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- Zoë Wanamaker is an American expatriate actress, who has spend most of her career in the United Kingdom. She has worked extensively in the theatre. She has been nominated for 9 Laurence Olivier Awards, wining twice. She has also been nominated for 4 Tony Awards, without ever winning. In television, she is known for the main role of Susan Harper in the long-running sitcom "My Family" (2000-2011).
In 1949, Wanamaker was born in New York City. Her father the American film director Sam Wanamaker (1919 -1993). Sam was born in Chicago to Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants. Wanamaker's mother was the Canadian actress Charlotte Hollan, who was also of Jewish descent. Wanamaker's paternal grandfather was the tailor Maurice Wanamaker, whose original family name was "Watmacher".
Sam Wanamaker was a veteran of World War II, and an adherent of communism. In the early 1950s, the United States was experiencing the Second Red Scare. Communists, real or suspected ones, were seen as potential foreign agents and were targeted by political purges. In 1952, Sam was blacklisted in the United States. He decided to settle in the United Kingdom with his family. Zoë consequently settled in the United Kingdom at the age of 3.
Wanamaker received her early education at the King Alfred School, a co-educational independent school located in London. She later attended the Sidcot School, a co-educational boarding school located in the village of Winscombe, Somerset. Sidcot was a Quaker school, but was open to students from various faiths and cultures. Sidcot had served as a co-educational school since 1808. one of the earliest British schools of its kind.
Following her graduation, Wanamaker pursued a pre-diploma course at the Hornsey College of Art. Having decided to follow an acting career, Wanamaker was trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. The school had been operating since 1906, when founded by the teacher Elsie Fogerty (1865 -1945). The school was initially based around Fogerty's theories about teaching proper elocution.
In the early 1970s, Wanamaker was primarily a theatrical actress. In 1976, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is a prestigious theatrical company, headquartered in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. It specializes in performing the plays of William Shakespeare, though it has performed plays by many other playwrights. Wanamaker served as a member until 1984.
In 1979, Wanamaker won her first Olivier Award for her role in a revival of the play "Once in a Lifetime" (1930) by Moss Hart (1904 -1961) and George Simon Kaufman (1889-1961). The play is a satire of American show business. It depicts veteran vaudeville performers trying to re-establish their careers in the Hollywood film industry.
In the 1980s, Wanamaker frequently appeared in television films and other television production. She played an intelligence agent in the mini-series "Edge of Darkness" (1985), which combined elements from the genres of crime drama, political thriller, and science fiction. She was part of the cast of the historical drama series "Paradise Postponed" (1986), which depicts the changes experienced by British from the 1940s to the 1970s. She was part of the cast in the biographical film "Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story" (1987), based on the life and long-term problems of American heiress Barbara Hutton (1912 -1979). She had a one-shot role in the anthology series "Tales of the Unexpected" (1979-1988), which typically adapted short stories into its episodes.
In 1991, Wanamaker played manicurist Moyra Henson in the first season of the police procedural "Prime Suspect" (1991-2006). Henson's common-law husband is suspected serial killer George Marlow, and police authorities eventually realize that all the recent victims were Henson's clients. Wanamaker's role was critically well-received. She was nominated for the "British Academy Television Award for Best Actress" for this role, but the award was instead won by her co-star Helen Mirren (1945-).
In 1993, Wanamaker had a co-starring role in the drama film "The Countess Alice". In the film, she played Konstanza (nicknamed "Connie"), the German daughter of British aristocrat Countess Alice von Holzendorf (played by Wendy Hiller). Connie investigates her own past and realizes that the real Konstanza died in childhood. She is a child of obscure origins, who was secretly adopted by Alice as a replacement. The film was well-received at the time, though it is mostly remembered for Hiller's last role in a film.
In 1997, Wanamaker had a supporting role in the biographical film "Wide", based on the life of the writer Oscar Wilde (1854 -1900). She played the role of the novelist Ada Leverson (1862 -1933), a close friend of Wilde who offered him hospitality when he became an outcast. The film was well-received by critics. Wanamaker was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, but the award was instead won by rival actress Sigourney Weaver (1949-).
In 2000, Wanamaker gained a major television role, when cast as Susan Harper in the sitcom "My Family" (2001-2011). Harper was depicted as a tour guide who is married and has three children. Her so-called "control freak" nature often has her clash with her family. Her problems include being married to a husband who clearly does not care about her, and having immature kids.
In 2000, Wanamaker finally gained British citizenship, after residing in the country for 48 years. She also maintained her American citizenship. In January 2001, Wanamaker was appointed a "Commander of the Order of the British Empire" for her services to drama. This is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences.
In 2001, Wanamaker had a supporting role in the fantasy film "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", an adaptation of a novel by J. K. Rowling (1965-). Wanamaker played the role of Rolanda Hooch, a Quidditch referee and flying instructor for first-year students at the magic school Hogwarts. The film was a box office hit. Wanamaker did not appear in the film's sequels.
In 2005, Wanamaker had a role in the science fiction series "Doctor Who" (2005-) as the villain Lady Cassandra, who is obsessed with prolonging her own life. Wanamaker returned to this role in 2006.
Also in 2005, Wanamaker joined the cast of the mysteries series "Agatha Christie's Poirot" (1989-2013) as crime novelist Ariadne Oliver. Oliver was a recurring character created by writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976), and was intended as a self-portrait of Christie. Wanamaker played this role in 6 feature-length episodes, broadcast from 2005 to 2013. Oliver was depicted as a close friend and ally of detective Hercule Poirot (played by David Suchet).
In 2008, Wanamaker voiced the blind seeress Theresa in the role-playing video game "Fable II". Her character guides the game's protagonist through its story. The video game was quite successful. Wanamaker returned to this role in two of the game's sequels: "Fable III" (2010), and Fable: The Journey (2012). This has been Wanamaker's most prominent performance in voice acting.
In 2011, Wanamaker had a supporting role in the drama film "My Week with Marilyn", which depicted Marilyn Monroe brief stay in the United Kingdom during the shooting of the classic film "The Prince and the Showgirl" (1957). Wanamaker played the role of Paula Strasberg (1909-1966), Monroe's acting coach. The film performed well at the box office, and was critically acclaimed.
In 2015, Wanamaker joined the cast of the period drama series "Mr Selfridge" (2013-2016). The series was based on the life of retail magnate Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947). Wanamaker played the role of Princess Marie Wiasemsky de Bolotoff, a Russian aristocrat who serves at the mother-in-law of Rosalie Selfridge.
In 2018, Wanamaker gained the major role of Queen Antedia in the historical fantasy series "Britannia" (2018-).Antedia was depicted as the Queen regnant of the Regni tribe, a Celtic tribe struggling against the rival Cantii tribe.
As of 2021, Wanamaker is 72-years-old. She has never retired from acting, and continues to appear regularly in television. She is quite familiar to the British public, through decades of notable roles. - Producer
- Director
- Writer
William Hanna was an animator, film director, and television producer. He was the co-founder of the company Hanna-Barbera, with his longtime partner Joseph Barbera.
Hanna was born in an Irish-American family, son of William John Hanna (1873-1949) and his wife Avice Joyce Denby. He was born in Melrose, New Mexico Territory, though the family never set root there. His father worked as a construction superintendent for railroads, water systems, and sewer systems. He was often re-assigned, requiring his family to move with him to new locations.
Hanna attended Compton High School in Compton California from 1925 to 1928. During his high school years, Hanna played the saxophone in a dance band. He developed a passion for music that would lead to him personally working on several theme songs for his animated work.
Hanna briefly attended Compton City College, studying both journalism and structural engineering. The Great Depression affected his family's financial situation, forcing him to drop out of college and seek work. He worked first as a construction engineer, then as a car wash employee. A family friend convinced him to seek a job for Leon Schlesinger's company "Pacific Title & Art Studio", which designed title cards for films. Though he lacked formal training, he displayed a talent for drawing. This helped him get hired at an upstart animation studio connected to Schlesinger, the Harman and Ising animation studio, which was producing the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" series. Hanna was promoted to head of their ink and paint department.
In 1933, the studio's heads (Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising) dissolved their business relationship with Schlesinger. Schesinger retained the rights to the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies", while Harman and Ising kept the rights to their popular character Bosko. Hanna followed them into their subsequent projects. By 1936, he was promoted to film director and directed a few short films in their "Happy Harmonies" film series.
In 1937, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stopped distributing animated films by Harman and Ising, and created their own animation subsidiary: the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (1937-1957). They hired away most of the staff of the Harman and Ising studio, including Hanna. In 1938, Hanna became a senior director for the "Captain and the Kids" film series, an adaptation of the popular comic strip "The Katzenjammer Kids". The series failed to find an audience, and was terminated in 1939. Hanna was demoted from director to story-man.
During this period, Hanna started co-working with fellow animator Joseph Barbera on the idea of a film series featuring a cat-and-mouse duo. The two were allowed to co-direct the film "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940), introducing the characters of Tom and Jerry. The film was popular with critics and the audience, but studio head Fred Quimby was not initially interested in a full series with the characters. However, the commercial failure of other products of the studio convinced Quimby to try reusing Tom and Jerry. Hanna and Barbera were assigned their own production unit to work on the new series.
From 1940 to 1957, Hanna and Barbera co-directed 114 short films starring Tom and Jerry. The series was a critical and popular success, winning 7 Academy Awards and being nominated for other 7. In 1955, Fred Quimby retired, and Hanna and Barbera replaced him as studio heads. But by this time production costs for the films were high, while they were less profitable than before. MGM shut down the studio in 1957.
Hanna briefly partnered with animator Jay Ward in creating their own animation studio, called "Shield Productions". They parted ways before producing anything notable. Hanna next partnered with Barbera again, creating the company Hanna-Barbera Productions. Since the market for theatrical animated shorts was in decline, the duo intended to produce animation for television. They received partial funding from Screen Gems, in return for a distribution deal.
The studio's first television series was the moderately popular "The Ruff & Reddy Show". It was followed by the more successful "The Huckleberry Hound Show" and "The Yogi Bear Show", which introduced popular characters and managed to attract an adult audience. Realising that there was a market for adult-oriented cartoons, Hanna and Barbera next developed the animated sitcom "The Flintstones", a parody of "The Honeymooners" with a Stone Age setting. It found success with both adult and juvenile audiences, helping the studio become the leader in television animation for most of the 1960s.
In 1966, Hanna-Barbera Productions was sold to Taft Broadcasting for 12 million dollars. Hanna and Barbera continued serving as studio heads until 1991. In 1991, the studio was sold to Turner Broadcasting System, with Hanna and Barbera reduced to an advisory position. In 1996, the studio was sold to Time Warner, with Hanna remaining an advisor until his death in 2001.
In March 2001, Hanna died of esophageal cancer at his home in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, He was 90-years-old. He was buried at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California. His legacy includes more than 100 animated series, multiple films and television specials, and a large number of enduring characters.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
William Gargan was an American actor, better known for playing fictional detectives Ellery Queen, Martin Kane, and Barrie Craig. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Gargan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. He attended St. James School in Brooklyn. While he was the younger brother of actor Edward Gargan (1902-1964), Gargan was not initially interested in an acting career. He worked as a salesman of bootleg whiskey during the Prohibition, and later as a professional detective. His life changed through a visit to his brother on a musical comedy stage/ Gargan was offered a stage job of his own, and he accepted.
Gargan started out as a theatrical actor, appearing in the play "Aloma of the South Seas". His film career started in the 1930s, and he was often typecast as as a stereotypical Irishman. He played policemen, priests, reporters, and adventurers. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Joe in the romantic drama "They Knew What They Wanted" (1940). The film was an adaptation of a 1924 play by Sidney Howard (1891-1939), and Joe was depicted as a womanizing foreman who has an affair with a woman engaged to one of his workers. While Gargan's role was critically well-received, the award was instead won by rival actor Walter Brennan (1894-1974).
In the 1940s, Gargan portrayed popular detective Ellery Queen in three films: "A Close Call for Ellery Queen" (1942), "A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen" (1942), and "Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen" (1942). "Enemy Agents" was the final entry in the Ellery Queen film series. Gargan spend the rest of the decade mostly playing supporting roles in film.
Gargan found another major role as a detective, playing protagonist Martin Kane in the radio series "Martin Kane, Private Eye".(1949-1952). He also appeared in the television adaptation of the series, which lasted from 1949 to 1954. While he was the originator of the role, Gargan was eventually replaced by actor Lloyd Nolan (1902-1985). Nolan was eventually replaced by actor Lee Tracy (1898-1968). The final actor to portray Martin Kane in the original series was Mark Stevens (1916-1994). Gargan returned to the role in the sequel series "The New Adventures of Martin Kane" (1957).
Gargan also played detective Barrie Craig in the popular radio series "Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator" (1951-1955). Unlike the hard-boiled detectives of the genre (popularized by Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe), Craig was noted for his laid-back personality. The series was suggested for adaptation to a television series, but only an unsuccessful pilot episode was filmed.
Gargan's acting career ended abruptly in 1958, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer. His larynx was surgically removed in 1960. This saved his life, but Gargan lost his distinctive voice. He spend the rest of his life speaking through an artificial voice box. He became a spokesman for the American Cancer Society, warning people about the dangers of smoking. Meanwhile he established his own production company, William Gargan Productions.
In 1979, Gargan suffered a mid-flight heart attack, while flying from New York City to San Diego. He died due to the heart attack, at the age of 73. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego, California.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
William Daniels is an American actor, born in Brooklyn, New York City. He was born in 1927, to bricklayer David Daniels and his wife Irene.
Daniels was a member of the singing Daniels family in Brooklyn. He made his television debut in 1943 at the age of 16, as part of a variety act. That same year, Daniels made his Broadway debut in the comedy play "Life With Father" (1939) by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Until the 1960s, Daniels was primarily a theatrical actor, with a few guest star roles in television. For his role in the play "The Zoo Story" (1958) by Edward Albee, Daniels received an Obie Award.
Daniels made his film debut in 1963, at the age of 36. He debuted in the Cold War-themed thriller "Ladybug Ladybug" (1963), where he played school principal Mr. Calkins. His next film role was the comedy-drama film "A Thousand Clowns" (1965), where he played child welfare worker Albert Amundson. Daniels had a supporting role in "The Graduate" (1967), playing the father of protagonist Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman).
Daniels found his first major television role in the superhero comedy "Captain Nice" (1967). He played police chemist Carter Nash, who could transform into the superhero Captain Nice by drinking a super serum. In both identities, Nash was a mild-mannered mama's boy, who was pressured into a crime-fighting career by his mother (played by Alice Ghostley). He was clumsy as a hero, and had a crippling fear of heights. The series lasted only 15 episodes
In the 1970s, Daniel's most prominent role was that of John Adams in the film adaptation of "1776" (1972). He also played John Quincy Adams in the historical television series "The Adams Chronicles" (1976). He had a regular role in the sitcom "The Nancy Walker Show" (1976) as Lt. Commander Kenneth Kitteridge of the United States Navy. Kenneth was the loving husband of protagonist Nancy Kitteridge (played by Nancy Walker). The series lasted for 13 episodes.
In the crime drama series "Knight Rider" (1982-1986), Daniels voiced KITT, an artificially intelligent electronic computer module in the body of a robotic automobile. The series lasted for 90 episodes. The series was very popular in its time, and has had a large number of sequels and spin-offs.
Daniels also played surgeon Dr. Mark Craig in the medical drama "St. Elsewhere" (1982-1988). The setting was St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston. The series lasted for 137 episodes and garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.
Daniels played KITT again in the television film "Knight Rider 2000" (1991). He had a prominent role in the sitcom "Boy Meets World" (1993-2000) as teacher George Feeny, a strict but loving mentor to protagonist Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage). The series lasted for 158 episodes, and Feeny was one of Daniel's most recognizable roles.
Daniels guest starred as KITT in two episodes of the animated sitcom "The Simpsons" (1989-). The episodes were "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (1998) and "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Daniels also voiced a Hospital Ship in the episode "Critical Care" (2000) of the science fiction series "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001).
In the 2000s, Daniels provided voice roles for animated television series, such as "Kim Possible" and "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". His most prominent role in the 2010s was that of George Feeny again, who appeared in 5 episodes of the sitcom series "Girl Meets World" (2014-2017). It was a sequel series to "Boy Meets World" , featuring the life of Cory Matthews as a teacher and father.
By 2020, Daniels was 92 years old, one of the oldest living actors.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Willard Carroll is an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Carroll and Thomas L. Wilhite were the co-founders of the film studio "Hyperion Pictures".
As a film director, Carroll is known for the Ragnarok-themed horror film "The Runestone" (1991), the romantic film "Playing by Heart" (1998), the fantasy film "Tom's Midnight Garden" (1999), and the Indian-themed romantic comedy "Marigold" (2007). As a screenwriter he is known for animated films, such as "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" (1997) and "The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue".
Willard is a fan of the "Land of OZ" and has a large collection of Oz memorabilia. His contribution to the franchise was the television series "The Oz Kids" (1996), which he both produced and scripted.- Writer
- Art Department
- Additional Crew
Will Eisner was an American comic book artist and writer of Austrian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish descent. He was one of the pioneering artists of the American comic book industry. He is most famous for creating the masked crime-fighter Spirit/Denny Colt, and for being the main creator of the original eponymous series "the Spirit" (1940-1952). Later, Eisner worked primarily with graphic novels. He is credited with popularizing the term "graphic novel" in 1978. The Eisner Award (for creative achievement in American comic books) and the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame were both named after him.
In 1917, Eisner was born in Brooklyn, New York City. Both of his parents were first-generation European-Jewish immigrants, and distant relatives of each other. Eisner's father was the artist Shmuel "Samuel" Eisner (born 1886) from Austria-Hungary. Before World War I, Shmuel worked in Vienna, painting murals for wealthy patrons and for Catholic churches. He migrated to the United States, primarily to avoid conscription. He found work in New York City, painting backdrops for vaudeville and for the Jewish theater.
Eisner's mother was the Romanian-Jewish Fannie Ingber (born 1891). She was born aboard a ship which transported her immigrant parents to the United States. Ingber's parents died c. 1901, when she was 10-years-old. She was then primarily raised by her older stepsister. Her stepsister turned out to be a harsh taskmaster, who kept Ingber mostly preoccupied with chores. Ingber was not allowed to socialize with others or to attend school. She was consequently illiterate.
Will was the eldest of three children born to the Eisner family. His family was impoverished, and moved frequently during his childhood. Eisner was often a target of anti-Semitic insults from his schoolmates, and was frequently involved in physical confrontations with them. His family was not particularly religious.
During his childhood and adolescence, Eisner was an avid reader of pulp magazines. He was also interested in films, particularly enjoying the avant-garde films of Man Ray (1890-1976). He aspired to become an artist, and Shmuel bought art supplies for his son. In 1930, Fannie pressured her son to get a paying job to supplement the family income. His first job was selling newspapers on street corners. There was intense competition among newsboys for the best locations, and Eisner often had to fight competing newsboys,
Eisner received his secondary education at the DeWitt Clinton High School, an all-boys public high school located in The Bronx. He drew art for the school newspaper "The Clintonian", for its literary magazine "The Magpie" and for its yearbook. His early artwork was primarily influenced by the work of commercial artist J. C. Leyendecker (1874-1951), one of the most famous cover artists of his era. Besides illustrations, Eisner worked on scenic design for the school's theater.
Following his graduation from high school, Eisner studied art at the "Art Students League of New York" , an art school located in Manhattan. His teacher there was the veteran artist George Bridgman (c. 1864-1943), who specialized in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Following his graduation, Eisner was hired as an advertising writer-cartoonist by the newspaper "New York American". The newspaper was owned at the time by William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951).
To supplement his income, Eisner started drawing illustration for pulp magazines. His rate at the time was 10 dollars for every completed page. Among his early employers was the Western-themed magazine "Western Sheriffs and Outlaws". In 1936, his high-school friend Bob Kane (1915-1998) suggested to him that he should also try to sell art to comic books. For most of the 1930s, American comic books consisted mostly of comic strip reprints in color. By 1935, some of them had started including new material in their publications.
Eisner fist sold new material to the comic book magazine "Wow, What A Magazine! ", by convincing its editor Jerry Iger (1903-1990) that he could deliver quality work. Eisner's first series character was Captain Scott Dalton, an globe-trotting adventurer who searched for rare artifacts. "Wow" also published further series by Eisner, including the pirate-themed series "The Flame" and the spy-themed series "Harry Karry".
"Wow" only lasted for 4 issues (July-November, 1936). Afterwards Eisner and Jerry Iger became business partners, founding the art studio "Eisner & Iger". It was one of the early comic book "packagers", companies which sold original material to fledgling comic book publishers. Eisner sold art at the rate of 1.50 dollars per page. Among the studio's main customers were the companies Fiction House, Fox Feature Syndicate, and Quality Comics. They also sold material to the British publisher Boardman Books. The company was profitable. In 1939, Eisner had an income of 25,000 dollars. A respectable income, considering that the Great Depression was still ongoing.
Among the characters Eisner created or co-created were the jungle girl Sheena, Queen of the Jungle/Sheena Rivington (for Fiction House), the size-changing superhero Doll Man/Darrel Dane (for Quality Comics), and the ace pilot Blackhawk (for Quality Comics). Sheena was among the earliest female jungle heroes, and has been described as a female Tarzan. She became Fiction House's most famous character, and inspired many derivative jungle girl heroines. Doll Man was Quality's first super-powered character and a pioneer in the genre of superheroes who could shrink in size. He predated characters such as Ant-Man/Hank Pym and Atom/Ray Palmer by two decades. Blackhawk served as the leader of the military-themed group "The Blackhawks", featured in one of Quality's longest-running series. After Quality went out of business, the series was continued by DC Comics.
In 1939, Eisner was involved in a legal controversy. At the time, the most popular superhero character was Superman/Clark Kent, published by an early incarnation of DC Comics. Victor Fox (born 1893), the owner of the Fox Feature Syndicate, commissioned Eisner to create a Superman-like character. Eisner created Wonder Man/Fred Carson, a character empowered by a magic ring. Despite a different origin story, Wonder Man appeared as an imitation of Superman. Wonder Man looked similar to Superman (though he had blonde hair instead of Superman's black hair), wore a similar costume, and had near-identical powers. DC Comics sued the Fox Feature Syndicate for copyright infringement, and won the case in court. Fox and Eisner had to cease using Wonder Man as a character. This was the first copyright lawsuit in comic book history.
Also in 1939, Eisner and Iger dissolved their business partnership. Their motivation for this decision is unclear. Eisner sold his share in their company at the price of 20,000. In December 1939, Eisner received a business proposal Henry Martin, sales manager of "The Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate". A number of Sunday newspapers wanted to compete with their contemporary high-selling comic books, by publishing a comic-book insert into the newspapers. They wanted Eisner to handle this insert and to provide its contents. Eisner took the offer.
Eisner provided three new characters as series protagonists for the comic-book insert: the Spirit/Denny Colt, Lady Luck/Brenda Banks, and Mr. Mystic/Ken. By agreement, the characters were copyrighted in the name of Everett M. "Busy" Arnold (1899 -1974), Quality Comics' publisher who had agreed to publish the insert. But by the terms of this agreement, their copyright ownership would revert to Eisner himself if their partnership dissolved. This eventually occurred, and the trio were among the earliest creator-owned characters in American comics.
The Spirit served as the main series for the comic-book insert, with the other two as back-up series. The Sunday supplement was nicknamed "The Spirit Section"). It was published in 20 newspapers, with a combined circulation of 5 million copies. It was published from 1940 to 1952.
In late 1941 or early 1942, Eisner was drafted by the United States Army. He was 25-years-old and he was of eligible age to serve in then-ongoing World War II (1939-1945). He was initially assigned to work camp newspaper at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, located in Aberdeen. His comics were used as training material for soldiers. He became a warrant officer.
During his military service, Eisner provided new illustrations for the Baltimore-based military magazine "Army Motors", and served as an editor to the Pentagon-based ordnance magazine "Firepower". He would continue to work for "Army Motors" until 1950, and then continue to work for its successor publication , "PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly" until 1971, While working for "Army Motors", Eisner created the series character Joe Dope. Dope was the protagonist in an educational comic strip aimed at a military audience. He was depicted as a bumbling soldier, and his stories illustrated various methods of preventive maintenance of various military equipment and weapons.
While Eisner was preoccupied with military service, he supervised an entire studio which continued to work on the Spirit. Several of his assistants served as ghost writers and ghost artists of the Spirit from 1942 until Eisner's return to civilian life in 1945. His most notable assistant at the time was Jules Feiffer (1929-), later a leading editorial cartoonist in his own right. Other known ghost artists of the Spirit were Jack Cole (1914-1958) and Lou Fine (1914-1971). Jack Keller (1922-2003) worked as a background artist on the strip. Known ghost writers of the Spirit include the pulp fiction writer Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986) and the novelist William Woolfolk (1917-2003).
