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- The big, brawny, and imposing Steve Sandor was born on October 27, 1937 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in that city's Greenfield neighborhood. He sold copy machines and trained sentry dogs while serving as an Air Policeman in the US Air Force prior to pursuing an acting career in the late 1960s.
With his large, muscular build, ruggedly handsome looks, and often intense, aggressive, and intimidating screen presence, Steve was usually cast as mean and frightening villains in both movies and TV shows. His most noteworthy film roles include scruffy biker Apache in Hell's Angels '69 (1969); unstable drifter Billy Joe in The Only Way Home (1972); traumatized Vietnam veteran Ollie Hand in The No Mercy Man (1973); wishy-washy private eye Larry Evans in the gritty crime drama gem Bonnie's Kids (1972); arrogant heavyweight wrestling champion Jack "The White Knight" Braden in the offbeat made-for-TV movie Mad Bull (1977); Stanley, the hostile, scary biker who antagonizes Stacy Keach in a bar in the terrific cult favorite The Ninth Configuration (1980); the titular scrappy anti-hero in the low-rent post-nuke sci-fi/action dud Stryker (1983); and legendary frontiersman Jim Bowie in Alamo: The Price of Freedom (1988).
In addition, he was the voice of mysterious heroic warrior Dark Wolf in Ralph Bakshi's animated fantasy adventure treat Fire and Ice (1983). Also, he did guest spots on such TV series as Star Trek (1966), Gunsmoke (1955), Ironside (1967), The Streets of San Francisco (1972), Baretta (1975), Starsky and Hutch (1975), Charlie's Angels (1976), Fantasy Island (1977), CHiPs (1977), Three's Company (1976), Vega$ (1978), T.J. Hooker (1982), The A-Team (1983), The Fall Guy (1981), Knight Rider (1982) and Hunter (1984). He retired from acting in the late 1990s and settled down in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he died at age 79 in 2017. - Actor
- Stunts
Taylor Lacher was born on 2 April 1942 in Pittsburg, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Mr. Majestyk (1974), Cade's County (1971) and Ruckus (1980). He was married to Mary Lou Back. He died on 21 June 2005 in Killen, Alabama, USA.- George Sperdakos was born on 6 August 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor, known for Dirty Work (1998), Murder at 1600 (1997) and Blues Brothers 2000 (1998). He died on 21 July 2000 in Bridgehampton, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Location Management
Robert Pine is an American actor who is best known as Sgt. Joseph Getraer on the television series CHiPs (1977-1983). Including CHiPs, Pine has appeared in over 400 episodes of television. Pine was born in New York City on July 10, 1941, the son of Virginia (née Whitelaw) and Granville Martin Pine, a patent attorney. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1963. He is married to Gwynne Gilford, who appeared in several episodes of CHiPs as Betty Getraer, the wife of Pine's character. They have two children, actors Chris and Katie.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Michael Bell is an American voice actor who is known for voicing Gleeman Vox from Ratchet: Deadlocked, Raziel from The Legacy of Kain video game series, Chas Finster and Dru Pickles from Rugrats and several Smurfs from The Smurfs cartoon. He also voiced in The Transformers: The Movie, Challenge of the Super Friends, and did live-action acting for several episodes of Star Trek and Dallas.- Edward Power was born on 25 September 1936 in Medford, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Way We Were (1973), Disclosure (1994) and Cannon (1971). He was married to Barbara Weber and Sally Jane Allen. He died on 24 December 2021.
- Actor
- Producer
Sandy-haired American actor Bo Hopkins was born William Mauldin Hopkins in Greenville, South Carolina, and was raised by his mother and grandmother after his father died when Bo was only nine years old. He joined the US Army at the age of 16. After serving his hitch he decided on acting as a career and gained experience in summer stock productions and guest spots in several TV episodes.
Hopkins broke into feature films as the ill-fated "Crazy Lee" in the Sam Peckinpah landmark western The Wild Bunch (1969), and was subsequently hired by Peckinpah for another none-too-bright role as a bank robber in The Getaway (1972) and then as a hired killer pairing up with CIA agent James Caan in The Killer Elite (1975). He was busy on television during the 1980s and 1990s, guest-starring on The Rockford Files (1974), Charlie's Angels (1976), The A-Team (1983), Hotel (1983) and Matt Houston (1982), and was featured on Dynasty (1981). In addition, he starred in dozens of feature films, such as Midnight Express (1978), American Graffiti (1973), The Bounty Hunter (1989), U Turn (1997) and Shade (2003). With his "good old boy" persona and Southern drawl, Hopkins often played lawmen, psychos, or oily villains.
