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- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dabbling in practically every facet of show business during her over six-decade career -- nightclubs, cabaret, radio, recordings, TV, film and Broadway -- sultry, opulent, larger-than-life singing star Dolores Gray, distinctive for her sharp, somewhat equine features, lived the high life for most of her time on earth.
She was born Sylvia Dolores Finkelstein in Los Angeles, California on June 7, 1923, the daughter of vaudevillian parents (her father Harry went by the stage name of "Harry Vernon") who divorced when she was quite young. An older brother, Richard Vernon (later Gray) would also go into the entertainment business. Dolores attended Polytechnic High School in the Sun Valley suburb of Los Angeles and, while there, became a member of the girl's glee club.
Singing in Hollywood supper clubs as early as age 14, Dolores was discovered as a teenager by Rudy Vallee, who helped make her a minor celebrity on his self-titled radio show. She went on to earn two brief, uncredited bits as a singer in the films Lady for a Night (1942) (singing "Has Anybody Seen My Man?") and Mr. Skeffington (1944) (singing "It Had to Be You"). Making her Broadway debut in the show "Seven Lively Arts," a Broadway revue produced by Billy Rose, she co-starred in the musical "Are You With It?" with Johnny Downs a year later.
During this time Dolores developed a strong reputation on both coasts as a cabaret and supper club entertainer. By 1945, she was starring in her own radio program. A chance of a lifetime occurred in 1947 when Dolores gussied up London's post-war theater district as marksman "Annie Oakley" in the Broadway musical hit "Annie Get Your Gun." She was afforded this huge opportunity after the Broadway star, Ethel Merman, turned down the tour. Dolores became the toast of the West End for over two years.
Broadway beckoned following her London success and the dusky alto returned to New York. Co-starring with Bert Lahr in the Broadway musical revue "Two on the Aisle" (1951), which had a decent run, she went on to earn raves in the very short-lived 1953 musical "Carnival in Flanders" with John Raitt. She won the Tony award for this in spite of the fact it closed after only six performances! Dolores would return to Broadway in the 1959 musical "Destry Rides Again" co-starring pre-TV star Andy Griffith and earning a Tony nomination. This was followed by the ill-fated 1967 musical "Sherry!" based on the Kaufman/Hart play "The Man Who Came to Dinner."
Not only was Broadway interested when Dolores returned from London, but MGM also wanted in on the action. Signing the leggy star to a short-term contract, the results were disappointing as the "Golden Age of Hollywood" musicals was on a major decline. She did manage, however, to nab a few scene-grabbing second leads in such musicals as It's Always Fair Weather (1955) starring Gene Kelly; Kismet (1955) with Howard Keel and Ann Blyth; The Opposite Sex (1956) starring June Allyson; and in Joan Collins, a rather misguided musical version of "The Women" film classic. She would also co-star in the chic non-musical Designing Woman (1957) starring Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. And then it was over for Dolores in movies.
As the years went by, Dolores would attract tabloid attention with her extravagant lifestyle, outlandish clothes and "Auntie Mame"-like joie de vivre. Being the trooper she was, she found work on TV variety (she made several appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show"), recorded for Capitol Records (the album "Warm Brandy"), and remained a top-of-the-line nitery star for decades to come. In 1973, she returned to London and replaced Angela Lansbury in the musical "Gypsy" at the Piccadilly Theatre. Over a decade later (1986), she came in as a replacement Dorothy Brock in the Broadway revival of "42nd Street," and, a year later, was featured in the London production of Sondheim's "Follies," earning show-stopping applause for her version of the classic song "I'm Still Here."
Despite her somewhat outré reputation, Dolores married only once -- to California businessman and race horse owner Andrew Crevolin in 1967. Although the marriage lasted only 9 years, the couple never divorced -- in fact, they never even formally separated as she was a devout Catholic. She and Crevolin would remain close friends until his death in 1992. Dolores herself passed away a decade later in her Manhattan apartment of a heart attack at age 78 on June 26, 2002.1964- Actress
- Soundtrack
One of the finest classical and contemporary leading ladies ever to grace the 20th century American stage, five-time Tony Award winner Julie Harris was rather remote and reserved on camera, finding her true glow in front of the theatre lights. The freckled, red-haired actress not only was nominated for a whopping total of ten Tony awards and was a Sarah Siddons Award recipient for her work on the Chicago stage, she also earned awards in other areas of the entertainment industry, including three Emmys (of 11 nominations), a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination. (Note: Harris would hold the record for the most competitive Tony performance wins (five) for a couple of decades. Angela Lansbury finally caught up with her in 2009 and singer/actress Audra McDonald surpassed them both in 2014 with six). While Harris certainly lacked the buoyancy and glamor usually associated with being a movie star, she certainly made an impact in the early to mid 1950s with three iconic leading roles, two of which she resurrected from the Broadway stage. After that she pretty much deserted film.
Born Julie Ann Harris on December 2, 1925, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she was the daughter of William Pickett, an investment banker, and Elsie L. (née Smith) Harris, a nurse. Graduating from Grosse Pointe Country Day School, an early interest in the performance arts was encouraged by her family. Moving to New York City, Julie attended The Hewitt School and later trained as a teenager at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp in Colorado. A mentor there, Charlotte Perry, saw great hope for young Julie and was insistent that her protégé study at the Yale School of Drama. Julie did just that -- for about a year.
Also trained at the New York School of Drama and one of the earliest members of the Acting Studio, young Julie made her Broadway debut in 1945 at age 19 in the comedy "It's a Gift". Despite its lukewarm reception, the demure, diminutive (5'3"), and delicate-looking thespian moved on. She apprenticed on Broadway for the next few years with ensemble parts in "King Henry IV, Part II" (1946), "Oedipus Rex" (1946), "The Playboy of the Western World" (1946), "Alice in Wonderland" (as the White Rabbit) (1947), and Macbeth" (1948).
More prominent roles came her way in such short-lived Broadway plays as "Sundown Beach" (1948), "The Young and Fair" (1948), "Magnolia Alley" (1949) and "Montserrat (1949). This led to her star-making theatre role at age 24 as sensitive 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams in the classic drama "The Member of the Wedding" (1950) opposite veteran actress Ethel Waters and based on the Carson McCullers novel. The play ran for over a year. The Member of the Wedding (1952) would eventually be transferred to film and, despite being untried talents on film, director Fred Zinnemann wisely included both Harris and young Brandon De Wilde (as young John Henry) to reenact their stage triumphs along with Ms. Waters. Harris, at 27, received her first and only Academy Award nomination as the coming-of-age Georgian tomboy.
It wasn't long before Julie's exceptional range and power won noticed nationwide. In 1952, she received her first "Best Actress" Tony Award for creating the larger-than-life role of Sally Bowles in "I Am a Camera," the stage version of one of Christopher Isherwood's Berlin stories ("Goodbye to Berlin" (1939). (Note: In the 1960s, Isherwood's play would be transformed successfully into the Broadway musical "Cabaret".) Harris again was invited to repeat her stage role in I Am a Camera (1955) with Laurence Harvey and Shelley Winters, winning the BAFTA "Best Foreign Actress" Award. That same year Harris starred opposite the highly emotive James Dean (she had top billing) as his love interest in the classic film East of Eden (1955), directed by Elia Kazan from the John Steinbeck novel. Strangely, Julie's brilliance in the role of Abra was completely overlooked come Oscar time...a terrible miscarriage of justice in this author's view.
After this vivid film exposure, Julie's love for the theatre completely dominated her career focus. She continued to increase her Broadway prestige with such plays as "Mademoiselle Colombe" (title role) (1954), "The Lark" (Tony Award: as Joan of Arc) (1955), "The Country Wife" (1957), "The Warm Peninsula" (1959), "Little Moon Over Alban" (1960) (which she took to Emmy-winning TV), "A Shot in the Dark" (1961), "Ready When Your Are, C.B.!" (1964), "Skyscraper" (1965), "Forty Carats" (Tony Award) (1968), "And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little" ) (1971), "The Au Pair Man" (1973) and "In Praise of Love" (1974). In between she gave stellar performances on TV with her Joan of Arc in The Lark (1957); title role in Johnny Belinda (1958); Nora in Ibsen's A Doll's House (1959); Catherine Sloper in The Heiress (1961); title role in Victoria Regina (1961) (for which received an Emmy award); Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (1963), and title role in Anastasia (1967).Be
In later years Harris reaped praises and honors for her awe-inspiring one-woman touring shows based on the lives of certain distaff historical figureheads. Her magnificently tormented, Tony-winning "First Lady" Mary Lincoln in "The Last of Mrs. Lincoln" (1972) was the first to be seen on stage and TV, followed by another Tony (and Grammy) Award-winning performance as poetess Emily Dickinson in "The Belle of Amherst" (1976) (directed by close friend Charles Nelson Reilly, as well as her early 1980s solo portrait of author Charlotte Brontë in "Bronte," which started out as a radio play. Julie was now placed among the theatre's luminous "ruling class" alongside legendary veterans Helen Hayes, Katharine Cornell and Judith Anderson.
As time wore on, Harris would become equally respected on film and TV for her portrayals of over-the-edge neurotics, wallflowers and eccentric maiden aunt types as witnessed by her co-starring roles in the films The Haunting (1963), Hamlet (1964) (as Ophelia), Harper (1966), You're a Big Boy Now (1966), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), The Bell Jar (1979), and the TV-movies How Awful About Allan (1970) and Home for the Holidays (1972). Perhaps a step down performance wise, the veteran actress, after a period of ill health, became a household name with her regular series work as Lilimae on the TV soap Knots Landing (1979).
At age 60, Harris continued to impress on Broadway with her 1990's versions of Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie" and Fonsia Dorsey in "The Gin Game" for which she received her tenth and final Tony nomination. She also toured successfully with a production of "Lettice and Lovage". Unlike many other actors whose film roles disintegrated with appearances in bottom-of-the-barrel lowbudgets, Julie's final two supporting films roles were in two nicely constructed period romantic comedies -- The Golden Boys (2008) and The Lightkeepers (2009).