In 1945 took over as the writer and artist of the Spirit again. The Spirit was a masked crime-fighter, wearing a simple costume. The costume included a blue domino mask, a business suit, a white shirt, a red necktie, a fedora hat, and gloves. His real identity was that of Denny Colt, a criminologists who was considered deceased following a short period under suspended animation. His headquarters were located underneath his own tombstone. His adventures were heavily influenced by film noir, and featured a "gritty, detailed view of big-city life", with drama taking place in urban streets, dilapidated tenements, and smoke-filled back rooms.
Eisner often combined elements from different genres in the Spirit series, wanting to experiment in story style. The series was noted for its frequent use of femme fatales, The Spirit's main love interest was the feisty feminist Ellen Dolan, his archenemy was the mysterious master-of-disguise known as the Octopus (whose real face was never depicted), and his most prominent sidekick was Ebony White. Ebony was an African-American taxi driver, and was among the earliest major African-American characters in comics. He was phased out of the series in 1949.
The Spirit's original series ended on October 5, 1952, possibly due to declining sales. From 1940 to 1950, Spirit stories were reprinted in comic book form by Quality Comics. From 1952 to 1954, they were reprinted by Fiction House. From 1966 to 1967, the stories were reprinted by Harvey Comics. For this edition, Eisner illustrated original covers, and a few original stories to supplement the reprints.
Back in 1948, Eisner formed the company American Visuals Corporation, which produced instructional materials for the government, related agencies, and businesses. His main customer was the United States Army, for which he continued to produce military publications until the 1970s. Other prominent clients of the American Visuals Corporation were the football team Baltimore Colts, the New York Telephone, and RCA Records.
In 1978, Eisner published his first graphic novel, called "A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories". It was a cycle of connected short stories, depicting the lives of impoverished Jewish characters within a tenement in New York City. From this point onward, he produced about one graphic novel per year. Among his most notable graphic novels was "Fagin the Jew" (2003), a biography of the literary villain introduced in the serial novel "Oliver Twist" (1837-1839). Eisner disliked Fagin's stereotypical depiction in the original novel, and wanted to depict Fagin as a complex and conflicted individual. The story was depicted as a narrative presented by Fagin himself, the night before his execution by hanging.
In the last decades of his life, Eisner was a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He taught students essential lessons on cartooning. He also wrote the ,educational books "Comics and Sequential Art" (1985) and "Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative" (1996).
On December 22, 2004, Eisner had a quadruple bypass surgery. On January 3, 2005, he died due to surgery-related complications. He was 87-years-old at the time of his death. A memorial service was held for him at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, an art gallery located in in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Eisner was survived by his wife Ann Weingarten Eisner, and by their son, John. His only known daughter, Alice Eisner, had predeceased him in 1970.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859) was a German author and pioneering anthropologist. He was the younger brother of philologist Jacob Grimm.
Wilhelm was born in the town of Hanau, in the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Holy Roman Empire. His parents were Philipp Wilhelm Grimm and his wife Dorothea Zimmer, respectively a jurist and a housewife. Wilhelm's maternal grandfather was a city councilman in Kassel. Wilhem was one of 9 children born to the couple, but 3 of his siblings died in infancy.
In 1791, the Grimm family moved to the town of Steinau an der Straße, where Philipp Grimm had been appointed as the new Amtmann (district magistrate). They settled in a large house, surrounded by fields. Wilhelm initially did not attend school, but was educated at home by private tutors. He was given a strict, religious education as a Lutheran.
In 1796, Philipp Grimm died in office, due to pneumonia. The Grimm family fell into poverty, and had to relinquish its house and servants. Jacob Grimm (only 11-year-old at the time) legally became the new head of household, and had to undertake some adult responsibilities. The Grimm family was, for the time being, financially dependent on Wilhelm's maternal grandfather and on Wilhelm's maternal aunt, who was serving as a lady-in-waiting at the court of William I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1743-1821, reigned 1785-1821).
In 1798, the same maternal aunt arranged for both Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm to attend the Friedrichsgymnasium Kassel, a gymnasium (equivalent to preparatory high school) in Kassel. By this time, Wilhelm's maternal grandfather had died, and their aunt was their only protector.
The two brothers Grimm became roommates in their school years, and formed a particularly close relationship which would endure into their adult lives. They relied entirely on each other in most matters. They were both hard-working students, but considered as inferior by several classmates who came from aristocratic families. The two brothers differed in temperament, with Jacob being the more intellectual and introspective, and Wilhelm being slower to grasp new ideas, but acting jovial and out-going. Wilhelm suffered from various illnesses, but his talent for music and storytelling made him more popular with their peers.
In 1803, Jacob Grimm graduated the Gymnasium at the top of his class. In 1804, Wilhelm Grimm also graduated at the top of his class. Both brothers next started college life in the University of Marburg. They became roommates again while they were both college students, and would continue living together for most of their adult lives. They shared their books and other property items.
At the University, the Grimm brothers were subject to class discrimination, disqualified from admission in certain courses in favor of aristocratic students, and denied tuition aid. However, they kept excelling in their studies. While initially interested in legal studies, both brothers were impressed with the teachings of professor Friedrich Carl von Savigny (1779-1861). Savigny was an innovative historian, and awakened in the brothers a new passion for history, philology, and medieval literature. Savigny introduced the brothers to some of his own friends,who were leading romantic writers and intellectuals of the time.
Due to increasing financial problems, Jacob Grimm (who was legally responsible for the financial care of all his siblings), quit school in 1805, and started seeking employment in various German courts. By 1808, Jacob became a librarian in Kassel. Wilhelm at the time suffered from heart and respiratory ailments, and Jacob paid for his medical treatments. Jacob then managed to arrange for Wilhem to be hired as a fellow librarian in Kassel, allowing the brothers to work together. Their salaries were rather small, but they had a steady income and plenty of time for research.
An old acquaintance, the novelist Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) asked the brothers to help him in collecting traditional stories. Brentano was working on a new collection of folk tales, but did not have enough time to search for more tales. For the following few years, the brothers Grimm interviewed storytellers from various social backgrounds and collected 53 individual tales. But when they send their report to Brentano, he had lost interest in the project. Unwilling to waste years of effort, the brothers Grimm prepared to publish the tales under their own name. They worked on revising the various oral tales for a literate audience. In 1812, the first version of Grimms' Fairy Tales was published, containing 86 stories. Wilhelm, the storyteller of the duo, was responsible for many of the revisions to the stories. Over the following decades, the brothers kept revising and expanding their work. By 1857, the 7th edition of the collection, it included 211 individual tales.
Following the success of their first published work, the brothers started producing philological books and studies on various European mythologies, primarily Irish and Norse mythology. They became literary celebrities and earned honorary doctorates from various universities.
In 1825, Wilhelm Grimm married his long-time friend Henriette Dorothea "Dortchen" Wild. Her family had been among those interviewed for Grimms' Fairy Tales, and they had kept in touch for over a decade. Jacob Grimm never married and continued co-cohabiting with his brother and new sister-in-law. Wilhelm and Henriette had four children together: Jacob (April-December 1826), Herman Friedrich (1828 -1901), Rudolf Georg (1830 -1889), and Barbara Auguste Luise Pauline Marie (1832 - 1919).
In 1830, both Jacob and Wilhelm were candidates for the position of head librarian at Kassel, but were overlooked despite their fame. They resigned their positions soon after, and took new jobs as professors at the University of Göttingen, in the Kingdom of Hanover. They pioneered the course of German studies.
In 1837, the Grimms were fired from the University, as part of the so-called "Göttingen Seven". The new king of Hanover, Ernest Augustus (1771-1851, reigned 1837-1851), announced plans to abolish or heavily rewrite Hanover's constitution. Seven college professors opposed the abolition of the constitution and protested. They were all fired and deported from Hanover.
Wilhelm and his brother returned to Kassel, but were now unemployed. They relied on financial support from friends and admirers, while working on a new dictionary. In 1840, their former mentor Savigny convinced new king Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795-1861, reigned 1840-1861) to employ the Brothers Grimm. They gained positions at the University of Berlin, and stipends from the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin. They continued jointly working on their dictionary, but each brother started producing individual works, since their intellectual interests had become much different.
During the Revolutions of 1848, the Brothers Grimm were elected to the civil parliament in Mainz, but they resumed their teaching positions in Berlin at the end of the Revolution. Jacob chose retirement in the late 1840s, but Wilhem continued teaching until 1852. They devoted the rest of their lives to working on their incomplete dictionary.
In 1859, Wilhem died in Berlin, due to an unspecified infection. He was 73-years-old. His brother Jacob survived him, but reportedly became increasingly reclusive following Wilhelm's death.- Producer
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Walter Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and film director from New Rochelle, New York. He was the eponymous founder of the animation studio Walter Lantz Productions (1928-1972). The studio was initially famous for continuing the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film series from 1928 to 1938. Lantz later found more success with animated film series featuring Andy Panda (1939-1949), Woody Woodpecker (1941-1972), and the penguin Chilly Willy (1953-1972).
In 1899, Lantz was born to Italian immigrant parents in New Rochelle, New York. The family name was originally "Lanza" before being changed to "Lantz". His parents were named Francesco Paolo Lanza and Maria Gervasi. In 1911, Lantz completed a mail-order drawing class. In his teen years, Lantz worked as an auto mechanic while continuing to draw as a hobby. He found a wealthy patron by the name of Fred Kafka, who agreed to finance Lantz's studies at the Art Students League of New York.
In 1915, the adolescent Lantz was hired as an animator by the animation department of the International Film Service studio (1915-1921). The department head was the director Gregory La Cava (1892-1952), while the studio's owner was the businessman William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). Lantz eventually left the studio and was hired by the animation studio Bray Productions (1912-1928). In 1924, Lantz created his own film series, called "Dinky Doodle". Also in 1924, Lantz became the new head of production at Bray. He was chosen as the replacement of Vernon Stallings (1891-1963).
Lantz moved to Hollywood, California in c. 1927/1928, in hopes of setting up his own studio. He was short of funds, and he initially supported himself through a series of odd jobs. He worked briefly as a member of the production team of director Frank Capra (1897-1991), and as a gag writer for Mack Sennett (1880-1960). He was then hired by producer Charles Mintz (1889-1939) to help continue the then-popular Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film series. The films were distributed by Universal Pictures, but its studio head Carl Laemmle (1867-1939) wanted to set up his own animation subsidiary. Lantz instead convinced Laemmle to fund the creation of his own animation studio. Lantz's initial production team included the animator Tom Palmer and the musician Bert Fiske. Lantz soon managed to hire the innovative animator Bill Nolan (1894-1954), who was known for creating and perfecting the rubber hose style of animation.
Lantz continued producing animated short films for theatrical release until 1972. By that point, Walter Lantz Productions and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises were the last remaining American animation studios which still regularly produced theatrical animated short films. Lantz decided to shut down his studio due to rising production costs and diminishing profits. He continued to earn a living through licensing his characters for media use, and by selling his drawings and paintings to collectors. He served throughout the 1980s and the early 1990s in the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute. He died in March 1994 due to heart failure, at the age of 94.- Vivien Merchant was an English actress, primarily known for dramatic roles on stage and on film. She was born in Manchester, Lancashire in 1929 as Ada Brand Thomson. Her stage name 'Vivien Merchant' was chosen by Ada herself. "Vivien" in reference to actress Vivien Leigh (1913-1967), and "Merchant" reportedly in reference to her brother who was a seaman. She started her acting career in 1942, as an adolescent. She appeared regularly on repertory theatre in the 1940s, and had progressed to appearing in leading roles by the early 1950s. She had a romantic relationship with fellow actor Harold Pinter (1930-2008), and they were married in 1956. In 1958, she gave birth to their only child, Daniel Pinter.
As Pinter became a celebrated playwright, Merchant was regularly cast in productions of his plays. She made her film debut in the comedy-drama "Alfie" (1966), an adaptation of a play by Bill Naughton. For her role as "Lily Clamacraft", she received a BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress but lost to Sandy Dennis. While continuing her successful theatrical career, Merchant appeared in few subsequent films. Among the best remembered of them is the thriller "Frenzy" (1972), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She essentially appeared in a comic relief role, as the wife of Chief Inspector Oxford. Her final film role was as the Madame in "The Maids" (1975). In the film, two housemaids constantly fantasize about killing their employer (the Madame), but are reluctant to perform the actual murder.
While Merchant's career was relatively successful, her marriage was not. Pinter was an unfaithful husband. From 1962 to 1969, Pinter maintained a long-term relationship with fellow writer and journalist Joan Bakewell (1933-). In 1975, Pinter started a new affair with historian and novelist Antonia Fraser (1932-). He told his wife about the affair, and Merchant started verbally attacking Fraser both in private and in public. Pinter divorced Merchant in 1977, and married Fraser in 1980.
Merchant was left depressed by her divorce, and started heavily drinking in an attempt to drown her sorrows. Her alcoholism caused a decline in her health, and eventually led to her death in 1982. She was only 53-years-old at the time of her death. - Actress
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Venus Terzo is a Canadian actress. She has often worked as a voice actress, both in original works and in the English dubs of anime series. Her most notable-live action roles were the detective Angela Kosmo in the crime drama series "Da Vinci's Inquest" (1998-2005) and the politically-themed sequel "Da Vinci's City Hall" (2005-2006), and physician Dr. Elisa Schwartz in several seasons of "Arrow" (serving as a supporting character from 2016 to 2019).
Her first notable voice role was the obsessive inventor Biko "B-ko" Daitokuji in the direct-to-video films "Project A-ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group" (1987), "Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody" (1988), and "Project A-ko 4: FINAL" (1989). In this film series, B-Ko's primary motivations were her unrequited affection for the ordinary schoolgirl Shiko "C-ko" Kotobuki, and her intense rivalry with the superhuman schoolgirl Eiko "A-ko" Magami. Terzo also voiced a bounty-hunter version of B-Ko in the spin-off two-part film "Project A-ko: Grey Side/Blue Side". This two-part film featured alternate reality versions of A-Ko and B-Ko as business partners who have to prevent the end of a multiverse and the intended birth of a new universe.
In 1989, Terzo voiced the female form of shape-shifter Ranma Saotome in the first of the two animated series based on the manga "Ranma ½" (1987-1996). The series only lasted for 18 episodes. Terzo also voiced Ranma in the second series, which lasted from 1989 to 1992. In both series, Ranma is an adolescent martial artist who constantly shifts between male and female forms due to a curse. He has four fiancees (Akane Tendo, Shampoo, Kodachi Kuno, and Ukyo Kuonji), but he tends to attract suitors from both genders.
In "Captain N: The Game Master" (1989-1991), Terzo voiced Princess Lana. Her character was the heiress and current regent of Videoland, in replacement to her exiled father. Lana acted as the mediator within a team of heroes with different backgrounds and clashing personalities, and was the main love interest of protagonist Kevin Keene. The series lasted 3 seasons and 34 episodes.
In the "New Adventures of He-Man" (1990), Terzo voiced the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, He-Man's mentor. In this series, He-Man has time-traveled into the far future and has been recruited to fight a war. The Sorceress still communicates with him through telepathy, and at times intervenes to help him. In this series, Terzo also voiced the evil mutant Crita (a love interest for the villain Skeletor), and the heroic queen Mara (Crita's archenemy). The series lasted for a single season and 65 episodes, though the last episode hinted that Skeletor and Crita would eventually return.
Terzo voiced the tomboy heroine PJ of the Dream Patrol in "Captain Zed and the Zee Zone" (1991-1993). PJ and her partner Captain Zed had to defend the dreams of children from villains who controlled nightmares and could shape-shift at will. The series lasted for 26 episodes. The character of PJ was redesigned in the series' second season to look more feminine. At about the same time, Terzo was cast in "My Little Pony Tales" (1992), a slice of life series about preteen female anthropomorphic ponies. Terzo voiced the athletic tomboy Patch (one of the main characters) and the newscaster Dazzle (a guest character). She also voiced the medieval adventurer Squire, who turned up in ghost form in the first episode. The series lasted a single season and 26 episodes. Terzo left the series before its completion, replaced by Brigitta Dau.
In "King Arthur and the Knights of Justice" (1992-1993), Terzo voiced supporting character Lady Elaine. Her character was an attendant to Queen Guinevere (voiced by Kathleen Barr), and the love interest of the crossbowman Sir Darren (one of the main characters). Elaine was initially unaware that her lover was a time-traveler from the 20th century. The series lasted 2 seasons and 26 episodes.
In "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" (1993), Terzo voiced the sentient female robot Breezie. Created by the villain Dr. Ivo Robotnik to set a trap for the hero Sonic the Hedgehog, Breezie soon developed genuine emotions and morality. She rebelled against her programming, and set out to create a life and career for herself. Breezie initially served as a recurring damsel in distress in subsequent episodes, but eventually developed considerable survival skills of her own. The series lasted for a single season and 65 episodes.
In the superhero series "Skysurfer Strike Force" (1995-1996), Terzo voiced the female cyborg Lazerette. Lazerette and her teammate Cerina were the only recurring female villains in the series, serving the plans of would-be world conqueror Cybron (Cerina's father). The series lasted for 2 seasons and 26 episodes. It was the last animated series created by the studio Ruby-Spears Productions.
In the fantasy series "The Vision of Escaflowne" (1996), Terzo voiced the supporting character Princess Millerna Aston. Millerna was a talented medical student, who was forced by her family to drop her studies and to become engaged to a man who was a mere acquaintance to her. Millerna eventually fled her home planet, in order to pursue her own life goals. The series lasted for 26 episodes. In the science fiction series "Saber Marionette J" (1996-1997), Terzo voiced Tiger, a sentient female marionette who loyally served megalomaniac dictator Gailhart von Faust. The main motivation of Terzo's character was her unrequited love for Faust, who only viewed her as a disposable tool. The series lasted for 25 episodes.
In "Beast Wars: Transformers" (1996-1999), Terzo voiced Blacharachnia, a female Transformer who could shape-shift into a black widow spider. She was created by the villainous Predacon faction, but she was a rebellious member in their ranks. She was mainly motivated by self-interest and self-preservation, and was unwilling to die for their cause. She eventually switched sides to the heroic Maximals, after they helped her survive a lost battle. She remained a selfish individual, but started a romantic relationship with her new teammate Silverbolt. The series lasted for 3 seasons and 52 episodes. Terzo also voiced Blacharachnia in the sequel series "Beast Machines: Transformers" (1999-2000). In this series, Blacharachnia was trying to survive in an apocalyptic version of her native planet Cybertron, with most of the planet's population having vanished just prior to the series' events. The series lasted for 2 seasons and 26 episodes.
In the romantic comedy series "Trouble Chocolate" (1999-2000), Terzo voiced Deborah. Her character was a female security officer, and maintained a romantic relationship with her immediate superior, Murakata. She also voiced a robotic doppelganger of Deborah. The series served mainly as a parody to other animated series. It lasted for 20 episodes. Terzo voiced Millerna Aston again in the dark fantasy film "Escaflowne" (2000) , which featured alternate reality versions of the characters from the television series. This version of Millerna was a war refugee who joined a resistance group.
In the series "Star Ocean EX" (2001), Terzo voiced the treasure hunter Celine Jules. Her character was a powerful magic user, but had a crippling fear of insects. The series lasted for 26 episodes. In the series "Project ARMS" (2001-2002), Terzo voiced Katsumi Akagi, the best friend and love interest of protagonist Ryo Takatsuki. Like several of the other main characters, Katsumi was created through a genetic experiment for the creation of super-humans. Unlike the others, she was not granted cybernetic implants and initially had no superhuman abilities. The series lasted for 52 episodes.
In "X-Men: Evolution" (2000-2003), Terzo voiced mutant superheroine Jean Grey. Like her comic book counterpart, Jean was a powerful telepath and telekinetic. Unlike her comic book counterpart, she was still an adolescent. She struggled with her shyness and a number of personal insecurities. It was hinted in the series that she was destined to become a host for the Phoenix Force, but the event was not actually depicted. The series lasted for 4 seasons and 52 episodes, though the writers had plans for a 5th season which was never produced.
In the "My Little Pony" Generation 3 direct-to-video films (2003-2009), Terzo voiced both the imaginative Sparkleworks and the stylish fashionista Rainbow Dash. This incarnation of "My Little Pony" was aimed at a younger audience than the previous versions, with conflict-free narratives. In "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny" (2004-2005), Terzo voiced Talia Gladys, captain of the spaceship Minerva. She was a loyal member of the military organization ZAFT, but found herself often disagreeing with the erratic orders of her superiors. Talia eventually chose to die by the side of her former lover, Gilbert Durandal, in his final battle. The series lasted for 50 episodes.
In the superhero series "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes" (2006-2010), Terzo voiced the Latverian supervillain Lucia von Bardas in two 2007 episodes. The comic book version of Lucia was a cyborg, but the animated version was one of Doctor Doom's androids. Terzo voiced Jean Grey again for a 2012 guest appearance in "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" (2009-2012). This version of Jean was hiding from her enemy Magneto, and used an alias. When eventually confronted by Magneto, she bested him in combat.
In the alternate history series "Gin Tama" (2015-2016), Terzo voiced recurring villain Matako Kijima, a ruthless gunslinger. Matako was part of an extremist organization, but was mainly motivated by her unrequited love for its leader, Shinsuke Takasugi. She and her teammate Nizou Okada openly hated each other, with multiple attempts on each other's life. Terzo has not had any major voice roles since the end of this series.
Terzo has been entertaining her audience for more than 30 years, but she has not been particularly active in the 2020s. She is fondly recalled for her roles in several cult classics, but it is unclear whether she will make a comeback with a new major role.- Valerie Gaunt was an English actress who had a brief acting career in the 1950s. She is primarily remembered for portraying an unnamed Vampire Woman in an horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Her role was the studio's first vampire character with visible fangs.
Little is known about Gaunt's background. She was trained as an actress in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a drama school located in London. She graduated in 1951, and worked primarily in repertory theatre. In 1956, she had a guest-star role in the police procedural television series "Dixon of Dock Green" (1955 -1976). The series focused on an old-fashioned "bobby" (policeman) who investigated petty crime cases in the East End of London.
The film director Terence Fisher (1904 - 1980) noticed Gaunt while watching television, and offered her a role in an upcoming horror film. Gaunt made her film debut in Fisher's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), the first horror film in color produced by Hammer Film productions. The film was a loose adaptation of the novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" (1818) by Mary Shelley, re-imagined as a "morally ambiguous chamber piece".
Gaunt portrayed Justine, a maid who works for Baron Victor Frankenstein (played by Peter Cushing) and secretly serves as his mistress. When a pregnant Justine attempts to blackmail Victor into marrying her, Victor orchestrates her murder. He is later executed for her murder, with his former mentor refusing to testify on his behalf. Unlike other versions of the Frankenstein story, Victor does not abandon his monster. He is instead trying to use it as a weapon against his enemies.
The film was a box office hit, earning about 8 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Hammer Film decided to produce more gothic horror films, and Gaunt was asked to appear on the next one. She was cast as the Vampire Woman in "Dracula" (1958), a loose adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker. Her character was loosely based on the three Brides of Dracula from the original novel. Gaunt portrayed the first female vampire depicted by Hammer Film, which later specialized in vampire films. This film was also a box office hit.
Gaunt decided to end her film career just as it was starting. In 1958, she married the stock broker Gerald Alfred Reddington and permanently retired from acting. She was only 26-years-old at the time. Gaunt lived the rest of her life away from the spotlight. In 2016, she died in the Isle of Wight at the age of 84. Despite her brief career, she remains familiar to fans of classic British horror films. Both of her film appearances enjoy enduring popularity, ensuring a measure of fame for Gaunt. - Topsy was originally a wild elephant, born in Southeast Asia c. 1875. She was captured by elephant traders while still a baby and smuggled into the United States by 1877 . Her new owner Adam Forepaugh (1831-1890) claimed that she was born in captivity and advertised her as the first American-born baby elephant. Forepaugh was the owner of Forepaugh Circus, one of the two largest circuses in the country. The other was Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Topsy served most of her life as a circus elephant, performing at various incarnations of the Forepaugh Circus from 1877 to 1902. She gained a bad reputation for allegedly injuring and killing circus workers. Sensational news reports claimed that she had killed 12 men, though a 21st-century finds these reports unreliable. There are reports that she injured one of two workers c. 1900, but not that she actually killed them.
Her notoriety as a "killer elephant" was solidified in 1902, when she killed a spectator by the name of James Fielding Blount. Blount reportedly had been teasing the circus elephants, and throwing sand at Topsy's face. When he burnt the sensitive tip of her trunk with a lit cigar, Topsy grew angry and retaliated. She killed the man easily, although there are contradictory reports on the exact manner of his death.
The death of Blount generated much publicity. The Circus benefited for a time, when crowds of spectators kept arriving to see the "killer elephant". All went well for about a month, until a spectator by the name of Louis Dodero decided to tease the elephant himself. Dodero supposedly used a stick to tickle Topsy behind the ear. She used her trunk to seize him around the waist and then threw him to the ground. Dodero was apparently injured but not killed. The ongoing publicity turned negative and threatened the reputation of the Circus, and its owners decided to sell her.