He makes his home in Los Angeles with his wife Sian and son Matthew, and is a keen fisherman, fan of the Anaheim Angels baseball team, and enjoys raising koi fish.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Distinctive American actor, screenwriter, and producer of Lebanese ancestry, born Richard Joseph Romanos to Dr. Raymond Daniel Romanos and his wife Eileen Dorothy ((née Maloof). His younger brother, Robert, is also an actor. Richard attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating with a degree in philosophy in 1964. He initially set out to pursue a career in law. After studying for a year at the University of Connecticut Law School, he dropped out, moved to New York and enrolled in drama classes with Lee Strasberg at the renowned Actor's Studio. He made his screen debut in 1968 and quickly established himself as a versatile character player in high profile TV shows, commencing with Mission: Impossible (1966). Often cast as Latinos or Italians, he was reputedly considered for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). In fact, he did play a gangster named Michael (Longo) in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973).
In episodic television, Richard came to be equally adept at portraying good guys (Detective Sam Carlucci in Kojak (1973)) and black Hats (Johnny Noah in Hawaii Five-O (1968)). He had recurring roles in the short-lived, underrated detective series Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) as the aptly named Crazy Tommy Tedesco, and, conversely, as tough police captains in Foul Play (1981). He was also a regular in the cast of Strike Force (1981) as the wry ladies' man Charlie Gunzer. In The Sopranos (1999), Richard played the ex-husband of psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) who strongly disapproved of her treating Mafia don Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).
Richard's first wife was the actress Tina Romanus (aka Bohlman, aka Bowman). Their marriage produced a son but ended in divorce in 1980. In 1985, he married the Oscar-nominated costume designer Anthea Sylbert. Together, they wrote the TV comedy Giving Up the Ghost (1998) and the Christmas fantasy If You Believe (1999), the latter receiving a nomination for a Best Original Screenplay Award from the Writers Guild of America in 1999. In 2004, the couple sold their home in Los Angeles and resettled on the Greek island of Skiathos. Henceforth, Richard concentrated on writing novels on Greek historical themes, an interest he had developed during his college years. He published 'Chrysalis' in 2011 and 'Matoula's Echo' in 2014, as well as a memoir, 'Act III', in 2012. A 2013 book, 'Sketches of Skiathos', was a homage to his new home and its inhabitants.
A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Writers Guild of America, and a fellow of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Richard Romanus died on December 26 2023 on Skiathos at the age of 80.- John Calvin was born on 29 November 1947 in Staten Island, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982), The Cheap Detective (1978) and Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989).
- Alan Feinstein has appeared in over 100 television productions, co-starring on "Nip Tuck," "Crossing Jordan," and "N.Y.P.D. Blue." Series leads in "The Runaways," "Jigsaw John," "Berrengers," Second Family Tree," and more than 800 episodes of daytime drama. He co-starred opposite Peter Strauss and Peter O'Toole in "Masada," Lindsay Wagner in "The Two Worlds of Jenny Logan," Vanessa Redgrave in "Second Serve," as well as opposite Diane Keaton in the feature film "Looking For Mr. Goodbar."
Winner of the New York Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of "Marco" in Arthur Miller's 'A View From the Bridge'.
3 Los Angeles Drama-logue awards for his performances in 'Cold Storage', 'Dancing in the End Zone', and as "Jamie" in 'Long Days Journey Into Night'.
Alan's roles on Broadway include his debut in Edward Albee's 'Malcolm,' and was picked by Tennessee Williams for the role of "Stanley Kowalski" in the 25th anniversary Broadway revival of 'A Streecar Named Desire'. He starred on stage at the Guthrie Theatre in 'The Price' after having auditioned for playwright Arthur Miller.
He also starred in productions of Herb Gardner's 'Conversations With My Father' at Philidelphia's Walnut Street Theatre and the Pioneer Theatre Company of Salt Lake City.
Other performances include productions at The Old Globe, The Long Wharf Theatre, The Williamstown Summer Festival, The Alley Theatre, The Philidelphia Theatre Company, and was a member of New York's famed Circle Repertory Company.
Los Angeles stage appearances include 'Talley's Folly' at the Grove Theatre Center, David Mamet's 'Lakeboat', directed by Joe Montegna at the Tiffany Theatre, Tina Howe's 'One Shoe Off', the world premiere of 'The Sisters' at the historic Pasadena Playhouse, and 'Ghetto' at the Mark Taper Forum. - Actor
- Producer
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Born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, Michael Callan sang and danced as a teenager and by the age of fifteen was dancing in local night clubs.