Ill health dogged Julie's later years (she battled breast cancer in 1981 and suffered two strokes -- one in 2001 (while performing in the Chicago play "Fossils") and again in 2010). Nevertheless, she continued to work almost until the end, including narrating five historical documentaries and giving Emmy-winning voice to such women suffragettes as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Married and divorced three times, Julie had one son by her second marriage -- Peter, who became a theatre critic. She also spent time enjoying the benefits of receiving special awards and honors for her full body of work. Among these, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1979, was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994, received a "Special Lifetime Achievement" Tony Award in 2002 and was a 2005 Kennedy Center honoree.
Harris died on August 24, 2013, of congestive heart failure at her home in West Chatham, Massachusetts. She was 87.1965- Actress
- Additional Crew
Joyce Brothers was born on 20 October 1927 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Loaded Weapon 1 (1993), The King of Comedy (1982) and Spy Hard (1996). She was married to Milton Brothers. She died on 13 May 2013 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA.1967- Duchess of Kent was born on 22 February 1933 in Hovingham, Yorkshire, England, UK. She has been married to Edward Windsor since 8 June 1961. They have three children.1973
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Joan Collins is an English actress from Paddington, London. She is most famous for playing the role of vengeful schemer Alexis Carrington Colby in the soap opera "Dynasty" (1981-1989). In 1997, She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In 2015, She was promoted to the rank of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to charity.
She was the daughter of talent agent Joseph William Collins (1902-1988) and his wife, dance teacher Elsa Bessant, (1906-1962). Joseph was born in South Africa, and of Jewish descent. As a talent agent, his most famous clients were Shirley Bassey, the Beatles, and Tom Jones. Elsa was born in the United Kingdom to an Anglican family.
Collins was educated at Francis Holland School in London, an independent day school for girls. She made her theatrical debut c. 1942, as a child actress. She had a role in a performance of the play "A Doll's House" (1879) by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). In 1949, She started training as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. In 1950, she signed a contract with a British film studio, the Rank Organisation of businessman Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (1888-1972).
Collins made her film debut in the short film "Facts and Fancies" (1951), and her feature film debut in "Lady Godiva Rides Again" (1951), where she played an unnamed Beauty Queen Contestant. She had supporting roles as the Greek maid Marina in "The Woman's Angle" (1952) and gangster's moll Lil Carter in "Judgment Deferred" (1952).
Collins had her big break when cast as juvenile delinquent Norma Hart in prison drama "I Believe in You" (1952). She was hailed as Britain's new "bad girl" and started being offered high-profile roles in British films. The next stage in her career started when cast as Princess Nellifer of Egypt in the historical epic "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955), an international production . While the film was not successful at the box office, it became a cult classic and Nellifer was one of her most recognizable roles. Studio executive Darryl Francis Zanuck (1902-1979) was sufficiently impressed to offer her a 7-year-long contract with American studio 20th Century Fox. She took the offer.
Collins' first American film was the historical drama "The Virgin Queen" (1955), where she shared the top-billing with established stars Bette Davis and Richard Todd. She then played the leading role of actress Evelyn Nesbit (1884/1885-1967) in the biographical film "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" (1955). The role was intended for established actress Marilyn Monroe, but she replaced Monroe based on a studio decision.
Collins was placed on loan to studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for her next role, that of gold digger Crystal in "The Opposite Sex" (1956). She received the top billing in the refugee-themed film "Sea Wife" (1956), and enjoyed box-office success with the interracial-love themed drama "Island in the Sun" (1957). In the drama film "The Wayward Bus" (1957), she received top-billing over her co-star Jayne Mansfield. Her next films included the spy thriller "Stopover Tokyo" (1957), the Western "The Bravados" (1958), the comedy "Rally Round the Flag, Boys" (1959), the caper film "Seven Thieves" (1960), and the biblical epic Esther and the King (1960).
By 1960, Collins was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest stars, but she demanded a release from her studio contract. She had campaigned for the title role in the upcoming production of "Cleopatra", but the studio chose to cast Elizabeth Taylor in the role. Collins felt slighted. As a freelance actress for most of the 1960s, she had few film roles. Among her most notable roles was playing the leading lady in "The Road to Hong Kong" (1962), the last film in the long-running "Road to ..." series. The male leads for the entire series were Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, but their usual leading lady Dorothy Lamour was considered too old for the role. Collins replaced Lamour.
Collins started appearing frequently on television guest star roles. Among her most notable television roles was the villainous Siren in "Batman", and pacifist spokeswoman Edith Keeler in "Star Trek: The Original Series". "Road to ..." played in only one episode of Star Trek, the time-travel episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (1967). However the episode is regarded among the best episodes in the entire Star Trek franchise, with Collins considered one of the most memorable guest stars in the original series.
In 1970, Collins returned to her native United Kingdom. She started appearing frequently in British thriller and horror films of the decade. Among her films was revenge-themed drama "Revenge" (1971),science fiction film "Quest for Love" (1972), horror anthology "Tales from the Crypt" (1972), psychological horror "Fear in the Night" (1972), thriller "Dark Places", horror anthology "Tales That Witness Madness" (1973), and horror film "I Don't Want to Be Born" (1975).
Collins appeared in a few comedies in-between horror films, but none was particularly successful. She returned to the United States in order to play a role in the giant monster film "Empire of the Ants" (1977). She then returned to mostly appearing in thriller roles. She was catapulted back to stardom with the lead role of nymphomaniac Fontaine Khaled in the erotic drama "The Stud" (1978), an adaptation of a novel written by her younger sister Jackie Collins. The film was a surprise box office hit, earning 20 million dollars at the worldwide box office. "Road to ..." returned to the role of Fontaine in the sequel film ''The Bitch'' (1979), which was also a hit.
Collins found herself in high demand in both stage and film. But she gained more notoriety with the television role of Alexis Carington in "Dynasty". She started appearing in the role in the second season of the soap opera. Her performance is credited with the subsequent rise of the show's Nielsen's ratings. She became a household name, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983.
By 1985, "Dynasty" was the number-one show in the United States, beating out rival soap opera "Dallas". Collins was nominated six times for a Golden Globe Award for her role, winning once in 1983. She was also once nominated for an Emmy as Best Actress in a Drama Series. Collins was viewed as a sex symbol at the time, and in 1983 appeared in a 12-page photo layout for Playboy magazine. She was 50-years-old, unusually old for a Playboy model.
Collins appeared in a total of 195 episodes of "Dynasty". The series was canceled with the last episode of its 9th season, due to falling ratings. New ABC entertainment president Bob Iger (1951-) is credited with ending the series as soon as possible. The show had a cliffhanger ending, and several of its subplots were not resolved. Collins returned to the role of Alexis in the sequel mini-series "Dynasty: The Reunion" (1991). The miniseries only lasted for 2 episodes, but resolved several subplots and was a ratings hit.
Throughout the 1990s., Collins returned to guest star roles in television. She appeared in (among others) "Roseanne", "Egoli: Place of Gold", and "The Nanny", She had the recurring role of Christina Hobson in the short-lived soap opera "Pacific Palisades" (1997). She appeared in 7 of its 13 episodes. Her next notable soap opera role was that of so-called "rich bitch" Alexandra Spaulding in 2002 episodes of the long-running series "Guiding Light". Collins was the third actress to play this role. following Beverlee McKinsey and Marj Dusay.
In film, Collins played Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma Flintstone's mother, in "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000). It was the second live-action film based on the popular animated series "The Flintstones". In 2006, she toured the United Kingdom with "An Evening with Joan Collins", an one-woman show where she narrated the highs and lows of her career and life. She later toured the word with both this show and its sequel "Joan Collins Unscripted".
Collins had a notable guest star-role as Ruth Van Rydock in the television film "Agatha Christie's Marple: They Do It with Mirrors" (2009). The film was an adaptation of the 1952 novel by Agatha Christie, where Ruth is an old school friend of Jane Marple, who assigned Jane to investigate a home for juvenile delinquents.
Collins played herself in three episodes of the sitcom "Happily Divorced" (2011-2013). She had the recurring role of Crystal Hennessy-Vass in the sitcom "Benidorm" (2007-2018). She had another recurring role as Alexandra, Grand Duchess of Oxford in the soap opera "The Royals" (2015-2018).
Collins had two different roles in the horror anthology series "American Horror Story". She played wealthy grandmother Evie Gallant, and witch Bubbles McGee. She appeared in a total of four episodes in 2018.
By 2024, Collins was 90-years-old. She has never retired from acting, and she continues to appear in new roles.1973- Today, sexy Lee Meriwether is best remembered for her roles in a few science fiction/fantasy cult productions made between 1966 and 1969. Batman: The Movie (1966), Star Trek (1966), The Time Tunnel (1966) and Land of the Giants (1968).
Firstly Batman: The Movie (1966), in which she played both evil Catwoman and not-so-evil Kitka, who has a romance with Bruce Wayne (Adam West).
Then came 30 episodes of Irwin Allen's The Time Tunnel (1966) series, in which she played a scientist named Dr. Ann MacGregor, where she mostly performed with Whit Bissell (General Kirk), both attempting to help two time travelers who were lost in time. In one episode, The Kidnappers (1967), Ann was taken away from her normal setting and transported into the distant future.
However, Meriwether once reported that she spent a lot of the series acting to a screen in the Time Tunnel complex, a screen that was meant to feature the two time travelers, but in reality featured nothing at all. So she was reacting to nothing a lot of the time.
Then came the Star Trek (1966) episode, That Which Survives (1969), where she played Losira, an alien being who stalks the Enterprise crew and attempts to kill them.
And finally, she was back with Irwin Allen again with the Land of the Giants (1968) episode, Rescue (1969). In this, she played the concerned "giant" mother of kids who were trapped underground and needed to be rescued by the Earth "little people".
