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 312
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Alan Alexander Milne (signing with the initials A. A. ) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and playwright from London. He is primarily remembered for creating Winnie-the-Pooh and his supporting characters. He set their stories in the "Hundred Acre Wood", a fictionalized version of Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. Milne owned a country home near the forest, and resided there for about 3 months of the year. He depicted Winnie in the short story collections "Winnie-the-Pooh" (1926) and "The House at Pooh Corner" (1928), and the poetry collections "When We Were Very Young" (1924) and "Now We Are Six" (1927). All four books were illustrated by Ernest Howard Shepard (1879 - 1976). The Winnie stories have received several adaptations, and were the basis of a Disney media franchise introduced in 1966.
In 1882, Milne was born in Kilburn, London. It was a relatively new district of the London, with its first major building activity having started in 1819. Kilburn was named after Kilburn Priory, a small community of nuns who resided in the area from the 1130s to the 1530s. Milne's father was the educator John Vine Milne. He operated Henley House School, a small independent school in Kilburn. Milne and his family lived within the school building.
Milne was initially educated at his father's school. From 1889 to 1890, Milne's school teacher was the novelist H. G. Wells (1866- 1946). Milne received his secondary education at the Westminster School, a public school that had been operating since the 1540s. It had received royal patronage by both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
Milne received his college education at Trinity College, Cambridge. He entered the college with a mathematics scholarship, and graduated in 1903 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. During his college years, Milne was a writer and editor for the student magazine "Granta" (1889-). The magazine often published works by students who aspired to professional writing careers. It was relaunched as a literary magazine in 1979.
In 1903, Milne started regularly contributing texts for publication to "Punch" (1841-1992), the leading humor magazine of the United Kingdom. Most of his early published work consisted of humorous verse and whimsical essays. In 1905, Milne published his debut novel "Lovers in London". He later grew to dislike it. In 1906, he officially joined the "Punch" magazine's staff. He soon started working as an assistant editor for the magazine.
In 1913, Milne married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt (1890-1971). At the start of World War I, Milne joined the the British Army. He initially served in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant (on probation) in February, 1915. His probationary status ended in late December 1915, when his commission was approved. Milne was transferred to the Royal Corps of Signals in 1916, as his health had declined during his military service. He returned from service in France to work as a signals instructor.
In 1917, Milne was transferred to Military Intelligence. He spend the rest of the war as a propaganda writer for MI7, an office of the Directorate of Military Intelligence with responsibilities for press liaison and propaganda. He was discharged from the army in February, 1919. He voluntarily relinquished his commission in February 1920, though he retained the rank of lieutenant. His son Christopher Robin Milne was born in August 1920.
During his war service, Milne had continued his writing career. In 1917, he published the fairy tale novel "Once on a Time". He tried to subvert the stereotypes of typical fairy-tales, by featuring morally grey "heroes" and "villains". He also portrayed Princess Hyacinth as a competent regent, rather than a damsel in distress.
In 1919, Milne published the comedy play "Mr. Pim Passes By". The play's female lead Olivia Marden is happily married to her second husband, following a miserable married life with her original husband Telworthy. Telworthy supposedly died abroad in Australia. Early in the play, Olivia learns from an elderly acquaintance that Telworthy may be still be alive, and that her second marriage is bigamous. How she tries to confirm whether Telworthy is alive forms the play's plot. The play had an initial run of total run of 246 performances in Manchester and London. It had several revivals during the 1920s, including a ran of 124 performances in Broadway, New York City. It firmly established Milne's reputation as a competent playwright.
In 1920, Milne was hired as a screenwriter by the film studio Minerva Films. It was co-owned at the time by the actor Leslie Howard (1893-1943) and the film director Adrian Brunel (1892-1958). Milne wrote the screenplays for the silent films "The Bump", "Twice Two", "Five Pound Reward", and "Bookworms".