In Summer 1902, Topsy was sold from the Circus to the Sea Lion Park, a Coney Island amusement park. Its owner was Paul Boyton (1848-1924), a showman best remembered as the inventor (or popularizer) of the immersion suit. The amusement park was famous for its aquatic circus and sea lions, but Boyton was seeking out additional attractions to face the competition. Topsy's animal handler from the circus, William "Whitey" Alt, was hired by Boyton to keep charge of Topsy.
Later that year, Paul Boyton leased the amusement park to aspiring businessmen Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundy. The new owners started expanding the park, remodeling it, and renamed it to Luna Park. It continued using the name until destroyed by a fire. Taking advantage of Topsy's notoriety, the new owners had her working hard and transporting cargo and a new airship. The media broadcast her work, presenting as Topsy doing "penance" for her bad behavior.
Topsy was however soon involved in negative publicity again, mostly due to the erratic behavior of her handler William "Whitey" Alt . In October, 1902, Alt was arrested by the police for setting Topsy loose in the streets of New York City. In December, a drunk Alt used Topsy to attack a local police station and to scare away the police officers. His employers fired him, but there was the problem of what to do with Topsy.
The Luna Park tried to get rid of the problematic elephant, originally by trying to sell Topsy to someone else. No circus or zoo was interested in buying an elephant notorious for bad behavior. So the owners announced to the press that they would euthanize Topsy by electrocution. The initial plan was to publicize the event and sell admission tickets. A protest by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals resulted in the decision to avoid turning the death to a public spectacle. But the Society still allowed the plans for execution to continue, just demanding that the death should not be inhumane.
Uncertain whether electrocution would be enough to kill Topsy, the planners of the death added two additional ways to kill her. She would also be poisoned by ingesting poisoned food and strangulated by a machine. The execution was set for January 4, 1903, and initially attended by 1500 spectators and 100 press photographers. Only about 100 people were allowed to witness the death itself.
The execution had to be delayed by more than a hour. A new animal handler called Carl Goliath was supposed to lead Topsy over a bridge and towards the execution devices. But Topsy refused to cross the bridge and Goliath could not convince her to move at all. The planners offered 25 dollars to her former handler William "Whitey" Alt to help coax Topsy to the execution place. He refused to help kill the elephant in any way. Deciding to kill Topsy where she stood, the planners had to dismantle the execution devices and bring them to Topsy.
Topsy was first fed 460 grams of potassium cyanide in order to poison her. Then electrocuted with 6,600 volts for about 10 seconds. She fell to the ground following the electrocution, but the owners were not sure that she was dead. They uses a steam-powered winch to strangulate her for 10 minutes. A post-mortem examination of her corpse determined that the 10-second electrocution had already killed her. The winch was not needed at all. The poor innocent soul falsely thought to be a killer was dead. - Actor
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- Visual Effects
Tony Dow was an American actor, film producer, television director, and sculptor from Los Angeles, California. His most famous role was that of athletic adolescent Wallace "Wally" Cleaver in the popular sitcom "Leave It to Beaver" (1957-1963). Dow played the older brother to the series' protagonist Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver (played by Jerry Mathers). Bow returned to the role of Wally in the sequel series "The New Leave It to Beaver" (1983-1989), which featured the Cleaver brothers as married adults with children of their own.
In 1945, Dow was born in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He aspired to an acting career since childhood, but he only had a few theatrical roles until the late 1950s. He went to an open casting call for the upcoming sitcom "Leave It to Beaver., and he was cast in the regular role of Wallace "Wally" Cleaver. He replaced child actor Paul Sullivan, who played Wally in the series' pilot. Wally was depicted as a talented track and field athlete, basketball player and baseball player. He was well-liked by his teachers and popular with his peers, but his friendships with dimwitted bully Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford and untrustworthy schemer Edward Clark "Eddie" Haskell repeatedly landed him in trouble.
As the television series progressed, Dow received more screen-time for his character. He was often featured in "heartthrob"-type magazines for teen girls, and he was regarded as more popular than his co-star Jerry Mathers. "Leave It to Beaver" ended in 1963, after 6 seasons and 234 episodes. At 18, Dow was a bit too old to keep playing a high school student, while Mathers was considering an early retirement from acting. Dow then started appearing regularly at guest-star roles in television, until cast in a regular role for the short-lived soap opera "Never Too Young" (1965-1966). It was the first soap opera primarily aimed at an adolescent audience.
During the 1970s, Dow was mostly limited to guest star roles in television. To supplement his income, he found work at the construction industry. He also pursued studies in both filmmaking and journalism, thought they did not lead to an immediate change in his career. Dow played a parody of Wally Cleaver in the comedy film "The Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977), where his character caused trouble in a courtroom trial.
In 1983, Dow played Wally Cleaver in the reunion television film "Still the Beaver". He reunited with several of his former co-starts. The film served as a pilot for the sequel television series "The New Leave It to Beaver", which aired from 1984 to 1989. The series lasted for 4 seasons and 101 episodes. Dow played Wally as a skilled lawyer, who represented Beaver in a custody battle for his children. Meanwhile, Wally had to deal with marriage to his former sweetheart Mary Ellen Rogers (played by Janice Kent) and raising his daughter Kelly Cleaver (played by Kaleena Kiff). In 1987, Dow received a "Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award" for his role as Wally Cleaver.
In 1989, Dow made his debut as a television director. His first work in the field was an episode of the drama series "The New Lassie" (1989-1992), a sequel series to "Lassie" (1954-1973). He subsequently directed episodes of (among others) "Harry and the Hendersons", "Swamp Thing", "Coach", "Babylon 5", "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show", and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". In addition, Dow served as the visual effects supervisor for "Babylon 5". He provided the special effects for the television film "Doctor Who" (1996), a sequel to a long-running British television series.
In 1995, Dow produced the science fiction comedy film "The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space". In the film, aliens from the planet Pangea attempt to recruit the heroic Captain Zoom to help them in a war. The hero does not actually exist, and they have instead recruited the arrogant actor who was playing him on a television. The actor decides to use old science fiction script as inspiration for his strategies. The film was intended as an affectionate parody to both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.
In 1996, Dow produced the television film "It Came from Outer Space II". It was a remake (rather than a sequel) to the classic science fiction horror film "It Came from Outer Space" (1953). Both films feature shape-shifting aliens who have crash-landed on Earth, and who attempt to blend in with the human population. However, they manage to copy human appearance, but not human behavior and personalities. The remake was poorly received, and this was Dow's final effort as a producer.
During the 1990s, Dow admitted to the press that he had been diagnosed with clinical depression. He subsequently appeared in self-help videos concerning ways to struggle with the condition, such as "Beating the Blues" (1998). He also placed more efforts in his side career as a sculptor. He specialized in creating abstract bronze sculptures. In 2008, he was one of the artists representing the United States at the "Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts" exhibition in Paris. He displayed his sculpture of a warrior woman.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tom Drake was an American actor with a relatively lengthy career. Drake was born in 1918, in Brooklyn, New York. His real name was Alfred Sinclair Alderdice. He was educated at the Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, New York, and Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania,
He started his acting career in 1938, with theatrical performances in Broadway, New York City. He appeared in the plays "Run Sheep Run" (1938) and "Clean Beds" (1939), He initially used the stage name "Richard Alden", but later changed his stage name to "Tom Drake".
In the early 1940s, Drake started appearing in theatrical films. Following a number of uncredited parts as an extra, his first film credit was in the film "The Howards of Virginia" (1940), as the character James Howard. The setting of the film was 18th-century Virginia. In the film, the protagonist Matt Howard (played by Cary Grant) is a war orphan. His father was killed in the Braddock Expedition (1755), a failed British campaign during the French and Indian War. The impoverished Howard gains the favor and political patronage of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and uses this connection to acquire land and wealth, and build a new dynasty of plantation owners. But this family is undermined by the class difference and tensions between "new money" Matt and the "old money" heiress which he married.
In 1942, Drake received his first taste of fame by starring in the hit Broadway play "Janie". Afterwards, he was signed to a full contract with the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Drake was 24 years old, but was found ineligible for military service in World War II; his medical exams diagnosed a heart disease.
Drake's most memorable role during the War was the character John Truett in the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis". Truett was the boy next door, who served as the love interest for the character Esther Smith (played by Judy Garland). Following the War, Drake appeared in over 30 films and several television series. He broke out of typecasting in 1959, when playing gang leader Abe McQuown in the Western film "Warlock".
By the early 1970s, Drake's career was in decline. His final film role was the character Dr. Adam Forrest in the horror film "The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe" (1974), Drake died in 1982, suffering from lung cancer. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Thomas Newman is an American film score composer. He was born in Los Angeles. His father was notable film score composer Alfred Newman (1900-1970). The Newman family is of Russian-Jewish descent, and includes several other well-known musicians. Thomas' mother Martha Louis Montgomery (1920-2005) wanted her sons to have a musical education. Thomas attended regular lessons in violin as a child. An older Thomas received his musical education while attending the University of Southern California and Yale University. Thomas Newman graduated as Bachelor of Arts in 1977, and a Master of Music in 1978.
Thomas originally composed music for theatrical productions in Broadway, working with his mentor Stephen Sondheim. His uncle Lionel Newman asked him to compose music for the television series "The Paper Chase" (1978-1979, 1986), which was Thomas' first credit in a television production.
In the 1980s, Thomas first worked in film. Composer John Williams, a close family friend, hired Thomas to work in the music department for space opera film "Return of the Jedi" (1983). Thomas' main work in the film was orchestrating the music in a scene where character Darth Vader dies. Afterwards, Thomas was approached by film producer Scott Rudin and hired to work as a film score composer in his own right. His first work in the field was the film score of romantic drama "Reckless" (1984).
While he worked regularly as a film score composer during the 1980s, Thomas reportedly felt he had to retrain himself for a hard and demanding job. It reportedly took him 8 years to not feel fraudulent in his efforts. In 1994, Thomas received his first Academy Award nominations, for the film scores of "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) and "Little Women" (1994). He lost the Award to rival composer Hans Zimmer, who had been nominated for the film score of the animated film "The Lion King" (1994).
Newman was an established and increasingly famous composer in the 1990s. He received further Academy Award nominations, although he never actually won. Among his more notable works was the film score of the drama film "American Beauty" (1999), which earned Thomas both a Grammy and a BAFTA award. Newman had a good working relationship with the film's director Sam Mendes. Mendes has kept hiring Thomas as the composer for most of his films. The main exception being the comedy-drama film "Away We Go" (2009), which did not have a film score.
In the 2000s, Thomas continued working in high-profile films, such as "Road to Perdition" (2002), "Finding Nemo" (2003), and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events". By 2006, he had been nominated eight times for an Academy Award, while never winning it. He started joking about his lack of victories in public.
In 2008, Thomas was nominated for two Academy Awards, for both the film score and an original song for the animated film "WALL-E" (2008). He won neither, though the hit song "Down to Earth" earned him a Grammy Award. He continues to work regularly in the 2010s. Among his more acclaimed works were the film scores for spy film "Skyfall" (2012) and period drama "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013). He has continued being nominated for Academy Awards. As of 2020, he has been nominated 15 times for the Academy Award. He is the most nominated living composer to have never actually won an Academy Award, tied with Alex North. He has won a total of 5 Grammy awards.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The Big Bopper (real name: Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. ) was an American singer, songwriter, and disc jockey from Texas. His best known song compositions were" Chantilly Lace" (featuring a flirtatious phone conversation) and "White Lightning" (a rockabilly hit). Richardson was killed in an airplane crash in the winter of 1959, alongside fellow musicians Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. He was only 28-years-old. Their death date on February 3, 1959 is remembered as "The Day the Music Died".
In 1930, Richardson was born in the small town of Sabine Pass, Texas. The town is primarily remembered as the location of two different battles in the American Civil War. It was annexed by the neighboring city of Port Arthur, Texas in 1978. Richardson's parents were the oil-field worker Jiles Perry Richardson (1905-1984) and his wife Elise Stalsby (1909-1983). Richardson was the eldest of three sons born to the family.
Richardson was primarily raised in Beaumont, Texas, and attended Beaumont High School. He graduated in 1947, at the age of 17. He was reportedly an athletic young man, and served as a defensive lineman in the American football team "Royal Purple". He received his college education at Lamar College in Beaumont, Texas (later renamed to Lamar University). He was a pre-law student.
During his college years, Richardson was a part-time worker at the radio station KTRM in his hometown of Beaumont Texas. In 1949, he was hired by the station as a full-time employee. He decided to drop out of college at that time. In 1952, Richardson married his girlfriend Adrienne Joy "Teetsie" Wenner (1936-2004). The new couple soon had their first daughter, Debra Richardson (1953-2006).
By 1954, Richardson had been promoted to the rank of supervisor of announcers at KTRM. In March 1955, Richardson was drafted into the United States Army. He completed his basic training at Fort Ord, California. He was then transferred to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, where he spend his two years of army service as a radar instructor. He was discharged from the Army in March 1957, with the rank of corporal.
Richardson was immediately rehired by KTRM, and granted his own music show. Richardson had seen college students performing a dance called "The Bop". He decided to adopt the stage name "The Big Bopper" for his new show. His show run for 3 hours in the afternoons. He was also promoted, becoming the radio station's program director.
In May 1957, Richardson set a new record for length of on-air broadcasting. He performed a single continuous broadcast for a total of five days, two hours, and eight minutes, during which he played 1,821 different records. While he had become famous as a disc jockey, he soon started working as a songwriter. He composed notable songs for George Jones and Johnny Preston.
Richardson was interested in performing his own songs. He signed a contract with the record producer Pappy Daily (1902-1987), who specialized in promoting country acts. Richardson's first single, "Beggar to a King", was met with indifference by the public. Richardson had his first great hit with "Chantilly Lace" (released in June, 1958). It reached the 6th place on the pop charts, spending 22 weeks in the national Top 40. It established Richardson's new stage persona as a "good-natured caricature of a ladies' man".
Richardson had his second hit song with the novelty song "The Big Bopper's Wedding". The song's main character is about to get married, but gets cold feet at the altar. In January 1959, Richardson was ready to promote his music act with live performances. He signed up to participate in the concert tour "Winter Dance Party", alongside Buddy Holly (and his band-mates), Ritchie Valens, and the vocal group "Dion and the Belmonts". The tour was scheduled to cover twenty-four Midwestern cities in as many days, with no off days for the music performers.
On January 23, 1959, the tour started with a live performance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By February 2, the touring performers reached Clear Lake, Iowa, for their 11th performance. However, the tour was poorly planned and the musicians had run into problems. The tour "erratically zigzagged back and forth across" the Midwestern United States, with the musicians spending between ten to twelve hours each day in a tour bus. They faced "freezing mid-winter temperatures" and poorly maintained rural highways. The tour buses broke down frequently, and had to be replaced 5 times in 11 days. No road crew had been hired to assist the musicians with transporting their equipment. Both Richardson and Valens were sick, experiencing flu-like symptoms.
By the time the touring musicians reached Iowa, Holly was fed-up with the traveling conditions. He chartered a plane to fly himself and his band to Fargo, North Dakota, which was closer to their next destination at Moorhead, Minnesota. The plane was a single-engined, V-tailed Beechcraft 35 Bonanza, with enough space for three seated passengers and the pilot. Richardson asked to join the flight, as he was too ill to keep traveling by bus. Valens requested the third seated place in the flight, and won it in a coin toss with another musician.
The chartered plane took off from Mason City Municipal Airport on February 3, 1959, with weather conditions including light snowing and winds estimated as reaching the speed of 20 to 30 mph (32 to 48 km/h). The flight would prove fatal for all three passengers. The Bonanza impacted terrain at high speed in a nose-down attitude. Richardson's body was found at some distance from the the wreckage of the aircraft, thrown into a cornfield. A coroner determined that the cause of Richardson's death was "gross trauma to brain".
Richardson was buried in his home state of Texas. Two months following his death, Richardson gained a posthumous son by his wife. The son, Jay Perry Richardson (1959-2013), became a musician as well. He used the stage name "The Big Bopper, Jr." The elder Richardson's remains were transferred alongside his wife's grave in 2007, at the request of their son. The couple are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, located in Beaumont, Texas. A stainless steel monument to Richardson, Holly, and Valens was erected at the crash site in 1988.- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Taran Davies is the son of American and British parents, and has lived in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He has attended both Eton College and Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard in 1993.
He created his first film documentary film in 1994, called "Around the Sacred Sea". It chronicled a journey around Lake Baikal in Siberia. Since then most of his films as a producer and director have been about Islam and the Islamic world, though Davies is not himself a Muslim.
Davies took a regular job in banking in 1996, while continuing with film-making projects on the side. In 2001, he was living in New York City in 2001 and witnessed first-hand the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The event inspired him to devote himself to film-making as a profession and to try to educate Western audiences about different aspects of the Islamic world.- Actress
Tammy Lynn Leppert was an American beauty queen and model. She had a few acting roles in the early 1980s but mysteriously disappeared at the age of 18. Her disappearance has generated much publicity, and her case remains open.
In 1965, Leppert was born in Rockledge, Florida. The city was a fashionable resort town in the late 19th century and early 20th century. By the 1960s, it had turned into a bedroom community for the nearby Kennedy Space Center. Leppert was a curly-haired blonde girl with hazel eyes. Around 1969, the 4-year-old Leppert participated in her first beauty contest.
Leppert spent most of her childhood in near-constant competition for beauty pageants. She is estimated to have been a contestant in about 300 beauty pageants and to have won about 280 crowns. She started a modeling career in her late childhood and continued modeling into her teen years. In 1978, her photos appeared in the magazine "CoverGirl".
Leppert had aspirations for an acting career, though she lacked formal training in acting. In 1980, she had a bit part in the teen-oriented comedy-drama film "Little Darlings". The film's plot revolved around two teenage girls who placed a bet on which of them would lose her virginity first, while several other girls took an interest in their contest.
In 1983, Leppert appeared as a female participant in a boxing match featured in the sex comedy "Spring Break". After the end of the film's shooting, Leppert decided to party. She went unaccompanied to a weekend party but reportedly had a disturbing experience there. After she returned home, Leppert started displaying signs of paranoia and persecutory beliefs. She was convinced that somebody would try to kill her and started taking precautions to prevent anyone from placing poison in her food and drink.
Leppert's last acting role was in a key scene of the crime drama film "Scarface". Her role was that of a bikini-clad girl who intentionally distracts the lookout car, preventing its occupants from intervening in a torture scene. Leppert reportedly displayed irrational behavior on the film's set and was escorted to her home after the fourth day of filming.
After Leppert stopped working on "Scarface", Leppert's mother became convinced that something was wrong with her daughter. She arranged for Leppert to undergo a medical evaluation in a medical center. After staying there for 72 hours, Leppert was released. The examining doctor found no signs of drug or alcohol use in Leppert, and she appeared to be physically healthy.
On July 6, 1983, Leppert arranged for a male friend to drive her to an unspecified location. They argued during the drive, and the friend dropped her off at Cocoa Beach, Florida, not far from Leppert's residence. He was the last person to see her alive. Leppert vanished without a trace, and the police and FBI soon started investigating her disappearance. As of the early 2020s, the investigative authorities have acquired a DNA profile of Leppert, but they do not have her dental records and fingerprints.
The FBI has theorized that Leppert was killed by serial killer Christopher Wilder (1945-1984), an amateur photographer who habitually targeted models and beauty contestants to rape and kill. Wilder lived in Florida from 1969 to 1984, and he went on a cross-country crime spree a few months following Leppert's disappearance. However, there is no physical evidence tying him to the case. Another major suspect was John Brennan Crutchley (1946-2002), a convicted rapist and kidnapper who was also suspected of being both a serial killer and a professional spy. Crutchley moved to Florida in 1983 and resided in the same county as Leppert. However, authorities were never able to prove that Crutchley had ever killed anyone.
Leppert's disappearance has ensured enduring fame from her, and she is often featured in true-crime books and documentaries. Various investigative authorities have repeatedly announced possible new leads when unidentified female corpses with superficial similarities to Leppert have been discovered. Between 1984 and 2014, the remains of 13 different women were compared to physical samples from Leppert, but none of them was an exact match. It is not clear whether Leppert is still alive or long gone.- Actress
- Music Department
- Writer
Tabitha St. Germain (also known by the alias of Paulina Gillis) is a Canadian actress. She has made the transition from stage work to voice work, and has since become one of the core voice actresses working in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As Paulina Gillis, she won a Dora Award in 1995 for her performance in Assassins, the Stephen Sondheim musical.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sylvia Miles was an American actress, born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, without ever winning the Award.
Miles was born under the name "Sylvia Scheinwald". Her parents were furniture maker Reuben Scheinwald and his wife Belle Feldman. Miles attended Washington Irving High School, located in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan. She received her acting education at the Actors Studio, located the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.
Miles made her theatrical debut in 1947, at the age of 23. She started appearing on television in 1954. Her film debut was the gangster film "Murder, Inc." (1960), dramatizing the career of an organized crime group active from c. 1930 to 1940. The real-life group were enforcers for the National Crime Syndicate, a loose confederation of American crime organizations.
Subsequent film appearances for Miles included the generation-gap themed drama "Parrish" (1961), the serial-killed themed horror film "Violent Midnight" (1963), and the child-labor themed drama "Pie in the Sky" (1964), Meanwhile, Miles lost a chance at television fame, when playing the character of comedy writer Sally Rogers in the 1960 pilot episode "Head of the Family". The pilot was the basis of the popular television show "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961-1966), and Sally Rogers was part of the main cast. But in the regular series, Miles was replaced by fellow actress Rose Marie (1923-2017).
Miles had a scene-stealing performance in her next film project, "Midnight Cowboy" (1969). She played Cass, an aging kept woman, who invites Joe Buck (played by Jon Voight) to her apartment for sex. The role allowed Miles to Show off her "voluptuous figure" and overall sex-appeal. For this role, she received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was instead won by Goldie Hawn (1945-).
Miles subsequent films included the meta-fictional drama "The Last Movie" (1971), the mystery film "Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?" (1971), and the seduction-themed comedy-drama "Heat" (1972). Her most notable role at the time was that of Jessie Halstead Florian in the crime thriller "Farewell, My Lovely". The film was the second film adaptation of Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel, and depicted private detective Philip Marlowe working in a missing-person case. For her role in the film Miles received her second nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was instead won by Lee Grant (c. 1925-).
Miles subsequent films films included the rivalry-themed drama "92 in the Shade" (1975), the period comedy "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" (1976), the supernatural horror film "The Sentinel" (1977), the repossession-themed comedy "Zero to Sixty" (1978), and the heist film "Shalimar".
The 1980s opened with Miles playing murdered prostitute Madame Zena in the horror film "The Funhouse" (1981), with the murder setting off the film's main plot. She next played theatrical producer Myra Gardener in the mystery film "Evil Under the Sun" (1982). The film was an adaptation of the 1941 novel by Agatha Christie, and featured Myra as one on the film's murder suspects.
Miles' next few films included hospital-themed comedy "Critical Condition" (1987), the fairy-tale themed fantasy film "Sleeping Beauty" (1987), the romantic comedy "Crossing Delancey" (1988), the mafia-themed comedy-drama "Spike of Bensonhurst" (1988), and the revenge-themed black comedy "She-Devil" (1989). Her most notable role in this period was that of Dolores the Realtor in the corporate-raider themed drama "Wall Street" (1987), a box office hit of the time.
Miles' career slowed down in the 1990s, in part due to her increasingly poor health. She was suffering from anemia and respiratory issues. Her next few films included the friendship-themed comedy "Denise Calls Up" (1995), the marijuana-themed comedy "High Times' Potluck" (2002), and the strip-club themed comedy "Go Go Tales" (2007).
Miles returned to the role Dolores the Realtor in the sequel film "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (2010). It was her last notable film role. She spend the last months of her life in a nursing home, and died during her transportation to a hospital in 2019. She was 94 years old, one of the oldest living actresses at the time.- Susan Morrow was an American actress, who was primarily active during the 1950s. She was the older sister of Judith Exner (1934-1999), a woman who claimed to have served as the mistress of politician John F. Kennedy, gang leader Sam Giancana (boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966), and gangster John Roselli (a Chicago Outfit member who helped the organization in its control over Hollywood).
Morrow was born under the name "Jacqueline Ann Teresa Bernadette Immoor", daughter to Frederick W. Immoor and his wife Katherine Shea. Morrow made her film debut with the comic strip adaptation "Gasoline Alley" (1951), based on the long-running comic strip (1918-) by Frank King (1883-1969). She was 20-years-old at the time of her film debut.
Morrow played the character Hope Wallet in both "Gasoline Alley" and its sequel "Corky of Gasoline Alley" (1951). She had a supporting role in the suicide-themed drama "On the Loose" (1951).