Then she appeared as Betty Jones, daughter-in-law and secretary to Barnaby Jones from 1973 t0 1980 (178 episodes) in the series of the same name, "Barnaby Jones."
Meriwether is still working in television to this day.1975 - Actress
- Soundtrack
German twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler reached the peak of their popularity in the 1950s and 60s. Their parents, mechanical engineer Paul Kessler and his wife Elsa, encouraged their daughters' artistic inclinations from early childhood and enrolled them in ballet classes. By 1950, the sisters had graduated from opera school in Leipzig. Soon after, they took advantage of a visiting permit by defecting from their native Saxony in the GDR to West Germany. At the Düsseldorf Palladium, the duo made their professional debut as singer/dancers and began to be featured on screen in several German musicals and romances. In 1955, Alice and Ellen were recruited by the director of the Paris Lido, Pierre Louis-Guérin, to join his Bluebell Girls in Varieté on the Champs-Élysées. Blonde, unusually tall (at 1.78cm) and long-legged, the twins enjoyed great popularity during their five-year long tenure on the Parisian stage.
In 1959, Alice and Ellen represented West Germany at The Eurovision Song Contest (1959), reaching 8th place. In the early sixties, they made several recordings for the Polydor label in German, French and Italian, which were modestly successful. They fared better after becoming featured performers on the Italian RAI TV musical program Studio Uno (1961), their rendition of "Dadaumpa" being adopted as the show's theme song. In 1962, the twins had settled in Italy where they attained iconic status as 'Le gemelle Kessler'. The following year saw them on the cover of Life Magazine. At the age of 40, Alice and Ellen posed nude on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy Magazine which sold out in record time.
Between 1963 and the early seventies, their popularity extended to the other side of the Atlantic, the twins performing as guests on variety shows like The Red Skelton Hour (1951), The Danny Kaye Show (1963), The Hollywood Palace (1964) and (multiple times) on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). In private life, the Kesslers rebuffed many advances from various prominent American actors (including Elvis). An exception was a brief liaison between Ellen and Burt Lancaster, chronicled in 1996 for the German Stern magazine. Having decided to remain single, the twins moved back to Germany in 1986 to set up residence in the affluent suburb of Geiselgasteig, the 'Bavarian Hollywood', near Munich. Still inseparable, their apartments are said to be divided only by a sliding door.
The Kessler Twins have received multiple awards, including Montreux's Rose D'or and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.1976- Actress
- Soundtrack
German twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler reached the peak of their popularity in the 1950s and 60s. Their parents, mechanical engineer Paul Kessler and his wife Elsa, encouraged their daughters' artistic inclinations from early childhood and enrolled them in ballet classes. By 1950, the sisters had graduated from opera school in Leipzig. Soon after, they took advantage of a visiting permit by defecting from their native Saxony in the GDR to West Germany. At the Düsseldorf Palladium, the duo made their professional debut as singer/dancers and began to be featured on screen in several German musicals and romances. In 1955, Alice and Ellen were recruited by the director of the Paris Lido, Pierre Louis-Guérin, to join his Bluebell Girls in Varieté on the Champs-Élysées. Blonde, unusually tall (at 1.78cm) and long-legged, the twins enjoyed great popularity during their five-year long tenure on the Parisian stage.
In 1959, Alice and Ellen represented West Germany at The Eurovision Song Contest (1959), reaching 8th place. In the early sixties, they made several recordings for the Polydor label in German, French and Italian, which were modestly successful. They fared better after becoming featured performers on the Italian RAI TV musical program Studio Uno (1961), their rendition of "Dadaumpa" being adopted as the show's theme song. In 1962, the twins had settled in Italy where they attained iconic status as 'Le gemelle Kessler'. The following year saw them on the cover of Life Magazine. At the age of 40, Alice and Ellen posed nude on the cover of the Italian edition of Playboy Magazine which sold out in record time.
Between 1963 and the early seventies, their popularity extended to the other side of the Atlantic, the twins performing as guests on variety shows like The Red Skelton Hour (1951), The Danny Kaye Show (1963), The Hollywood Palace (1964) and (multiple times) on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). In private life, the Kesslers rebuffed many advances from various prominent American actors (including Elvis). An exception was a brief liaison between Ellen and Burt Lancaster, chronicled in 1996 for the German Stern magazine. Having decided to remain single, the twins moved back to Germany in 1986 to set up residence in the affluent suburb of Geiselgasteig, the 'Bavarian Hollywood', near Munich. Still inseparable, their apartments are said to be divided only by a sliding door.
The Kessler Twins have received multiple awards, including Montreux's Rose D'or and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.1976- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Born in New York City to legendary screen star Henry Fonda and Ontario-born New York socialite Frances Seymour Brokaw, Jane Seymour Fonda was destined early to an uncommon and influential life in the limelight. Although she initially showed little inclination to follow her father's trade, she was prompted by Joshua Logan to appear with her father in the 1954 Omaha Community Theatre production of "The Country Girl". Her interest in acting grew after meeting Lee Strasberg in 1958 and joining the Actors Studio. Her screen debut in Tall Story (1960) (directed by Logan) marked the beginning of a highly successful and respected acting career highlighted by two Academy Awards for her performances in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), and five Oscar nominations for Best Actress in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), Julia (1977), The China Syndrome (1979), The Morning After (1986) and On Golden Pond (1981), which was the only film she made with her father. Her professional success contrasted with her personal life, which was often laden with scandal and controversy. Her appearance in several risqué movies (including Barbarella (1968)) by then-husband Roger Vadim was followed by what was to become her most debated and controversial period: her espousal of anti-establishment causes and especially her anti-war activities during the Vietnam War. Her political involvement continued with fellow activist and husband Tom Hayden in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1980s she started the aerobic exercise craze with the publication of the "Jane Fonda's Workout Book". She and Hayden divorced, and she married broadcasting mogul Ted Turner in 1991.1977- Pat Finley was born on 14 October 1938 in Asheville, North Carolina, USA. She is an actress, known for The Rockford Files (1974), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and The Bob Newhart Show (1972).1978
- Actress
- Soundtrack
A bodacious, bedimpled, pert-nosed, well-endowed knockout, Loni Anderson earned an assured television sex symbol pedestal during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As sexy but smart Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), the ravishing star later became a soap-styled fixture in mini-movies. All eyes were peeled on this worthy pin-up who helped to bring back the glossy platinum-blonde allure of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren.
Loni strove for much more than a sex pedestal as she tried to parlay her newly found fame into a viable dramatic career. She met with a measured degree of success as she recreated the lives of such artificial sex sirens as Mansfield and Thelma Todd on television, but got bogged down in television-movie retellings of famous movie classics (Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), Leave Her to Heaven (1945)) that could not help but pale in comparison. This attempt at seriousness was further hampered by messy tabloid headlines in her private life.
Loni Kaye Anderson was born with very dark (jet black) hair on August 5, 1945 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of a chemist. An art student at the University of Minnesota, she entered (and won) beauty contests on the sly (including a Miss Minnesota runner-up placing in 1964). Married and divorced from Bruce Hasselberg before she reached age 21, Loni took on a teaching position to support herself and baby daughter (Deidre) while completing college.
Developing an interest in acting, she went the route many aspiring thespians do -- apprenticing in local commercials and theater shows. Still dark-haired, she played in several early 1970s productions such as "Born Yesterday" (as Billie Dawn), "Send Me No Flowers", "Can-Can" and "The Star-Spangled Girl". She even played Tzeitel in "Fiddler on the Roof" and appeared in a production of "The Threepenny Opera".
Remarried in 1973 to actor, Ross Bickell, the couple decided to move away from Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1975 and actively pursue film and television work. Pounding the proverbial pavement, she eventually went blonde and this, plus her gorgeous looks, helped her to secure minor but sexy roles on such series as S.W.A.T. (1975), Police Woman (1974), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Three's Company (1976). By the time she nabbed the role of Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), she had grown quite admirably as an actress.
Loni and Howard Hesseman became the breakaway stars of the sitcom and Loni skyrocketed to sexy status, earning two Emmy nominations in the process. On the other hand, her instant fame led to the breakup of her second marriage to Bickell in 1981. Loni found hit-and-miss success outside the parameters of her comedy series. She was front-and-center in a number of television-movies, notably playing tragic Hollywood sex sirens Jayne Mansfield in The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980), opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger as her muscle-bound husband Mickey Hargitay, and Thelma Todd, in White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma Todd (1991), whose untimely death in 1935 is still questioned.
Loni also appeared lusciously alongside Bob Hope, brightening up several of his classic television specials. On the minus side, she fizzled in her teaming up with equally sexy Wonder Woman (1975) star Lynda Carter in the tepid, short-lived series Partners in Crime (1984) and then played a former Las Vegas showgirl who inherits a bundle in the sitcom misfire Easy Street (1986). She also was given a chance to work in feature films such as Stroker Ace (1983). While her performance in that movie was panned, it did have her meeting and co-starring opposite mega star Burt Reynolds.
Appearing in routine, mini-movie soap operas (via her own production company), if anything, kept Loni in the public eye as a serious-minded actress, but it was an uphill battle to rise above her manufactured image as a fantasy bombshell. Not helping things was her high-profile marriage to Reynolds in 1988, which began blissfully enough (and produced adopted son Quinton), then dissolved quickly into a nasty divorce in 1993 that damaged the reputations of both stars.
In later years, Loni showed incredible perseverance. As always, the stalwart beauty continued to play up the glam but has since downplayed the dramatics. She seems more focused these days on having innocuous fun, playing a number of hearty vixens in sitcoms and series guest spots. Over time, she has enjoyed such lightweight sitcoms as her regular role in Nurses (1991), and as a guest in such sitcoms as The New WKRP in Cincinnati (1991) (in which she recreated her role as Jennifer Marlowe), Empty Nest (1988), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) and Clueless (1996). Her last movie was the SNT-based comedy movie A Night at the Roxbury (1998).