In 1922, Milne published the mystery novel "The Red House Mystery", a "locked room" whodunit. In the novel, Mark Ablett is the owner of English country house. He already has several guests staying at his residence, and then he has an unexpected reunion with his long-lost brother Robert. Shortly after, Robert is murdered and Mark disappears. Amateur sleuth Tony Gillingham decides to find out what happened to the two brothers. Milne had been a long-time fan of mystery novels, and decided to write one of his own. The novel was a best seller, and remained in print for decades. However, Milne initially decided against writing another mystery novel.
Inspired by his relationship with his young son Christopher Robin, Milne started writing poems and short stories for children in 1924. Besides the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, he also published the short story collection "A Gallery of Children" (1925). He took inspiration from a series of illustrations by Henriette Willebeek le Mair (1889-1966), and wrote one short story to accompany each of the illustrations.
In 1928, Milne wrote the short story "In Which Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There" as the finale of the Winnie series. In the story, an older Christopher Robin and Winnie bid farewell to each other, but Winnie promises never to forget his friend. Milne decided to quit writing children's stories by the end of the 1920s. He felt that his son was too old to enjoy them. He had also grown to dislike that the public expected him to write only children's stories, while he had diverse literary interests.
In December 1929, Milne introduced his theatrical play "Toad of Toad Hall". It was the first theatrical adaptation of the novel "The Wind in the Willows" (1908) by Kenneth Grahame. Milne introduced a frame story, where the 12-year-old girl Marigold listens to an animal fable by her nurse. The play enjoyed several revivals in the West End until 1935. It became popular again in the 1960s, and enjoyed annual West End revivals for two decades.
In 1933, Milne published the mystery novel "Four Days Wonder". In the novel, an obsessive young woman investigates the unexpected death of her aunt. While not one of Milne's most famous works, it was adapted into the American mystery film "Four Days' Wonder" (1936). In 1934, Milne published the non-fiction book "Peace With Honour" in order to express his pacifist political views. In 1939, he wrote his autobiography "It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer".
During World War II, Milne served in the Home Guard (1940-1944). It was an armed citizen militia, and most of its volunteers were too old to join the regular armed services. Milne received the rank of captain, but he insisted to be called "Mr. Milne" by members of his platoon. He wrote the non-fiction book "War with Honour" (1940) to express the view that Britain needed to achieve victory over Nazi Germany. During the War, his son Christopher Robin served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers.
In 1946, Milne published his final novel, "Chloe Marr". It featured a beautiful socialite who regularly manipulated her suitors, but had a hidden agenda. Milne then published his final short story collections, "The Birthday Party" (1948) and "A Table Near the Band" (1950). They were met with little success, as Milne's popularity had declined. In his personal life, Milne was estranged with his son Christopher Robin. In 1948, Christopher Robin had married his maternal first cousin Lesley de Sélincourt, against the wishes of both his parents. Lesley's father was the hated brother of Daphne de Sélincourt, and the two siblings had been avoiding each other for 30 years.
In 1951, Milne published his final play, "Before the Flood". It was his first new play since the early 1940s. In 1952, Milne survived a stroke. Its effects reportedly invalidated him, and he was forced to retire from his writing career. By 1953, Milne looked older than his actual age . He was also increasingly depressed. He died on January 31, 1956, two weeks following his 74th birthday. His remains were cremated and his ashes "were scattered in a crematorium's memorial garden in Brighton".
In 1964, the University of Texas at Austin acquired a collection of Milne's manuscripts. It has also acquired fragments of Milne's correspondence, his legal documents, his genealogical records, and some of his personal effects. The original manuscripts for "Winnie-the-Pooh" and "The House at Pooh Corner" have been acquired by the Trinity College Library, Cambridge. In 1979, a memorial plaque was unveiled in Ashdown Forest. It commemorates the works of Milne and Shepard which granted worldwide fame to the Forest. While Milne is long gone, Winnie and his other famous characters have remained popular for nearly a century.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Abraham Lincoln was an American politician from Kentucky. He was the second presidential candidate of the then-new Republican Party, following John Charles Frémont (1813 - 1890). He served as President of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War. He was assassinated in April 1865, the first of four American presidents to be assassinated during their term in office.