Morrow played female lead Tally Hathersall in the Western "The Savage" (1952). Her subsequent roles included adventure film "The Blazing Forest" (1952), and the mystery film "Problem Girls" (1953). She was the female lead in the science-fiction movie serial . "Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders" (1953), where she played undercover agent Kay Conway of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) .
Morrow's next prominent role was that of cat-woman Lambda in the science fiction film "Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953). Her only subsequent film roles were in the war drama "Batle Cry" (1955) and the horror film "Macabre" (1958). She was reduced to supporting roles in both films.
Morrow's television career consisted primarily of guest star roles in then-popular television series, such as "Gunsmoke", "Perry Mason", and "Maverick". By 1960, her television appearances had ended. She apparently retired from acting, at the age of 29.
Morrow lived in relative obscurity until her death in 1985. She was 53-years-old at the time. Some of Morrow's roles are fondly remembered by genre film fans, but not much is known for her off-screen life. - Susan Eisenberg is an American voice actress. She voiced the superheroine Wonder Woman in the animated series "Justice League" (2001-2004) and its sequel "Justice League Unlimited" (2004-2006). She has since voiced the character in several animated films and video games. Her other notable voice roles include the reformed thief Viper in "Jackie Chan Adventures" (2000-2005), the Jedi master Shaak Ti in "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" (2008), the superheroine Power Princess in a 2010 episode of "The Super Hero Squad Show", the superheroine Mera in "Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Aquaman: Rage of Atlantis" (2018), and the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull in "Masters of the Universe: Revelation" (2021).
Eisenberg was born into a Jewish family. She studied acting at the American University (located in Washington, D.C.), the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (located in New York City), and the University of California, Los Angeles (located in Los Angeles). She had bit parts in several films and television series of the 1990s, but did not get a chance at the spotlight until the early 2000s. - Animation Department
- Art Department
- Writer
Susan Carol "Sue" Nichols was an artist from Massachusetts, active in the field of animation from the 1980s to the 2010s. She variously worked as a story writer, a visual development artist, a character designer, a storyboard artist, and a supervising artist. She is primarily remembered as one of the credited writers for the feature films "Aladdin" (1992) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996). In 2020,she was posthumously awarded with a Winsor McCay Award for her contributions in animation.
In 1965, Nichols was born in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The town is located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from downtown Springfield. The former basis off its economy were its brownstone quarries. Nichols received her secondary education at the East Longmeadow High School, the only secondary school in her hometown. She graduated in 1983.
Nichols enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) to study visual animation. She formally graduated in 1987, and would later return to CalArts as a faculty member. Prior to her graduation, she had already served as a design artist for the syndicated television series "My Little Pony" (1986-1987). From 1986 to 1989, she served as a model designer for the long-running series "Muppet Babies" (1984-1991). She was credited as a character modeler in early episodes of the educational series "McGee and Me!" (1989-1995).
Nichols was eventually hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and would remain affiliated with the animation studio for decades. Her debut film was "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), where she was a visual development artist. Her subsequent film credits included "Aladdin" (1992), "The Lion King" (1994), "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), "Hercules" (1997), "Mulan" (1998), "Fantasia 2000" (1999), "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000), "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (2001), "Lilo & Stitch" (2002), "The Princess and the Frog" (2009), and "Moana" (2016).
During the 2000s, Nichols started working for the sibling studio Disneytoon Studios (1990-2018). Many of the studio's films were direct-to-video productions. Her film credits for the studio included "Piglet's Big Movie" (2003), "Mulan II" (2004), and "Bambi II" (2006).While commercially successful, these films were dismissed as derivative works by critics.
In 2015, Nichols was diagnosed with breast cancer. While she continued working in animation, her output was rather limited in this period. She died in September 2020, at the age of 55. Disney commemorated her death with an online listing of her achievements in animation, and through providing photos of her character designs from the 1990s.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Stuart Erwin was an American actor who often worked as a voice actor in radio and animation. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California in 1903. Squaw Valley is a census-designated place, the location of a post office which has operated on-and-off since 1879. It is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the east of the county seat, Fresno. Despite the similarity in names, it has no connection to the Squaw Valley Ski Resort, which is located in Placer County, California.
Erwin attended school at Porterville High School in Porterville, California. Porterville was at the time a local center for the mining industry, primarily known for the extraction of magnetite from nearby mines. Erwin latter attended the University of California. He started performing on stage as an actor while still a college student. During the 1920s, Erwin mainly appeared on repertory theatre in Los Angeles.
In 1928, Erwin made his film debut in the biographical film "Mother Knows Best." The film was largely based on the life of actress and singer Elsie Janis (1889-1956), and depicted her relationship with the stage mother who managed her career since childhood. The film was mainly notable as the first "talkie" (sound film) produced by the film studio Fox Film (1915-1935), using the Movietone sound system.
Erwin regularly appeared in theatrical films during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but was infrequently cast on major roles. His first memorable role was that of oil-industry businessman and radio-station owner Leslie McWhinney in the musical comedy "The Big Broadcast" (1932). In the film, McWhinney is both the employer and a close friend to singer Bing Crosby (1903-1977). The film was Crosby's first starring role as an actor, and he depicted a fictionalized version of himself.
Erwin gained a starring role in the comedy film "Palooka" (1934), an adaptation of the popular comic strip "Joe Palooka" (1930-1984) by cartoonist Ham Fisher (1900-1955). Erwin was cast in the role of Joe Palooka himself. Palooka was depicted as a professional boxer, but with a kind heart, a hero's instinct to protect others, and rather limited intelligence. In the film, the role of the middle-aged Knobby Walsh, Palooka's Irish-born manager and the mastermind behind his rise to fame, was played by Jimmy Durante (1893-1980).
In 1936, Erwin starred as hillbilly Amos Dodd in the comedy "Pigskin Parade." In the film, Amos is an uneducated farmer from Arkansas who has an amazing talent for American football, so he gets recruited as a college football player by a Texas-based university. The role met with critical praise, and Erwin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. However, the Award for that year was won by rival actor Walter Brennan (1894-1974).
In radio, Erwin had a recurring role in "Phone Again Finnegan" (1946), and played multiple roles in the anthology series "Lux Radio Theatre" (1934-1955), "Cavalcade of America" (1935-1953), and "The United States Steel Hour" (1943-1953).
From 1950 to 1955, Erwin starred in the television sitcom "The Stu Erwin Show." The series lasted for a total of 130 episodes, and cast Erwin in the role of a high-school principal who was also the father of high-spirited teens. After the sitcom ended, Erwin frequently appeared as a guest star on other television shows.
In 1963, Erwin played the role of football coach Wilson in the science-fiction comedy film "Son of Flubber," The film was a commercial success, earning about $22 million at the North American box office. It was the seventh-most commercially successful film of 1963, being outperformed by "Cleopatra" (first), "How the West Was Won" (second), "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (third), 'Tom Jones" (fourth), "Irma la Douce" (fifth), and "The Sword in the Stone" (sixth). "Son of Flubber" itself outperformed the horror film "The Birds" (eighth), the spy film "Dr. No" (ninth), and the drama film "The V.I.P.s" (tenth).
In 1964, Erwin played the role of Police Chief Loomis in another science-fiction comedy film, "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones." This film earned only $4 million at the box office but was considered successful enough to receive a sequel, "The Monkey's Uncle" (1965). Erwin was not asked to appear in the sequel. "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" was Erwin's last film role.
From 1965 to 1967, Erwin was limited to playing guest star roles in various television series, such as "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," and "Lassie." In December 1967, Erwin suffered a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and died in Beverly Hills. He was 64. He was survived by his wife June Collyer (1906-1968), who died of pneumonia in March 1968.
The bodies of both Erwin and Collyer were cremated. Their ashes were interred at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory, in Los Angeles.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Stevie Ray Vaughan was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Dallas, Texas. He was the main guitarist and frontman for the musical trio "Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble" from 1978 to his death in 1990. Vaughan and his band-mates specialized in blues rock, and Vaughan was a key figure in the blues revival of the 1980s. He was killed in an accidental helicopter crash at the age of 35. His recordings continued to sell well following his death, and he has been cited as an influence on musicians of the blues, rock, and alternative genres.
In 1954, Vaughan was born in Dallas Texas. His father was Jimmie Lee "Big Jim" Vaughan (1921-1986), a World War II veteran who had served in the United States Navy. Vaughan's paternal grandparents were the sharecroppers Thomas Lee Vaughan (died in 1928) and Laura Belle LaRue. Laura was an amateur pianist and singer.
Vaughan reportedly had a difficult childhood. Big Jim (his father) struggled with alcohol abuse and had a violent temper. He was physically abusive with both his family and his friends. Vaughan idolized his own older brother, the aspiring musician Jimmie Vaughan (1951-). Vaughan wanted to become a musician as well, and unsuccessfully attempted to use the drums and the saxophone at an early age.
In 1961, Vaughan received a toy guitar as a gift. The guitar was a Western-themed "Wyatt Earp" model, a type produced by Jefferson Manufacturing from 1959 to 1968. Vaughan learned how to use the guitar by ear, and practiced on playing tunes by the Nightcaps. The Nightcaps (his favorite band) were a Dallas-based blues band. Vaughan would later study the music recordings of the guitarists Albert King, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, Lonnie Mack, and Kenny Burrell. He tried to emulate their playing-style, in order to improve his own guitar skills.
In 1963, Vaughan received a hand-me-down electric guitar from his brother Jimmie. It was a Gibson ES-125T, a model popular from 1941 to 1970. In 1965, Vaughan joined the Chantones, his first band. They participated in a talent show, but were unable to perform a Jimmy Reed song in its entirety. Vaughan was disappointed and quit the band.
During his early teen years, Vaughan performed professionally at local bars and clubs. He performed with a local band, the Brooklyn Underground. He met with the disapproval of both his parents, and he was increasingly miserable in his home life. In 1969, Vaughan auditioned for a position in the pop rock band Southern Distributor. He was hired after impressing the band-mates with a perfect rendition of the song "Jeff's Boogie" by the the Yardbirds. However, his fascination with the blues met with the band's disapproval, as they believed that nobody could make a living by playing the blues. The band soon disbanded.
Later in 1969, Vaughan had a jam session with the experienced bass guitarist Tommy Shannon (1946-). They liked each other's style, and would on occasion perform together over the following years. In February 1970, Vaughan became the main guitarist of the band Liberation. The group's original guitarist, Scott Phares, stepped down from that role. He believed that Vaughan outclassed him in guitar performances. Later in 1970, the band performed with another new Texas-based band, called ZZ Top (1969-).
In September 1970, Vaughan recorded two songs with the band Cast of Thousands. The songs were intended for a compilation album, and were the first studio recordings in Vaughan's career. In January 1971, Vaughan quit the band Liberation in order to form his own band. He called the new band Blackbird. At that point, Vaughan decided to drop out of high school and move to Austin, Texas with his band-mates. Austin reputedly had more liberal and tolerant audiences than Dallas, and Vaughan was frustrated with the conservative culture of Dallas.
In Austin, Vaughan took residence in the blues club Rolling Hills Club. He and Blackbird opened shows for bands such as Sugarloaf, Wishbone Ash, and Zephyr. Success eluded them, and the band had a frequent changes in its membership. Vaughan himself quit the band in December 1972. He served for 3 months as a new member of the band Krackerjack.
In March 1973, Vaughan joined the band Nightcrawlers. The band included a number of his old acquaintances as members. They recorded an album at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, but it was rejected by a record company. The album included Vaughan's first songwriting efforts, "Dirty Pool" and "Crawlin". Later that year, the band signed a contract with music impresario Bill Ham (1937 -2016). Ham arranged gigs for them across the Southern United States, but was disappointed at the lack of audience interest in their performances. Ham left the band stranded in Mississippi, and later wanted the members to reimburse for his expenses.
In 1975, Vaughan joined the band "Paul Ray and the Cobras". He started giving weekly performances at Austin clubs. In late 1976, Vaughan and his new band recorded their first single. It was released in February 1977, to positive reviews by the local music press. The band topped a poll by the counterculture newspaper "Austin Sun" (1974-1978), voted by the readers as the band of the year. Vaughan went on a tour with the band.
In the autumn of 1977, Vaughan was disappointed to learn that the Cobras planned to change their music style and to strive for a "mainstream" musical direction. He soon quit the band, and formed the new band Triple Threat Revue. In January 1978, the new band recorded four songs. These were their only audio recordings, as they disbanded for unknown reasons. Vaughan had written the lyrics to one of their songs.
In May 1978, Vaughan co-founded the band Double Trouble with the singer Lou Ann Barton (1954-) and the drummer Fredde "Pharaoh" Walden. They named themselves after the title of a song by Otis Rush. Walden quit the band in July, and was briefly replaced by Jack Moore. Moore himself quit the band by early September, replaced by Chris Layton (1955-). Vaughan and Layton would continue performing together until 1990.
Vaughan's personal life underwent changes in the summer of 1978. He first met and befriended Lenora "Lenny" Bailey. The two soon started a romantic relationship to each other. They were married in December 1979, at Vaughan's insistence. The marriage lasted until 1988, ending in a divorce. Lenny was Vaughan's only wife, and his longest-lasting romantic relationship.
In October 1978, Vaughan and his band became resident performers at the Rome Inn, at the time one of the most popular music venues in Austin. In November 1979, Vaughan himself signed a management contract with Chesley Millikin. Millikin was the manager of Manor Downs, a horse racetrack which was also used as a music venue. In October 1980, Tommy Shannon applied for a position with the band. Vaughan thought about it, and recruited him in early 1981. Vaughan and Shannon would continue performing together until 1990.
In July 1982, Vaughan and his band were booked for the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. They were booed by part of the audience, leaving Vaughan depressed. However, the performance impressed some music lovers. The band was soon booked for a performance at the lounge of the Montreux Casino, and were offered use of Jackson Browne's personal recording studio in downtown Los Angeles. They took the offer and recorded ten songs in two days.
While staying in Los Angeles, Vaughan was approached by famous musician David Bowie (1976-2016). They had met in Montreux, and Vaughan had made a favorable impression. Bowie wanted Vaughan to perform as a guitarist in his next studio album, "Let's Dance". Vaughan accepted. In January 1983, Vaughan performed on six of the album's eight songs. One of them was a new rendition of "China Girl", which Bowie had co-written in 1977. The album was released in April 1983, to massive commercial success. It became Bowie's best-selling album, and EMI's fastest-selling record since the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967).
In March 1983, Vaughan and Double Trouble signed a contract with Epic Records (1953-). The company was a music subsidiary of CBS Records. It became a leading record label of the 1980s, after signing contracts with such music stars of the era as Michael Jackson and Gloria Estefan. The company financed Double Trouble's music video "Love Struck Baby", a first for the band.
In April 1983, Vaughan initially agreed to perform with David Bowie in the concert tour Serious Moonlight Tour. Vaughan quit the tour days before its opening date in May 1983, due to the failure of contract re-negotiations for his performance fee. Although he was mildly disappointed at the lack of an agreement, the publicity generated by his resignation boosted Vaughan's fame. In early May 1983, Vaughan and Double Trouble opened a New York City show for Bryan Adams (1959-). At the time, the music press commented that Vaughan was more impressive than Adams.
Vaughan released his debut studio album in June 1983, "Texas Flood". The album peaked at 38th place on the Billboard 200 chart shortly after its release, despite part of the press complaining about Vaughan's supposed lack of originality. Two of its songs were nominated for Grammy Awards. On June 16, Vaughan gave a performance at Tango nightclub in Dallas, in order to celebrate the album's release. About 700 people attended the performance, including radio station personalities and executives from New York City. Based on the album's success Double Trouble were booked as the opening act for a two-months tour with The Moody Blues, receiving 5,000 dollars for each performance. For the first time, the band was performing in crowded coliseums.
In January 1984, Vaughan and his band recorded their second album, "Couldn't Stand the Weather". They were joined by several other musicians for the recordings, including Jimmie Vaughan. The album was released in May 1984, and quickly outsold its predecessor. It peaked at number 31, and spent 38 weeks on the charts. The album confirmed that Vaughan's acclaimed debut was no fluke, and Vaughan was considered a leader in the then-ongoing commercial revival of the blues genre. Having played blues for most of his life, Vaughan had no real need to change his style.
In October 1984, Vaughan headlined a performance at Carnegie Hall. His concert included several guest musicians, with vocalist Angela Strehli (1945-) performing with them. They performed in front of an audience of 2,200 people, including Vaughan's wife and his family. The performance was recorded and later released as an official live LP. In late 1984, the band toured Australia and New Zealand. In November 1984, they played two successful concerts at the Sydney Opera House. Vaughan took a short vacation in December, and toured Japan in January 1985.
In March 1985, Vaughan and his band started recording their third album, "Soul to Soul". Vaughan had trouble with their recording sessions. He suffered from a lack of inspiration, and he had trouble concentrating due to an excessive use of alcohol and other drugs. In April 1985, Vaughan performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the Houston Astrodome. He was barely lucid at the time. His performance was booed by the audience, and the music press noted that nobody had asked Vaughan for his autograph.
"Soul to Soul" was released in September 1985, to great commercial success. It peaked at 34th place on the Billboard 200, and remained in the charts through mid-1986. However, it did not match the sales of their previous album. The press commented that Vaughan was running out of gas. Vaughan himself commented in an interview about the troubled production of the album, though he felt that his band still managed to stay strong.
In 1985 and 1986, Vaughan and his band spend nearly 10th months in constant touring. They did not have time for recording sessions. Epic Records eventually notified them that they were under contractual obligation to record a 4th album. Vaughan decided to record the new LP ( "Live Alive") during three live appearances in Austin and Dallas. They used recordings of their concerts to assemble the LP, with Vaughan himself serving as the producer. What they recorded, however, were "chaotic jams with no control".
"Live Alive" was released in November 1986. It peaked at the 52nd place at the Billboard 200. Music critics complained about Vaughan's "uneven playing" in these recordings. Vaughan later commented in an interview that he was in a bad shape at the time, and that the recordings sounded like "the work of half-dead people".
Back in September 1986, Vaughan collapsed after a performance in Germany. He was suffering from near-fatal dehydration, and required medical treatment. The experience convinced Vaughan to quit drugs, and to seek rehabilitation. He spend months in three different rehab clinics, located in London, Atlanta, and Austin. He was released in November 1986, and required positive reassurance to start performing again. He started a new tour on November 23.
In January 1987, Vaughan filed for a divorce from his wife Lenny. The legal proceedings restricted him from taking part in new music projects. He could not write or and record songs for almost two years. His band-mates composed the new song "Crossfire" without him. Vaughan was ,however, able to appear with them in concerts. Vaughan toured Europe with the band in 1988, ending his concert appearances in Finland.
In 1988, Vaughan's divorce was finalized. He and his band started recording their fourth and final studio album, "In Step". Vaughan wrote songs about addiction and redemption, and the album's liner notes contained references to the twelve-step program proposed by the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The album was released in June 1989. It peaked at 33rd on the Billboard 200, spending 47 weeks on the chart. Critics took note of songs with "startling emotional honesty", remarking that Vaughan's songwriting ability had improved.
On August 27, 1990, Vaughan performed at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre, located in the Alpine Valley Resort of East Troy, Wisconsin. He was performing with members of Eric Clapton's touring entourage. Vaughan departed the music venue with a Bell 206B helicopter, as the only road in and out of the area was nearly inaccessible due to heavy traffic. The helicopter crashed into a nearby ski hill shortly after takeoff. Vaughan was killed, along with the pilot and three other passengers. Vaughan was only 35-years-old at the time of his death.
At the time of the accident, there were foggy conditions in the area, resulting in low visibility for the pilot. A later investigation determined that the pilot was qualified to fly by instruments in a fixed-wing aircraft, but had no such qualifications for flying a helicopter. Vaughan was buried at Laurel Land Cemetery in Dallas, Texas, with his funeral attended by 3,000 mourners. In 1993, a memorial statue of Vaughan was unveiled in Austin.- Writer
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Steven T. Seagle is an American professional writer from Biloxi, Mississippi, who has worked extensively in the fields of animation and comics. He was a founding member of the writer collective "Man of Action Entertainment", joining forces with fellow writers Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Duncan Rouleau. They were the creators of the popular animated series "Ben 10" (2005-2008), which has spawned several sequel series. Seagle has served as a college instructor for Ball State University, Pasadena City College, and Mt. San Antonio College.
In 1965, Seagle was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. The city houses the Keesler Air Force Base, and serves as a base for both the 81st Training Wing and the 403d Wing of the U.S. Air Force Reserve. Seagle's father was Jack Seagle, a member of the United States Air Force. Due to his father's military career, the Seagle family moved frequently. Seagle was partially raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as his father was twice transferred to the nearby United States Air Force Academy.
Seagle was introduced to comic books c. 1971, when his mother purchased an issue of "Spider-Man" as a gift for Seagle's brother and an issue of the "Avengers" for Seagle himself. By chance, Seagle's introduction to Marvel Comics' stories was the "Kree-Skrull War" story-line, a space opera story depicting conflict between two rival space-faring races of aliens. By 1978, Seagle started collecting comics as a hobby. His favorite title were the "X-Men", where he enjoyed stories by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
Following his father's retirement from the Air Force, Seagle and his family moved back to Colorado Springs. Seagle received his secondary education at Coronado High School, within Colorado Springs. During his high school years, Seagle was an amateur musician. He participated in a marching band, an orchestra, a jazz band, and a group of chamber singers. As a summer job, Seagle worked at Flying W Ranch. It was a working cattle ranch, active from 1953 to 2012.
Seagle started working as a comic book writer in the late 1980s. His first notable work was the black-and-white mini-series "Kafka" (1987) for the short-lived publisher Renegade Press (1984-1989).The series was well-received, and was nominated for an Eisner Award. He subsequently created the unrelated mini-series "The Amazon" (1989) for Comico. In 1991, Seagle published the one-shot comic book "In Thin Air: The Mystery of Amelia Earhart ". It was inspired by the mysterious disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart in 1937.
Following a hiatus of a few years, Seagle emerged as a new writer for Wildstorm in 1994. He wrote stories for the team books "WildC.A.T.s" and "Stormwatch", at a time when "WildC.A.T.s" was a flagship title for the company. He also wrote solo stories for popular characters from WildC.A.T.s, in particular the telepath Voodoo/Priscilla Kitaen, the immortal warrior Zealot/Lady Zannah, and the renegade spy Grifter/Cole Cash.
Also in 1994, Seagle started contributing stories to DC Comics, one of the dominant publishers of American comic books. His early contributions included a two-part story for the Justice League and two stories for a revamped version of Hawkman. He found more success as one of the main writers for the retro series "Sandman Mystery Theatre" (1993-1999), chronicling the early adventures of vigilante Sandman/Wesley Dodds in the late 1930s. Seagle remained as one of the series' main writers from 1994 to 1999. The series often took inspiration from real social problems and political issues of the interwar period, and was praised for its mature storytelling. Seagle was twice nominated for Eisner Awards for his work in the series, raising his reputation in the industry.
Seagle soon had the opportunity to work for Marvel Comics as well. In the winter of 1997, Seagle replaced Scott Lobdell as the main writer of the "Uncanny X-Men". His debut issue was #350, featuring a trial of Gambit/Remy LeBeau for past crimes. With his teammates shocked to learn that he had once served their archenemy Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex, and that he had unwittingly served as an associate member of the villainous Marauders in a massacre. Seagle thus concluded Lobdell's long-running story-line concerning Gambit's shady past. Seagle continued writing the series from 1997 to 1999, though he was not able to conclude some of the subplots which he had introduced.
In 2000, Seagle co-founded the writer collective "Man of Action Entertainment", with other experienced comic book writers. Their first major assignment was writing the script for the role-playing video game "X-Men Legends" (2004) which made use of several major and minor characters of the X-Men franchise. The co-writers chose Magma/Alison Crestmere as the game's lead character, because they wanted a chance to flesh out an underused character from the comics. The game sold well, soon receiving its own sequel. It was also cited as an inspiration for another video game project y Marvel, "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance".
In 2005, Seagle and his writing partners concluded their years of work on the basic premise and script for their first animated series "Ben 10" (2005-2008). The series was produced by Cartoon Network, with animation provided by the Cartoon Network Studios. It introduced the character of Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson as a young human boy who could shape-shift into powerful alien forms. The de facto co-protagonist was Ben's cousin Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson, a highly intelligent girl with innate magical powers. The series was a hit of its era, lasting for 4 seasons and 52 episodes. A number of sequel series introduced various different incarnations of Ben and Gwen over the following decade. Seagle has often provided input for the sequels, though other writers were credited with their development.
Seagle and his writing partners had another chance to work with Marvel characters, scripting several episodes for the animated series "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (2010-2012). Man of Action served as supervising producers and frequent writers for "Ultimate Spider-Man" (2012-2017), a show which featured adolescent Spider-Man/Peter Parker as an operative of SHIELD instead of a solo hero.