He started life out as Martin Harris Calinieff on November 22, 1935. A dark-haired charmer, he was taking voice and dance lessons by age 11, with the intentions of becoming the next Gene Kelly.
He had the dark, smirking, surly good looks and confident swagger which fit in with the James Dean 50s rebel-like era. He began his professional career as a comic and dancer in Philly night clubs while billing himself as "Mickey Calin". Eventually, he entertained at such hot spots as the Copacabana and in Las Vegas showrooms.
His move to New York was a wise choice. Given a dancing part in his first Broadway show, "The Boyfriend" (1954), starring Julie Andrews, he followed it with another musical, "Catch a Star" (1955). This, in turn, led to his biggest break of all, the role of "Riff" in the original New York production of "West Side Story" (1957). While the show made virtual theater stars out of its leads Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert, Michael, on the other hand, attracted the interest of Columbia Pictures.
His film career began engagingly enough -- not as a singer or dancer, but as a dramatic leading man. Columbia placed him in two fairly strong films in the hopes of promoting and developing his obvious teen-idol promise. The first film was a western soap opera in support of Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth. In They Came to Cordura (1959), Michael co-starred in this film alongside another male dreamboat, Tab Hunter. His second film was a "B"-level starring role in The Flying Fontaines (1959), in which he played a circus Romeo whose caddish cavortings under the "big top" accelerate the melodramatic story line. This role pretty much set the tone for what, more or less, would become his screen image -- a notorious womanizer and charming, though sometimes, spineless opportunist. His lovely co-star in the movie, Evy Norlund, was a formerly-crowned Miss Denmark (1958). This movie was her only one, since she abruptly gave up her young aspirations when she married singer James Darren and raise a big family.
One of Michael's biggest disappointments, during this time, was losing the role of "Riff" in the film version of West Side Story (1961), due to contractual restrictions with Columbia. Russ Tamblyn received the honors and the glory. However, he did continue to rack up callow, trouble-making co-leads in youth-oriented films, paired up with Hollywood's loveliest of newcomers, including Tuesday Weld in Because They're Young (1960), Dolores Dorn in 13 West Street (1962) and Deborah Walley in both Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Bon Voyage! (1962). In The Interns (1962), he continued to perpetuate his slick image as a roving medical resident who juggles gorgeous Anne Helm and Katharine Bard for his own selfish purposes. In the sequel of sorts, The New Interns (1964), he made his customary moves on Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie (1965)) and Dawn Wells ("Mary Ann" on Gilligan's Island (1964)).
Although he managed to show off his dancing skills in Pepe (1960) and in the previously mentioned "Gidget" film, Michael never capitalized on it. The era of the movie musicals was in a backslide at the time and he focused completely on acting. He was among the international cast of the war epic, The Victors (1963), and was the best-looking marooned member in the British-made Jules Verne fantasy-adventure, Mysterious Island (1961). Interestingly, his last films of real note were in comedies -- opposite Jane Fonda, in the freewheeling cult western, Cat Ballou (1965), and a scene-stealing Lionel Jeffries in the British satire, You Must Be Joking! (1965). Perhaps his characters were too unsympathetic for their own good; for whatever reason, Michael never managed to hit the cinematic "bad boy" stardom he seemed geared up for.
In the late 60s, he found a venue better-suited for his talents -- TV sitcoms. His skirt-chasing characters seemed to have more appeal when played lightly for laughs. His best chance came in the form of Occasional Wife (1966). An ideal showcase, Michael played the lead role of "Peter Christopher", an up-and-coming executive of a company that strongly pushes the husband/father image. Perennial playboy Callan decides to take on an "occasional wife" (Patricia Harty) for appearances' sake while trying to conceal his wily ways from the workplace. The show fit Callan like a glove and he and Harty displayed great chemistry, so much so that they married in real-life two years after the series' run. Perhaps the true-life romance ruined the show's illusion, as the series limped away after only one season. Patricia, the second of Michael's three wives, divorced him in 1970.
Surprisingly, Michael never starred in another sitcom that got off the ground. He ventured on finding guest appearances on such sitcoms as That Girl (1966), Hazel (1961) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and became a favorite player in the extremely popular Love, American Style (1969) sketches, playing (what else?) guys with girl troubles. His TV career eventually took the Fantasy Island (1977), The Love Boat (1977) and Murder, She Wrote (1984) route and, in an effort to jump-start things, both produced and starred in his own film, Double Exposure (1982), but to little notice. He also returned, occasionally, to the stage in both legit plays and musicals to keep his name alive, including "Absurd Person Singular" and "The Music Man".