In February 1809, Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin, located on the Sinking Spring Farm . The Farm itself was located near the modern city of Hodgenville, Kentucky, which was incorporated in 1836. Lincoln was the second child born to the illiterate farmer Thomas Lincoln (1778-1851) and his first wife Nancy Hanks (1784-1818). Both of his parents were born in Virginia.
Lincoln was a namesake grandson of Captain Abraham Lincoln (1744 - 1786), a military veteran of the American Revolutionary War. The senior Abraham was born in Pennsylvania, and settled in the areas of modern Kentucky in 1781. He was shot by an unnamed Native American in May 1786, while working in his field. The Lincoln family were descendants of Samuel Lincoln (1622 - 1690), an English weaver who had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637.
Lincoln's father Thomas bought or leased various farms in Kentucky, but lost most of his land in court disputes over property titles. In 1816, the Lincoln family settled in Indiana, which at the time had a more reliable and surveying system. Indiana was a "free-state", having abolished slave-holding in 1816. This suited Thomas' religious beliefs. He had joined the Separate Baptists, a religious group which forbade its members to own slaves.
In October 1818, Lincoln's mother Nancy died due to milk sickness. She had ingested milk cow containing the poison tremetol. She was 34-years-old at the time of her death. Lincoln was only 9-years-old at the time. The boy's primary caregiver for a while was his older sister Sarah Lincoln (1807 - 1828), who took over most household duties.
In December 1819, Lincoln's father married his second wife Sarah Bush (1788 - 1869). She was a widow, with three children of her own from a previous marriage. Lincoln grew close to his stepmother, and started calling her mother. By that time, Lincoln was old enough to start working in the farm. He reportedly never liked the physical labor, and his family regarded him as particularly lazy.
Lincoln received little formal schooling, relying on brief tutoring by itinerant teachers. He learned to read at the age of 7, but was not trained to write for several years. However, he became a bibliophile and spend most of his free time "reading, scribbling, writing, ciphering, writing Poetry, etc" He was largely self-educated, reading on a variety of topics.
As a teenager, Lincoln was "tall, strong, and athletic". He was trained in the "catch-as-catch-can" style of wrestling, a grappling style, and had a career as an amateur wrestler. He earned his reputation in the sport by defeating the leader of "the Clary's Grove Boys", a local gang of troublemakers.
In 1830, the Lincoln family moved to Macon County, Illinois. By that time, Lincoln was 21-years-old, legally entering adulthood. His relationship with his father Thomas became difficult, as young Lincoln craved for financial independence. In 1831, Thomas and most of his family settled in a new homestead, located in Coles County, Illinois. Lincoln decided not to follow them, and started living on his own. He settled for a few years in New Salem, Illinois.
In 1831, Lincoln and his partner Denton Offutt purchased a general store in New Salem. Lincoln gained a reputation of honesty, when he realized that he had accidentally overcharged a customer and voluntarily returned the money to him. By 1832, the general store had failed. The partnership was dissolved.
Also In 1832, Lincoln stood as a candidate for the Illinois General Assembly. He was an unlikely candidate, as he was rather poor and lacked political connections. He received 277 votes, nearly every vote in the village of New Salem. He lost the election as he was unknown outside this village.
In the early 1830s, Lincoln worked as New Salem's postmaster, and then as county surveyor. He aspired to become a lawyer, and read law on his own. He extensively studied legal texts in order to qualify. He later claimed that he was entirely self-taught. In 1834, Lincoln sought election to the Illinois General Assembly again. This time, he stood as a candidate for the powerful Whig Party and won the election. He served four terms in the General Assembly.
