Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 83
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter ("My Gal Sal", "On the Banks of the Wabash" [the official Indiana state song]), author, actor, singer, publisher and producer, educated at St. Meinrad's in Switz City, Indiana during training for the priesthood. He joined a medicine show at 16, then toured in vaudeville as a singer and monologist. In 1885, he was the 'end man' with the Billy Rice Minstrels. He joined the publishing firm of Howley, Haviland & Dresser, and then he formed his own firm. His other popular-song compositions include "Wide Wings", "The Letter That Never Came", "The Blue and the Gray", "Just Tell Them That You Saw Me", "Once Ev'ry Year", "The Curse of the Dreamer", "The Pardon Came Too Late"Don't Tell Her That You Love Her", "Your Mother Wants You Home, Boy", "Bethlehem", "The Outcast Unknown", "Mr. Volunteer", and "I Was Looking for My Boy, She Said".- Eugene V. Debs was born on 5 November 1855 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to Kate Metzel. He died on 20 October 1926 in Elmhurst, Illinois, USA.
- Writer
- Actor
Theodore Dreiser was one of the great American writers, and a transitional figure between Victorian America and the "modern" age that was inaugurated after the cessation of hostilities after WWI and the publication of Sinclair Lewis' "Main Street" in 1920. A naturalist with a committed social conscience (Dreiser was a socialist in a time when socialists were an established third party and had many mayoral posts and seats in state legislatures before the post-WWI "Red Scare" wiped out socialism in the U.S.), Theodore Dreiser is a seminal figure in the evolution of American letters to a more mature literature.
Born on August 27, 1871 in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was the twelfth of thirteen children Born to John Paul & Sarah Dreiser, ten of whom survived infancy. Theordore's Dreiser's father, John, was a German immigrant and a strict Baptist. His mother Sarah came from a Mennonite community who later converted to Roman Catholicism. His older brother Paul Dresser became a famous songwriter.
Theodore Dreiser attended Indiana University from 1889 to 1890, but flunked out and became a journalist in Chicago and St. Louis. He married the former Sara White in 1898, but the marriage failed and they separated in 1909. Dreiser never divorced his wife.
His first novel "Sister Carrie" was published in 1900. It is considered a classic and a seminal piece of American literature. The publisher did not promote the novel, likely due to its controversial subject matter (adultery, extramarital sex), and the book sold poorly. He did not score a best-seller for a quarter-of-century, until "An American Tragedy" in 1925. (The novel was made into George Stevens 1951 masterpiece A Place in the Sun (1951).
Theodore Dreiser died on December 28, 1945, not long after he had joined the Communist Party, a move that Ernest Hemingway said was that of an old man trying to save his soul.- Joe Keaton and wife Myra were grade-Z vaudeville performers in the early 1900s. Their son Buster joined the act when he was only a few months old. The act was a rough-and-tumble one, with Buster being thrown around on stage most of the time. As the years went by, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic, which forced Buster to quit the act by the time he was a teenager. However, after he hit it big in silent film, Buster provided Joe with small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe split up long after Buster had become an adult. She'd had it with the constant verbal and physical abuse Joe put her through. He lived alone in a Hollywood hotel for many years and was said to have stopped drinking after becoming a Christian Scientist. Buster said Joe died as a result of being run over by a passing car.
- Rose Melville was born on 30 January 1867 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for A Flock of Skeletons (1916), When Things Go Wrong (1916) and Almost a Heroine (1916). She was married to Frank Minzey and Frank Melville. She died on 8 October 1946 in Lake George, New York, USA.
- Animation Department
- Sound Department
Johnny Cannon was born on 17 March 1907 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He is known for Good Scouts (1938). He died on 6 December 1946.- Alice Fischer was born on 16 January 1863 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for National Red Cross Pageant (1917) and Animated Weekly, No. 55 (1913). She was married to William Harcourt. She died on 25 June 1947 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Jack Jahries was born on 17 June 1905 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor. He died on 1 July 1952 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher was born on 28 July 1891 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Idiot's Delight (1939), Possessed (1931) and Lightning Strikes Twice (1934). He was married to Pauline Mason and Irene Martin. He died on 22 May 1955 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Edward Roseman was born on 14 May 1875 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Fantomas (1920), The Tiger Woman (1917) and Big Hearted Jim (1913). He was married to Sophia Anderson. He died on 16 September 1957 in Syracuse, New York, USA.