The father of two daughters (from his first marriage), he has been glimpsed only here and there, since the mid-90s. Recent movie credits include Stuck on You (2003) and The Still Life (2006). He has also been spotted, occasionally, at various signings and conventions. While perhaps not climbing the height of heights expected, Michael reached an enviable plateau and merits strong attention for his fine contributions to 60s and 70s film and TV.- A virile, beefcake blond of the late 1960s and 1970s small screen, Dennis Cole certainly had it all going for him, but tragic circumstances prevented an all-out successful career. A rugged TV version of Robert Redford, his tan, chiseled, surfer-fit looks were ideally suited for crime action and adventure stories and he gained ground by appearing everywhere -- daytime soaps, prime-time series, mini-movies -- you name it.
The Detroit-born and -raised stunner was the son of Joseph C. Cole, a musician during the 1940s and 1950s. His parents, both alcoholics, divorced when he was young (his father later committed suicide). Dennis was first noticed on the pages of physique magazines serving the likes of Robert Henry Mizer (aka Bob Mizer) and his Athletic Models Guild as well as other photographers. Paying his dues as a motion picture and television stuntman, Cole also appeared in an occasional bit part and in the background of a few movie musicals. His photogenic appeal could not be denied for long and eventually he took a front-and-center position, launching his acting career on the short-lived daytime soap Paradise Bay (1965) as a spoiled rich boy who causes tongues to wag after falling for a Mexican girl. However, it was the subsequent nighttime police series The Felony Squad (1966) alongside veterans Howard Duff and Ben Alexander (of Dragnet (1951) fame) that set Cole's TV career in high gear. As hunky rookie detective Jim Briggs, Dennis was able to ride high on the fame his two-and-a-half season series offered.
With this success came two very short-lived series: the glossy ensemble drama Bracken's World (1969) and opposite Rod Taylor as a trouble-prone stud in the more adventurous Bearcats! (1971). Females couldn't get enough of Cole and his athletic skills had males idolizing from afar. Guest appearances on Medical Center (1969), Barnaby Jones (1973), Police Story (1973), Love, American Style (1969), The Love Boat (1977), The Streets of San Francisco (1972) and Police Woman (1974) kept him highly visible in between series runs. During this career peak, he made his Broadway debut in "All the Girls Came Out to Play" in 1972. He also decided to tap into his musical side and dabbled in his own musical revue, which showcased on the Sunset Strip and in Las Vegas. A guest TV appearance on Charlie's Angels (1976) led to his meeting and, in 1978, marrying "Angel" Jaclyn Smith. As one of Hollywood's more beautiful couples, they kept cameras flashing for a number of years until their breakup and divorce in 1981.
The early 1980s started off well for Cole as replacement "Lance Prentiss" in the soap-opera The Young and the Restless (1973) in 1981. Very much a product of TV, he was unable to permanently transition into films; he appeared occasionally in dismissible low-budget action fare such as Amateur Night (1986), Death House (1988), Pretty Smart (1987), Dead End City (1988) and Fatal Encounter (1990). He continued showing up on all the popular series of the day, including Silk Stalkings (1991), Murder, She Wrote (1984), Pacific Blue (1996) and Baywatch Nights (1995), among others, while appearing in such legit stage plays as "The Tender Trap", "Lovers and Other Strangers", "The Boys in the Band", and the British farces "Run for You Life" and "Out of Order". Very much involved with charity work, his endeavors over the years have included an over-two-decade involvement with the Cancer Society (Honorary Chairman), as well as the Arthritis and Cystic Fibrosis foundations.
Dennis' later personal and professional lives suffered as a result of a chronic alcohol problem, but an even greater setback occurred when his only child, Joey (whom he named after his father), was murdered during a 1991 robbery attempt in Venice, California. He continued to perform on TV and stage (as the "Narrator" in a production of "Blood Brothers" and the James Garner "King Marchan" role in the first national tour of the musical "Victor/Victoria"). Severe injuries suffered while performing in the latter show led to multiple surgeries, a three-year convalescence and a new direction.