Lincoln's first known romantic relationship involved Ann Rutledge (1813 - 1835), a local woman who was reputedly engaged to another man. Rutledge died in August 1835, during a typhoid epidemic. She was only 22-years-old at the time of her death. Lincoln became severely depressed following her death. Biographers think that he wrote the poem "The Suicide's Soliloquy"(1838), to record his own suicidal thoughts during this period.
In 1836, Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois bar, and moved to Springfield Illinois to practice law. He started his career as a lawyer by practicing law under experienced lawyer John Todd Stuart (1807 - 1885), who happened to be a long-time friend of Lincoln. Lincoln gained a reputation as a formidable trial lawyer in cases involving cross-examinations.
In his political career in the 1830s, Lincoln championed the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. He later served as a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage to all white males, not only white landowners. He adopted a "free soil" policy, vocally opposing both slavery and abolitionism. He favored the plan of the Whig party leader Henry Clay (1777 - 1852) to use freedmen in the colonization of Liberia.
In 1839, Lincoln became romantically interested in Mary Todd (1818 - 1882), a daughter of the wealthy businessman Robert Smith Todd (1791-1849). They were engaged in 1840, and were married in 1842. They had four sons. Mary had a higher social standing than Lincoln, being part of the gentry in Springfield, Illinois. She had reputedly rejected several suitors. Her most notable suitor before Lincoln was the successful lawyer Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813 -1861).
In 1842, Lincoln's last term in the Illinois General Assembly ended. In 1843, he sought the Whig nomination for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost the nomination to John Jay Hardin (1810 - 1847), but convinced party officials to not renominate Hardin in the next election. Lincoln won the Whig nomination in 1846, and went on to win the election. He served as a congressman from 1847 to 1849. During this time, Lincoln was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation.
During his term in congress, Lincoln proposed a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and to compensate slave owners for the loss of property. The bill failed to gain sufficient support, even from his own party. Lincoln spoke out against the country's involvement in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), warning that the price of glory would be "showers of blood".
Lincoln did not seek renomination to Congress in the 1848 election, honoring a 1846 pledge to serve a single term. He supported Zachary Taylor's campaign to win the Whig nomination for the presidency. When Taylor won the presidential election, Lincoln expected political favors from the new president. Taylor offered to Lincoln an appointment as secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory, which was at that time a stronghold of the Democratic Party. Lincoln declined the offer, as it would require him to abandon his legal career in Illinois. He resumed life as a lawyer.
During the 1850s, Lincoln was one of Illinois' leading lawyers. He appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases, and was the sole counsel in 51 of these cases. He solidified his reputation as a defense lawyer in two murder trials. In the trial of Duff Armstrong (1833-1899), Lincoln was able to prove that a key eyewitness was actually lying about what he had seen. Lincoln found that the witness stood at too great a distance in nighttime conditions to have seen anything. In the trial of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison (a cousin of Lincoln), Lincoln was able to convince a judge that the dying declaration of the murder victim should not be excluded as hearsay, That declaration was that the victim had actively provoked Harrison into attacking, helping the defense's case.
In 1854, Lincoln resumed his active participation in political life by speaking out against the controversial Kansas-Nebraska Act, a law that repealing the Missouri Compromise (1820), and would allow for the expansion of slavery to the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The Whig Party split in two due to its factions' different reactions to the new law. The Party's anti-slavery faction helped establish the new Republican Party, which also attracted anti-slavery politicians from the Free Soil Party, the Liberty Party, and the Democratic Party.
In 1854, Lincoln stood as a Whig candidate to the United States Senate. He was not able to secure the election, but managed to convince his supporters to vote for Lyman Trumbull (1813 - 1896), an anti-slavery Democrat with similar views to their own. Trumbull won the election. In 1856, Lincoln formally joined the Republican Party. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, Lincoln was one of the candidates for the party's nomination for Vice President of the United States. Lincoln received 110 votes, finishing second among the candidates. The vice-presidential nomination was instead won by William Lewis Dayton (1807 - 1864).