Millennium television credits include the sitcom The Mullets (2003) and as Tori Spelling's materialistic mother in So Notorious (2006), which did not get the seal of approval from Tori's real-life mother. Loni has more recently starred in the resurrected comedy series My Sister Is So Gay (2016). In 2008, she married a fourth time to musician Bob Flick. Loni's autobiography, "My Life in High Heels", was published in 1997.1985- Actress
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Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Deanne (Keaton), an amateur photographer, and John Newton Ignatius "Jack" Hall, a civil engineer and real estate broker. She studied Drama at Santa Ana College, before dropping out in favor of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. After appearing in summer stock for several months, she got her first major stage role in the Broadway rock musical "Hair". As understudy to the lead, she gained attention by not removing any of her clothing. In 1968, Woody Allen cast her in his Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam," which had a successful run. It was during this time that she became involved with Allen and appeared in a number of his films. The first one was Play It Again, Sam (1972), the screen adaptation of the stage play. That same year Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay in the Oscar-winning The Godfather (1972), and she was on her way to stardom. She reprized that role in the film's first sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974). She then appeared with Allen again in Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975).
In 1977, she broke away from her comedy image to appear in the chilling Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), which won her a Golden Globe nomination. It was the same year that she appeared in what many regard as her best performance, in the title role of Annie Hall (1977), which Allen wrote specifically for her (her real last name is Hall, and her nickname is Annie), and what an impact she made. She won the Oscar and the British Award for Best Actress, and Allen won the Directors Award from the DGA. She started a fashion trend with her unisex clothes and was the poster girl for a lot of young males. Her mannerisms and awkward speech became almost a national craze. The question being asked, though, was, "Is she just a lightweight playing herself, or is there more depth to her personality?" For whatever reason, she appeared in but one film a year for the next two years and those films were by Allen. When they broke up she was next involved with Warren Beatty and appeared in his film Reds (1981), as the bohemian female journalist Louise Bryant. For her performance, she received nominations for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe. For the rest of the 1980s she appeared infrequently in films but won nominations in three of them. Attempting to break the typecasting she had fallen into, she took on the role of a confused, somewhat naive woman who becomes involved with Middle Eastern terrorists in The Little Drummer Girl (1984). To offset her lack of movie work, Diane began directing. She directed the documentary Heaven (1987), as well as some music videos. For television she directed an episode of the popular, but strange, Twin Peaks (1990).
In the 1990s, she began to get more mature roles, though she reprized the role of Kay Corleone in the third "Godfather" epic, The Godfather Part III (1990). She appeared as the wife of Steve Martin in the hit Father of the Bride (1991) and again in Father of the Bride Part II (1995). In 1993 she once again teamed with Woody Allen in Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), which was well received. In 1995 she received high marks for Unstrung Heroes (1995), her first major feature as a director.1986- Actress
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Naomi Judd was born on 11 January 1946 in Ashland, Kentucky, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Someone Like You (2001), An Evergreen Christmas (2014) and Route 65 Nashville. She was married to Larry Strickland and Michael Charles Ciminella. She died on 30 April 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.1986- Actress
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It was after the 1968 Democratic convention and there was a casting call for a film with several roles for the kind of young people who had disrupted the convention. Two recent graduates of Catholic University in Washington DC, went to the audition in New York for Joe (1970). Chris Sarandon, who had studied to be an actor, was passed over. His wife Susan got a major role.
That role was as Susan Compton, the daughter of ad executive Bill Compton (Dennis Patrick). In the movie Dad Bill kills Susan's drug dealer boyfriend and next befriends Joe (Peter Boyle)-- a bigot who works on an assembly line and who collects guns.
Five years later, Sarandon made the film where fans of cult classics have come to know her as Janet, who gets entangled with transvestite Dr. Frank n Furter in The The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). More than 15 years after beginning her career Sarandon at last actively campaigned for a great role, Annie in Bull Durham (1988), flying at her own expense from Rome to Los Angeles. "It was such a wonderful script ... and did away with a lot of myths and challenged the American definition of success", she said. "When I got there, I spent some time with Kevin Costner, kissed some ass at the studio and got back on a plane". Her romance with the Bull Durham (1988)) supporting actor, Tim Robbins, had produced two sons by 1992 and put Sarandon in the position of leaving her domestic paradise only to accept roles that really challenged her. The result was four Academy Award nominations in the 1990s and best actress for Dead Man Walking (1995). Her first Academy Award nomination was for Louis Malle's Atlantic City (1980).1986- Actress
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Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Named after her grandfather, Cy, and her father, Bill, Shepherd's career began at a young age in modeling, when she won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" contest in 1966 and the "Model of the Year" contest in 1968. She became a fashion icon and went on to grace the cover of every major magazine, as well as famously act as spokesperson for L'Oreal. This lead to her acting and on her screen debut in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971). Nominated for Most Promising Newcomer, Shepherd continued to build her film career with influential roles in The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Taxi Driver (1976). After taking a break in her career to have her first child, Clementine Ford, she returned to Hollywood in 1983, to make her television series debut in an episode of Fantasy Island (1977). She went on to star with Bruce Willis in the highly recognized show, Moonlighting (1985), and won Shepherd two Golden Globe Awards. Her third Golden Globe followed for her series, Cybill (1995), with which she also took on a producer role.
Aside from the film industry, Shepherd has been an outspoken activist for issues such as gay rights and abortion rights. In 2009, she was honored by the Human Rights Campaign in Atlanta to accept one of two National Ally for Equality awards.1990- Jane Pauley was born on 31 October 1950 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. She is an actress, known for Zoolander 2 (2016), Madam Secretary (2014) and CBS News Sunday Morning with Jane Pauley (1979). She has been married to Garry Trudeau since 14 June 1980. They have three children.1990
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Mary Hart was born on 8 November 1950 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), The Great Buck Howard (2008) and Swing Vote (2008). She has been married to Burt Sugarman since 8 April 1989. They have one child. She was previously married to Terry Hart.1990- Actress
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Jane Seymour was born as Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in 1951 in Middlesex, England, to a nurse mother and gynaecologist/obstetrician father. She is of Polish Jewish (father) and Dutch (mother) descent. She adopted the acting name of "Jane Seymour" when she entered show business as it was easier for people to remember (and the name of one of King Henry VIII's wives). She attracted the attention of the James Bond film producers when they saw her on British television. She was cast as the main Bond girl, "Solitaire", in Live and Let Die (1973). The role gained her international recognition but she was in danger of losing it all like the previous Bond girls, so she came to the U.S.
A casting director advised her to lose her English accent and acquire an American accent to land roles on American television. She did and started getting roles, earning five Emmy nominations, resulting in one win for Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988) for playing Maria Callas. She won Golden Globe awards for both East of Eden (1981) and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993), where she played the title role for 5 years. She occasionally appeared in feature films, memorably in Somewhere in Time (1980) and in Wedding Crashers (2005).
Married and divorced four times, she gave birth to four children and is a stepmother to two. They have children of their own, making her a grandmother. As of 2018, she has been acting in television movies and making guest-appearances.1991- Actress
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Cheryl Ladd is an American actress, singer, and author best known for her role as Kris Munroe in the ABC television series Charlie's Angels, whose cast she joined in its second season in 1977 to replace Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Ladd remained on the show until its cancellation in 1981. Her film roles include Purple Hearts (1984), Millennium (1989), Poison Ivy (1992), Permanent Midnight (1998), and Unforgettable (2017).1991- Actress
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Christine Baranski is an American actress from Buffalo, New York. She has had a relatively lengthy career in both film and television. She has been nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, winning once. One of her most popular roles was that of neuroscientist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom " The Big Bang Theory ". She played this role from 2009 to 2019.
Baranski was born to a Polish-American family. Her parents were newspaper editor Lucien Baranski and his wife Virginia Mazurowska. Her grandparents were reportedly Polish theatrical actors. She was raised in the town of Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo. Polish Americans have long been the dominant ethnicity in Cheektowaga.
Baranski received her secondary education at the Villa Maria Academy, a Catholic high school operated by the Felician Sisters. In 1970, she enrolled in the Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory located in New York City. She studied drama for four years. She graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
In 1980, Baranski made both her Off-Broadway debut and her Broadway debut. She later received critical acclaim for the leading role of Charlotte in the play "The Real Thing" (1982) by Tom Stoppard. For this role, Baranski won the 1984 "Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play".
In 1986, Baranski had a supporting role in the BDSM-themed erotic film "9½ Weeks", loosely based on the novel "Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair" (1978) by Ingeborg Day (1940-2011). The film earned 100 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became a cult favorite. It was the first popular film in Baranski's career.
In 1990, Baranski had a role in the courtroom drama "Reversal of Fortune". The film was based on the trial of lawyer Claus von Bülow (1926-2019) for the attempted murder of his wife. The film under-performed at the box office, but was nominated for several awards.
In 1993, Baranski played the tyrannical camp counselor Becky Martin-Granger in the black comedy film "Addams Family Values". The film was loosely based on the comic strip "The Addams Family" by Charles Addams (1912-1988). Becky was one of the film's main antagonists, and an opponent for Wednesday Addams (played by Christina Ricci). The film earned about 49 million dollars at the domestic box office, and was well-received critically.
In 1995, Baranski gained a major television role in the sitcom "Cybill" (1995-1998). She played Maryann Thorpe, a wealthy and sharp-tonged woman. Maryann suffered from long-term ennui, motivating her to become more involved in the personal life of her best friend Cybill Sheridan (played by Cybill Shepherd). The series lasted for 4 seasons and a total of 87 episodes. Baranski won critical acclaim for this role. She won the 1995"Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series".
In 1996, Baranski played the supporting role of Katharine Archer in the comedy film "The Birdcage". In the film, Katharine is a former lover of the openly gay Armand Goldman (played by Robin Williams) and the mother of his son Val Goldman (played by Dan Futterman). She agrees to pretend to be Armand's wife in a meeting with Val's prospective in-laws. The film earned about 185 million dollars at the worldwide box office, one of the greatest box office hits in Baranski's career.