Dennis returned to school and started up his own real estate company, setting up an office in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Married for several years to his third wife Marjorie ("Ree"), Dennis filed for divorce in May of 2007, which became final on April 21, 2008. He died at age 69 on November 15, 2009, in a Fort Lauderdale hospital of liver failure. - Actor
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Dirk Benedict was born in Montana on March 1st, 1945. He was raised in the country, far away from anything connected with movies or acting. He gathered his first experiences in acting (on a dare) in a college production of "Showboat" where he got the main part. His father, a lawyer, died when Dirk was 18, which was hard for him to take. While working on Georgia, Georgia (1972) in Sweden, he made the first contact with a macrobiotic diet and changed his eating habits drastically. He was 26 at that time. A few years later, doctors found that he had cancer of the prostate. He refused to accept the usual treatment and moved away to a secluded cottage. Dirk managed to cure himself from cancer by following the rules of his macrobiotic diet. When he got his part as "Starbuck" in Battlestar Galactica (1978), the doctors stated that he was in good health. Dirk's main successes were "Battlestar Galactica" and The A-Team (1983) in which he played "Templeton - The Face - Peck". He was formerly married to actress Toni Hudson and has two sons (George and Roland).- Edward Matthew Lauter II was born on October 30, 1938 in Long Beach, New York. In a film career that extended for over four decades, Lauter starred in a plethora of film and television productions since making his big screen debut in the western Dirty Little Billy (1972). He portrayed an eclectic array of characters over the years, including (but not limited to), authority/military figures, edgy villains, and good-hearted heavies. Many will remember him for his appearance as the stern Captain Wilhelm Knauer in The Longest Yard (1974) (Lauter also made a cameo in the 2005 remake). Lauter also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Jim Carrey and Liam Neeson. With a face that seemed to appear without warning everywhere, Lauter remained in demand for roles on both films and television. Ed Lauter died of mesothelioma in his home in Los Angeles, California on October 16, 2013, less than two weeks before his 75th birthday.
- Actor
- Stunts
Born in Palo Alto, California, Tim was a physically imposing and well-known character actor from the 80's. Tim and Tom Selleck were college roommates while both attended the University of Southern California. First drafted into the NFL in 1968, his career there included playing professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles, then San Diego Chargers, and the Houston Oilers. After his football career ended in the mid 70's, Tim began acting and remained active through 1998. Tim lived another 20 years after his final appearance, passing away in his native California in December 2018.- Actor
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Gary Bisig was born on 19 December 1943 in Ohio, USA. He is an actor, known for WarGames (1983), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and 9 to 5 (1980).- Actor
- Additional Crew
Paul Cavonis was born on 4 December 1937 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1972), Tales of the Unexpected (1977) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Popular stage, film and TV actor Harvey Jason was born on Leap Year's Day, 1940 in London, England. From childhood he aspired to a career as an actor. His efforts, and his substantial talent, paid off. At 19 he was in New York, ready to go. A year later, he was appearing in Joseph Papp's prestigious Shakespeare in the Park.
Other shows followed: off-Broadway, national tours, Broadway: A Taste of Honey, Hostile Witness with Ray Milland, Marat/Sade and others, his reviews always excellent. With the late Peter Cook and the fames satirical revue, The Establishment, he toured the U.S and Canada. Jason's incredible facility with dialects, his ability to do with total authenticity, any accent imaginable, made him a truly sought after actor. Soon he was film and TV.
Oscar-winning director Robert Wise brought him out to California for the Julie Andrews film, Star. Then it was non-stop work. Guest star roles on TV, one after the other; a season with James Whitmore in My friend Tony: a season on the famed Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, co-starring with Bruce Boxleitner on the series run of Bring 'Em Back Alive - show after show. Jason became a national favorite as Harry Zeff in the hugely successful all-star NBC mini-series Captains and the Kings. Movies to: With Michael Caine in Robert Aldrich's in Too Late the Hero, Lost in the Stars, Save the Tiger with Jack Lemmon, Stanley Kramer's Oklahoma Crude with George C. Scott, the zany Lapchik in Gumball Rally, Air America, then as Ajay Sidhu, one of the stars in Steven Spielberg's The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Yet it was in Necromancy, starring Orson Wells and Pamela Franklin, that he met Pamela, the woman who would become his wife. They have been married since 1970 and have two sons, Joshua and Louis.