In 1858, Lincoln stood as a Republican candidate for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen Arnold Douglas, a leading Democrat politician. The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas, which attracted nationwide attention. The candidates argued extensively over the legal and moral status of slavery in the United States. In this elections, the Republican Party won the popular vote, but the Democratic Party won more seats. The legislature re-appointed Douglas to the Senate. But Lincoln had become nationally famous, and he was often mentioned by the press as a likely presidential candidate.
In 1860, Lincoln received early endorsements as a presidential candidate. In the 1860 Republican National Convention, he secured the party's nomination. His most significant rival for the nomination was William Henry Seward (1801-1872), who finished second among the various candidates. Only Lincoln and Seward received over 50 votes from delegates. The party's nomination for vice president was secured by Hannibal Hamlin (1809 - 1891), a former Democrat who had opposed slavery for most of his career.
In the 1860 United States presidential election, the Democratic Party was split into two rival factions, which nominated different candidates. In the election, Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8% of the popular vote. In the electoral college, he received 180 votes, winning the election. Lincoln every one of the free Northern states, plus California and Oregon in the recently annexed Western United States. He received no votes at all in 10 of the 15 slave states.
Lincoln started his presidency in March 1861. By that time, 7 states had already seceded from the Union in reaction to his victory (in chronological order: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas). The American Civil War started in April 1861 with the Battle of Fort Sumter, a bombardment of a Union fort located near Charleston, South Carolina. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75,000 volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union". In Baltimore rioting crowds started attacking Union forces. Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus in select areas, allowing the government forces to confine people without formal trials. Thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers were confined.
Lincoln soon established his executive control over the Union's war effort, and helped shape its military strategy, He expanded his war powers, and exercising "unprecedented authority" over the country. He had the full support of the Republican-controlled Congress, as well as popular support in states loyal to the Union. His political opposition consisted of two different factions, the Copperheads and the Radical Republicans. The Copperheads were a faction of the Democratic Party which demanded a compromise on the matter of slavery, and a peace settlement with the Confederates. The Radical Republicans were a faction of the Republican Party which demanded the "permanent eradication of slavery", and rejected any ideas concerning compromises with slave-owners.
In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the emancipation of slaves in 10 Confederate states. The Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. By the spring of 1863, Lincoln had started recruiting "black troops" in massive numbers. By the end of the year, 20 regiments of African Americans from the Mississippi Valley had been recruited by the Union.
Lincoln ran for re-election in the 1864 United States presidential election. He united the main factions of the Republican Party and the War Democrats (a pro-Union faction of the Democratic Party) into a coalition known as Union Party. The remaining factions of the Democratic Party made the mistake of nominating retired general George Brinton McClellan (1826 - 1885) as their presidential candidate. McClellan held a grudge against Lincoln, but rejected any ideas concerning peace with the Confederates. Meaning that the Copperheads could see little difference between him and Lincoln.
Lincoln won the presidential election with 2,218,388 votes, representing 55.0% of the popular vote. 78% of Union soldiers. voted fort him, as they did not want a compromise to end the War. Lincoln won 212 electoral votes, and had the support of 22 out of the Union's 25 states. His new vice-president was Andrew Johnson (1808 - 1875), a prominent War Democrat.
In 1865, the Union seemed to be winning the American Civil War. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife attended Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. They wanted to see a performance of the then-popular British play "Our American Cousin" (1858) by Tom Taylor (1817 - 1880). During the performance, Lincoln was assassinated by the well-known actor John Wilkes Booth (1838 - 1865). Booth was a Confederate sympathizer, and hoped to turn the tide of the War. Lincoln was 56-years-old at the time of his death.
Lincoln's corpse was returned for burial to Springfield, Illinois, where he had lived for decades. On May 4, 1865, Lincoln was interred at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. The Lincoln Tomb later became a state historic site. His wife and three of their four sons were later buried there as well.
