U.S.
Other millennium film credits include a wide variety of roles, including those in Tortilla Soup (2001), Ali (2001), Time Changer (2002), Baadasssss! (2003), Back by Midnight (2004), Lonely Street (2008), I'm Not Like That No More (2010), Mission Air (2014), Pray for Rain (2017), Cholo Zombies (2024). He also provided voices for the animated features Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008), Porndogs: The Adventures of Sadie (2009) and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (2010). On TV, he was a regular on the Spanish-speaking comedy Componiendo a Paco (2012) and played the title role in the English-speaking sitcom Fixing Paco (2012).
Paul has been recognized for his tireless charity work, which includes strong, avid support for the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Farm Aid, Leukemia Telethon, Project Literacy, and Housing Now, among many others.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Luis Avalos was born on 2 September 1946 in Havana, Cuba. He was an actor and director, known for The Ringer (2005), Hollywood Homicide (2003) and Resurrection Blvd. (2000). He died on 22 January 2014 in Burbank, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Jimmy L. Smits is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s-1990s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s-2000s police drama NYPD Blue, Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing, and for appearing in Switch (1991), My Family (1995), and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. He also appeared as Bail Organa in Star Wars. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla. Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law.- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Ernest "Tito" Anthony Puente was the eldest son of Puerto Rican parents. His mother called him "Ernestito" which means "Little Ernest", which was later shortened to "Tito". His mother saw his musical potential and enrolled him in piano classes. Eventually he attended the Juilliard School of Music from 1945-47 on the GI bill. He would write a piece that would start off as jazz and then add a Latin beat to it. He recorded over 100 albums during his 60 years in the business and won 10 Grammy awards. He often joked that he was profiting off of Santana's hit recording of "Oye Como Va", which he had written. He said, "I get a nice royalty check." He appeared in several films, usually as himself.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Alfonso Ribeiro was born in New York on September 21, 1971. Alfonso's family is from Trinidad & Tobago. Although rumor has been that he is of Dominican descent, he has stated in an interview that this is false. Neither he nor his family are from the Dominican Republic; they originate from Trinidad & Tobago.
Ribeiro began his career when he debuted on the PBS show "Oye Ollie." After getting the starring role in the Broadway musical "The Tap Dance Kid" Ribeiro was spotted by Michael Jackson who cast him in one of the singer's many Pepsi commercials of that decade. At the age of 10 Ribeiro dabbled as a musician, releasing singles such as "Dance Baby," "Not Too Young (To Fall In Love)", "Sneak Away With Me" and "Time Bomb". It was about this time that he was cast as Ricky Schroder's best friend on the long-running series Silver Spoons (1982).
He attended California State University at Los Angeles after the end of the series, and was later cast as Carlton Banks on the popular series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990). An avid race car driver, Ribeiro resides in Los Angeles where he participates in celebrity car races.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Hector Elizondo was born in New York City, New York, where he was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is the son of Carmen Medina Reyes and Martín Echevarría Elizondo. Hector is of Basque and Puerto Rican descent, and "Elizondo" means "at the foot of the church" in Basque. His lifestyle in his days before acting was as diverse as the roles he plays today. He was a conga player with a Latin band, a classical guitarist and singer, a weightlifting coach, a ballet dancer and a manager of a bodybuilding gym. In his teens, he played basketball and baseball, and was scouted by the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates farm teams. After a knee injury ended his dance career, he switched to drama. Since then, he has frequently appeared on Broadway, most notably with George C. Scott in Arthur Penn's production of "Sly Fox" for which he received a Drama Desk nomination and for his role as "God" in "Steambath", which won him an Obie Award. Other theatre credits include; "The Prisoner of Second Avenue"; "The Great White Hope"; "Dance of Death" with Robert Shaw and "The Rose Tattoo" opposite Cicely Tyson. Countless starring roles