Jason retired for acting in 1997 to open, with his son Louis, the famed exclusively First Edition collectible literature bookshop, Mystery Pier Books, called One of the Most Important First Edition Bookshops in the U.S.- Actor
- Soundtrack
The son of a Georgia minister, Edward Andrews debuted on stage in 1926 at age 12. By 1935, he had landed on Broadway. A solid character actor, his amiable demeanor made him a natural for the jovial, grandfatherly types and genial, small-town businessmen he often played, but his very large physique and peering eyes, partially hidden behind ever-present large-framed eyeglasses, served him well when cast as a heavy, i.e. a sinister character like a corrupt businessman or official, or worse. He was memorable as the glad-handing, charming but murderous leader of a corrupt political machine in The Phenix City Story (1955) and, later in his career, as Molly Ringwald's solicitous grandfather in Sixteen Candles (1984).- Rugged-looking James Gammon first broke into the entertainment industry not as an actor but as a TV cameraman. From there, his weatherbeaten features, somewhat menacing attitude and a tough-as-nails voice--the kind that used to be described in detective novels as "whiskey-soaked"--reminiscent of '40s noir icon Charles McGraw got him work in front of the cameras in TV westerns (though he sounds as if he's from Texas or Oklahoma, he was actually born and raised in Illinois) and he made his film debut in 1967. Not the kind of guy you'd see in a tuxedo in a Noël Coward drawing-room comedy--unless he was one of a gang holding them up--Gammon could play lighter parts also, as evidenced by his work as the manager in the baseball comedy Major League (1989) and in his regular role as Don Johnson's rambunctious father in Johnson's Nash Bridges (1996) series.
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Timothy Carey had one of the most unusual careers of all Hollywood character actors, obtaining full cult status for his portrayals of the doomed, the psychotic and the plain crazy. Carey's career was an "only in America" type of story, and he retains his status as a great American original many years after his death.
As a 22-year-old acting school graduate, Carey made his film debut in 1951, as a corpse in a Clark Gable western, but it was his brief, uncredited part as Chino's Boy #1, a member of Lee Marvin's motorcycle gang The Beetles in The Wild One (1953) which made an impression, and was a harbinger of the unsavory characters to come.
Prone to improvising, it was the fearless Carey who came up with the idea of squirting beer in Marlon Brando's face, even though the great methods actor himself had expressed reservations about what Carey was up to.
Carey registered the same year as the bordello bouncer who threatens James Dean in East of Eden (1955), making his face, if not his name (he was uncredited in both parts), known to the mass audience.
Carey followed this up with superb acting jobs in 2 Stanley Kubrick films; The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957).
In the former he played the sociopath, Nikki Arane, who 's contracted to shoot a race horse, which he does with great glee. In Paths of Glory (1957), Carey had an atypically sympathetic role as French soldier, Pvt. Ferol, unjustly condemned to be shot to atone for the stupidities of his generals during World War I. However, it was in Bayou (1957) in which Carey reached what must be considered good apex as an actor: as the psychotic Cajun Ulysses, he crafted an indelible performance that went beyond the acceptable limits of cinema scenery-chewing. He became Ulysses, on-screen, the mad Cajun who epitomized evil, his insanity perfectly encapsulated in the psychotic jig Carey danced to more fully limn his character's madness. This classic exploitation film was re-cut and re-released as "Poor White Trash" (1961), and became a grind house Gone with the Wind (1939), playing to crowds throughout the decade.
With these performances, Carey's career as a Hollywod heavy was established, though many directors saw the talent lurking within his physically forbidding, 6'4" frame. His former co-star Brando directed him in One-Eyed Jacks (1961) (Brando's sole directorial effort), gunning down the shotgun-wielding heavy in the process. Francis Ford Coppola tried to hire him for The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), but Carey was working on his own project during the shooting of the first classic, and turned down the opportunity to appear in the second. He did agree to appear in Coppola's The Conversation (1974), yet another classic, but walked off the set during filming. John Cassavetes gave him a prominent role in Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) and cast him as the second lead in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976).
Carey's penchant for improvising (in the execution scene for Paths of Glory (1957), his character was supposed to remain silent, but Carey began moaning, I don't what to die,', and Kubrick kept it in the film) coupled with his eccentric behavior gave him a reputation as difficult to work with in the 1960s.
During that tumultuous decade, Carey spoofed his psycho screen image in Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), playing South Dakota Slim, who - like villains of old flickers - straps the second female lead to a buzz saw. As the heavy Lord High-and-Low, he menaced The Monkees in the Jack Nicholson-penned Head (1968). Nicholson was one of his biggest fans.
Carey's greatest role was in a film he produced, wrote and directed himself, The World's Greatest Sinner (1962), in which he played a rock 'n roll-singing evangelist who, in a burst of hubris, names himself "God," runs for President and is struck down by God himself at the film's climax.
As Clarence Hilliard, the insurance salesman who drops out of straight society, starts his own evangelical religion (using rock 'n roll music played by himself and a band featuring a woman saxophone player to whip up the crowds and manipulate the masses) and eventually runs for president, Carey fully realised his talent, a grind house, exploitation circuit John Gielgud assaying his Hamlet.