Historians tend to rank Lincoln among the top Presidents of the United States. Due to his violent death, he came to be regarded as "a national martyr". Several political factions trace their origins to Lincoln's ideas and policies. He has been described as "a classical liberal" of the 19th-century, and is well-regarded for his policies favoring trade and business.- Agatha was born as "Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller" in 1890 to Frederick Alvah Miller and Clara Boehmer. Agatha was of American and British descent, her father being American and her mother British. Her father was a relatively affluent stockbroker. Agatha received home education from early childhood to when she turned 12-years-old in 1902. Her parents taught her how to read, write, perform arithmetic, and play music. Her father died in 1901. Agatha was sent to a girl's school in Torquay, Devon, where she studied from 1902 to 1905. She continued her education in Paris, France from 1905 to 1910. She then returned to her surviving family in England.
As a young adult, Agatha aspired to be a writer and produced a number of unpublished short stories and novels. She submitted them to various publishers and literary magazines, but they were all rejected. Several of these unpublished works were later revised into more successful ones. While still in this point of her life, Agatha sought advise from professional writer Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960). Meanwhile she was searching for a suitable husband and in 1913 accepted a marriage proposal from military officer and pilot-in-training Archibald "Archie" Christie. They married in late 1914. Her married name became "Agatha Christie" and she used it for most of her literary works, including ones created decades following the end of her first marriage.
During World War I, Archie Christie was send to fight in the war and Agatha joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment, a British voluntary unit providing field nursing services. She performed unpaid work as a volunteer nurse from 1914 to 1916. Then she was promoted to "apothecaries' assistant" (dispenser), a position which earned her a small salary until the end of the war. She ended her service in September, 1918.
Agatha wrote "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", her debut novel ,in 1916, but was unable to find a publisher for it until 1920. The novel introduced her famous character Hercule Poirot and his supporting characters Inspector Japp and Arthur Hastings. The novel is set in World War I and is one of the few of her works which are connected to a specific time period.
Following the end of World War I and their retirement from military life, Agatha and Archie Christie moved to London and settled into civilian life. Their only child Rosalind Margaret Clarissa Christie (1919-2004) was born early in the marriage. Agatha's debut novel was first published in 1920 and turned out to be a hit. It was soon followed by the successful novels "The Secret Adversary" (1922) and "Murder on the Links" (1923) and various short stories. Agatha soon became a celebrated writer.
In 1926, Archie Christie announced to Agatha that he had a mistress and that he wanted a divorce. Agatha took it hard and mysteriously disappeared for a period of 10 days. After an extensive manhunt and much publicity, she was found living under a false name in Yorkshire. She had assumed the last name of Archie's mistress and claimed to have no memory of how she ended up there. The doctors who attended to her determined that she had amnesia. Despite various theories by multiple sources, these 10 days are the most mysterious chapter in Agatha's life.
Agatha and Archie divorced in 1928, though she kept the last name Christie. She gained sole custody of her daughter Rosalind. In 1930, Agatha married her second (and last) husband Max Mallowan, a professional archaeologist. They would remain married until her death in 1976.Christie often used places that she was familiar with as settings for her novels and short stories. Her various travels with Max introduced her to locations of the Middle East, and provided inspiration for a number of novels.
In 1934, Agatha and Max settled in Winterbrook, Oxfordshire, which served as their main residence until their respective deaths. During World War II, she served in the pharmacy at the University College Hospital, where she gained additional training about substances used for poisoning cases. She incorporated such knowledge for realistic details in her stories.