Seagle and Man of Action were credited for the development of the animated series "Avengers Assemble" (2013-2019), which introduced a large cast of Marvel's classic heroes and villains. The series lasted for 5 seasons and 127 episodes. It introduced (among others) animated versions of HYDRA, AIM, the Black Order, the Squadron Supreme, the Inhumans, and the Thunderbolts.
In 2014, Man of Action were credited as creators for the team Big Hero 6 in the characters' eponymous animated film. Seagle and Duncan Rouleau had created the comic book version of this team in 1998, but Marvel Comics had only made sporadic use of this concept over the following years. Disney found that the concept had potential, and the team became the focus of a new animated franchise.
Man of Action co-produced the computer-animated series "Zak Storm" (2016-2018), which featured a misfit crew of adventurers sailing on a sentient ship. The series was syndicated for broadcast in multiple countries, and its first season was well-received. Plans for a second season ended in development hell. Man of Action next developed the video game adaptation "Mega Man: Fully Charged" (2018-2019), based on a Japanese franchise by Capcom. The series lasted a single season and 52 episodes, with its finale concluding the stories of several characters.
Seagle has been less active as a writer in the 2020s, but has never fully retired. By 2022, he was 57-years-old. He has entertained audiences across several mediums for 35 years, and created several characters with enduring popularity. And he has introduced modern audiences to fresh takes on the superhero genre.- Actor
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- Producer
Steven Kampmann is an American screenwriter and film director. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Kampmann was one of the main writers for the radio station-themed sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" (1978-1981). As one of the show's producers, he was nominated for a 1981 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. The award was instead won by rival television series "Taxi" (1978-1983).
In the 1980s, Kampman was credited as co-writer in a number of films, including the college themed comedy "Back to School" (1986), the impostor-themed comedy "The Couch Trip" (1988), and the nostalgia-themed drama "Stealing Home" (1988). He was also the director of "Stealing Home", and he reportedly incorporated autobiographic elements to the film's narrative.
During the 1990s, his only screenwriting credit (under a pseudonym) was the comedy "Clifford" (1994), one of several box-office flops for Orion Pictures. In the 2000s, his only screenwriting credit was the Christmas television film "Special Delivery" (2000).
In 2012, Kampmann attempted a comeback by directing and scripting the serial killer-themed comedy "BuzzKill" (2012). In 2017, "Clifford" was remade into a new film called "Maurice!". Kampmann received a writing credit for the remake, since it reused elements from his original script.- Writer
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Steve Ditko was an American comics writer and artist of Rusyn descent. He is better known for co-creating the superheroes Spider-Man/Peter Parker and Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange for Marvel Comics. He created many other characters for various publishing companies. Among his better known creations are Blue Beetle/Ted Kord, Captain Atom/Allen Adam, the Creeper/Jack Ryder, Hawk and Dove/Hank Hall and Don Hall, Mr. A/Rex Graine, the Question/Charles Victor Szasz, Shade the Changing Man/Rac Shade, Ditko was an adherent of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand (1905-1982). Her work had a significant influence on his own work, which often reflected Objectivism's belief in moral absolutism.
In 1927, Ditko was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a city located 56 miles (90 kilometers) to the east of Pittsburgh. His parents were master carpenter Stephen Ditko and his homemaker wife Anna. Both parents were first-generation American Rusyn immigrants from Czechoslovakia. Steve was the second of four children born to the Ditko family, and he was raised as a typical member of a working class family.
Stephen Ditko, Steve's father, loved newspaper comic strips. He introduced his son to the work of comic strip artists of the 1930s and 1940s. The Ditko family's favorite comic strip was the adventure series "Prince Valiant" by Hal Foster (1892-1982). As Steve grew up, so did his interest in both comic strips and comic books. His favorite characters during his adolescence were Batman/Bruce Wayne and the Spirit/Denny Colt.
Ditko received his secondary education at the Greater Johnstown High School, and graduated in 1945. In October 1945, Ditko enlisted in the United States Army. He spend his military service in Allied-occupied Germany. While there, Ditko drew comic strips for a military newspaper. It was his first comics-related work, though he lacked formal training at the time.
Following his discharge, Ditko had the option to receive a college education, thanks to the G.I. Bill. The G. I. Bill was a law that provided a range of benefits to returning veterans, including the payments of tuition and living expenses needed for them to attend high school, college, or vocational school. In 1950, Ditko chose to enroll at the art school "Cartoonists and Illustrators School" (later known as the School of Visual Arts) , located in New York City.
While studying at art school, Ditko found a mentor in veteran comic book artist Jerry Robinson (1922-2011). Robinson had been one of the main artists of the "Batman" series, and was credited as the co-creator of Robin/Dick Grayson and the Joker. Robinson found Ditko to be a dedicated student, and a very hard worker. He encouraged Ditko to write his own stories and to create his own characters,
By 1953, Ditko had graduated and began work as a professional comic book artist. His first work was illustrating the science fiction story "Stretching Things" for Stanmor Publications. Stanmor sold this story to the comic book publisher Farrell Publications, which first published it in 1954.
Ditko's second professional story, but first published work, was the romance story "Paper Romance" . It was published by Gillmor Magazines in October, 1953.
Ditko was soon after hired by the studio operated by veteran comic book writers and artists Jack Kirby (1917-1994) and Joe Simon (1913-2011). While working for them, Ditko received additional training by his co-worker Mort Meskin (1916-1995). According to an interview, Ditko admired Meskin's ability to create detailed drawing compositions without cluttering the image.
Some of Ditko's earliest known work was published by Prize Comics, an imprint of Crestwood Publications which was co-headed by Kirby and Simon. In 1954, Ditko was first hired by the publisher Charlton Comics, a low-budget company located in Derby, Connecticut. His first story for them was a vampire story, titled "Cinderella". He continued working for Charlton on-and-off until 1986, when the company shut down.
In 1954, Ditko contracted tuberculosis and had to take a hiatus from his comic book work. He recuperated at his family's house in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. By 1955, Ditko had recovered and he moved back to New York City. In 1956, Ditko was hired by Atlas Comics, Marvel Comics' predecessor. He mostly illustrated surreal stories, written by Atlas' writer-editor Stan Lee (1922-2018).
Ditko's work for Atlas Comics was published in its anthology titles, including "Amazing Adventures", "Journey into Mystery", "Strange Tales", "Strange Worlds", "Tales of Suspense" and "Tales to Astonish". Ditko's stories were sufficiently were sufficiently popular for him to be assigned as the main artist of "Amazing Adventures" in December, 1961. The anthology was renamed to "Amazing Adult Fantasy", to reflect its publication of stories that were more sophisticated that Atlas/Marvel's typical output.
Ditko's stories for Atlas and Marvel Comics were composed according to the company's "Marvel Method" of writer-artist collaboration. The writer provided a brief outline of the plot, while the artist fleshed out the story and illustrated it. This gave Ditko significant creative influence on any story, though he did not receive a credit as a co-writer or co-plotter.
In the early 1960s, Stan Lee wanted to create a new teenage hero, called Spider-Man. He first gained permission to create such a story by his publisher Martin Goodman (1908-1992). He then had to design the new character, and then gave the assignment to his main artist at the time: Jack Kirby. Kirby created a 6-page-long draft for the character's first story, but Lee rejected his designs. He then gave the assignment of designing Spider-Man to Ditko, who was the company's second most prominent artist at the time. Ditko's version of the character was accepted by Lee.
Ditko created Spider-Man's original costume. He incorporated a face mask which hid the character's facial features, a costume with no shoes that would allow the character to cling on walls, and a hidden wrist-shooter. Ditko also created the character's "web gimmick" and his spider signal. The idea of webs coming out of the character's hands was credited to Ditko's roommate at the time, the fetish artist Eric Stanton (1926-1999).
Spider-Man's origin story was published in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 (August 1962), the final issue of the anthology series. It became a top-seller, so Marvel Comics decided to give Spidey (as the character was nicknamed) his own series: "The Amazing Spider-Man" vol. 1 (March, 1963-November, 1998). Ditko was the new magazine's main artist for its first 38 issues (March, 1963-July, 1966).
Besides Spidey himself, Ditko co-created most of his early supporting cast and early foes. His creations included (in order) Aunt May/May Reilly Parker, Uncle Ben/Ben Parker, the Burglar, Crusher Hogan/Joseph Hogan, Flash Thompson/Eugene Thompson, Elizabeth Allan, Maxie Shiffman, Raymond Warren, Bluebird/Sally Avril, and Seymour O'Reilly (all introduced in Amazing Fantasy #15),J. Jonah Jameson (issue #1), Man-Wolf/John Jameson (issue #1), Chameleon/Dmitri Smerdyakov (issue #1),Vulture/Adrian Toomes (issue #2), Tinkerer/Phineas Mason (issue #2), Doctor Octopus/Otto Octavius (issue #3), Betty Brant (issue #4), Sandman/Flint Marko (issue #4), Principal Davis/Andrew Davis (issue #4), Lizard/Dr. Curtis Connors (issue #6), the Living Brain (issue #8), Charlie Murphy/Charles Murphy (issue #8), Electro/Maxwell "Max" Dillon (issue #9), Dr. Nicholas Bromwell (issue #9), Montana/Jackson Brice (issue #10), Fancy Dan/Daniel Brito (issue #10), the Ox/Raymond Bloch (#issue #10), the Big Man/Frederick Foswell (issue #10), Crime-Master/Bennett Brant (issue #11), Mysterio/Quentin Beck (issue #13), Green Goblin/Norman Osborn (issue #14), Kraven the Hunter/Sergei Kravinoff (issue #15), Anna Watson (issue #15), the Great Gambonnos/Ernest Gambonno and Luigi Gambonno (issue #16), Wilson Allan (issue #17), Hobgoblin/Ned Leeds (issue #18), the Scorpion/Mac Gargan (issue #20), Princess Python/Zelda DuBois (issue #22), Lucky Lobo/Francisco Lobo (issue #23), Mary Jane Watson (issue #25), Professor Spencer Smythe (issue #25), Spider-Slayer (issue #25), Crime-Master/Nicholas "Nick"/ "Lucky" Lewis (issue #26), Barney Bushkin (issue #27), the Molten Man/Mark Raxton (issue #28), Doris Raxton Allan (issue #28), Prowler/Cat Burglar/ the Cat (issue #30), Green Goblin/Harry Osborn (issue #31), Gwen Stacy (issue #31), the Jackal/Professor Miles Warren (issue #31), Dean Corliss (issue #31), the Looter/Meteor Man/Norton Fester (issue #36), Sally Green (issue #36), Robot Master/Gaunt/Professor Mendel Stromm (issue #37), Max Young (issue #37), and Guy Named Joe/Joe Smith (issue #38).
Ditko eventually demanded credit for his plot contributions, and Stan Lee complied. Fros issue #25 onward, Ditko started receiving plot credits. One of the most celebrated issues plotted by Ditko was issue #33, titled "If This Be My Destiny...!", In it Spider-Man is pinned down by heavy machinery, and is plagued by visions of having failed to rescue his uncle and being then unable to rescue his aunt. He eventually escapes through sheer force of will. The story has been repeatedly cited as one of Marvel Comics' best stories.
While continuing his work on Spider-Man, Ditko co-created Dr. Strange. The character was introduced in "Strange Tales" #110 (July 1963), and continued to appear regularly in the magazine. Ditko's Doctor Strange artwork was acclaimed "for its surrealistic mystical landscapes and increasingly psychedelic visuals". It became a favorite series for college students of the 1960s. Dr. Strange was a magic user whose adventures took place in "bizarre worlds and twisting dimensions".
In the Dr. Strange series, Ditko introduced some of the earlier cosmic characters used by Marvel. A multi-part story in "Strange Tales" #130-146 (March 1965 - July 1966) introduced Eternity, a living personification of the universe,
Besides Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, Ditko contributed stories for other Marvel characters of the era. He drew stories of the Hulk/Bruce Banner and Iron Man/Tony Stark. Ditko is credited for designing the Leader/Samuel Sterns in 1964, who has since served as the Hulk's primary adversary.
In 1966, Ditko decided to quit working for Marvel Comics, though he never explained the reasons for his decision. His relationship with Stan Lee had deteriorated sometime earlier, and they were no longer on speaking terms. Art and editorial changes in their stories were handled through intermediaries. According to John Romita Sr. (1930-), Ditko's replacement in the Spider-Man series, Ditko and Lee had disagreed on how to handle their characters.
After leaving Marvel Comics, Ditko returned to Charlton Comics. The pay rates at Charlton were considerably lower than Marvel's, but its creators enjoyed more creative freedom over their stories. Between 1965 and 1968, Ditko was the main creative force behind the stories of Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, and the Question.
From 1966 to 1967, Ditko also worked for Warren Publishing. The publisher specialized in comic magazines, and Ditko contributed 16 stories for the anthology series "Creepy" and "Eerie".
In 1967, Ditko created the creator-owned character Mister A. The character was inspired by Objectivism philosophy, and often delivered lethal justice to criminals. The first Mister A story was published in "witzend", an an underground comic which handled creator-owned stories by comic book professionals. Its original publisher was veteran comic book artist Wally Wood (1927-1981). Ditko regularly worked on Mister A stories for various publishers between 1967 and 1978. He eventually published the penultimate Mister A story in 2000, and the ultimate story in the series in 2009.
In 1968, Ditko was hired by DC Comics. His first major creation for the company was the Creeper, with the character introduced in "Showcase" #73 (April 1968). The sibling duo Hawk and Dove were then introduced in Showcase #75 (June 1968). The Creeper graduated to his own comic book series called "Beware the Creeper: (June 1968 - April 1969), and Ditko handled all 6 of its issues.
In 1969, Ditko resigned from DC Comics. He contributed a story to the first issue of Wally Wood's series "Heroes, Inc. Presents Cannon" (1969), but otherwise worked near-exclusively for Charlton Comics in the early from 1969 to the mid-1970s. In 1974, Ditko became the main artist for the stories featuring Liberty Belle/Caroline Dean.
In 1975, Ditko was hired by the short-lived publisher Atlas/Seaboard Comics (1974-1975). The company was owned by Martin Goodman, Marvel Comics' former owner. Ditko co-created a character called Destructor, which was given his own series. Ditko handled the art for all 4 of its issues (February-August, 1975). He also worked on 2 issues for the series Tiger-Man, and a single issue for Morlock 2001. Atlas/Seabord shut down in 1975.
In 1975, Ditko returned to DC Comics. His first major work there was creating the antihero Stalker/Elpis, who briefly received his own sword-and-sorcery themed series. Ditko handled all 4 of its issues. He also created the character Shade, the Changing Man, and handled all issues of his short-lived series (1977-1978).
Besides working on his own characters for DC Comics, Ditko contributed stories for its other characters. He worked on stories for Etrigan the Demon, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Man-Bat/Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom. Several of his stories were published in anthology titles. In 1980, Ditko became the main artist for the stories featuring Starman/Prince Gavyn, a new extraterrestrial superhero. His stories only covered the first year of Starman's series.
In 1979, Ditko was hired by Marvel Comics again. He took over the series "Machine Man", featuring Jack Kirby's character Machine Man/Aaron Stack. The character was a sentient robot. Ditko also wrote stories for Captain Universe and the Micronauts, space-faring heroes. In 1980, Ditko co-created a new hero: Dragon Lord/Tako Shamara. The character failed to caught on with readers.
From 1984 to 1986, Ditko drew a series featuring the character of Rom the Space Knight/Rom of Galador, another extraterrestrial superhero. The long-running series ended in 1986. In 1988, Ditko co-created a new teenage superhero for Marvel, called Speedball/Robbie Baldwin. Speedball graduated to his own series, which lasted for 10 issues. Ditko was the series main artist, and contributed most of its plots. Following the series' cancellation, Speedball became a featured character in the team book "New Warriors".
While Ditko mostly worked for Marvel Comics during the 1980s, he also contributed for Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics, First Comics, and Archie Comics. He contributed stories for Archie's resident superheroes, including the Fly/Thomas "Tommy" Troy, Flygirl/Kim Brand, and Jaguar/Ralph Hardy.
In 1982, Ditko was on contract with Western Publishing to serve as the main artist for a new science-fiction series called "Astral Frontiers". The series ended in development hell, and Western stopped publishing comics in 1984.
In the early 1990s, Ditko was hired by Valiant Comics to contribute stories for its stable of characters. Ditko worked on stories for "Magnus, Robot Fighter", Solar/Phil Seleski, and X-O Manowar/Aric of Dacia.
Ditko contributed an Iron Man and Dr. Doom crossover story in the anthology Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8 (January, 1992). This story introduced new super-heroine Squirrel Girl/Doreen Allene Green. The character eventually gained a cult following, joined the Great Lakes Avengers (an Avengers' spin-off team), and graduated to her own series. She was among the last original characters Ditko created for Marvel Comics, and the last one to become popular.
In 1995, Ditko served as the main artist for a comic-book miniseries featuring Phantom 2040/Kit Walker, the 24th incarnation of the Phantom. The series was an adaptation of a then-popular French-American animated series. It was among Ditko's large mainstream works. His other commercial works of the 1990s included one-shot publications for Dark Horse Comics, Defiant Comics, and Fantagraphics Books.
In 1998, Ditko wrote a few stories featuring Iron Man, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, and the Power Rangers. Then he mostly retired from mainstream comics. His final mainstream work was a 5-page-long story featuring the New Gods. It was intended for publication c. 2000, but was not published by DC Comics until 2008.
During the last decades of his life, Ditko mostly worked on creator-owned stories. Most of them were published by his long-time associate Robin Snyder, a former editor of Charlton Comics. Most of these works did not receive a wide circulation. In 2008, Ditko published the essay book "The Avenging Mind", and a collection of editorial cartoons under the title "Ditko, Etc...,".
In 2010, Ditko helped in the publication of reprint collections featuring his work from the 1970s. At about the same time, DC and Marvel published a number of previously unpublished stories by Ditko. Ditko had sold the stories to the two publishers in earlier decades, but they were kept in their respective inventories.
In the 2010s, Ditko continued to work in his apartment within Manhattan's Midtown West neighborhood. He lived alone, having never married and having no known children. In June 2018, Ditko was found dead within his apartment. The cause of death was a myocardial infarction (heart attack),itself caused by arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Ditko was 90 years old at the time of death.
In 2019, Ditko's last essay was published posthumously. His last printed words concerned his thoughts about his friends and foes: "Here's to those who wish me well, and those that don't can go to hell."- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Stephen Tolkin is an American screenwriter, with most of his credits being television films. Among his better known films are crime dramas based on real events, such as "Cleveland Abduction" and "The Craigslist Killer".
Tolkin's father was comedy writer Mel Tolkin (1913-2007), and his mother was Edith Tolkin, who had served as senior vice president of legal affair in Paramount pictures. Tolkin has a brother, the novelist Michael Tolkin (1950-).
Tolkin was educated at Yale College and Yale School of Architecture. During his college years, he started work as a writer. His best known work in print was the short story "Notes for a Biography of Lelia Reiszman" (1975), for which he won the Peter J. Wallace Prize for Fiction.
Tolkin started his screenwriter career in the late 1970s, writing episodes for the sitcom "Delta House" (1979), a short-liven spin-off of "National Lampoon's Animal House". He has since worked on many other series, including service as head writer for the fantasy series "Legend of the Seeker" (2008-2010). The series was a television adaptation of the novel series "The Sword of Truth" by Terry Goodkind (1948-).- Stephanie Niznik was an American actress from Bangor, Maine. Her home city is the third-most populous city in Maine, and former center for the lumber and shipbuilding industries. She was born in 1967.
Niznik received a Master of Fine Arts from the Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. She made her film debut, at the age of 27, in the BDSM-themed comedy-thriller, Exit to Eden (1994). The film depicted a professional photographer's vacation on a private resort, owned by a dominatrix. The protagonist is unaware that two of his fellow guests at the resort are professional thieves, who are seeking to retrieve an incriminating photo from him.
Niznik's first major role was that of Agent Judith Phillips in the action television series, Vanishing Son (1995). The series was a sequel to four television films, which featured the character of martial artist Jian-Wa Chang (played by Russell Wong). In the television series, Jian-Wa has been framed for the murders of two CIA operatives, and is on the run from the law. Judith is secretly working with him to clear his name. The series lasted 1 season, and a total of 13 episodes.
In 1996, Niznik appeared in the comedy film "Dear God", which depicted a reformed con-man accidentally inspiring a charity movement. In 1997, she appeared in the abortion-themed drama, "The Twilight of the Gods". The film was based on the 1993 theatrical play of the same name by Jonathan Tolins, but featured a completely different resolution to the main story.
In 1998, Niznik played the character of Kell Perim in the science fiction film, Star Trek: Insurrection (1998). Kell was depicted as a female Trill alien, serving as an ensign aboard the spaceship USS Enterprise-E. Kell was depicted as the flight controller ("conn officer", pilot) of the Enterprise during a mission led by William Thomas "Will" Riker (played by Jonathan Frakes). The film earned about 118 million dollars at the worldwide box office, the highest-grossing film in Niznik's career.
Also in 1998, Niznik gained a recurring role in the long-running crime drama series "Diagnosis: Murder" (1993-2001). Niznik was cast as the bomber Caitlin Sweeney, a recurring villain in the fifth and sixth seasons of the series.
In 1999, Niznik had a small-part in the comedy-drama film "Anywhere but Here", an adaptation of the 1986 novel by Mona Simpson (1957-). In 2001, Niznin was cast as Alexandra, the female lead in the horror film "Spiders II: Breeding Ground". Also in 2001 she played the lead female role in Sci-Fi TV Movie, Epoch as Dr. KC Czaban.
In 2002, Niznik briefly returned to the "Star Trek" franchise. She played the role of the telepathic shape-shifter "Wraith" in an episode of the television series "Star Trek: Enterprise" (2001-2005). In the episode "Rogue Planet", Wraith allies herself with the crew of spaceship Enterprise (NX-01) against a hunting group of Eska aliens.
From 2002 to 2006, Niznik was part of the main cast in the drama series "Everwood" (2002-2006). She played the character of divorced mother Nina Feeney. The series lasted 4 seasons, and a total of 89 episodes. It reportedly still had relatively high viewership ratings at the time of its cancellation, with over 4 million viewers for the series finale.
From 2007 to 2008, Niznik was part of the main cast in the drama series "Life Is Wild" (2007-2008), where she played the character Jo Weller-Clarke. The series depicted life in a game reserve in South Africa. The series was an adaptation of the successful British series "Wild at Heart" (2006-2012), but failed to find an audience and was canceled after a single season.
In 2008 and 2009, Niznik was reduced to appearing in guest star roles in then-popular television series, such as "CSI: Miami", "Eli Stone", "NCIS", and "Lost". Her final film role was in the mystery film "The Twenty" (2009), depicting an alcoholic's obsession with a message written on a 20-dollar-bill by a person unknown to him. Niznik retired from acting in 2009, at the age of 42.
Over the last decade of her life, Niznik was a volunteer worker in a number of charitable organizations. She was reportedly trying to help "the hungry, children, and animal rescues". In 2019, Niznik died in Encino, California at the age of 52. Her death was reported to the press by her family, though they declined to report the cause of death. Niznik was single at the time of death, and was sharing a home with her pet dogs Nucleus and Jake.
Nuiznik's surviving relatives in 2019 included her mother, her stepfather, her brother, her sister-in-law, a niece, an unspecified number of nephews, and her aunt and uncle. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Indira Stefanianna Christopherson is an American actress and singer of Icelandic descent. She is primarily remembered as the original voice actress for amateur detective Daphne Blake, with her character introduced as a co-protagonist in "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" (1969-1970). Christopherson also voiced the heroic Princess Dawn in the fantasy series "Here Comes the Grump" (1969-1970).
In 1946, Christopherson was born in San Francisco to emigrant parents. Her father was Lorne Christopherson, born and raised in Manitoba Canada. Her mother was Hrafnhildur Snorradóttir, born and raised in Iceland. Christopherson's mother taught her how to sing at an early age, using nursery rhymes as practice materials. Christopherson dreamed of a professional performing career since childhood.
In late adolescence, Christopherson received voice and piano lessons at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music. She received her college education at both the College of San Mateo and the San Francisco State University. She moved to Iceland for a while in the late 1960s, where she started her singing career. She was able to sing in several languages.
Christopherson returned to the United States in order to pursue a theatrical career. She performed at The Public Theater (1967-) in New York City, and in off-Broadway performances of the works of Harry Ruby (1895 -1974). She started making television appearances, guest starring in the sitcom "Mayberry R.F.D." and the comedy Western "Here Come the Brides" in 1968.
Her first major role was that of Daphne Blake in the first season of the mystery series "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" (1969-1970). The premise involved four adolescent detectives (and their sentient dog) who regularly investigated mysterious crimes and supernatural hoaxes. Daphne was loosely based on Thalia Menninger (played by Tuesday Weld), a recurring character in the first season of the sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959-1963). "Scooby-Doo" turned into one of the most popular animated series of its era, and would later inspire several sequels of its and imitators which featured other adolescent crime-fighters. However, Christopherson quit the series before the broadcast of its first season.