- Frank McNellis was born on 29 December 1889 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Tip Tap Toe (1932), Dynamite Delaney (1938) and Love Island (1952). He died on 7 May 1958 in Long Island, New York, USA.
- A versatile and accomplished young amateur actress, Grace Hayward became a professional before she was 20. Her parents, George and Alida (Carpenter) Hayward, moved from Terre Haute, Indiana, where Grace was born, to Mt. Carmel, Ill. when Grace was in high school. During the 1890s she performed with "Ferris Comedians," a traveling troupe, and eventually married Richard Ferris, the head of the company. Ferris promoted her for a time as "The Grace Hayward Company." When her marriage began to disintegrate, Hayward formed her own repertory company, traveling around the theater-vaudville circuit, presenting and acting in plays, many of which she wrote. In 1902, she acquired the rights to "Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind the Throne," a best-selling novel by George Barr McCutcheon, and dramatized it. She did the same for "St. Elmo" and "Truxton King." All three were made into motion pictures but it is unclear as to whether Hayward's dramatizations were used in the productions.
After she and Ferris divorced, she married George Mahan Gatts. During the Twenties and early Thirties, Hayward and Gatts toured the country presenting many of her original plays. One of them was "Her Unborn Child," which opened at Etlinge's 42nd Street Theater in New York on March 5, 1928. After the motion picture was made, Hayward published a novelization of the story. During the Depression, she was commissioned to write a play for Civilian Conservation Corps camps. It was titled, "The CCC Murder Mystery," and reputedly was presented at least 1,000 times.
The Gatts retired to Los Angeles, probably in the early forties. George died on April 8, 1949, and Grace died January 7, 1959 at age 90. - Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Lewis was born on 15 April 1884 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He is known for College (1927). He was married to Mallie B. Elder. He died on 17 January 1960 in San Diego, California, USA.- Actress
Valeska Suratt was born in Owensville, Indiana on June 28, 1882 to parents of French ancestry. She moved from Terre Haute to Indianapolis, where she worked at a department store in 1899 before moving to Chicago in 1900 to pursue an acting career. She appeared in vaudeville before debuting in Broadway in 1906 in the musical The Belle of Mayfair. The following year she starred in Hip! Hip! Hooray! She became known for voluptuous movements and her very expensive glamorous costumes and gowns, some of which are said to have cost up to $25,000. Some magazines of the time called her the most elegant woman on stage. Her third Broadway musical, The Girl with the Whooping Cough, was cancelled shortly after its debut in 1910 by New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor who claimed the show was too sexually suggestive. From 1915 to 1917 she moved on to movies and made 11 feature films all of which are considered lost today. In the late 1920s her fame waned and she quickly disappeared from public view, never to return. Suratt died in a Washington DC nursing home on July 2, 1962 at the age of 80.
Valeska Suratt married twice but had no children. In 1904 she married William J. Flannery (1869-1950) better known by his stage name Billy Gould. Gould had been one of her first partners on the Chicago scene and together they created an act where Valeska performed several exotic dances including an Apache dance. They divorced in 1911 and that same year Suratt married Fletcher Norton. They remained married until his death in 1941.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Claude Thornhill was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on August 10 1909. He started playing the piano from the age of ten. His mother, a choir director and church organist, encouraged him to pursue a musical career. Her ambition was for him to become a concert pianist. However, a close friendship with the clarinettist Danny Polo soon steered young Claude away from classical music, towards jazz. After a season on the 'S.S. George Washington' with Heavy Elder's Riverboat Orchestra and another year with the 'Kentucky Colonels', Thornhill embarked on a musical education at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, studying not only piano, but harmony, counterpoint and arranging. Following a two-year stint with Austin Wylie's band in the Cleveland area, Thornhill settled in New York in early 1931. During the first half of the decade, he worked steadily for more than a few name orchestras, including those of Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman, Donald Voorhees, Jacques Renard, Freddy Martin, Ray Noble and Benny Goodman.