She became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 and a Dame Commander of the same order in 1971. Her husband was knighted in 1968. They are among the relatively few couples where both members have been honored for their work. Agatha continued writing until 1974, though her health problems affected her writing style. Her memory was problematic for several years and she had trouble remembering the details of her own work, even while she was writing it. Recent researches on her medical condition suggest that she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. She died of natural causes in early 1976. - Writer
- Animation Department
- Costume Designer
Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga writer, manga artist, and character designer for video games. He has been a working artist since 1978. In manga, he is better known for creating the science fiction comedy series "Dr. Slump" (1980-1984) and the martial-arts-themed series "Dragon Ball" (1984-1995). "Dragon Ball" has been adapted into four animated series: "Dragon Ball" (1986-1989), "Dragon Ball Z" (1989-1996), "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997), and "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-2018). Toriyama has provided character designs for several of the adaptations. As a video game designer, Toriyama is primarily known for co-creating the long-running series "Dragon Quest" (1986-). He has continued to work in most of the series' games. Toriyama's works are credited with boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was named as a Chevalier (knight) of the "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" ("Order of the Arts and the Letters") by France. It is a French order of merit, awarded to writers and artists.
During the 20th century, Nagoya became a center for automotive, Several manufacturing companies of the industry have their headquarters in Nagoya. By 1961, Toriyama started drawing pictures of animals and vehicles as a hobby. He was reportedly inspired by the animated film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians"(1961), as he was impressed by the film's art style.
During his elementary school years, Toriyama has access to the manga collection owned by the older brother of a friend. He was fascinated by the science fiction series "Astro Boy" (1952-1968), which featured the adventures of a sentient android with superpowers. During his middle school years, Toriyama was increasingly fascinated with live-action film and television. He was a fan of the tokusatsu series (science fantasy series, using special effects) "Ultraman" (1966-1967). The series focused on the adventures of a gigantic superhero, who regularly defended the Earth from aliens and monsters. He also enjoyed kaiju films (films about giant monsters). His favorite film series was "Gamera" (1965-2006), which featured the adventures of a fire-breathing turtle.
Toriyama attended a high school which focused on teaching creative design to its students. Against the wishes of his parents, he decided to not pursue a college education. Shortly after graduating high school, Toriyama used his art skills to get hired at an advertising agency in Nagoya. He spend several years in designing posters, but was increasingly fed up with his job. He was repeatedly reprimanded for dressing casually at work. He quit his job at age 23, and started considering a professional career as a manga artist.
Trying to get an entry into the manga industry, Toriyama created a manga story which parodied the recent film "Star Wars" (1977). He submitted the story to a contest organized by the magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump", hoping to win the magazine's "Newcomer Award". The story was rejected because it was a derivative work, and the contest was for original works. But magazine editor Kazuhiko Torishima (1952-) liked Toriyama's art style. He encouraged him to send more original material to the magazine.
Toriyama's first published work was the story "Wonder Island" (1978). It featured a kamikaze pilot who had been stranded on an island for 35 years, and was trying to find a way to escape. The story came last in a popularity contest, disappointing Toriyama. The sequel "Wonder Island 2" (1979) focused on the police searching for a missing criminal. It parodied elements from the film "Dirty Harry" (1971). This story was also considered a flop. Most of Toriyama's early stories failed to impress his readers. He had more success with "Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe" (1979), a story about a rookie detective. It was his first work featuring a female lead, and was well-liked by the readers.
Toriyama decided to use a female lead in next major effort. The result was the best-selling series "Dr. Slump". (1980-1984) It focused on Arale Norimaki, a sentient robot in the form of a little girl. She had superhuman strength, but her naivety and inexperience landed her in trouble. The series also featured a cast of eccentric supporting characters. Among them was the shape-shifting superhero Suppaman, a parody version of Superman who was depicted as a pompous buffoon. The series became one of the most popular manga of its era, and received an animated adaption (which lasted from 1981 to 1986). Toriyama wanted to end the series after its first six months, but his publisher insisted that the story should be continued. In 1981, Toriyama won a "Shogakukan Manga Award" for his work on "Dr. Slump".