In October 1969, Christopherson married the artist Rabindra Danks. The new couple decided to move back to New York City, and so Christopherson was unavailable to record further episodes of "Scooby-Doo" for the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. The studio's headquarters were in Los Angeles, and most of their voice actors were residents of California. Christopherson was replaced with fellow actress Heather North (1945-2017) for the second season of the animated series. Christopherson's marriage lasted until 1980, ending in a divorce.
In 1970, Christopherson had a minor role in the drama film "The Grasshopper". The film portrayed the unsteady life of a Las Vegas showgirl (played by Jacqueline Bisset), and several ill-fated relationships between its main character and love interests from wildly different backgrounds. The film fared poorly at the box office, in part due to its seemingly aimless script. Christopherson subsequently had guest star appearances in the sitcom "Sanford and Son" and the medical dramedy "M*A*S*H".
In 1973, Christopherson appeared in her first horror film, "Wicked, Wicked". The plot involved the mysterious disappearances of a series of young women in a Californian hotel, with every victim being blonde-haired and single. But a killer soon starts stalking visiting singer Lisa James (played by Tiffany Bolling), a brunette who used a blonde wig on a stage performance. The film was initially sold to movie theaters based on a gimmick, as the film used a split screen for its entire duration. It gained some notoriety during its initial release in movie theaters, but the gimmick turned out to make the film difficult to view in television broadcasts or home video. The film was unavailable to general audiences for a few decades.
Christopherson became known in the following decades primarily for penning and singing commercial jingles and songs. A rare highlight in her career was writing the lyrics for the song "Crystal of a Star". She performed it herself in the science fiction horror film "Star Crystal" (1986). This is her only credit as a music performer in a film, despite her lengthy musical career.
By 2022, Christopherson was 75-years-old. She is semi-retired, though she has provided voice-overs for Scholastic Media's projects. She is still well-regarded by animation fans due to her performances in two classic animated series of the late 1960s, but she has otherwise remained out of the spotlight for decades.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Stanley Holloway was a British actor and singer, primarily known for comic monologues and songs. In 1890, Holloway was born in Manor Park, Essex. In 1965, Manor Park was incorporated into Greater London, as part of an administrative reform. It is now part of the London Borough of Newham, in East London.
Holloway's parents were lawyer's clerk George Augustus Holloway (1860-1919) and Florence May Bell (1862-1913). His mother primarily worked as a housekeeper and dressmaker. Holloway's paternal grandfather was Augustus Holloway (1829-1884), a relatively wealthy shopkeeper from Poole, Dorset, who owned his own brush-making business. Holloway's maternal grandfather was lawyer Robert Bell, the boss of George Holloway. Through his mother's side of the family, Stanley Holloway was a great-nephew to theatrical actor Charles Bernard (1830-1894), the father of famous modernist architect Oliver Percy Bernard (1881-1939).
Holloway was named "Stanley", after the famous journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1909). George Holloway, his father, abandoned his wife and family in 1905, forcing the 15-year-old Stanley Holloway to drop out of school and start working for a living. Stanley received training as a carpenter, but then found a better job as an office clerk. At his free time, he sang at a local choir. He also started a minor singing career, performing sentimental songs such as "The Lost Chord" (1877) by Arthur Sullivan.
In 1907, Holloway started his military service, as an infantry soldier for the London Rifle Brigade. In 1910, Holloway made his theatrical debut, performing in "The White Coons Show", a concert party variety show. From 1912 to 1914, he regularly performed at the West Cliff Gardens Theatre of Clacton-on-Sea, as a baritone singer. In 1913, Holloway was hired as a supporting actor in a concert party headed by then-famous comedian Leslie Henson (1891-1957). Holloway studied Henson's performance style, and came to regard Henson as his mentor.
In 1914, Holloway interrupted his stage career to officially join the British Army, during World War I. He served in the Connaught Rangers, the Irish line infantry regiment. He first taste of military action was fighting against Irish insurrectionists in the Easter Rising (April, 1916). Later in 1916, Holloway was transferred to France and got to experience trench-warfare first-hand. Late in the War, the military decided to use his acting experience to have Holloway perform in army revues, theatrical shows intended to boost the morale of the troops. Holloway was discharged from the Army in May, 1919. World War I was over, and the British Army was demobilizing.
Holloway soon resumed his acting and singing career, and found success in musicals performed at West End theaters. He made his film debut in the silent film "The Rotters" (1921). The first major hit of his theatrical career was becoming a leading performed in the concert party "The Co-Optimists" (1921-1927). Holloway appeared in 1,568 performances of this show over eight years and resumed his part in its 1929 film adaptation.
Holloway's newfound fame opened some new career opportunities for him. In 1923, he was hired as regular performer for BBC Radio, and in 1924 he recorded some of his hit songs for release in gramophone discs. In 1928, he started performing on-stage comic monologues. He created the stage character of "Sam Small", a working-class soldier of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). Small was very popular with audiences, and Holloway performed this role both on stage and in film.
In the 1930s, Holloway regularly performed in theatrical films by the Ealing Studios, while continuing his successful theatrical career. In 1939, World War II started. At age 49, veteran soldier Holloway was considered too old to re-enlist in the Army. He was hired, however, by the British Film Institute and Pathé News to narrate war-time propaganda films, educational films, and documentaries. Later in the 1940s, he narrated the documentary film series "Time To Remember" for Pathé News. It was a retrospective of British and world history from 1915 to 1942.
In the early 1950s, Holloway appeared in a number of successful films by the Ealing Studios, such as ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951) and ''The Titfield Thunderbolt'' (1953). The company terminated its relationship with him in 1953 (for unclear reasons), and was taken over by the BBC in 1955.
In 1956, Holloway created the role of "Alfred P. Doolittle" in the Broadway production of a new musical play, "My Fair Lady" (1956) by Alan Jay Lerner. The play was an adaption of the play "Pygmalion" (1913) by George Bernard Shaw. Holloway was Lerner's first choice for the role, though Lerner was concerned whether the 66-year-old Holloway still had his resonant singing voice. Holloway relieved Lerner's concerns with an improvised singing performance during their lunch meeting. Doolittle became one of Holloway's most famous roles, and he was hired to reprise the role in the 1964 film adaptation of the musical.
In the 1960s, Holloway was still popular and continued to receive offers for more roles. He had a starring role in the short-lived American sitcom "Our Man Higgins" (1962-1963). He was cast as Higgins, a traditional English butler who found himself employed by a "modern" American suburban family. The series was based on the culture clash between employer and employee from much different backgrounds.
In 1967, Holloway was cast in the British sitcom "Blandings Castle", an adaptation of a series of books by P. G. Wodehouse. The series was popular at the time, but critics felt that Holloway was miscast. The series is considered lost, since BBC erased its tapes of the episodes.
In the early 1970s, Holloway continued regularly appearing in film, but his advanced age limited his potential for notable roles. His last film role was as a crime suspect in the Canadian thriller "Journey into Fear" (1975). He continued regularly appearing in theatre, but poor health forced him into retirement in 1980. He was 90-years-old, when he last performed at the Royal Variety Performance, at the London Palladium.
In January, 1982, Holloway suffered a stroke and died at the Nightingale Nursing Home in Littlehampton, West Sussex. He was buried at St Mary the Virgin Church in East Preston, West Sussex. His second wife, the actress Violet Marion Lane (1913-1997), was eventually buried beside him.
Holloway was married twice. He had four children from his first marriage to Alice "Queenie" Foran, and one child from his marriage to Violet Marion Lane. He was the father of actor Julian Holloway (1944-), and paternal grandfather of the author Sophie Dahl (1977-).- Visual Effects
- Director
- Animation Department
Stanislav Látal was a Czech film director, animator, and puppeteer. He specialized in puppet animation.
Látal was born in the village of Samotisky, located about 7 kilometers (4 miles) northeast of the ecclesiastical metropolis of Olomouc in Moravia.
Látal was one of the leading animators of Czechoslovakia. He directed animated feature films, such as "Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a Sailor from York" (1982). He directed his last film in 1986, then went into retirement.
He died in 1994, at the age of 75.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Casting Director
Stan Kirsch was an American actor and acting coach from New York City. He appeared in television commercials as a child. His most notable acting role was that of young immortal Richie Ryan in the fantasy television series "Highlander: The Series" (1992-1998). His character was introduced as a student and surrogate son for the protagonist Duncan MacLeod (played by Adrian Paul). Richie remained as one of the series' main characters until his death in the finale of the 5th season. Kirsch also depicted an alternate-reality version of Richie in the two-part finale of the 6th season.
In 1972, he appeared in television commercials for Campbell's soup. He would continue to appear in commercials during his early career. He decided to pursue an acting career. His earliest credited role in television was a guest star role in the short-lived western series "Riders in the Sky" (1991). In 1992, Kirsch made a few appearances in the soap opera "General Hospital" (1992-).
Kirsch had his first recurring role as Richie Ryan "Highlander: The Series" . Richie was initially depicted as an orphaned thief, who became a surrogate son for the centuries-old immortal Duncan MacLeod. He was a wisecracking teenager, who felt bewildered when surrounded by immortals with lifelong obsessions and hidden agendas. By the 2nd season, Richie realized that he was also immortal. He started becoming a more cynical character, with lethal conflicts of his own. He also displayed a ruthless streak. The screenwriters eventually decided to write him out. In his final regular episode, the demon Ahriman manipulates Duncan into killing Richie. The event shatters Duncan's self-confidence. Richie's episode turned out to be one the most controversial episodes in the series, as Richie was a fan-favorite character.
In 1995, Kirsch had a memorable guest-star role in the sitcom "Friends" (1994-2004). He played Ethan, the new boyfriend of regular character Monica Geller (played by Courteney Cox). Monica has been told that Ethan is a college student, and she is initially thrilled to date a younger man. Until Ethan confesses that he is a high school student and still underage. Monica breaks up with him in disgust.
Kirsch played two different roles in the legal drama television series "JAG" (1995-2005). He first appeared as a young ensign in 1996, and then as a lieutenant in 2001. He appeared frequently as a guest in other series of this period, such as "Love Boat: The Next Wave" and "Family Law".
Kirsch had a rare role in a theatrical film, when playing deputy sheriff Stuart Dempsey in the horror film "Shallow Ground" (2004). In the film, local police officers arrest an adolescent boy who is covered in blood. The boy becomes the main suspects in several unsolved disappearances in the area. The boy somehow has access to the memories of the dead, and Stuart and several other characters are revealed to have skeletons in their closet. The film debuted at the "Dead by Dawn Edinburgh Horror Film Festival".
Kirsch's acting roles became fewer in the late 2000s, but he had a change in his career path. In 2008, he founded the acting studio "Stan Kirsch Studios.". He primarily worked as an acting coach for the rest of his life. He reportedly had many students, and he was regarded as very good at his job.
Kirsch committed suicide by hanging on January 11, 2020, at the age of 51. The causes for his suicide were unknown. He was survived by his wife and business partner Kristyn Green. The official "Highlander" Facebook page posted an obituary for him, and the press reported grieving reactions by Kirsch's former students. Despite a rather brief career, Kirsch is fondly remembered for his acting roles.- Spiro Agnew was a Greek-American politician from Baltimore, Maryland. He served as the Governor of Maryland from 1967 to 1969. He became a national celebrity for his "law and order" rhetoric in response to nationwide civil unrest. He was chosen by Richard Nixon as his running mate for the presidential election of 1968. Agnew served as the 39th Vice President of the United States from 1969 to 1973, easily winning re-election in 1972. He was forced to resign after a criminal investigation in Maryland uncovered evidence of Agnew's involvement in criminal conspiracy, bribery, extortion and tax fraud. Agnew eventually pleaded no contest to a single felony charge of tax evasion, and the other charges were dropped. He spend the rest of his life in retirement. A number of historians have cited Agnew as one of the founders of the "New Right" movement, which went on to dominate the Republican Party in the 1980s.
In 1918, Agnew was born in Baltimore. His father was restaurant owner Theodore Agnew (born Theophrastos Anagnostopoulos ). Theodore was from the small town of Gargalianoi in Messenia, Greece, located about 18 km (11 mi) north of the historic town of Pylos. His family were olive growers , but were impoverished during a financial crisis in the 1890s. Theodore emigrated to the United States in 1897., and had managed to open his own restaurant by 1908. Agnew's mother was Margaret Marian Akers, a retired government worker from Virginia. She was the widow of a close friend of Theodore who had died in 1917. She had a young child from her previous marriage.
During the 1920s, the Agnew family was relatively affluent, and Theodore acquired a larger restaurant. The restaurant closed shortly following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, due to financial problems. In 1931, the Agnew family's savings were wiped out in a bank failure. The family was forced to sell their private house and moved to a small apartment. Theodore sold fruit and vegetables from a roadside stall. Spiro helped financially support his family by taking part-time jobs, such as delivering groceries and distributing leaflets.
In 1937, Agnew started his college education at Johns Hopkins University. He pursued studies in chemistry, but found academic life to be stressful. He dropped out of his chemistry studies in 1939, then decided to pursue legal studies instead. He enrolled at the University of Baltimore School of Law, taking night classes. To financially support himself during his college years, he started working as an insurance clerk for the Maryland Casualty Company. Agnew pursued a romantic relationship with Elinor Isabel "Judy" Judefind, his co-worker at the insurance company. They were married in May 1942. By coincidence, her father was a chemist.
Agnew was drafted into the United States Army in December 1941. He completed his basic training at Camp Croft in South Carolina, which he credited with breaking him out of his previously sheltered life. He was sent for further training to the Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in May, 1942, a few days before his wedding.
From May 1942 to March 1944, Agnew served in various administrative positions at both Fort Knox and Fort Campbell. In March 1944, Agnew was transferred to England. His transfer was part of the build-up of forces for the upcoming Normandy landings (June, 1944). Agnew spend several months on standby in Birmingham, West Midlands, before being assigned to a combat role. He was assigned as a replacement officer for the 54th Armored Infantry Battalion in France. His unit saw action at the Battle of the Bulge (December, 1944-January 1945). Agnew took part in the Siege of Bastogne (December, 1944), defending the Belgian city against a German attempt to recapture it.
In the early months of 1945, Agnew and his unit fought their way into Germany. By the end of the war in Europe, the unit had managed to capture the ski town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. The town had previously hosted the 1936 Winter Olympic Games. Agnew was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star for his combat service. He was discharged from the Army in November 1945.
By the winter of 1945, Agnew resumed his legal studies. He was also hired as a law clerk by the Baltimore-based law firm of Smith and Barrett. His boss Lester Barrett noted Agnew's political ambitions, and advised him to join the Republican Party. Barrett had noted that the Democratic Party in Baltimore had numerous young and ambitious political hopefuls, while the Republican Party was suffering from a scarcity of competent recruits. According to Barrett, it would be easier for Agnew to stand out in the Party that offered less competition for elected positions. Agnew took the advise, and became a registered Republican in 1947.
In 1947, Agnew graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. After passing the bar examination in Maryland, he opened his own legal office in Baltimore. His business soon failed, but Agnew found work as an insurance investigator. In 1948, he was hired as a store detective for the supermarket chain Schreiber's. In 1951, Agnew was briefly recalled for Army service due to the outbreak of the Korean War. He then resumed working for Schreiber's. He resigned in 1952, opening another legal office. He specialized in labor law.
By 1955, Agnew was prosperous enough to move with his family to the suburb of Loch Raven, Baltimore. He became the president of the local school district's Parent-Teacher Association. He also joined the service club Kiwanis, whose members volunteered for community service. His biographers have noted that Agnew had become "an almost compulsive conformist", and already professed a love for "law and order".
In 1956, Agnew unsuccessfully sought nomination as a Republican candidate for the Baltimore County Council. He campaigned vigorously for other Republican candidates, and the Party gained a majority on the council seats at the election. To reward his loyalty to the Party, party officials appointed Agnew for a one-year term to the county Zoning Board of Appeals. The job came with a respectable salary and some political prestige. In 1958, Agnew was reappointed to the Board for a full three-year term. He soon became the Board's chairman.
In 1960, Agnew unsuccessfully sought election to the county circuit court. He finished last among the five candidates of the election, but his campaign made him a target for the Democratic Party which regained control of the county council in the election. The new council quickly removed Agnew from his position at the Zoning Appeals Board, in what was seen as an unfair act of retaliation.
In 1962, Agnew was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination to a Congress seat. Party officials noted that Agnew had loyal followers, and encouraged him to seek election as the county's chief executive officer. All holders of this position were members of the Democratic Party since 1895. But in the 1962 elections, there was a feud between rival factions of the local Democratic Party. The Democratic candidate chosen was the elderly Michael Birmingham, who was seen as out of touch with the public's wishes. Agnew chose to run as a reformist candidate, campaigning for an anti-discrimination bill which would require public amenities such as parks, bars and restaurants be open to all races. Agnew easily won the election, surpassing his supposedly racist rival by over 18, 000 votes. Agnew became the highest-ranking Republican in Maryland.
Agnew spend 4 years as a county executive. He succeeded in having his anti-discrimination bill pass as official legislation in the county. His administration build new schools, increases the teachers' salaries, reorganized the police department, and improved the water and sewer system. While he was seen as a moderately progressive administrator, Agnew's "law and order" rhetoric led him to denounce all demonstrations in the area, regardless of their cause. More controversial was Agnew's newfound reputation for cronyism. He bypassed the normal bidding procedures to appoint political allies in lucrative positions as the county's insurance brokers of record.
In the 1964 presidential elections, Agnew was a vocal critic of the Republican front-runner Barry Goldwater. In his view, Goldwater's extremist views would deprive the Republicans of any chance of victory. He was proven correct, as Goldwater lost the election and only won about 38.5% of the popular vote.
In the elections of 1966, Agnew decided to seek nomination for the position of the Governor of Maryland. He easily won the Republican primary, as he was the highest-profile candidate for the nomination. The Democratic candidate for this year was the segregationist George P. Mahoney. Liberal Democrats refused to vote for Mahoney, and flocked to support Agnew. Agnew easily won the election, gaining 49.5 percent of the popular vote. He had campaigned as the anti-Ku Klux Klan candidate.
Shortly after the election of 1966, allegations of corruption surfaced against Agnew. He had reportedly been offered three different bribes by the slot-machine industry in order to prevent him from vetoing legislation favorable to the industry. He had kept silent about the matter, though he had apparently declined to take the bribes. Agnew was also found to have partial ownership in a business venture, and his partners were businessmen who had ongoing business deals with Agnew's county administration. In both cases, Agnew publicly denied that he had broken the law.
Agnew's agenda as a governor included tax reforms, clean water regulations, and the repeal of laws against interracial marriage. He expanded community health programs, and passed legislation offering higher educational and employment opportunities for low-income voters. He took steps to desegregate Maryland's schools. He introduced fair housing legislation, but only for new building projects and only for those projects above a certain size. Agnew's reputation for cronyism expanded, as he had close ties with an ever-increasing number of businessmen.
Despite his own support for civil rights legislation, Agnew vocally opposed the militant tactics used by African-American leaders. He denounced protest leaders as professional agitators, and criticized the administration of Lyndon Johnson for its "misguided compassion" for radicals. In 1968, there were student protest at Bowie State College, a historically black institution. Agnew responded by closing the college and ordering more than 200 arrests.
On April 6, 1968, riots broke out in Baltimore in response to the then-recent assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. As the city burned, Agnew decided to declare a state of emergency and requested an intervention by the National Guard. By the time the riots ended, 6 people were dead and 4,000 people were under arrest. Agnew summoned moderate African-American leaders to the state capitol, where he castigated them for their perceived failure to control radical protesters. Agnew's criticisms for the African-American leadership gained him additional support from white suburbanites. Republican conservative leaders throughout the country increasingly lauded Agnew, while Agnew's African-American supporters felt betrayed by him.
As the 1968 presidential elections were approaching, Agnew declared his support for Nelson Rockefeller. When Rockefeller decided to discontinue his political campaign, Agnew was disappointed. Soon afterwards, Agnew started being courted as a political ally by Richard Nixon. Nixon had been impressed with his "law and order" rhetoric. At the Republican National Convention (August, 1968) in Miami Beach, Agnew declared his support for Nixon. On August 8, 1968, Nixon chose Agnew as his running mate for the election. Agnew himself felt surprised, as he was not among the highest-profile candidates for the position. He had only known Nixon for a few months.
During the election campaign of 1968, Agnew's "law and order" rhetoric impressed voters in the Southern United States. Liberal Republicans in the Northern United States were , however, alarmed by his increasingly belligerent views and statements. Agnew criticized the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey as overly soft on communism, and compared his political views to those of Neville Chamberlain. Agnew's vocal support for "orderliness, personal responsibility, the sanctity of hard work, the nuclear family, and law and order" impressed suburban voters across the country. The Republican Party easily won the Presidential elections, gaining 43, 2% of the popular vote and carrying 32 states. Maryland voted for the Democratic Party, but Agnew was largely credited for the Republican victories in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. He was more popular in these states than Nixon himself.
As Vice President, Agnew was initially granted his own office in the West Wing of the White House. In December 1969, Agnew moved to another office in the Executive Office Building. As the Vice President had no official residence at the time, Agnew and his wife moved secured a suite at the Sheraton Hotel in Washington, D. C. The same suite had been used by Lyndon Johnson when he was Vice President. Nixon appointed Agnew as the new head of the "White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs", in charge of overseeing coordination between state, local, and tribal governments and the federal government. Agnew was not part of Nixon's inner circle of advisers, and Nixon often ignored Agnew's opinions on foreign policy matters.
Agnew took his duties in the Senate seriously, personally opening every session for the first two months of his term. In the first year of his term in office, he spend more time presiding in the Senate than any vice president since Alben Barkley's term in office (term 1949-1953). Agnew lunched with small groups of senators, in an attempt to build good relations with them. Nixon appointed him as the chair of various government commissions, but many of these positions were sinecures. Agnew hoped for a more active role in politics.
Agnew's speeches in 1969 warned that there was "a vast faceless majority of the American public in quiet fury" over the continued unrest in the country. In October 1969, Agnew gave a press conference where he denounced the apparent political ties between American protesters and the government of North Vietnam. Nixon was rather impressed with Agnew's approach, and tasked Agnew with attacking the Democrats in general. Nixon could thus appear to avoid mudslinging, while Agnew would become the president's "attack dog". Agnew found his new role to be enjoyable.
By late October 1969, Agnew started blaming "liberal elites" for condoning violence by demonstrators. Agnew's anti-intellectual speeches and newfound support for the South, further attracted Southern whites to the Republican Party. Agnew played a large role in Nixon's Southern Strategy, an attempt to turn the Southern United States into a Republican stronghold. Agnew kept attacking the Democrats as supposedly soft on crime, unpatriotic, and favoring flag burning over flag waving. His speeches attracted enthusiastic crowds, but liberal Republicans complained to the Republican National Committee that Agnew's attacks had a detrimental effect to the party's support.
After Nixon's own Silent Majority speech (November 1969) met with a hostile reception by the American press, Agnew was encouraged to verbally attack the press itself as overly liberal and biased. Agnew drew praise from the conservative factions of both major parties, but alienated the press. Media executives started perceiving Agnew as a threat to the freedom of the press. Agnew singled out "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" for criticism, as they were among the most vocal critics of Nixon's administration. By the end of November, Agnew enjoyed an approval rating of 64%. He had never been more popular in his political career.
In early 1970, Agnew became a popular speaker at Republican fund-raising events. He traveled over 25,000 miles (40,000 km) on behalf of the Republican National Committee. Agnew replaced Ronald Reagan as the party's leading fundraiser. He kept praising "the everyday law-abiding American", in an attempt to attract votes. In April 1970, Agnew finally managed to have one of his ideas about foreign policy heard by Nixon. Agnew's preferred solution for the Viet Cong strongholds in Cambodia was to launch an American attack on Cambodia. Nixon found the idea sound, approving it over the "dovish" advice from Secretary of State William P. Rogers and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.
In early May, 1970, Nixon cautioned Agnew to cease the verbal attacks on the student protest movement. Agnew had delivered an anti-student speech in reaction to the Kent State shootings. Nixon feared that the speech would backfire, and would cost a loss of support for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. In September of the same year, Agnew became the main speaker of the party's election campaign. Nixon also entrusted Agnew to verbally attack dissenting voices within the Republican Party, such as the novice senator Charles Goodell. The results of this election was disappointing for the Republicans. They gained two more seats in the Senate, but lost 11 governorships. Agnew was frustrated that Maryland had become a Democratic stronghold.
During 1971, the relationship between Agnew and Richard Nixon deteriorated considerably. Agnew was too independent and outspoken for Nixon's tastes, and he was popular with factions of the party which were hostile to Nixon. Agnew typically disapproved on Nixon's foreign policy decisions, and he felt that Nixon was insufficiently committed to winning the Vietnam War. Nixon seriously considered replacing Agnew as his running mate in the 1972 presidential elections, but eventually decided against it.