In 2000, Baranski played Martha May Whovier in the Christmas film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The film was based on the 1957 children's story of the same name by Dr. Seuss (1904-1991). In this adaptation, the Grinch (played by Jim Carrey) has a life-long romantic interest in Martha May, but has trouble expressing his feelings to her. The film earned about 363 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2000.
Also in 2000, Baranki was cast in the major role of producer Marsha Bickner in the short-lived sitcom "Welcome to New York" (2000-2001). The sitcom depicted the inner workings of morning news show. It lasted a single season and a total of 16 episodes. The series was canceled due to low ratings.
In 2002, Baranski was cast as the baker Mrs. Lovett in a revival of the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (1979) by Stephen Sondheim (1930-) and Hugh Wheeler (1912 - 1987). The play features Lovett as the accomplice of the serial killer Sweeney Todd. It is a loose adaptation of the penny dreadful "The String of Pearls" (1846-1847). For this role, Baranski won the 2003 "Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical".
Also in 2002, Baranski played sensationalist reporter Mary Sunshine in the black comedy film "Chicago". The film earned about 307 million dollars at the worldwide box office. At the time t held the record as the highest grossing live-action musical in film history.
In 2003, Baranski was cast in the main role of Annie Brennan in the sitcom "Happy Family" (2003-2004). The sitcom depicted the problems of aging patents who have to deal with the eccentricities of their grown-up children. The series lasted a single season and a total of 22 episodes. Due to low ratings, there were no plans for a second season.
In 2008, Baranski played Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the romantic comedy "Mamma Mia! (film)". It was based on the theatrical musical "Mamma Mia!" (1999) by Catherine Johnson (1957-), and used hit songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA. In the film, Tanya is an old friend of the main character Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (played by Meryl Streep). The film earned about 616 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008. Baranski returned to her role in the sequel "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" (2018), which was also a box office hit.
In 2009, Baranski was cast in the recurring role of Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory". The character is depicted as a brilliant but self-centered scientist, who has a problematic relationship with her son Leonard Hofstadter (played by Johnny Galecki). Baranski appeared in 16 episodes of the series, and her character was popular. For this role, Baranski was nominated four times for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series".
Also in 2009, Baranski was cast in the role of Diane Lockhart in the legal drama "The Good Wife" (2009-2016). Diane was depicted as a senior partner in a law firm, and the mentor of protagonist Alicia Florrick (played by Julianna Margulies). She was one of the series' main characters, and appeared in 156 episodes. The role was critically acclaimed, and Baranski was nominated 6 times for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series".
In 2014, Baranski played Cinderella's Stepmother in the fairy-tale-themed fantasy film "Into the Woods". The film earned about 213 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was praised by critics. The film reunited Baranski with her colleague Meryl Streep.
In 2017, Baranski returned to the role of Diane Lockhart in the legal drama "The Good Fight" (2017-), a sequel series "The Good Wife". This time Diane is the main character. In the initial episodes, she has lost her savings and is forced to resume her legal career to earn a living. As of 2021, four seasons of the series have been completed and a fifth one is about to begin.
In 2018, Baranski was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Eligible inductees for this hall of fame include theatrical actors, playwrights and other theater practitioners who have had an American theatrical career for at least 25 years, and have at least five credits on major Broadway productions.
As of 2021, Baranski is 69-years-old. She has never retired from acting, and she remains highly popular with both critics and audiences.1992- Actress
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Kim Basinger was born December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia, the third of five children. Both her parents had been in entertainment, her dad had played big-band jazz, and her mother had performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies. Kim was introspective, from her father's side. As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age. By the time she reached sweet sixteen, the once-shy Kim entered the Athens Junior Miss contest. From there, she went on to win the Junior Miss Georgia title, and traveled to New York to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant. Kim, who had blossomed to a 5' 7" beauty, was offered a contract on the spot with the Ford Modeling Agency. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine covers and in hundreds of ads, most notably as the Breck girl. Kim took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse, performed in various Greenwich Village clubs, and she sang under the stage name Chelsea. Kim moved to Los Angeles in 1976, ready to conquer Hollywood. Kim broke into television doing episodes of such hit series as Charlie's Angels (1976). In 1980, she married Ron Snyder (they divorced in 1989). In movies, she had roles like being a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983) and playing a small-town Texan beauty in Nadine (1987). Her breakout role was as photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit Batman (1989). There was no long-orchestrated campaign on her part to snag this plum role, Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took her to a career high.
With perhaps too much disposable income, Kim headed up an investment group that purchased the entire town of Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million (she would later have to sell it). In 1993, Kim married Alec Baldwin, and in 1995 they had a daughter, Ireland Eliesse. Kim took some time off to stay at home with her child. Kim, who loves animals and is a strict vegetarian, devoted energy to animal rights issues, and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), even posing for some ads. In 1997, Kim gave an Oscar-winning performance in the film noir classic L.A. Confidential (1997). Kim's salary for I Dreamed of Africa (2000) was $5,000,000, putting her firmly in the category of big-name movie star. And no doubt there are still many great things ahead, in the career of cover girl turned Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger.1993- Actress
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Lorraine was voted the "ugliest girl in the 6th grade" at her Long Island grade school. She moved to France in 1974 where she became a fashion superstar for Jean-Paul Gaultier. Her sister is Elizabeth Bracco. Has two daughters, Stella Keitel by ex-boyfriend Harvey Keitel and Margaux Guerard by ex-husband Daniel Guerard.1994- Actress
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Annette Bening was born on May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her family moved to California when she was young, and she grew up there. She graduated from San Francisco State University and began her acting career with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, eventually moving to New York where she acted on the stage (including a Tony-award nomination in 1987 for her work in the Broadway play "Coastal Disturbances") and got her first film roles, in a few TV movies.
As is so often the case, her first big-screen role was in a forgettable movie, this one The Great Outdoors (1988), in which she had little screen time. However, her next work onscreen was in Milos Forman's Valmont (1989), a film adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Unfortunately, de Laclos' story had also just served as the source of a more Hollywoodized and successful movie version, Dangerous Liaisons (1988), which had been released the previous year, and Foreman's treatment went little noticed. Bening's career turned an important corner the following year when she co-starred with Anjelica Huston and John Cusack in Stephen Frears's powerful, entertaining screen adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters (1990), and her artful turn as a con artist gained her the first of several Academy award nominations. On the strength of this performance Warren Beatty cast Bening as Virginia Hill, Bugsy Siegel's fiery actress moll, in his Bugsy (1991), the story of Siegel's founding of Las Vegas. Although the movie itself did not fare well, it resulted in a relationship with Beatty which led to Bening's pregnancy and then her marriage to Beatty in 1992 - it was the second marriage for Bening, who had been separated from her first husband since 1986 but did not finalize her divorce until 1991. The couple then collaborated on the extravagant flop Love Affair (1994), though the next year her career rebounded with her turn as Queen Elizabeth in the highly-regarded 1995 production of Richard III (1995). Notable performances have since included an obsessive, pushy real estate agent in American Beauty (1999), and as the eponymous character in István Szabó's screen adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel Being Julia (2004) - both were duly noted by the Academy, with Oscar nominations.
Bening has great poise and screen presence and, at her best, can turn in a very strong performance. Although her resume often features long stretches of mediocre productions before the next good part turns up, when it does, it proves worth the wait. Bening has four children with Beatty.1998- Actress
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Susanna Hoffs is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actress, novelist and co-founder of the multi-platinum selling group, The Bangles. Her voice is instantly recognizable on such hit singles as, "Eternal Flame", "In Your Room" (both co-written by Hoffs), and "Manic Monday".
Her first novel, "This Bird Has Flown" was released in 2023 and received rave reviews in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR, among others. Universal Pictures purchased the rights to the novel for a screen adaptation.
She played the role of Gillian Shagwell, in the fictional band, "Ming Tea" in all three "Austin Powers" films.
In 1990, she began a solo music career and has released five studio albums; "When You're a Boy" (1991), "Susanna Hoffs" (1996), "Someday" (2014), "Bright Lights" (2021), and "The Deep End" (2023). The albums yielded hit songs such as, "My Side of the Bed", "Unconditional Love", and "All I Want". She collaborated with Matthew Sweet on "Under the Covers" volumes 1, 2, and 3. She has toured with the Bangles and as a solo artist with such artists as Don Henley, Aimee Mann, and Matthew Sweet.
Notable solo artist performances include the Lilith Fair, the Academy Awards (duet with Randy Newman), Grammy Salute to Prince (duet with Chris Martin), and Grammy Salute to Paul Simon.
Entertainment Weekly wrote about her performance with Chris Martin saying, "This was the night's tenderest moment and certainly one of the most still, particularly in a catalog full of uptempo delights. Hoffs and Martin intertwined their voices, stripping the sweet lament to a gorgeously elegiac place".
In 2019, Hoffs inducted the Zombies into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Hoffs vocals and songs have been featured in films (and on the soundtracks for), "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery", "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me", "Austin Powers in Goldmember", "Meet the Parents", "Bombshell", and numerous others. Her single, "Eternal Flame", which she performed lead vocals on with The Bangles, has been used in over 60 films and TV shows.