Beginning in 1936, Thornhill enjoyed a somewhat lengthier spell with Andre Kostelanetz, further honing his skills as an arranger. His first bona fide success arrived a year later, courtesy of an arrangement of "Loch Lomond", which became a hit recording for a 25-year old vocalist named Maxine Sullivan. As her musical director, he also supervised her first recording dates for Okeh and Vocalion. By the late 1930's, Thornhill had moved to the West Coast as a free-lance arranger. He also helped Skinnay Ennis set up a band and served as musical director on the Bob Hope Show.
With forty of his own arrangements in hand (and encouragement from his close friend Glenn Miller), he finally took the step of assembling a big band in 1940. After several setbacks on the West Coast (including a fire which burned down one of the venues), Thornhill finally opened at the prestigious Glen Island Casino the following March. Some of the more prominent musicians who formed part of this group, were trumpeters Conrad Gozzo and Rusty Diedrick, clarinettist Irving Fazola, trombonist Tasso Harris and the excellent arranger Gil Evans. With its French horns and emphasized sustained chords, unison clarinets (there were six in the band!) and Thornhill's own delicate piano solos, the band sounded unlike any other. While rarely a true swinging outfit like Goodman's or Shaw's, the band excelled at lush, melodic ballads, such as "Sleepy Serenade", Thornhill's own composition (his theme song), "Snowfall", and arrangements of classic pieces, like "Träumerei".
Unfortunately, due to World War II and the draft, this first incarnation of the Claude Thornhill Orchestra was short-lived. Claude himself enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. He first served in Artie Shaw's navy band, 'The Rangers', before devoting more time to organising special musical events. In the process, he worked closely with some of the top brass, including Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Admiral William F. Halsey. Thornhill then led a service orchestra in Hawaii until the end of the war. In 1946, he assembled another big band, which included a swinging drummer named Billy Exiner, the vocalist Fran Warren (whose biggest hit with the band was "A Sunday Kind of Love"), and, on some recording dates, emerging stars Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan. The main creative impetus came from Gil Evans, whose classic arrangements (such as, "Buster's Last Stand", "Donna Lee", "Anthropology" and "Yardbird Suite") are regarded by many as having presaged the birth of the 'Cool' movement (Evans, of course, went on to collaborate with Miles Davis on the seminal albums "Miles Ahead" and "Sketches of Spain"). However, Thornhill, like everyone else in the business, was eventually affected by the overall financial downturn, which made it less and less profitable to operate big bands. By the 1950's -- and suffering from health problems -- he had disbanded the orchestra and gone into semi-retirement. He re-emerged to briefly serve as musical director for Tony Bennett in 1957, thereafter confining his bandleading activities to a sextet. On July 1 1965, he died suddenly of a double heart attack at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey. A compilation of seventeen of the best arrangements by Thornhill and Evans (covering the period 1937-47) was compiled in an album entitled "Tapestries" , released by Charly Records in 1987.- Art Director
Ransford qualified as an architect, graduating from the University of Illinois. He worked in this profession for most of the 1920's. In 1940, he joined the art department of 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the rank of art director. He remained with Fox until his retirement in 1961. Ransford often worked in collaboration with Richard Day or Lyle R. Wheeler. He was known as a meticulous craftsman, noted especially for his sharp, bright production design of Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and as art director of The Foxes of Harrow (1947), both of which gained him Oscar nominations.
Ransford always took pains to achieve maximum authenticity. For the sinking of the Titanic (1953), he and Wheeler constructed twenty sets from actual blueprints over a period of several months. Ransford's versatility is demonstrated by his evocative representation of Edwardian London in Hangover Square (1945), the sweltering small-town Mississippi backgrounds of The Long, Hot Summer (1958), or the oppressive resort backdrops of Niagara (1953).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bill Thompson was born on 8 July 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Lady and the Tramp (1955), Peter Pan (1953) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). He was married to Mary Margaret McBride. He died on 15 July 1971 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Chubby Johnson was born Charles Rutledge Johnson on August 13, 1903, in Terre Haute, Indiana. He made a living as a journalist and did not become a movie actor until he was in his 40s, making his debut in the Randolph Scott oater Abilene Town (1946) in support of Scott, Ann Dvorak and Edgar Buchanan. He continued to practice his craft as a member of the press, serving as a radio announcer as well as pounding the keys as a columnist, until he was nearly 50. Chubby appeared in the Errol Flynn horse opera Rocky Mountain (1950) as part of an army of quirky character actors, including Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams and Slim Pickens. Chubby then quit the Fourth Estate for a Hollywood career.