On July 21, 1972, Nixon officially asked Agnew to become his running mate again. Agnew was mildly surprised, but he took the offer. Agnew was given a hero's welcome at the 1972 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, by delegates who viewed him as the party's future leader. His acceptance speech focused on praising the administration's accomplishments. Despite Nixon's instructions to the contrary, Agnew launched verbal attacks on George McGovern (the Democratic candidate of the election). During the election campaign, Nixon repeatedly instructed Agnew to tone down his verbal attacks on Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, Agnew was informed that administration officials were responsible for the Watergate break-in. He had no personal involvement in the matter, but felt that the break-in was a foolish decision.
Nixon and Agnew easily achieved re-election in the 1972 presidential elections. They won 60.7% of the popular vote, and carried 49 states. Massachusetts and the District of Columbia were the only areas who voted for the Democratic ticket. To Agnew's disappointment, Democrats dominated both houses of Congress after the election.
Back in Maryland, there was an ongoing criminal investigation on long-term corruption in Baltimore County. Among those investigated by the authorities were public officials, architects, engineering firms, and paving contractors. While investigating the engineering firm of Lester Matz, the authorities learned that Matz had won many of his contracts through the direct influence of Agnew. And Agnew was paid 5% of the value of each contract, in a bribery scheme that had lasted for most of his political career. Agnew learned of this investigation in February 1973, but district attorney George Beall assured him that he would do his best to protect Agnew's name.
By June 1973, evidence surfaced that Agnew had continued to receive bribes during his term as a vice president. Unlike previous charges against him, he was not protected by the statute of limitations. Further witnesses came forward to report criminal transactions with Agnew. Nixon himself was informed of the case in July 1973. By August 1973, the first press reports on Agnew's criminal activities surfaced. In October 1973, Agnew entered into negotiations for a plea bargain on the condition that he would not serve jail time. Agnew pleaded no contest to a tax evasion charge on October 10, 1973. As part of the plea bargain, the other charges against him were dropped. Agnew was fined 10,000 dollars, and was placed on three years' unsupervised probation. He officially resigned from the vice presidency on October 10. Nixon replaced him as vice president with Gerald Ford. Unlike Agnew, Ford had a reputation for personal honesty.
Following his resignation, Agnew moved to his summer home at Ocean City. He was initially unable to pay for his legal bills. He received a loan of 200,000 dollars from singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), who he had befriended during his political career. Agnew hoped that he would be able to resume his career as a lawyer. The Maryland Court of Appeals disbarred him in 1974, due to surfacing evidence about his crimes.
Agnew eventually secured enough funds to establish his own business consultancy, Pathlite Inc. He attracted an international clientele. Among his early successes was preparing a contract that would provide new uniforms for the Iraqi Army. Agnew lost money when he invested in a beer distributionship in Texas. In 1976, he published his debut novel "The Canfield Decision". Based on his own political career, it depicted an American vice president who has a troubled relationship with his president. The book was a best seller, and earned Agnew 100,000 dollars for serialization rights alone. But it attracted considerable controversy for its supposed anti-Semitism. Agnew had used the novel to publicize his views that the American news media were controlled by (in his words) "Zionist lobbies". He made further statements to the press against Israel and its influence on the United States.
In 1977, Agnew was wealthy enough to purchase a new home in Rancho Mirage, California. He also fully repaid Frank Sinatra's loan. In the same year's "Nixon interviews", Richard Nixon publicly defended Agnew's reputation. Nixon stated that Agnew must have been unaware that he was breaking the law by receiving bribes.
In 1980, Agnew claimed to be facing new financial problems. He secured an interest-free loan from Fahd bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He claimed that they had a common enemy in Israel, and voiced support for Saudi Arabia's anti-Israel policies. Also in 1980, Agnew published his memoir: "Go Quietly ... or Else". The book claimed that Agnew had never taken a bribe, and that the charges against him were unjust. The book was discredited when George White (Agnew's former lawyer) testified that Agnew had confessed to him about his many years of receiving bribes. The book also claimed that Agnew had unwillingly resigned in 1973, because Nixon administration officials had threatened him with assassination. The officials named in the book later denied that they had ever threatened Agnew.
In 1980, Agnew gave his first television interview in several years. He advised young people never to seek a political career, because high public office came at the price of overwhelming expectations. In 1981, legal students of the "George Washington University Law School" launched a lawsuit against Agnew. Agnew had been found to have received 268,482 dollars in bribes, and they argued that he should fully repay that sum to the state. In 1981, a court sentenced Agnew to pay the state 147,500 dollars for the kickbacks, and 101,235 dollars in interest. He fully repaid the debt in 1983. He then launched a legal case in an attempt to declare the payments as tax-deductible. He lost his case in 1989.
In 1987, Agnew was the plaintiff in a court case in Brooklyn. He was forced to disclose information about the business activities of his company, Pathlite, Inc.. He was found to have various business activities in Argentina, France, Greece, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, and West Germany. The court found no evidence of illegal activities. Agnew claimed at the time that his business success was based on his ability "to penetrate to the top people".
In 1994, Agnew was invited to Richard Nixon's funeral at Yorba Linda, California. He decided to attend it, though he had intentionally avoided all contact with Nixon and his family for two decades. He received a warm welcome by former colleagues from the Nixon administration. In 1995, Agnew was invited to the Capitol in Washington D.C. for the dedication ceremony of a bust of him. He gave his first speech in many years, in order to address his poor reputation.
On September 16, 1996, Agnew suddenly collapsed at his summer home in Ocean City, Maryland. He was transferred to a hospital, and he died there on September 17. He was 77-years-old. An autopsy revealed that he was suffering from untreated acute leukemia. His death came as a surprise to his family and friends. Agnew had remained fit and active into his seventies, and regularly played golf and tennis. He had no visible signs of poor health.
Agnew was buried at Timonium, Maryland, in a ceremony primarily attended by members of his family. Among his former political allies, only Pat Buchanan bothered to attend the funeral. Buchanan had written some of Agnew's speeches. There was also an honor guard of the combined military services at the funeral. Agnew was survived by his wife Judy Agnew, who died in 2012. They had 4 children. Agnew is considered among the most controversial American politicians of the 20th century, but he is also counted among the influential founders of the New Right movement. Some of Agnew's political tactics have been imitated by other Republican politicians, particularly his attacks on the press. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Sophie Okonedo is a British actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda (2004).
Okonedo was born within London in 1968. Her parents were Henry Okonedo (1939-2009) and Joan Allman. Her father was British Nigerian employed as a government worker. Her mother was a British Jew employed as a Pilates teacher. Sophie's maternal grandparents were Yiddish-speaking emigrants to the United Kingdom, one from Poland and the other from Russia.
Henry Okonedo abandoned his family around 1973, when Sophie was 5. Joan raised her daughter as a single mother in the Chalkhill Estate, a large council estate within the Wembley Park district of the London Borough of Brent. The Chalkhill Estate consisted of "about 1900 houses and flats" and was located at a short distance from the Wembley Stadium. The Chalkhill Estate was often vandalized by football hooligans during during the 1970s and suffered from high crime rates from the 1970s to the 1990s. The Estate's buildings were eventually demolished in 2000.
Sophie was raised as a practicing Jew, and always had access to books despite her family's relative poverty. She chose to follow acting as a profession, and was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the oldest and most prestigious drama schools in the United Kingdom.
Okonedo made her film debut at 23, in the coming-of-age film "Young Soul Rebels" (1991). The film was a historical fiction work, examining the youth culture of London in the late 1970s, and the interactions between different culture movements: the skinheads, the punks, and the soul-boys. Sophie Okonedo played Tracy, the girlfriend of the main character Chris (Valentine Nonyela).
In 1995, Okonedo gained the role of Moira Levitt in the first season of the prison drama "The Governor" (1995-1996). The series primarily concerned the lives of a prison's staff members. Also in 1995, Okonedo played the role of the Wachati Princess, Ace Ventura's love interest in the comedy film "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls". In the film, the virgin princess of an African tribe has been engaged to a heir from another tribe, but disagrees with the arranged marriage and attempts to seduce pet detective Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) instead. Ace has recently become a Buddhist monk and has taken an oath of celibacy, but feels tempted by the offer.
From 1996 to 1997, Okonedo played the main role of Kelly Booth in the medical drama series "Staying Alive". In 2000, Okonedo played a main role in the legal drama mini-series "In Defence". While originally planned to be a multi-season television series, the series was cut short due to poor ratings.
In 2000, Okonedo co-stared in the dramatic television film "Never Never". She was nominated for a "Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor - Female", for her role in the film. In 2002, Okonedo played the role of the prostitute Juliette in the social thriller film "Dirty Pretty Things", which depicted the lives of impoverished immigrants in London.
In 2003, Okonedo voiced the role of Alison Cheney in the flash-animated series "Scream of the Shalka", a spin-off of "Doctor Who". In the series, Alison is a barmaid at a Lancashire village who becomes the newest time-traveling companion of the Doctor (played by Richard E. Grant). Alison also befriends the Master (played by Derek Jacobi), an arch-enemy-turned-assistant of the Doctor who is permanently trapped within the time machine known as the Tardis.
In 2004, 36-year-old Okonedo had her breakthrough role as the co-star of the historical drama film "Hotel Rwanda", depicting the Rwandan genocide (1994). Okonedo played the historical figure Tatiana Rusesabagina (1958-), a professional nurse from the Tutsi ethnic group who helped over a 1000 individuals to escape the massacre. Okonedo won a Black Reel Award for Best Actress for her role. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but the Award for that year was won by rival actress Cate Blanchett (1969-).
In 2005, Okonedo had the role of Sithandra in the science fiction film "Æon Flux". The film was set in the 25th century, within the fictional city-state of Bregna. The characters Æon Flux (played by Charlize Theron) and Sithandra are female assassins, tasked with assassinating Trevor Goodchild, the local head-of-state. But in the process, Æon finds out that the city-state's main rebel-organization is actually a tool for a coup d'état orchestrated by other politicians. And also discovers some dark secrets about the city's past. The film gained a worldwide box office total of 52 million dollars, smaller than its actual budget,
In 2006, Okonedo played the intelligence agent "Mrs. Jones" in the spy film "Stormbreaker", an adaptation of the "Alex Rider" novel series by Anthony Horowitz (1955-). In the film, Mrs. Jones (full name "Tulip Jones" in the novels) is an an agent of the Special Operations Division of MI6, and the de facto second-in-command of MI6. When subordinate agent Ian Rider gets assassinated by enemy agents, Mrs. Jones recruits Ian's nephew and surrogate son Alex Rider as a replacement agent. Blackmailing the boy by threatening to deport his housekeeper and primary caretaker Jack Starbright (played by Alicia Silverstone) if he refuses to serve the agency. The film gained about 24 million dollars at the international box office, receiving only a limited release in the United States.
Also in 2006, Okonedo played the role of Anna in the British comedy-drama film "Scenes of a Sexual Nature", an anthology film depicting seven loosely connected stories, all set in the nature reserve of Hampstead Heath within Greater London. Anna was depicted as a woman suffering from extreme mood swings, which convince her boyfriend to leave her alone in the nature reserve. The depressed Anna is approached by the weirdly-acting stranger Noel (played by Tom Hardy) who attempts to cheer her up and befriend her. Anna is at turns amused and annoyed by Noel, attempts to have sex with him, and then abruptly abandons him due to another sudden change in her mood. The film opened in niche cinemas.
Also in 2006, Okonedo played the role of Susie Carter in the mini-series "Tsunami: The Aftermath", which depicted the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In the film, Susie is a young mother who is searching for her daughter Martha Carter (Jazmyn Maraso). Martha was swept away by the tsunami, and her whereabouts are unknown for most of the series. Okonedo won an "NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special" for this role, and was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Okonedo's next films were the comedy-drama "Martian Child" (2007), the drama film "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), and the biographical film "Skin" (2008). The last two films allowed Okonedo to be nominated for several Black Reel Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Satellite Awards, and British Independent Film Award. Despite the critical acclaim for her acting roles, Okonedo never actually won these awards.
In 2010, 42-year-old Okonedo was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire, a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences. The Order was established in 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom (reigned 1910-1936) and counts among its members several actors.
In 2010, Okonedo returned to the Doctor Who franchise, playing another character in the most recent "Doctor Who" television series. She was cast as Elizabeth X (nicknaned "Liz Ten"), a Queen regnant of the United Kingdom in the 29th century. In the series, Elizabeth is immortal, but has limited access to her own memories due to a series of mind-wipes. She was depicted as still alive and reigning in an episode set in the 52nd century, at which point she was over 2300 years old.
Okonedo was limited to television roles for much of the early 2010s, but returned to theatrical films with the post-apocalyptic science fiction film "After Earth" (2013). The film is set in the 31st century, when the planet Earth has long been abandoned by humanity. Most humans live in the colony world Nova Prime, which is protected from alien threats by the Ranger Corps. Okonedo was cast in the role of Faia Raige, wife of the General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), the commanding officer of the Rangers. Early in the film, Faia convinces Cypher to take their son Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) with him in mission, as a bonding experience. Young Kitai's application to become a Ranger has already being rejected due to reckless behavior, Kitai suffers from survivor's guilt for playing a part in his sister's death, and his father sees him as a failure. Faia's request for a bonding experience results in father and son being left stranded on planet Earth, the only two humans alive on the planet. The film was poorly received by critics, but earned about 244 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Becoming the commercially most successful film in Okonedo's entire career at this point.
Okonedo's next film was the political drama "War Book" (2014). The film depicts British civil servants who participate in a war-game, concerning government reactions in a potential nuclear war. In 2016, Okonedo had a major role in the mini-series "The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses", depicting the historical Wars of the Roses (1455-1487), a series of English civil wars involving rival branches of the royal family. Okonedo was cast in the role of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482, terms as Queen 1445-1461, 1470-1471). The historical Margaret was the wife and consort of Henry VI of England (1421-1471, reigned 1422-1461, 1470-1471), the mother of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (1453-1471), and the mother-in-law of Anne Neville (1456-1485). Due to Henry's health problems and Edward's underage status, Margaret served as the de facto head of the House of Lancaster and the Lancastrian military faction in early phases of the war. The defeat of her army at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471) caused the deaths of both her husband and her son, and allowed the rival House of York to dominate the English throne until 1485.
In 2018, Okonedo returned to voice acting. She voiced Kanga the kangaroo of the Hundred Acre Wood in the fantasy film "Christopher Robin", a sequel to the Winnie-the-Pooh novels of Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956). The film depicts an adult Christopher Robin as a World War II veteran and aging businessman. He thinks that his childhood friends from the Hundred Acre Wood were imaginary, until said friends come searching for him. He has aged, but they have not. The film earned about 198 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the highest-grossing film in Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise.
In 2019, Okonedo played the seer Lady Hatton in the superhero film "Hellboy", the first superhero film of her career. The film earned about 40 million dollars at the worldwide box office, lower than its own budget. The film was criticized for its excessive gore, including an opening scene where King Arthur mutilates the corpse of his enemy Nimue.
Also in 2019, Okonedo was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019., for her services in drama. She is living with her only daughter Aoife Okonedo Martin in Muswell Hill, a suburban district of north London. Aoife is employed as a Personal Trainer. At 51, Okonedo continues to work regularly in her chosen field.- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Shunsuke Kikuchi is a Japanese composer, specializing in film scores and incidental music for films and television shows. He has been active in the industry since the early 1960s.
Kikuchi is primarily known as the composer of Tokusatsu films (live-action fantasy, science fiction, and horror films), anime films, action films, and Jidaigeki (period drama films). He has worked for various companies, but his music often appears in productions by the Toei Company. He was the main composer for the "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z" television series and related films. Due to his association with long-running series, his music was often thought to guarantee success.
He composed the song "Urami Bushi" for the women-in-prison film "Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion". The song is better known to Western audiences for its inclusion in the soundtrack of "Kill Bill".- Actress
- Writer
Shell Danielson is an actress and screenwriter, better known for soap opera roles. She played the characters Laken Lockridge (in "Santa Barbara"), Dominique Stanton (in "General Hospital"), and Bunny Hutchinson (in "The Young and the Restless").
As a screenwriter, she was one of the main writers of the original "Power Rangers" television series, and also contributed to a number of sequels and spin-offs. Her career highlight was co-writing the film "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie" (1997). The film earned a worldwide total of $9.6 million at the box office.- Actress
- Music Department
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Shannon Chan-Kent is a Canadian actress and soprano singer from Vancouver, British Columbia. She has performed with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. She has often worked as a voice actress in animation. Her best known role was providing the singing voice of the regular character Pinkie Pie in the fantasy series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" (2010-2019). In the same series, she provided the regular voices of the recurring antagonist Silver Spoon and the female dragon Smolder. Chan-Kent also voiced several significant characters in the spin-off series "Equestria Girls".
Chan-Kent voiced Misa Amane in the English dub of "Death Note" (2006-2007). Misa was depicted as a young model with traumatic experiences, who gained the eyes of a Shinigami (death spirit). At the cost of shortening her own life span, Misa could learn a person's real name and lifespan just by looking at their face. She used this ability to feed information to the supernatural serial killer Kira/ Light Yagami, due to her unrequited love for him and her agreement with his vigilantism. Kira viewed her only as a useful tool instead of a love interest.
Chan-Kent voiced Christina Sierra in "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" (2007-2009). Christina was a computer programmer aboard the mothership "Ptolemaios", and was previously a runaway from an unnamed space colony. Christina was repeatedly trying to befriend her introverted co-worker Feldt Grace and to spend private time with her, despite their different personalities and interests. Christina was eventually killed in action, using her dying moments to offer life advise to Feldt. Feldt mourned the loss of her closest friend.
In "Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures" (2010-2013), Chan-Kent voiced the regular character Cherry Jam. The character was depicted as a semi-retired professional singer, who had just started a new career as a music teacher. She had reportedly tired of constant music tours, and was seeking to settle down and to develop closer bonds with her new friends. Cherry enjoyed having a less hectic lifestyle than the one she previously experienced, and found joy in simple things.
Chan-Kent voiced Larmina, the Blue Lion pilot in "Voltron Force" (2011-2012). The character was the niece of Princess Allura (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) and a replacement pilot for her aunt. Larmina was an entirely new addition to the Voltron franchise's cast. This series lasted for a single season and 26 episodes, ending on a cliffhanger. A planned second season was never produced due to budget problems.
Chan-Kent voiced Beatrice "Trixie" Sting in the science fiction series "Slugterra" (2012-2016). The character was a female member of the Shane Gang, and served as a strategist for her team. Trixie viewed her teammates as her surrogate family, and tried to convince her secretive teammate Eli Shane to confide to her about his mysterious past. Trixie had aspirations to become a documentary filmmaker.
Chan-Kent voiced the antagonist Lemon Zest in the animated film "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Friendship Games" (2015). The character was a leading member of the Crystal Prep Academy Shadowbolts. She and her teammates obsessively pursued victory at an academic and sporting competition, serving as the rival team to the film's protagonists. Lemon was portrayed as a rock music enthusiast, and as rather insensitive to the needs and emotions of her teammate Twilight Sparkle. In a moment of danger towards the film's ending, Lemon helped in pulling to safety both Rarity (one of her rivals at the contest) and Fleur de Lis (one of Lemon's classmates).
Chan-Kent voiced the antagonist Wallflower Blush in the television special "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Forgotten Friendship" (2018). Wallflower was depicted as a lonely girl, who kept being forgotten by people with whom she interacted regularly. She eventually gained a magical artifact which could erase or modify the memories of others. So she decided to take revenge on the popular girl Sunset Shimmer, by using this power to isolate Sunset from her friends and to turn her into a social outcast (like Wallflower herself).
Chan-Kent performed the singing voice of returning antagonist Sonata Dusk in the animated special "My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Sunset's Backstage Pass" (2019). As before, Sonata was depicted as a formerly powerful siren who has been exiled into a human world and transformed into a human. In the special, Sonata and her depowered teammates were pursuing careers as music performers. Their old enemy Sunset Shimmer accused the sirens of being responsible for a mysterious time loop. The sirens revealed that they have had no access to magic for quite some time, and were not aware of any magic plot.
Chan-Kent has been announced as the new voice actress of the anthropomorphic hedgehog Amy Rose in the upcoming series "Sonic Prime" (2022-). Amy is typically depicted as Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend. Her signature weapon is a hammer, which she typically uses as a melee weapon. By 2022, Chan-Kent was 34-years. She seems to have no plans to retire yet.- Actor
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Shane Rimmer was a Canadian actor and screenwriter, primarily known as the voice actor of Scott Tracy, a leading character in the science fiction series "Thunderbirds" (1965-1966).
Rimmer was born in Toronto, Canada, where his parents had settled after moving to Canada. Shane's father was Thomas Rimmer, a reporter and advertising copywriter from Ireland. Shane's mother was Vera Franklin, from England. Thomas and Vera had separately migrated to the United States, and they met each other while living in New York. They married there, and then moved to Canada in search of a better life.
In the 1950s, Rimmer had a music career in Canada, both as a singer and as a radio DJ. In 1958, he became the host of a musical television series, "Come Fly with Me". In 1959, Rimmer joined a singing trio called "the Three Deuces", and started performing in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, he had started appearing as a character actor in various films and television series.
In 1962, Rimmer met the dancer Sheila Logan, and they were married in 1963. The couple settled in London, and Rimmer's new wife soon became his agent. She helped secure more acting jobs for him. His first recurring role in a television series was playing the magazine editor Russell Corrigan in the soap opera "Compact"(1963-1964)
His first notable film role was that of Captain "Ace" Owens, crew member of a B-52 bomber in the black comedy "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964). Owens is depicted serving under Major "King" Kong (played by Slim Pickens) in a suicide mission.
Rimmer started playing guest roles in relatively high-profile action and science-fiction television series of the period, such as "The Saint ", "Danger Man", and "Dr. Who". In 1965, Rimmer gained his key role of pilot Scott Tracy in "Thunderbirds". Scott appeared in all 32 episodes of the series. After the end of the television series, Rimmer returned to the role of Scott Tracy in the spin-off films "Thunderbirds Are Go" (1966) and "Thunderbird 6" (1968). While the television series was a hit, both films under-performed at the box office. Plans for further sequel films were can-celled.
In the late 1960s, Rimmer started playing minor roles in the "James Bond" film series. He played an unnamed American launch controller in "You Only Live Twice" (1967), the chief of security Tom in "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971), and Commander Carter, the captain of the nuclear submarine in "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977). He also voiced Hamilton, an agent of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) who gets assassinated in "Live and Let Die" (1973). Hamilton was played by actor Robert Dix, but his dialogue was voiced by Rimmer instead.
Trying his hand at screenwriting, Rimmer wrote scripts for several episodes of the television series "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons" (1967-1968), "Joe 90" (1968-1969), "The Secret Service" (1969), and "The Protectors " (1972-1974). The first three of them were science fiction series, while "The Protectors" was a crime fiction series about an an alliance of private detectives.
In March 2019, Rimmer died in at Barnet Hospital in London. He was 89-years-old. He was survived by his wife and their three sons.- Actor
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Sebastian Cabot was an English actor, often working as a voice actor in animation.
On 6 July, 1918, Cabot was born in London. He dropped out of school in 1932, to work in an automotive garage. He was eventually hired as both a chauffeur and a valet for actor Frank Pettingell (1891-1966). He learned to speak smoothly to fit his new profession, and became acquainted with several actors.
Cabot became interested in starting an acting career of his own, and started appearing regularly in theatre. His film debut was the gambling-themed comedy film "Foreign Affaires " (1935), where he was an uncredited extra. His first credited role was in the spy film "Secret Agent" (1936).
Cabot primarily worked in his native United Kingdom until the 1950s, when he moved to the United States. There he had roles in such films as "Westward Ho, the Wagons! " (1956), "Johnny Tremain" (1957), and "The Time Machine" (1960).
Cabot appeared mostly in guest star roles in television throughout the 1960s. His first major role in the medium was that of college professor Dr. Carl Hyatt in the detective television series "Checkmate" (1960-1962). Hyatt was depicted as a member of a detective agency which works to prevent crimes before they can take place. The series lasted for 70 episodes.
His voice acting credits started in radio, before he became a regular voice actor for the Disney studio. He voiced Sir Ector (King Arthur's adoptive father) in "The Sword in the Stone" (1963) and Baghreera the black panther (one of Mowgli's mentors) in "The Jungle Book". He was the original narrator of the Winnie the Pooh film series, serving in this role in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974), and "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977).
Cabot had another major television role as traditional "gentleman's gentleman" (valet) Giles French in the sitcom "Family Affair" (1966-1971). The series lasted for 138 episodes, and several members of the cast were nominated for Emmy Awards. Cabot himself was nominated for a 1968 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series". The award was instead won by rival actor Don Adams (1923-2005).