In addition to co-writing songs for the Bangles, Hoffs has co-written songs for the Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle, and Bette Midler as well as contributing vocals on albums by such artists as the Talking Heads, Rufus Wainwright, Travis, and :The Lilith Fair: Celebration of Music" compilation album (featuring Sarah McLachlin, Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris, and others).1999- Debra was raised in Texas and was a track runner, cheerleader and homecoming queen in high school, before attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. She then became an airline attendant whilst in her 20s. Debra first appeared on TV in a brief appearance in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994). She then went into WCW, between 1995 to 1998, as the queen of WCW, as well as a manager for Steve McMichael (aka "Steve Mongo McMichael"). In 1998, she went to WWF/WWE and was Jeff Jarrett's manager and was nicknamed "the puppies" by Jerry Lawler (aka "Jerry The King Lawler". She continued to grow and went on to win the WWF Women's Championship from Rena Lesnar (aka "Sable"), in an evening grown match. She held onto it for 5 weeks until Lisa Moretti (aka "Ivory") won it from her, after a long feud. She was then voted manager of the year, in both 1999 and 2000. She was the presenter at the The Teen Choice Awards 1999 (1999). In 2002, Debra had a problem with her marriage to Steve Austin and left wrestling for good in 2003. Debra later played a small role in the film, Just Another Romantic Wrestling Comedy (2006).2000
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Annabella Sciorra was born on 29 March 1960 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Annabella is an actor and producer, known for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and Jungle Fever (1991). Annabella was previously married to Joe Petruzzi.2000- Actress
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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.2001- Lisa Moretti was born on 26 November 1961 in Inglewood, California, USA. She is an actress, known for WWE Smackdown! (1999), The Strip (1999) and Divas: Postcard from the Caribbean (2000). She has been married to Gavin Murdoch since 1 June 2011.2001
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Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. She began taking dance lessons when she was eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class president and head cheerleader. After graduating in 1980, she started college at Cal State-Northridge, majoring in TV and radio. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she became head cheerleader/choreographer after only a few months, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. She was recruited by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first in a long list of videos and movies she would choreograph. She branched out into singing with her first CD, "Forever Your Girl", which had lackluster sales until the single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 and she has been a popular singer/dancer ever since, enhanced by her stint as a judge on the hit series American Idol (2002).2002- Actress
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Born in Cohutta, Georgia (population 661), Marla Maples got her start as an overachieving student, athlete, and homecoming queen who attended the University of Georgia before heading to New York City to pursue a career in the arts. With more than 15 films roles (Happiness, Black and White), numerous TV appearances (Spin City, The Nanny), Broadway shows (The Will Rogers Follies, Love, Loss and What I Wore), and dozens of magazine covers on her resume, Maples firmly secured her place in popular culture.
In 1999, she relocated to Southern California with daughter Tiffany in tow to focus on finding a quieter, more spiritual existence. The longtime Kabbalist released her first album, The Endless featuring Deepak Chopra, His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Michael Bernard Beckwith, and hosted a talk radio show, Awakening With Marla with specialists from the natural wellness world. With Tiffany having grown up and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016, Marla made her triumphant return to the spotlight, tangoing her way through Season 22 of Dancing With the Stars alongside Tony Dovolani, co-hosting The View, The Doctors, and Good Day New York, and attending a host of VIP charity events.
The philanthropist, who herself suffered from Lyme disease as a teen, was honored for her work with the Global Lyme Alliance, and remains committed to supporting a multitude of non-profit organizations including Spirituality for Kids, Make a Wish Foundation, American Family Housing, Feed the Children, Shelter for the Homeless, The City of Hope, and Kids Creating Peace. Whether speaking about unity at the UN or performing her single "One World of Love" on stage at Carnegie Hall, the actress, musical artist, and philanthropist is steadfast in her mission to expand the greater good and add light to the world.2003- Producer
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Sarah Palin is an American politician and television personality. She was born on February 11, 1964 in Sandpoint, Idaho, as Sarah Louise Heath, the daughter of Chuck Heath and Sally Heath. She grew up in Alaska and received a bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho.
Sarah Palin worked as a television sportscaster in Anchorage, Alaska, before entering politics in 1992 as a city council member in Wasilla, Alaska. In 1996, she was elected mayor of Wasilla and served two three-year terms in that position. She later was appointed to the Alaska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.
In 2006, Palin was elected governor of Alaska, becoming the first woman to hold that position in the state. Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected her to run as his vice presidential running mate in the 2008 election. The McCain/Palin ticket was defeated by the Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Palin resigned as governor effective on July 26, 2009. She has remained in the public eye by writing books, including her memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life", and endorsing other candidates. She has also appeared on television as a political commentator on Fox News Channel, as well as hosting the reality television series Sarah Palin's Alaska (2010) on the TLC network and Amazing America with Sarah Palin (2014) on Sportsman Channel.
In 2022, Palin sought to return to elected office by running for Alaska's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives after the death of Congressman Don Young, but lost both the special and general elections to Mary Peltola.
Palin was married to Todd Palin from 1988 to 2020; the couple have five children.2004- Actress
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Marisa Tomei was born on December 4, 1964, in Brooklyn, New York, to Patricia "Addie" (Bianchi), a teacher of English, and Gary Tomei, a lawyer, both of Italian descent. Marisa has a brother, actor Adam Tomei. As a child, Marisa's mother frequently corrected her speech as to eliminate her heavy Brooklyn accent. As a teen, Marisa attended Edward R. Murrow High School and graduated in the class of 1982. She was one year into her college education at Boston University when she dropped out for a co-starring role on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns (1956). Her role on that show paved the way for her entrance into film: in 1984, she made her film debut with a bit part in The Flamingo Kid (1984). Three years later, Marisa became known for her role as Maggie Lawton, Lisa Bonet's college roommate, on the sitcom A Different World (1987).
Her real breakthrough came in 1992, when she co-starred as Joe Pesci's hilariously foul-mouthed, scene-stealing girlfriend in My Cousin Vinny (1992), a performance that won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Later that year, she turned up briefly as a snippy Mabel Normand in director Richard Attenborough's biopic Chaplin (1992), and was soon given her first starring role in Untamed Heart (1993). A subsequent starring role -- and attempted makeover into Audrey Hepburn -- in the romantic comedy Only You (1994) proved only moderately successful.
Marisa's other 1994 role as Michael Keaton's hugely pregnant wife in The Paper (1994) was well-received, although the film as a whole was not. Fortunately for Tomei, she was able to rebound the following year with a solid performance as a troubled single mother in Nick Cassavetes' Unhook the Stars (1996) which earned her a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She turned in a similarly strong work in Welcome to Sarajevo (1997), and in 1998 did some of her best work in years as the sexually liberated, unhinged cousin of Natasha Lyonne's Vivian Abramowitz in Tamara Jenkins' Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). Marisa co-starred with Mel Gibson in the hugely successful romantic comedy What Women Want (2000) and during the 2002 movie award season, she proved her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar win was no fluke when she received her second nomination in the same category for the critically acclaimed dark drama, In the Bedroom (2001). She also made a guest appearance on the animated TV phenomenon The Simpsons (1989) as Sara Sloane, a movie star who falls in love with Ned Flanders. In 2006, she went on to do 4 episodes for Rescue Me (2004). She played Angie, the ex-wife of Tommy Calvin (Denis Leary)'s brother Johnny (Dean Winters). At age 42, Marisa took on a provocative role in legendary filmmaker Sidney Lumet's melodramatic picture Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), in which she appeared nude in love scenes with costars Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Marisa then took on another provocative role as a stripper in the highly acclaimed film The Wrestler (2008) opposite Mickey Rourke. Her great performance earned her many awards from numerous film societies for Best Supporting Actress, a third Academy Award nomination, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Many critics heralded this performance as a standout in her career.2004- Music Artist
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Shania Twain was born as Eilleen Regina Edwards in 1965 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, one of three daughters of Clarence and Sharon (Morrison) Edwards (sister Jill is two years older and Carrie-Ann three years younger). When she was age six, her mother remarried Jerry Twain, a full-blooded Ojibwa native from Timmins, Ontario, who adopted her as his own. She started out singing in bars as a child after hours, and, at thirteen, appeared on The Tommy Hunter Show (1965). When she was 22, her parents were killed in an accident, and she became the legal guardian of her half-brothers (Mark, then 13, and Darryl, then 14) and sister, putting her musical career on hold to raise her family. In 1991 she changed her name to Shania (meaning "I'm on my way" in Ojibwa, it was the name of a co-worker), and signed a contract with Mercury Nashville that same year. Her first album went by without notice, but her second album (produced with Mutt Lange, who she wed in 1993) broke world records with its sales!2005- Actress
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Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966 in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Her father is of Lebanese descent and her mother is of Mexican/Spanish ancestry. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theater, she decided she wanted to become an actress. At age 12, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. After attending Mexico City's prestigious university Universidad Iberoamericana, she felt ready to pursue acting seriously.
She soon landed the title role in Teresa (1989), a hugely successful soap opera which earned her the star status in her native Mexico. However, anxious to make films and to explore her talent as well as passion, she left both Teresa (1989) and Mexico in 1991. Heartbroken fans spread rumors that she was having a secret affair with Mexico's president and left to escape his wife's wrath. She made her way to Los Angeles. She approached Hollywood with naive enthusiasm and quickly learned that Latina actresses were typecast as the mistress maid or local prostitute. By late 1992, she had landed only small roles. She appeared on Street Justice (1991), The Sinbad Show (1993), Nurses (1991), and as a sexy maid on Dream On (1990). She also had only one line in My Crazy Life (1993). Feeling under-appreciated by Anglo filmmakers, she vented her frustrations on Paul Rodriguez's late-night Spanish-language talk show.
Robert Rodriguez and his wife Elizabeth Avellan happened to be watching and were immediately smitten with her. He soon gave her big break -- to star opposite Antonio Banderas in the cult classic Desperado (1995), bringing her into Hollywood prominence. The moviegoers were as dazzled with her as he had been. Afterwards, she was cast again by Rodriguez to star in the cult classic From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Her first star billing came later that year with Fools Rush In (1997) opposite Matthew Perry. It was a modest hit and her star continued to rise in both commercial and films such as Breaking Up (1997) with an unknown Russell Crowe, 54 (1998), Dogma (1999) and In the Time of the Butterflies (2001), the small artistic film which won her an ALMA award as best actress and the summer blockbuster Wild Wild West (1999). Her production company Ventanarosa produced the Mexican feature film El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (1999), which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and selected as Mexico's official Oscar entry for best foreign film.