When Republic Pictures sought a replacement for Eddy Waller to play sidekick to B-movie cowboy star Allan Lane in the Rocky Lane series, Chubby filled in for most of 1951-52. He also starred in the TV series Sky King (1951) as ranch foreman Jim Bell. The low-budget series, a spin-off from a five-year-old radio show in which individual episodes were made for approximately $9,000 each, ran on NBC from Sept 16, 1951, until Oct 26, 1952. The series was then picked up by ABC, which ran the same NBC episodes from November 8, 1952, until September 12, 1954. A season of new episodes was aired in 1955.
Chubby freelanced as a character actor after these stints on the TV, appearing in support of James Stewart in the Anthony Mann classic Bend of the River (1952), and in their The Far Country (1954), which also featured character actor par excellence Walter Brennan, the movies' first triple-Oscar threat. Chubby then went on to appear in support of Doris Day in Calamity Jane (1953), Audie Murphy in Gunsmoke (1953), Ronald Reagan in Law and Order (1953), Barbara Stanwyck and Ronnie again in Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) and James Cagney in Tribute to a Bad Man (1956), one of the legend's rare forays into the western.
Other stars Chubby supported were Richard Chamberlain and Claude Rains in Twilight of Honor (1963), the 1963 courtroom drama that won the ill-fated Nick Adams a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination; James Garner in Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969); and Burt Reynolds in his audacious debut as a big-screen star as the eponymous Sam Whiskey (1969). He also appeared uncredited in the classic High Noon (1952).
After appearing as a regular in the short-lived series Frontier Doctor (1956), Chubby appeared as Concho on another TV western, Temple Houston (1963), which starred Jeffrey Hunter. He also guested on many other TV westerns, including Bonanza (1959), Gunsmoke (1955) and The Rifleman (1958).
Chubby continued to appear in films until 1969, with Sam Whiskey (1969) serving as the nightcap to his career. He died on Halloween Day 1974 from complications from a leg infection. - Max Carey was born on 11 January 1890 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to Aurelia. He died on 30 May 1976 in Miami, Florida, USA.
- Tony Hulman was born on 11 February 1901 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He died on 27 October 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ken Parker was born on 27 July 1909 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Mr. Tease and His Playthings (1959), Russ Meyer's Lorna (1964) and Eve and the Handyman (1961). He died on 22 September 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Tex Terry was born on 22 August 1902 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Death Valley Days (1952), Sweethearts on Parade (1953) and Rough Riders of Cheyenne (1945). He was married to Isabel Draesemer and Dorothy Peters. He died on 18 May 1985 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Scatman Crothers was born Benjamin Sherman Crothers on May 23, 1910 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Songwriter ("Dearest One"), actor, composer, singer, comedian, and guitarist who, after high school, appeared in nightclubs, hotels, and films, and on television. He made many records, including his own compositions. He joined ASCAP in 1959, and his popular-song compositions also include "The Gal Looks Good", "Nobody Knows Why", "I Was There", "A Man's Gotta Eat", and "When, Oh When". Scatman Crothers died at age 76 of pneumonia and lung cancer at his home in Van Nuys, California on November 22, 1986.- Big Twist was born on 22 September 1937 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to Yvonne. He died on 14 March 1990 in Broadview, Illinois, USA.