Filmed fitfully between 1958- 61 for a total cost of approximately $100-thousand (the shooting was sporadic, as the production kept running out of money), it remains one of the most notorious works in grind house cinema--even Elvis Presley himself asked Carey for a copy! (Carey, always in character as the Jester, refused The King's request).
Carey's last film was Echo Park (1985). A favorite actor of cineaste/video store clerk Quentin Tarantino, he tested for the role of crime boss Joe Cabot in Tarantino's debut film, Reservoir Dogs (1992), but the tyro director didn't think he was right for the role. Instead, he cast Lawrence Tierney (equally great in the movie heavy and eccentricity departments) and dedicated the film to Carey.
Timothy Carey taught acting in his later years. This true American original died of a stroke on May 11, 1994, age of 65. He's sorely missed, as his like will not be seen again.- Actor
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Jim Backus was born James Gilmore Backus on February 25, 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of the few actors to do it all: radio, Broadway, movies, television and cartoons. After attending preparatory school in his hometown Cleveland, Backus enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, to ply his trade. While waiting for parts, he did radio and became friends with such future notables as Garson Kanin and Keenan Wynn. Backus stuck it out and soon was doing motion pictures in addition to radio. He was typecast in roles as "rich types" but broke the mold when he portrayed James Dean's father in the classic Rebel Without a Cause (1955). With his career in full swing, Backus also tackled two roles that he would be best known for, Mr. Magoo in cartoons and Thurston Howell III in Gilligan's Island (1964). After the series' run ended, he continued doing guest spots on television and movies, before passing away on July 3, 1989.- Actor
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Phil Silvers was a comedic actor of Russian-Jewish descent, nicknamed as "The King of Chutzpah." He was best known for his starring role as United States Army Master Sergeant Ernest "Ernie" Bilko in the very popular hit sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959). He later had important roles in the comedy films "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1967), playing respectively the characters Otto Meyer and Marcus Lycus.
Silvers was a compulsive gambler, and suffered from chronic depression.
He was the 8th and youngest child to Russian-Jewish immigrants Saul Silver (alias Saul Silversmith) and Sarah Handler. Saul was a sheet metal worker who was employed in the building industry. He had helped build a number of New York City's major skyscrapers.
Silver started his career as an entertainer in 1922, at the age of 11.
A frequent accident at New York City's movie theaters was for their film projector to break down. Someone had to keep the audience entertained during repairs, so Silver was hired to sing to them. Part of his reward was to attend the movie theater free of charge.
By 1924, Silvers performed as a professional singer in the Gus Edwards Revue. His employer was theater company owner Gus Edwards (1878-1945). He then took to working in vaudeville and as a burlesque comic.
In the 1930s, Silvers started appearing in Vitaphone short films. In 1939, Silvers made his Broadway debut in "Yokel Boy." The show was considered mediocre by critics, but Silvers gained acclaim in the press. He made his feature film debut in "Hit Parade of 1941." Silvers worked primarily as a character actor over the following decades, appearing in films produced by 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. When the studio system declined, Silvers initially returned to the theater.
He had a hit as a songwriter when he composed the lyrics of "Nancy (with the Laughing Face)" (1942) for singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998). The song was apparently named after Frank's young daughter Nancy Sinatra (1940-).
Silvers did not become a household name until his starring role in the sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959). It was a military comedy, starring Ernest "Ernie" Bilko as a United States Army Master Sergeant. The character of Bilko was depicted as a con-artist and inveterate gambler who could fast-talk people into complying with his schemes. The show lasted for 4 seasons, and 144 episodes. It found further success in syndication to this very day, and often ranks high in lists of popular sitcoms.
Silvers returned to television stardom with "The New Phil Silvers Show" (1963-1964), where he played factory foreman Harry Grafton. Like Bilko, Grafton was depicted as a con-artist who owned his own company and ran many and various schemes on the side. Not as successful as its predecessor, the series lasted for a single season and 30 episodes.
Silvers enjoyed film stardom in the 1960s, though mostly playing supporting roles. He appeared mainly in American productions, although guest-starred in the British comedy film "On Follow That Came." (1967). It was the 14th film in the popular long-running "Carry On" film series (1958-1992). The film was a parody depicting life in the French Foreign Legion, and Silvers played the Bilko-like character of Sergeant Ernie Nocker. He earned a salary of 30,000 pounds, making him the highest-paid actor of the "Carry On" film series up to that point.