Cabot's next significant television role was that of hotel owner Winston Essex, the host of the anthology horror television series "Ghost Story" (1972-1973). His last notable live-action roles were in two television films. He played Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street" (1973), and appeared in "The City That Forgot About Christmas" (1974).
Cabot survived his first stroke in 1974, and then mostly retired for show business. He lived his final years in Deep Cove, British Columbia, a suburb of Victoria. In 1977, he was hospitalized following a second stroke. He never recovered, dying in the Victoria hospital. He was 59 years old. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.- Producer
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Scott Mosier is a Canadian-American film producer, holding dual citizenship. He is particularly known for his long-term association with film director Kevin Smith. He has produced most of Smith's early films.
Mosier was born in Vancouver, Washington. His father John Mosier was a Canadian from Saskatchewan, but moved frequently between the state of Washington and British Columbia. The younger Mosier spend his early life in both areas.
Mosier received his film education at the Vancouver Film School, where he met fellow college student Kevin Smith. He agreed to help Smith if he ever managed to direct a feature film. He was later recruited as the producer of Smith's debut film "Clerks" (1994). He also served as the film's sound editor, and film editor. He contributed to the film's budget.
Following the first film's completion, Mosier helped secure financing for Kevin's next film: "Mallrats" (1995). Their third film, "Chasing Amy" (1997), was financed by the film studio Miramax. Most of these films had small budgets, and used obscure actors. His first film with a budget of at least 20 million dollars was "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001).
Mosier managed to secure a film budget of 35 million dollars to the comedy-drama film "Jersey Girl" (2004), but the film under-performed at the box office. His partnership with Smith continued until 2010, when Mosier started trying to make it on his own as a director.
In 2011, Mosier contributed scripts for several episodes of the animated television series "The Ultimate Spider-Man". He later co-wrote the screenplay of the animated feature film "Free Birds" (2013), featuring time-traveling turkeys. Mosier made his directorial debut with the animated feature film "The Grinch" (2018), an adaptation of the children's book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" (1957) by Dr. Seuss. The film was a box office hit, grossing about 512 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
As of 2020, Mosier was 49 years old. He continues his film career, though it is unclear if he will return to directing.- Sarah Churchill was a British actress and dancer, of American descent. She was born in London in 1914. She was the 3rd child and 2nd daughter born to politician Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and his wife Clementine Ogilvy Hozier (1885 -1977). Sarah's father would eventually serve as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (term 1940-1945, 1951-1955), and Sarah's mother became a life peer in her own right with the title of "Baroness Spencer-Churchill". Sarah was named after her distant ancestor Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744). The elder Sarah was a prominent figure in British political history, as a close friend and royal favorite of Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665-1714, reigned 1702-1714) and an influential member of the Whig (liberal) political faction.
The younger Sarah was born to a well-connected, but somewhat disreputable line of British nobility. Sarah's paternal grandfather was Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895), a prominent politician of the Conservative Party, and a member of the cabinet under Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (1830-1903). Randolph had ruined his own career in an act of political suicide in 1886, and had died of syphilis in 1895. Sarah's paternal grandmother was Jennie Jerome (1854-1921), a wealthy American heiress from Brooklyn, New York. Jennie was well known for extramarital affairs with several prominent men, and for serving as a mistress to the future king Edward VII (1841-1910, reign 1901-1910). Jennie died in 1921, following an accident which caused a gangrene-infection at her legs.
Sarah's maternal grandmother was Lady Blanche Ogilvy (1852-1925), daughter to an Earl of Airlie. Blanche was famous for a scandalous sexual life, and for her newsworthy divorce from military officer Henry Montague Hozier (1838-1907). While Hozier was Clementine Churchill's legal father, her paternity was always disputed. Biographers believe that Sarah's actual maternal grandfather was either famous equestrian George "Bay" Middleton (1846-1892), or professional diplomat Algernon Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale (1837 -1916).
Sarah Churchill was educated at Notting Hill High School in London. She was later send to a boarding in Kent, the North Foreland Lodge. In 1936, the 22-year-old Sarah angered her parents by marrying without their permission. Her new husband was Vic Oliver (1898-1964), a well known actor and comedian of Austrian-Jewish descent.
In the 1930s, Sarah became a professional actress, and started appearing in films. Her first known role was a bit part in the comedy film "Who's Your Lady Friend?" (1937), a farce dealing with misunderstandings concerning the real identity of a medical patient. She was eventually given more substantial roles in the musical "He Found a Star" (1941), the historical drama "Daniele Cortis" (1947), and the comedy "All Over the Town" (1949) which was dealing with office rivalries and labor disputes.
Sarah's most famous role was dancer Anne Ashmond in the film "Royal Wedding" (1951). The character was a co-protagonist, and served as a love interest to character Tom Bowen (played by Fred Astaire). Sarah had become well-known in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and received offers for further roles in theater, radio, and television. However, her career declined due to Sarah's problems with alcoholism. She was arrested several times for being drunk and disorderly, and even served time as a prisoner at HM Prison Holloway, Britain largest women's prison.
In the late 1950s, Sarah started a side-career, by producing lithographic prints for sale. In the 1970s, she was hired to work with other artists in producing portraits of her father: "A Visual Philosophy of Sir Winston Churchill".
Sarah Churchill died in September 1982, 2 weeks prior to her 68th birthday. She was buried in a family grave at St Martin's Church, Bladon, in Oxfordsire. Buried with Sarah are her parents and three of her siblings. Nearby graves contain the remains of various other members of the wider Spencer-Churchill family. This church has been affiliated with the family since 1804, when Sarah's ancestor George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739 -1817) financed its construction. - Actor
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Sam Kinison was a popular stand-up comedian from Yakima, Washington, mainly active in the 1980s and the early 1990s. He also had a few acting roles in film and television. His only recurring role was that of Hugh, the main character's alter ego in the short-lived sitcom "Charlie Hoover" (1991). The series only lasted 7 episodes. Kinison had previously worked as a Pentecostal preacher, and his comedy routine incorporated sudden tirades and distinctive screams in the style of charismatic preachers. Kinison was noted for a tendency to use black comedy, and to often satirize Christian evangelist scandals.
In 1953, Kinison was born in Yakima, Washington. The city's economy is mostly based on agriculture. Yakima is the primary producer of hops in the United States, a key ingredient in the production of beer. Kinison's parents were the Pentecostal preacher Samuel Earl Kinison and his wife Marie Florence Morrow. Samuel "pastored several churches " throughout the United States, never settling for long in one place and always earning a meager income.
In 1956, Kinison was accidentally hit by a truck. He survived the accident, but suffered brain damage. His childhood was otherwise uneventful until 1964, when his parents divorced. Marie gained custody over Kinison, despite the boy's protestations. Kinison decided to follow in his father's footstep's, training to become a preacher.
From 1968 to 1969, Kinison attended the "Pinecrest Bible Training Center", an unaccredited bible school located in Salisbury Center, New York. From 1970 to 1977, Kinison was employed as a preacher. He reportedly used a typical "fire and brimstone" style in his sermons, punctuated with shouting. Like his father, Kinison earned a meager income and struggled with poverty.
Deciding to change his career path and become a comedian, Kinison moved to Houston, Texas. He found work at the Houston-based comedy club "Comedy Workshop" (1978-early 1990s). He received training at the Workshop's school for improvisational comedic actors, and joined the club's team of "Texas Outlaw Comics". The team reportedly was intended to consist of comedians "who speak their minds" and "who aren't interested in selling out."
In 1980, Kinison decided to move to Los Angeles. He wanted to be hired by the West Hollywood-located comedy club "The Comedy Store" (1972-), where young comedians received press exposure and had a shot of appearing in HBO's "Young Comedians" television specials.
Kinison was initially hired as a doorman by "The Comedy Store", but eventually started performing as a comedian again. While struggling to find work, Kinnison reportedly developed addictions to both cocaine and alcohol. He hired his brother Bill as his manager.
Kinison's big break came when he was chosen as one of 8 performers in the "The 9th Annual Young Comedians Special" (1985). Most of the featured performers failed to impress the critics of the day, but Kinison won praise for voicing the frustrations of a typical married man in his routine. Kinison was next featured as a guest on the talk show "Late Night with David Letterman", and was cast in a supporting role in the comedy film "Back to School".
Kinison was at the height of his popularity by 1989. He was cast in the role of an angel in an episode of then-popular sitcom "Married... with Children" (1987-1997). In 1990, he had a role in the horror anthology series "Tales from the Crypt" (1989-1996). In 1991, he had a co-starring role in the sitcom "Charlie Hoover" (1991). The series' premise was that Charlie was a depressed, middle-aged office worker who is confronted by his own alter ego, who convinces him to turn his life around.
Having divorced twice, on April 4, 1992 Kinison married his long-time girlfriend Malika Souiri. She worked as a dancer. Following the wedding, the couple vacationed in Hawaii for 5 days. They returned to Los Angeles on April 10, as Kinison had to prepare for a performance at the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino of Laughlin, Nevada. Later that day, Kinison's Pontiac Trans Am was "struck head-on" by a pick-up truck. The driver of the other vehicle was an inebriated 17-year-old boy.
Kinnison was found dead at the scene, with his head having smashed his car's windshield. At the time of the accident, Kinnison was not wearing his seat belt. He was 38-years-old at the the time of his death. His wife was also injured at the accident, but was able to recovered at a hospital. The driver responsible for the death pled guilty to charges of "vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence". He was sentenced to a single year of probation and 300 hours of community service.
Kinison was buried in a family grave plot at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1993, archival footage of him was used for the television special "A Tribute to Sam Kinison". Kinnison's brother Bill wrote a biography of him, called "Brother Sam: The Short, Spectacular Life of Sam Kinison". Despite a relatively short career, Kinnison has been fondly remembered. He has been cited as an influence by other comedians.- Actor
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Sage Stallone was an American actor and film director from Los Angeles. His best known role was Robert Balboa, Jr. (Rocky Balboa's son) in the sports drama film "Rocky V" (1990).
Stallone was the eldest son of actor Sylvester Stallone (1946-) and his first wife Sasha Czack. His parents married in 1974, and divorced in 1985. Sage's paternal grandfather was hairdresser and beautician Frank Stallone Sr. (1919-2011). Sage's paternal grandmother was the astrologer Jackie Stallone (1921-). Through his father's side of the family, Sage had Italian, French, and Ukrainian-Jewish ancestry.
Stallone made his film debut in "Rocky V" (1990), when 14-years-old. From 1994 to 1995, Stallone studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a public art school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1996 Stallone and film editor Bob Murawski became the founders of the film preservation company Grindhouse Releasing. The company preserved, digitally restored and distributed exploitation films, B-movies, and cult films. It was also known for the restoration of Italian horror films directed by Lucio Fulci, Ruggero Deodato, and other horror directors.
In 2006, Stallone directed the drama film "Vic", concerning a down-on-his-luck actor who struggles to make a career comeback. For this film, Stallone won the Best New Filmmaker at the Boston Film Festival .
In 2010, Stallone played an unnamed Mafioso in the drama film "Promises Written in Water". The film did not receive distribution, and was mainly exhibited in film festivals. Stallone's last film appearance was a role in the short film "The Agent" (2010).
Stallone died in July 2012,at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles. His autopsy indicated that the cause of death was coronary artery disease, caused by atherosclerosis. He was 36-years-old at the time of death. His funeral was held at the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Los Angeles. Stallone was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.- Producer
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Russell Wolfe was an American film producer. In 2005, he was a co-founder of the film studio Pure Flix, which produced films catering to a conservative Christian audience. Their most notable box office success was the "God's Not Dead" film series.
In 2013, Wolfe was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease that causes the death of neurons controlling voluntary muscles. His health declined rapidly, and the disease caused his death in 2015.
His film studio survived him. At the time of his death its films had collectively grossed over 195 million dollars at the worldwide box office.- Rupert Crosse was an African-American actor. In 1969, Crosse was the first African American to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Crosse was born in New York City, but was raised on the island of Nevis by his grandparents. Nevis is one of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea. It was a British colony until 1967, when it became one of the West Indies Associated States.
Crosse returned to the United States in order to serve in the United States Army. Following his military service, he was educated at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey. He studied acting under John Cassavetes, and made his film debut in the Cassavetes-directed film Shadows (1958). He played the manager Rupert. Crosse was 31 years old at the time of his film debut.
Crosse appeared regularly in guest star roles in television throughout the 1960s. His next film was Cassavetes' Too Late Blues (1961), about the life of a struggling jazz band. Crosse played bit parts in the legal drama Twilight of Honor (1963), the political drama The Best Man (1964), and the psychological thriller Marnie (1964). He had a more substantial part as a hobo in the romance film Wild Seed (1965).
Crosse next played Indian Joe in the western film Ride in the Whirlwind (1966). He befriended the film's leading actor, Jack Nicholson. Crosse had a minor role in another western: Waterhole #3 (1967), a comic remake of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). His next role was that of character Ned McCaslin in the coming-of-age film The Reivers (1969). The film was an adaptation of the novel "The Reivers, a Reminiscence" (1962) by William Faulkner, and depicts a group of car thieves who take a brand new 1905 Winton Flyer for a joyride. Crosse was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role, but the award went to Gig Young (1913-1978).
Crosse played mostly television roles in the 1970s. He played Detective George Robinson in the television film Confessions of a Top Crime Buster (1971). He was next cast as Robinson again in the sitcom The Partners (1971), which lasted 20 episodes. The sitcom depicted Robinson as one of a duo of bumbling detectives. Crosse was depicted as a Korean War veteran, and more observant of his surroundings than his partner Lennie Crooke (played by Don Adams). The sitcom was canceled due to low ratings, failing to compete against rival sitcom "All in the Family" (1971-1979).
Crosse was suffering from lung cancer in 1973, and was forced to decline further roles. He returned to Nevis, where he soon died. He was survived by his wife Chris Calloway, and his only son Rupert Osaze Dia Crosse. Their son died in 2002 from a heart condition, and Chris died in 2008 from breast cancer. - Actress
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Rosemary Harris is an English actress. She has won 4 Drama Desk Awards, and nominated 9 times for Tony Awards. In 1966, she won the "Tony Award for Best Actress" for her role as Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter". In films, she is better known for portraying May Reilly Parker in the "Spider-Man" film trilogy (2002-2007). Her character Aunt May is Spider-Man/Peter Parker's paternal aunt-in-law and surrogate mother.
In 1927, Harris was born in Ashby, Suffolk, a former civil parish in East Suffolk. Her parents were Stafford Berkeley Harris and his wife Enid Maude Frances Campion. Her father served in the Royal Air Force (RAF), and the Harris family relocated to the locations of his military assignments. For some time, Stafford served in British India. So Harris spend part of her childhood there.
Harris attended various convent schools. When she reached adulthood, she decided to follow an acting career. She made her theatrical debut in 1948, at Eastburn. She appeared for a few years in English repertory theatre, though she had no formal training as an actor. She joined Anthony Cundell's theatrical company, which was headquartered at Penzance, Cornwall.
From 1951 to 1952, Harris received her formal acting education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She made her debut in the New York stage in 1951, performing in "Climate of Eden" by Moss Hart (1904-1961). Shortly after, she made her West End debut in London. In 1954, Harris made her film debut in "Beau Brummell".
For several years, Harris appeared in classical theatre productions of the Bristol Old Vic, a British theatre company headquartered in Bristol, South West England. She later started performing for the Old Vic, the company's London-based parent company. In 1963, Harris performed at the opening production of the then-new National Theatre Company (later known as the Royal National Theatre), a theatrical company founded that year by Laurence Olivier (1907-1989). In that performance, Harris played Ophelia in "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare. Her co-star in the role of Hamlet was Peter O'Toole (1932-2013). The performance received positive reviews, with a theatre critic commenting that Harris was "the most real and touching Ophelia".
From 1959 to 1967, Harris performed in Broadway for the Association of Producing Artist (APA). APA was a production company established by her then-husband Ellis Rabb (1930-1998), Her best known role in this period was playing the historical queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) in "Lion in Winter", the role for which she won the 1966 Tony Award for Best Actress.
In 1967, Harris and Rabb received a divorce, and she consequently stopped performing for the APA. The company did not long survive Harris' departure, disbanding in 1969. Also in 1967, Harris was wed to her second husband, the fiction writer John Ehle (1925-2018). Ehle specialized in works set the Appalachian Mountains, and has been nicknamed "the father of Appalachian literature". They jointly raised a daughter, the actress Jennifer Ehle (1969-).
Harris gained a high-profile television role in the 1970s, playing protagonist George Sand (1804-1876) in the BBC television serial "Notorious Woman" (1974). The series lasted for a single season and 7 episodes. The well-received series was broadcast in the United States from 1975 to 1976. For this role, Harris won the 1976 "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie".
In 1978, Harris appeared in the role of Berta Palitz Weiss in the American television miniseries "Holocaust". Her character was the mother of a large Jewish family during the Holocaust. The miniseries was the first American television production focusing on the Holocaust, and was considered controversial for allegedly trivializing the historical tragedy. Harris' role was critically well-received, and she won the 1978 "Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama".
In the 1980s, Harris' only major appearance in a television production was her role as Mrs Ramsay in the television film "To the Lighthouse". The film was an adaptation of a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), and focused on the life of the Ramsay family at their summer home on the Isle of Skye.
In the 1990s, Harris co-starred with her daughter Jennifer Ehle in the television series "The Camomile Lawn" (1992). Ehle played the young adult version of the character Calypso, while Harris played the elderly version of the character.
In 1994, Harris had a high-profile film role in the historical drama "Tom & Viv", which dramatized the problematic relationship between the poet Thomas Stearns "T.S." Eliot (1888-1965) and his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood Eliot (1888-1947), Harris played the role of Vivienne's mother, Rose Robinson Haigh-Wood. For this role, Harris was nominated for the 1994 "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress". The Award was instead won by rival actress Dianne Wiest (1946-).
Later, Harris again co-starred with Jennifer Ehle in the historical drama film "Sunshine" (1999). They played young and elderly versions of the character Valerie Sonnenschein. The film follows depicts the history of Hungary from the late 19th century to the 1950s, through the life experiences of a Hungarian Jewish family.
Harris gained the high-profile role of May Reilly Parker in the comic book adaptation "Spider-Man" (2002). The film was a box office hit, earning about 822 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Harris was introduced to a much wider audience than before. She resumed her role in the sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Harris continued her theatrical career in the 2010s. Her last high-profile role in the decade was the role of Mrs. Higgins in a Broadway revival of "My Fair Lady". She appeared in the role from 2018 to 2019.
In 2021 was 93-years-old. She has never officially retired, though she no longer appears frequently in films. She has become one of the longest-lived actors of her era.- Actress
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Rose McIver was born in New Zealand to artist Ann "Annie" Coney and professional photographer John George Whitfield "Mac" McIver. Rose has an older brother, musician Paul McIver.
McIver started appearing in commercials when she was only 2 years old. She made her film debut in the film "The Piano" (1993), playing an angel. As a child actress, she mainly received roles in fantasy television series. She had roles in the television films "Hercules and the Amazon Women" (1994), "Hercules in the Underworld" (1994), "Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur" (1994), the television series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" (1995 - 1999), and the spin-off series "Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995 - 2001).
McIver received her first lead roles in television with the post-apocalyptic series "Maddigan's Quest" (2006) and the comedy-drama series "Rude Awakenings" (2007), both short-lived. She gained more attention for her role as Summer Landsdown (the Yellow Ranger) in "Power Rangers RPM" (2009) and appeared in all 32 episodes of the series.
McIver had a supporting role in the supernatural drama film "The Lovely Bones" (2009) as main character Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan)'s younger sister Lindsey Salmon, who helps investigate her sister's murder.
McIver had a main-cast role in the comedy series "Super City" (2011), and a recurring role in the period series "Masters of Sex" (2013-2016). In 2013, she joined the cast of fantasy series "Once Upon a Time" (2011-), where she plays Tinker Bell.
McIver plays the lead character Olivia "Liv" Moore in the comedy-drama series, "iZombie" (2015-). Olivia works as a coroner's assistant and tries to control the urges of her transformation into a zombie.- Actress
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Robin Weigert is an American actress. She is primarily known for television roles, and was once nominated for a "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series."
In 1969, Weigert was born in Washington D.C. Her family is of Jewish heritage. Her parents were the psychiatrist Wolfgang Oscar Weigert and his wife Dionne Laufman. Her father was from Berlin, Germany, but emigrated to the United States decades before Robin's birth.
Weigert was educated at Brandeis University, an American private research university located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Brandeis is a secular, non-sectarian, and coeducational institution, sponsored by the Jewish-American community, It was named after Louis Dembitz Brandeis, the first Jewish Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1856-1941, term 1916-1939). Weigert graduated in 1991, at the age of 22.
Deciding to follow an acting career, Weigert enrolled in the Graduate Acting Program of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Tisch is a performing, cinematic, and media arts school located in Manhattan, New York City. Following her graduation, Weigert spend the first years of her career as a theatrical actress in New York City. She eventually decided to move to Los Angeles, California, where she hoped to find better career opportunities.
Weigert started her television career with cameo roles in television films such as "Mary and Rhoda" (2000), a spin-off of the sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-1977). She appeared in guest star roles in a number of police procedural television series, such as "Law & Order", "Without a Trace", "NYPD Blue", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Her first recurring role was that of Detective Anna Mayes in the early seasons of the police procedural series "Cold Case" (2003-2010). In the series Mayes is a former work colleague of Scotty Valens (one of the main characters) and is on occasion called to assist the main team in their investigations of cold cases.
From 2004 to 2006, Weigert played her breakthrough role of frontierswoman Martha Jane "Calamity Jane" Canary (1852-1903) in the Western television series "Deadwood" (2004-2006). The series was set in the 1870s, and depicted life in the Dakota Territory (1861-1889), an organized incorporated territory of the United States. Weigert's role as the "unkempt, cantankerous, and foul-mouthed drunkard" Calamity Jane received critical praise. Weigert was nominated for a "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for this role, but the Award for 2004 was instead won by rival actress Drea de Matteo (1972-).
The increased attention helped Weigert gain a number of film roles. She appeared in the drama film "Loggerheads" (2005) which depicted estranged families, in the neo-noir film "The Good German" (2006), and the drug-addiction themed film "Things We Lost in the Fire" (2007). She had a more substantial role in the "postmodern" drama film "Synecdoche, New York" (2008), playing the adult version of the character Olive Cotard (with the child version played by Sadie Goldstein).
After several years of mostly appearing in films, Weigert returned to television in 2010 with the recurring role of lawyer Ally Lowen in the contemporary Western television series "Sons of Anarchy" (2008-2014). The series depicted the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club in California, and utilize Old West themes and motifs in a contemporary setting. Lowen was a recurring character in Seasons 3, 5, and 6.
In 2013, Weigert played the lead role of Abby Ableman in the lesbian-themed drama film "Concussion". Weigert received critical praise for the role, and was nominated for a "Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor". The Award for the year was instead won by rival actor Michael Bakari Jordan (1987-).
In 2015, Weigert joined the cast of the neo-noir television series "Jessica Jones" (2015-) during its first season. She played the role of physician Dr. Wendy Ross-Hogarth, the same-sex wife of lawyer Jeryn "Jeri" Hogarth (played Carrie-Anne Moss).
In 2016, Weigert provided voice acting for the animated television series "Transformers: Robots in Disguise" (2015-2017). In the series, Weigert depicted the female villain Scatterspike, a member of the Scavengers. The Scavengers are depicted as a sub-group of the Decepticons, who earn a living by salvaging technological relics left behind by the Autobots during Cybertron's Great War.
In 2017, Weigert depicted the CIA agent Heather Myles in the British mini-series "Fearless". Myles is the series' main antagonist. Also in 2017, Weigert joined the cast of the dramatic television series "Big Little Lies" (2017-). She plays the recurring role of Dr. Amanda Reisman. the therapist attending to a married couple, Perry and Celeste Wright (played by Alexander Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman).
In 2018, Weigert played the role of "body-positive therapist" Verena Baptist in the black comedy mini-series "Dietland". In the series, Baptist is a published author and feminist activist, who is known for helping marginalized women to gain a new perspective in life and to struggle against misogyny. But her life lessons may have inspired a vigilante group in a series of murders against supposedly villainous men.
From 2018 to 2019, Weigert played the recurring role of Jamie Hudson in the third and and final season of the espionage-themed series "Berlin Station" (2016-2019). Hudson is depicted as a college buddy of Valerie Edwards (played by Michelle Forbes), the Section Chief of CIA's operatives in Berlin, Germany. Edwards is one of the main characters of the series.
In 2019, Weigert returned to the role of Calamity Jane in the Western television film "Deadwood: The Movie". It is a sequel of the television series "Deadwood" and the main action is set in the year 1889, just as South Dakota is declared a new U.S. state. By 2019, Weigert was 50 years old, but her career showed no signs of slowing down. She remains a popular character actress, with regular appearances in television.