- Joe Adelman was born on 30 January 1910 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Delinquents (1957), The Cool and the Crazy (1958) and Terror at Black Falls (1962). He was married to Sophia Greenberg. He died on 3 April 1991 in Overland Park, Kansas, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Ken Pettus was born on 15 May 1915 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Matt Helm (1975), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Green Hornet (1966). He died on 19 July 1992 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Ray Arcel was born on 30 August 1899 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He died on 7 March 1994 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Indiana-born Jess Hahn never played in an American movie, at least shot on American soil. On the other hand, this friendly giant with a nice sense of humor was a fixture in French movies where he often landed roles as a tough gangster or a Yankee (whether an army officer, a C.I.A./F.B.I. agent or an expatriated John Doe). Adored by French and (unfortunately) by campy Italian directors, he was in more than ninety movies and appeared twenty-odd times on French television. He could have made it in art film thanks to his wonderful performance as the tramp in Eric Rohmer's "Le Signe du Lion" but was ignored by other "serious-minded" directors. On the contrary, and oddly enough to be sure, the quality of the film he was in declined dramatically after 1966, which was not doing justice to his wonderful screen presence. He also acted in ten theater plays. Whatever the case, the public loved him, although not knowing his name. In the mid seventies, a bit disappointed with his career, he preferred working on his farm near Dinan in Brittany, acting only occasionally. He died in Saint Malo hospital, forgotten by the film profession but not by TV or DVD viewers who still nowadays worship Nénesse from "Les grandes Gueules" or "La Douceur" (quite a misnomer!) from"Cartouche".- Animation Department
- Additional Crew
- Production Designer
Joanne Lansing was born on 22 June 1924 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was a production designer, known for FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), Snoopy Come Home (1972) and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980). She was married to Bror Lansing. She died on 22 September 1999 in Eagle Rock, California, USA.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Richard Bremerkamp was born on 21 October 1916 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an assistant director and production manager, known for Petticoat Junction (1963), Smoke in the Wind (1975) and Barnaby Jones (1973). He was married to Mary Meade, Marguerite Chapman and Ruth Rosemary James. He died on 12 December 2001 in Apple Valley, California, USA.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Robert G. Hager was born on 6 January 1913 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. Robert G. was a cinematographer, known for Petticoat Junction (1963), Perry Mason (1957) and The Brady Bunch (1969). Robert G. died on 10 August 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Hollis Hodges was born on 23 April 1920 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. Hollis was a writer, known for Why Would I Lie? (1980). Hollis died on 11 October 2004 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA.
- Animation Department
Bob Carr was born in 1924 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He is known for Space Ghost (1966), The New Adventures of Batman (1977) and Super Friends (1973). He died on 27 September 2008 in Irvine, California, USA.- The author of dozens of books and even more short stories, Philip Jose Farmer was born in Indiana in 1918 to George and Lucile Jackson Farmer, but has called Peoria, Illinois, home for most of his life. He revolutionized science-fiction with his 1952 short story (later a novel) titled "The Lovers", the first known science-fiction tale to portray sex between a human and a non-humanoid alien. The winner of three Hugo awards and named a Grand Master of Science-Fiction in 2001, his best known series was made into two made-for-TV movies: Riverworld (2003) and Riverworld (2010), both for the SyFy Channel. He is also well known for writing novels around established fictional characters such as Tarzan and Doc Savage - going so far as to write a detailed biography of Tarzan - and his novel "Venus on the Half Shell" was written under the alias of Kilgore Trout, a character created by novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr..
- Robert Crawley Sr. was born on 30 April 1920 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an art director, known for The Rockford Files (1974), Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966) and Quincy M.E. (1976). He was married to Muriel Louise Westmore. He died on 29 March 2010 in California, USA.
- Eddie Pruett was born on 21 July 1951 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Music Hall America (1976). He died on 3 June 2010 in Rockaway, New Jersey, USA.
- Lynne Topping was born on 10 July 1949 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Hunter (1984), Knight Rider (1982) and The Incredible Hulk (1978). She was married to James Farrell. She died on 17 April 2011 in New York, New York, USA.
- Eleanor Hansen was born on 13 September 1917 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Flaming Frontiers (1938), The Mad Miss Manton (1938) and Russian Dressing (1938). She died on 27 May 2013 in San Diego, California, USA.
- John Bowsher was born on 14 April 1952 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He died on 29 December 2014 in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Hubert Dreyfus was born on 15 October 1929 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to Geneviève. He died on 22 April 2017 in Berkeley, California, USA.
- Frank Hamblen was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA as Frank Alan Hamblen II. He died in Del Mar, California, USA.