The new millennium started out quietly as she prepared to produce and star in her dream role of Frida Kahlo, the legendary Mexican painter whom she had been admiring her entire life and whose story she wanted to bring to the big screen ever since she arrived in Hollywood. Frida (2002) was full of passion and enthusiasm, with performances from her and Alfred Molina as Kahlo's cheating husband Diego Rivera. It also featured an entourage of stars such as Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Geoffrey Rush, Edward Norton and Valeria Golino.
It was a box office hit and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best actress for Hayek. It won awards for make-up and score by Elliot Goldenthal. Later that year, she expanded her horizons, directing The Maldonado Miracle (2003), which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, she starred in the finale of Rodriguez's Desperado trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), again opposite Banderas. She also starred in After the Sunset (2004) opposite Pierce Brosnan, and Ask the Dust (2006) opposite Colin Farrell. She then starred in Bandidas (2006), which also featured Penélope Cruz, and Lonely Hearts (2006) opposite Jared Leto.2006- Actress
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Maria Grazia Cucinotta (born 27 July 1968) is an Italian actress who has featured in many films and television series since 1990. She has also worked as a producer, screenwriter and model. Cucinotta was born in Messina, Province of Messina, Sicily, Italy. She is well known in Italy as a movie and television actress, but internationally she is best known for her roles in Il Postino and as the Bond girl, credited as the Cigar Girl, in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.2008- Born in the northern Polish town of Bialystok, Izabella Scorupco moved to Sweden with her mother as a young child. She studied drama and music and, at 17, was discovered by a Swedish film director who cast her in the movie Ingen kan älska som vi (1988), which made her a local teen idol. She then became a successful model in Sweden and throughout Europe, where she made good use of her fluency in four languages.
In 1989, Scorupco displayed another facet of her talents, launching her career as a pop singer with her first single, Substitute. The single and subsequent album, IZA, both went gold, and she followed with another hit single, Shame, Shame, which she recorded in 1991. Returning to acting in 1994, she immediately won the lead role in the Swedish film The Tears of Saint Peter (1995). Scorupco stars as a woman who lives her life as a man in the medieval drama, which was released in August 1995.
Shortly after Izabella received international attention after landing the leading female role in the Bond movie "Goldeneye" starring against Pierce Brosnan. In 2000 she played one of the adventurers in "Vertical limit" and went on to the lead female in the science-fantasy movie "Reign of fire" against Matthew Mc Conaughey and Christian Bale. In 2004 Izabella acted against fellow Swede Stellan Skarsgård in the Renny Harlin film "The Exorcist- the beginning". After a couple of roles in American TV-series, Izabella decided to work on the Scandinavian market again, first in the crime/thriller story "Solstrom" against Michael Persbrandt and and then onto the drama "Guardian angel", a heartbreaking story opposite Michael Nyqvist. Izabella tried a whole different genre in 2014 when she starred the in the hit comedy movie "Micke and Veronica". Izabella resides in Los Angeles with her two teenage kids and three dogs.2010 - Actress
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A philanthropist who has presented almost $900,000 in scholarships over the past seven years, an actress on Power, Queen of the South, SWAT, and more, MC LYTE is ONLY female solo hip hop artist to receive the BET I Am Hip Hop ICON Award. First female to perform hip hop in the White House and first African American female to serve as the President of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy (Grammy Organization): these are just the first of many firsts. Lyricist, inspirational speaker, DJ, pioneer, icon, veteran and entrepreneur describe one of the most prolific and well-respected female Hip Hop artists of all time: MC Lyte. She has consistently found ways to reinvent herself musically, while expanding her resume and gaining new fans. A current member of the Board of Trustees of Dillard University and reared in Brooklyn, New York, MC Lyte always has her finger on Hip Hop's pulse. Many are familiar with her stellar music making skills, but over the course of her extensive career, MC Lyte has ventured out to other avenues that have allowed her to show the world just how talented she truly is.
A pioneer in the industry, she opened the door for future female Hip Hop artists by daring to do what had never been done while doing something she loved. MC Lyte is the FIRST rap artist ever to perform at New York's historic Carnegie Hall, the FIRST female rapper to ever receive a gold single, the FIRST female solo rapper ever nominated for a Grammy and in 2006, MC Lyte became the FIRST solo female rapper to be honored/inducted on VH-1's HIP HOP HONORS.
MC Lyte has graced network television as well as the big screen and she has been the voice behind the VH1 Hip Hop Honors and national campaigns for Wherehouse Music, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nike. She is the hot of Morning Cup on Centric and recently unveiled her lyrical talent, once again, to the world with the release of her latest album, LEGEND.
A role model to women and respected by men everywhere, MC Lyte never compromises who she is and consistently displays that a woman can turn heads fully clothed! Whenever possible, MC Lyte enjoys traveling across the nation to use her expertise and story of success to motivate others to take ownership of the world around them while striving to be the best they can possibly be. Author of "UNSTOPPABLE: Igniting the Power Within to Achieve Your Greatest Potential," MC Lyte provides keynote addresses at educational institutions, community centers and corporations around the globe and has also been active in many social projects, including anti-violence campaigns, HIV / AIDs prevention, and Rock the Vote. MC Lyte is also the author of "Living in the Lyte: Lessons in Life, Love and Truth" and "Fusion: Bridging the Gap between the Civil Rights Movement and Hip Hop," a book she co-authored with Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
MC Lyte resides in Los Angeles, California, and reigns as the CEO of Sunni Gyrl, Inc. and the Chair of Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, which has presented over $850,000 in college scholarships. She is a past President, Trustee and Governor of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy (Grammy organization), a member of the Board of Trustees at Dillard University, and is a proud honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.2011- Actress
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Angela Michelle Harmon is an American actress and model from Dallas, Texas. She is known for her work on Agent Cody Banks, Baywatch Nights, Law & Order, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Women's Murder Club, Seraphim Falls and Rizzoli & Isles. She was married to Jason Sehorn and has three children.2012- Actress
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Sasha Alexander began acting by the time she was in the seventh grade when she found herself cast as the lead female in her school's production of "Baby." What she didn't know was that her male co-star would chicken out on her only a few hours before opening night. Determined to let the show go on, Sasha used her comedic skills and threw herself into the role. The audience response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and a star was born. Sasha continued acting in high school and college plays, and traveled east to New York from her native Los Angeles to perform in summer stock and Shakespeare Festival productions. It was here that her portrayal of Katherine in "The Taming of the Shrew" earned her the honor of studying in London with Cicely Berry and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Sasha graduated from USC's prestigious School of Cinema & Television, where she studied directing in an effort to hone her behind-the-camera skills. All the while, she continued to add to her acting resume with appearances in several critically acclaimed independent films, which premiered at festivals across the country. Besides her acting career, Sasha has also written a variety of productions, including Lucky 13 (2005), a comedy which she co-wrote, produced and stars in with Harland Williams and Lauren Graham. Sasha co-starred with Angie Harmon on the TV drama Rizzoli & Isles (2010).2013- Actress
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Kate Beckinsale was born on 26 July 1973 in Hounslow, Middlesex, England, and has resided in London for most of her life. Her mother is Judy Loe, who has appeared in a number of British dramas and sitcoms and continues to work as an actress, predominantly in British television productions. Her father was Richard Beckinsale, born in Nottingham, England. He starred in a number of popular British television comedies during the 1970s, most notably the series Rising Damp (1974), Porridge (1974) and The Lovers (1970). He passed away tragically early in 1979 at the age of 31.
Kate attended the private school Godolphin and Latymer School in London for her grade and primary school education. In her teens she twice won the British bookseller W.H. Smith Young Writers' competition - once for three short stories and once for three poems. After a tumultuous adolescence (a bout of anorexia - cured - and a smoking habit which continues to this day), she gradually took up the profession of acting.
Her major acting debut came in a TV film about World War II called One Against the Wind (1991), filmed in Luxembourg during the summer of 1991. It first aired on American television that December. Kate began attending Oxford University's New College in the fall of 1991, majoring in French and Russian literature. She had already decided that she wanted to act, but to broaden her horizons she chose university over drama school. While in her first year at Oxford, Kate received her big break in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Kate worked in three other films while attending Oxford, beginning with a part in the medieval historical drama Royal Deceit (1994), cast as Ethel. The film was shot during the spring of 1993 on location in Denmark, and she filmed her supporting part during New College's Easter break. Later in the summer of that year she played the lead in the contemporary mystery drama Uncovered (1994). Before she went back to school, her third year at university was spent at Oxford's study-abroad program in Paris, France, immersing herself in the French language, Parisian culture and French cigarettes.
A year away from the academic community and living on her own in the French capital caused her to re-evaluate the direction of her life. She faced a choice: continue with school or concentrate on her flourishing acting career. After much thought, she chose the acting career. In the spring of 1994 Kate left Oxford, after finishing three years of study. Kate appeared in the BBC/Thames Television satire Cold Comfort Farm (1995), filmed in London and East Sussex during late summer 1994 and which opened to spectacular reviews in the United States, grossing over $5 million during its American run. It was re-released to U.K. theaters in the spring of 1997.
Acting on the stage consumed the first part of 1995; she toured in England with the Thelma Holts Theatre Company production of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull". After turning down several mediocre scripts "and going nearly berserk with boredom", she waited seven months before another interesting role was offered to her. Her big movie of 1995 was the romance/horror movie Haunted (1995), starring opposite Aidan Quinn and John Gielgud, and filmed in West Sussex. In this film she wanted to play "an object of desire", unlike her past performances where her characters were much less the siren and more the worldly innocent. Kate's first film project of 1996 was the British ITV production of Jane Austen's novel Emma (1996). Her last film of 1996 was the comedy Shooting Fish (1997), filmed at Shepperton Studios in London during early fall. She played the part of Georgie, an altruistic con artist. She had a daughter, Lily, in 1999 with actor Michael Sheen.2013- Actress
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Shannon Elizabeth was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a Syrian/Lebanese father. When Shannon was in 3rd grade, her family moved to Waco, Texas, to be close to relatives. As a girl, Shannon took dance lessons, including tap, ballet, and jazz. While attending high school, however, she was very interested in tennis. She even considered going pro and making tennis her life. During high school, she was active in cheerleading, dance team, and the student council. As a senior, Shannon was in a music video shot in Waco. The local music artists were called "Hi-5", and the director of that video just happened to be Antoine Fuqua. After graduating, Shannon moved to New York City to model. She then traveled all over the world with her newfound career to places that included Japan, Italy, France, and Australia. After moving to Los Angeles years later, she signed on with Ford Models and, eventually, Elite. Shannon had always wanted to start her acting career and had just modeled in hopes that it could help lead her into acting, which it did. About a year after moving to Los Angeles, she started taking acting classes with several different coaches. She got an agent, started working, and in 1999, she landed the iconic role of "Nadia" in the movie American Pie.