in television include: Foley Square (1985); Medal of Honor Rag (1982); Casablanca (1983) (in which he recreated the Claude Rains role of police chief "Capt. Renault"); Freebie and the Bean (1974); Popi (1975) and as Sophia Loren's husband in the CBS special Courage (1986). Guest appearances include: Kojak (1973); Kojak: Ariana (1989); A Case of Immunity (1975); Baretta (1975); All in the Family (1971); The Rockford Files (1974) and Bret Maverick (1981). In addition, he also directed a.k.a. Pablo (1984), the first show to utilize seven cameras instead of the usual four. On the big screen, he has been seen in, among others, American Gigolo (1980); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974); Cuba (1979); Valdez Is Coming (1971) and in four films directed by Garry Marshall: Young Doctors in Love (1982); The Flamingo Kid (1984); Nothing in Common (1986) and Overboard (1987). Elizondo starred with Dan Aykroyd and Michelle Pfeiffer in PBS' Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987) (based on a collection of John O'Hara stories) and made his debut as a stage director with a production of "Villa!" starring Julio Medina. In addition, he performed in the 50th anniversary production of "War of the Worlds" co-starring Jason Robards and the TV-movie Addicted to His Love (1988) with Barry Bostwick.- Justin has been a working actor since the ripe old age of 11, when he first captured audiences in the title role of "The Little Prince." Today, he is a 19-year veteran of Hollywood, with an Emmy under his belt.
Preferring to stay out of the limelight when he isn't working, he has many other interests, including the stock market. He also enjoys golfing and playing the blues on his electric guitar. Scuba diving is a hobby that he's fallen in love with in the last few years. When they can, Justin and his fiancée Reina love traveling to exotic destinations and exploring the marine life. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Robert Adame Beltran was born in Bakersfield, California. He is the seventh of ten children, of Mexican-Native American ancestry, though Robert describes his heritage as Latindio. After finishing high school, he attended Fresno State College, where he graduated with a degree in theater arts. Beltran landed his first film role in Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit (1981) in 1981. One year later, he landed the role of Raoul in Paul Bartel's Eating Raoul (1982). Other appearances included Gaby: A True Story (1987), Nixon (1995) and another Paul Bartel film, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills (1989) among others. In the theater, he has appeared in productions for Luis Valdez's El Teatro Campesino, the LA Theater Center, the California Shakespeare Festival and others. Robert founded and serves as co-artistic director of the East LA Classic Theater Group, with a staff of professional actors. There, he played Hamlet and served as co-producer as well as director. Robert appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream; King Henry IV; A Touch of the Poet; and The Price, among others. In 1995, he got the part of Commander Chakotay on Star Trek: Voyager (1995). At that time, he received a Nosotros Golden Eagle Award as best actor in a television series. Robert supports National Down Syndrome Society and lives in Los Angeles, California.
In his political activity, Robert Beltran has engaged over recent years in a series of classical drama workshops mainly on Shakespeare with the LaRouche Youth Movement of the Democratic Party as well as participating in several Schiller Institute conferences speaking on the subject of classical drama, most recently on his 2003 staging of Clifford Odets' 1948 play "The Big Knife".- Theresa Saldana was born on 20 August 1954 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Commish (1991), Raging Bull (1980) and I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978). She was married to Phil Peters and Alfredo J. Feliciano Jr.. She died on 6 June 2016 in Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Alexa Ellesse PenaVega was born Alexa Ellesse Vega on August 27, 1988 in Ocala, Florida and raised in Los Angeles, California to Gina Denise Rue, a former model & Baruch Jairo Vega, a photographer. She is known for her role as Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids series and Shilo Wallace in the film Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008). In 2009, she starred as the title character Ruby Gallagher in the ABC Family series Ruby & The Rockits.- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Reagan Gomez-Preston was born on 24 April 1980 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Jerry Maguire (1996), Surviving... (2015) and Almost Home (2013). She has been married to DeWayne Turrentine Jr. since 10 November 1999. They have two children.