Frank was an assistant coach in the NBA for several teams. He is best known as being the assistant coach under Phil Jackson in the 1990s and helped the Chicago Bulls win 7 Championships. - Birch Bayh was born on 22 January 1928 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to Katherine 'Kitty' Halpin and Marvella Hern Bayh. He died on 14 March 2019 in Easton, Maryland, USA.
- Sam Schulman was born on 8 July 1928 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was married to ???. He died on 5 July 2019 in Richmond, Virginia, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Ely was born on 4 May 1945 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for M*A*S*H (1972), I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) and One Life to Live (1968). He died on 9 December 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Bob March was born on 31 May 1927 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Magnum Force (1973). He died on 6 August 2020 in Loomis, California, USA.
- Paul Bridgewater was born on 22 April 1954 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He died on 15 October 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Tom Bozell was born on 22 September 1946 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Magic Hour, Wallace Sprague: Dog Psychiatrist (2019) and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). He died on 9 April 2024 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Summer Selby is an American film, television and stage actress, voice-over talent, print model, television producer and talk show host, born November 30th in Terre Haute, Indiana and raised on Chicago's South Side.
From when Summer was 8 years old, she wanted to pretend to be other people, not knowing acting was the term for her ambition. Her mother, an educator, enrolled her in an esteemed after school academy on Chicago's South Side. There Summer studied modern dance, tap, modeling, and etiquette. She attempted to explore acting in high school and while attending a private liberal arts college. Stage crew experience was plentiful but roles were limited for Summer's demographic at that time.
After graduation, Summer began a corporate career but continued her pursuit of opportunities to act in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Dallas regional theaters. Then she was selected to be a featured extra in the exploding birthday cake party scene in Problem Child (1990) and she instantly committed to a career in acting.
Very often told by strangers and casual acquaintances she has a "familiar" face, Summer starred as Harriet Tubman in the Emmy nominated educational film The Quest for Freedom (1992), which was purchased by hundreds of US school districts who then showed it to thousands of students. The Quest for Freedom was broadcast on PBS stations throughout the country each February for decades. She then was cast in two roles in the Barney & Friends (1992) series as well as in the television movie Wishbone's Dog Days of the West (1998).
Summer played along side LeAnn Rimes in Ms. Rimes first film, the Christmas staple Holiday in Your Heart (1997), which also starred Bernadette Peters. She landed the lead role in the director John Carstarphen debut film Weekend of Our Discontent (1993) and has gone on to win roles appearing with some of Hollywood's favorites such as Nia Peeples, C. Thomas Howell, Patrick Duffy, Paul Adelstein and Sarah Wayne Callies. Viewers still enjoy Summer's 3 roles in Walker Texas, Ranger, Prison Break, and her role as the nosy neighbor in Did I Kill My Mother?
Among other national ad campaigns, Summer was one of the original print models for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign; she appeared in the Women in Film short Gilda's Club: A Special Place (2004), remembering the Saturday Night Live comedienne Gilda Radner; and she has extensive national voice-over credits.
Summer produced and hosted her second talk show, Grown Folk (2012), which aired in Dallas and on the internet; she co-stars in the alternative/blues musician Benjamin Booker debut music video The Future Is Slow Coming (Slow Coming/Wicked Waters) (2015); and she co-stars in the writer/director Carlos Bido enigmatic film Finding Hope (2013).
More recently, Summer appears alongside Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Matt Czuchry, and Manish Dayal in various film and TV projects; in the Italian produced and directed, international crime mini-series ZeroZeroZero; as an African astronaut's mother in the dazzling space mini-series The First, directed by the acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland; and in a recurring role as uber mother to Malcolm-Jamal Warner's character, the beloved resident Dr AJ Austin, on the highly rated FOX series The Resident, now streaming on Hulu.
Summer continues to hone her craft in film, television and stage roles.- Hunter von Leer was born on 3 April 1944 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He is an actor, known for Halloween II (1981), History of the World: Part I (1981) and Under the Boardwalk (1988).
- Timothy Wead was born on 2 January 1956 in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He is an actor, known for Fame (1982), Heroes Stand Alone (1989) and The Powers of Matthew Star (1982).