Shannon enjoys wearing even more hats these days. Since cutting her directing chops on music videos, she is now directing documentaries and film projects via her production company, Ganesha Productions. She also co-hosts the podcast The Art of Conservation.
Shannon also splits her time between the US and South Africa, running programs within her nonprofit, the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation. The mission is to improve this planet for the animals, environment, and indigenous people.2013- Producer
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Giuliana DePandi was born in Naples, Italy in 1975. Her family moved to the United States, namely Washington D.C., during her childhood. Fluent only in Italian, Giuliana prides herself on the fact that she taught herself English by watching day-time soaps and other television shows.
After graduating from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland in 1992, Giuliana enrolled into the University of Maryland and received a B.A. in journalism from the Philip Merrill School of Journalism in 1996 and, later, a Masters degree in the same subject from the American University in D.C.
During her career, she has managed to write for numerous Entertainment fields, including "Detour" magazine and, most notably, as co-host/anchor for E! News Live (1996). Not forgetting stints reporting about The Pentagon and White House prior to E!.
It is with E! that she has managed to achieve a name for herself. In June 2006, she also released a book entitled "Think Like a Guy: How to Get a Guy by Thinking Like One", a dating advice book for women in the first stages of a relationship.
With this venture, she has been in every aspect of the Entertainment field: Print (magazines, books); Small Screen (E! News Live (1996) and various guest spots on episodic TV) and Big Screen (scenes in Malibu's Most Wanted (2003) and Paparazzi (2004)).2014- Actress
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Torrie Wilson and "The Franchise" Shane Douglas made one of the most dynamic duos in professional wrestling during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Torrie spent a great amount of time in WCW, when she was not fulfilling her potential until she became the valet for The Franchise Shane Douglas. Using all the dirty tricks of the trade, Torrie was a major help to Shane Douglas during his matches. Starting out as a fitness model, Torrie won several competitions and was on the cover of many fitness related magazines before she joined WCW in 1999. Since then, she appeared at the side of The Franchise and became a major player in WCW. In her own words, Torrie never leaves home without a cell phone and some cash.2015- Freema Agyeman is a British actress who is known for playing Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2007-2010), Alesha Phillips in crime procedural drama Law & Order: UK (2009-2011), Amanita Caplan in the Netflix science fiction drama Sense8 (2015-2018), and Dr. Helen Sharpe in the NBC medical procedural series New Amsterdam (2018-2022).2019
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Sarah Shahi was born Aahoo Jahansouzshahi in Euless, Texas, to an Iranian father and Spanish-Iranian mother. She is a former NFL cheerleader and a descendant of a 19th-century Persian Shah. She attended Trinity High School and Southern Methodist University, studied opera and majored in English. As a teenager, she won several beauty contests and took first place in the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant in 1997. She joined the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and was part of the 1999-2000 squad. She also appeared on the cover of their 2000 calendar.
While working as an extra on the set of Dr. T & the Women (2000), she met director Robert Altman, who encouraged her to move to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actress. Shahi was the first ghost in Supernatural (2005), the CW paranormal drama series. She had recurring roles in several TV series, such as Alias (2001), in which she played "Jenny"; and Dawson's Creek (1998), where she was "Sadia Shaw". She became a fan favorite in her role as the Mexican-American DJ "Carmen de la Pica Morales" in the Showtime series, The L Word (2004), which she joined in its second season. Sarah did not renew her contract with the show for a fourth season and, consequently, her character was written out.
However, she is best-known for her main role as "Sameen Shaw" on the CBS show Person of Interest (2011) playing a CIA agent turned-vigilante with a heart of gold.
She also appeared on HBO's The Sopranos (1999), in the episode Kennedy and Heidi (2007) as "Sonya Aragon", a stripper and a college student who spends a weekend with Tony after a death in his family. Although uncredited by most sources, Sarah also appeared in the Jackie Chan film, Rush Hour 3 (2007), as one of the girls being handcuffed along with Mia Tyler for a traffic offense by Chris Tucker early in the film. She also starred with Damian Lewis in the NBC show, Life (2007).
Sarah speaks English, Farsi, and some Spanish, and has a brown belt in karate.2020- Born and raised in Germany, Birte now lives in Los Angeles and Berlin. She speaks German, English, French, and has a law degree. As a child she always wanted to become a clown and make people laugh, later she went to law school. Upon graduating from law school in 2006 and working as a fashion model to finance her studies, Birte chose to pursue a career in acting and has never looked back. As an actress, Birte started her career as a series regular on the German hit TV show, "Under One Roof", before she gained attention as the female lead in the action/comedy feature film "Agent Ranjid rettet die Welt" alongside Rutger Hauer - a Constantin Film production. Recently, she starred in "Was kostet die Liebe- ein Großstadtmärchen" - the modern day adaption of the popular fairytale Cinderella. It's a romantic comedy for one of Germany's biggest TV station: SAT.1, and is produced by Emmy award winning production company UFA Fiction. In 2014, she got her American working visa as an actress and fashion model and starred in "Make you Better" alongside comedian Nick Offerman. As a fashion model, she has worked with some of the biggest names in fashion, beauty, and advertising, e.g. PIERRE CARDIN, DIOR, AUDI, and SAMSUNG for over a decade. Birte has been featured by fashion and lifestyle magazines like ELLE, MARIE CLAIRE, and FHM. Since 2013, she is the spokeswoman for CELLAGON and CELLAGON COSMETICS. If she is not working on set, you find her horse-riding (she has 3horses), kick-boxing or traveling the world!2020
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Jasmin Wagner was born on 20 April 1980 in Hamburg, Germany. She is an actress and composer, known for Driven (2001), t=E/x² (2020) and KMPD - Krass Mann Police Department (2007). She was previously married to Frank Sippel.2020- Music Artist
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Kelendria Trene 'Kelly' Rowland is an American singer, songwriter, actress, talent show judge, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the group's two-year hiatus, Kelly Rowland released her first solo album, Simply Deep (2002), which debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. Rowland also ventured into acting with starring roles in the successful films Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and The Seat Filler (2004).
Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2006, Rowland released her second album, Ms. Kelly (2007), which produced the international top-ten hits "Like This" and "Work". In 2009, she hosted the first season of The Fashion Show and was featured on David Guetta's "When Love Takes Over", which hit number one in many countries. Its success influenced Rowland to explore dance music on her third album Here I Am (2011), which spawned the UK top-ten singles "Commander" and "Down for Whatever". She became a judge on the eighth season of The X Factor UK (2004) in 2011 as well as the third season of The X Factor (2011) in 2013. Rowland's fourth album, Talk a Good Game (2013), became her third top-ten album on the US Billboard 200 chart. Rowland has continued her television career by hosting Chasing Destiny (2016) in 2016 and starring as a coach on The Voice (2012) since 2017.
Throughout her career, Rowland has sold over 30 million records as a solo artist, and a further 60 million records with Destiny's Child. Her work has earned her several awards and nominations, including four Grammy Awards, one Billboard Music Award, and two Soul Train Music Awards. Rowland has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as part of Destiny's Child, and as a solo artist, she has been honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Essence for her contributions to music.2021- Ana Hickmann was born on 1 March 1981 in Santa Cruz do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. She was previously married to Alexandre Belo Côrrea.2021
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Jessica Biel, has become one of Hollywood's most sought-out actresses. She was born in Ely, Minnesota, to Kimberly (Conroe) and Jonathan Edward Biel, who is a business consultant and GM worker. Biel was raised in Boulder, Colorado. She is of Hungarian Jewish, Danish, English, and German descent.
As a child, Biel initially pursued a career as a vocalist, performing in musical theater. Beginning at age nine, she starred in such productions as "Annie," "The Sound of Music," and "Beauty and the Beast." Biel soon turned to modeling and commercial work by competing in The International Modeling and Talent Association's Annual Conference in 1994.
Her Film debut was in the Kid's Rock Opera It's a Digital World (1994) where she demonstrated her acting and singing abilities. Her television series acting debut, playing Mary Camden on the WB's #1-rated show, 7th Heaven (1996), helped her emerge as a breakout star. She terrified moviegoers with her portrayal of Erin, "Leatherface's" greatest nemesis to date, in New Line Cinema's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), a remake of the original. Having finished filming, Blade: Trinity (2004) in Vancouver with Wesley Snipes, Ryan Reynolds, and Kris Kristofferson, she the portrayed a jet-fighter pilot in Stealth (2005), starring Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepherd, for director Rob Cohen. Biel's film career began at age 14 when she played alongside Peter Fonda in his Golden Globe-winning performance in Ulee's Gold (1997). Her other film credits include I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998), Summer Catch (2001), Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction (2002), and Cellular (2004), which stars Chris Evans, Kim Basinger, and William H. Macy.
In her spare time, Biel is involved with charities such as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and PETA. Her hobbies include ballet, soccer, running, yoga and hiking with her dog "East." She resides in Los Angeles.
In 2012, she married actor and singer Justin Timberlake. The two have a son.2022- Isabel Edvardsson was born on 22 June 1982 in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. She is an actress, known for Verbotene Liebe (1995), Julia - Wege zum Glück (2005) and Guinness World Records - Die größten Weltrekorde (2004).2022