Silvers appeared frequently as a guest-star in then-popular sitcoms, such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Gilligan's Island." In 1972, Silvers survived a stroke, although was left with permanently slurred speech. This effectively ended his theatrical career, although did not prevent him from appearing in further film and television roles.
Silvers made his last television appearance in an 1983 episode of the crime drama "CHiPs." He then went into retirement.
He died in his sleep in 1985, while in Century City, California. His family attributed the death to unspecified natural causes. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Silvers is still well-remembered as a great comic actor.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 31 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.
The Hanna-Barbera characters Hokey Wolf and Top Cat were loosely based on his screen persona.- Actor
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Jack Knight was born on 26 February 1938 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for L.A. Confidential (1997), The Long Goodbye (1973) and Moneyball (2011).- Actor
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Although he geared himself up for major film stardom throughout the 1950s, it took a leading role on a 1960s TV series opposite a lion and chimpanzee to make Marshall Thompson a genuine household name.
Born on November 27, 1925, and named James Marshall Thompson after an ancestor, a famed Supreme Court justice, he moved at age 5 with his parents from his Peoria, Illinois, hometown to the Los Angeles area. There his father set up a successful Westwood practice in dentistry that continued for over three decades. His mother once took to the stage as a concert singer and musician. Marshall was their only child.
He caught the acting bug while in high school when he appeared in a number of school productions and was spotted by a local talent agent. This did not pan out, but he also acted upon his early skills as a writer. The Westwood Village Players produced the young high school student's ambitious three-act play "Faith," the story of two young aviators in a Nazi prison. He enrolled at Occidental College, where he switched from pre-med to drama. He was also a member of the college's cross-country team.
The athletic, lanky-framed, good-looking collegiate was rediscovered while performing as one of the Occidental Players in 1944. This time, he made good and was signed to a Universal contract. He began in minor war-era films with Reckless Age (1944) starring Gloria Jean and was quickly brought over to MGM on the strength of this film.
With most big stars off to war, Marshall was given the chance to work quite steadily in perfunctory nice-guy assignments such as Blonde Fever (1944), The Clock (1945), They Were Expendable (1945) and Bad Bascomb (1946) opposite Frances Rafferty. His first association with animals came with the lead in the horse-friendly yarn Gallant Bess (1946), MGM's first film produced in CineColor.
The handsome Marshall went on to provide yeoman work in the war dramas Homecoming (1948), Command Decision (1948) and Battleground (1949), becoming an instant idol to film fans. A genial player on screen, he managed to show potential outside his benign typecast in Dial 1119 (1950) as a cold-hearted, baby-faced killer, and finished his MGM contract out with The Tall Target (1951) playing a potential assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
Freelancing for the next several years after losing his contract to MGM owing to a change of management, Marshall assisted a few serious-minded dramas but a noticeable pall soon took over his career with "B" thrillers taking up the bulk of his time. He achieved a bit of cult infamy with the films Cult of the Cobra (1955) Fiend Without a Face (1958), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) and First Man Into Space (1959). A couple of notable exceptions were his strong roles in the Audie Murphy starter To Hell and Back (1955) and East of Kilimanjaro (1957), in which he performed his own dangerous stunts and developed a lifelong passion for Africa and wildlife.
It was this aforementioned wildlife association, combined with TV, that made the biggest dramatic impact on his career. Throughout the 1950s Marshall appeared faithfully in small-screen presentations, but in 1966 he was cast as a series lead, that of game warden Dr. Marsh Tracy in the African adventure Daktari (1966) developed by Ivan Tors and filmed at Africa, U.S.A., a wild-animal theme park near Los Angeles. Although overshadowed sometimes by those inveterate scene-stealers Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion and Judy the Chimpanzee, Marshall provided a strong, honest, authoritative yet friendly persona and earned the most attention yet in his nearly two-decade-long career. He was also involved in nearly every aspect of the show and was afforded the opportunity to direct a few episodes.
The series lasted four seasons, and following his departure, Marshall continued in the same animal vein. His association with Tors continued by his hosting of the live action daytime series Jambo (1969), starring in the feature film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965) (which he co-wrote), and directing some episodes of Flipper (1964).
Lying low after his final feature film, Around the World Under the Sea (1966), which starred assorted TV adventure alumni including Flipper (1964) star Brian Kelly and Sea Hunt (1958) lead Lloyd Bridges, he spent much of his later time providing footage for wildlife documentaries.
An avid photographer, horseman, and guitarist, among many other talents, he died at age 66 in 1992 of congestive heart failure and was survived by his wife Barbara Long, daughter Janet, and grandson Jackson.