Despite his success with a long-term series in the early 1980s, Toriyama continued to regularly submit one-shot stories for publication. He was frustrated when several of these stories met with lukewarm response by his readers. At about this point in his career, he created his own artist's studio, under the name "Bird Studio". The name was a pun on his own last name, as "tori" means "bird". He started employing assistants to work on the background details of his stories.
Kazuhiko Torishima (Toriyama's editor) noted that Toriyama enjoyed viewing kung fu films, but had never used martial arts elements in his stories. He suggested that Toriyama should try creating a kung-fu manga. Toriyama responded by creating the two-part story "Dragon Boy" (1983). It depicted a young martial artist who escorts a princess on a return journey to her home country. The story was warmly received, and Toriyama would later incorporate aspects of this story in "Dragon Ball".
In 1984, Toriyama finally concluded the "Dr. Slump". He had to promise his editor and publisher that he would soon start work on a replacement series. This new series was "Dragon Ball", which lasted for 11 years. Toriyama produced 519 chapters of the manga, which were collected into 42 volumes. The story focused on the life of martial artist Son Goku from childhood to adulthood, and gradually introduced the character's wife and descendants. The series gained in popularity due to its large cast of colorful characters, and its exciting use of combat scenes. Toriyama reportedly used Jackie Chan's films as the main inspiration for the fighting scenes.
Despite a busy working schedule due to long-term commitment to "Dragon Ball", Toriyama continued submitting one-shot stories for publication. In 1986, he was recruited as a character designer for the role-playing video game "Dragon Quest". He later admitted that he had never even heard of role-playing games before being offered the job, and he was not certain what the demands of the job were. He was created as the co-creator of the game, and the initial game launched a long-running franchise. Based on this success, Toriyama was later hired as a character designer on the role-playing game "Chrono Trigger" (1995) and on the fighting games "Tobal No. 1" (1996) and "Tobal 2" (1997).
Until the late 1980s, Toriyama had never worked in animation. His first substantial effort in the field was the animated film "Kosuke & Rikimaru: The Dragon of Konpei Island" (1988). He wrote the initial concept for the film, he co-wrote its screenplay, and designed all of its characters.
In 1995, Toriyama decided to conclude the "Dragon Ball" manga with a low-key ending. Son Goku left the planet Earth to serve as the mentor to a reincarnated former foe, leaving room for a new generation of heroes. Toriyama wanted to imply that the story would continue, though he had no actual intention to write a sequel at that point. When the animated series "Dragon Ball GT" (1996-1997) was conceived as a sequel, Toriyama was hired as a character designer. For the following few years, Toriyama primarily produced short-lived manga series. Among them were "Cowa!"(1997-1998), "Kajika" (1998), and "Sand Land" (2000). In 2002, Toriyama made a promotional visit to the United States, as a number of his works were about to be reprinted in the American magazine "Shonen Jump".
In 2005, Toriyama served as the main designer of an electric car for CQ Motors. It was not a commercial success, with only 9 vehicles being produced. In 2006, Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda created the crossover story "Cross Epoch". It featured characters from "Dragon Ball" co-existing with fantasy characters from the series "One Piece" (1997-). Also in 2006, Toriyama served as a character designer for the video game "Blue Dragon". The story featured a small group of heroes trying to stop the villain Nene's efforts to massacre villagers.
In 2009, Toriyama was credited as both a creative consultant and an executive producer for the live-action film "Dragonball Evolution". He reportedly cautioned the film's producers that the film's script was "bland" and uninteresting, but his suggestions to alter the script were ignored. The film was a commercial flop. Also in 2009, Toriyama created a promotional manga for the environmental organization "Rural Society Project". In 2011, Toriyama helped raise awareness for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.
From 2012 to 2013, Toriyama was part of the film crew for the animated feature film "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods" (2013). It was the first theatrical animated film based on "Dragon Ball" since 1996. In the film, the god Beerus threatens to destroy the planet Earth. He only backs down when one of the heroes achieves godhood. Also in 2013, a touring exhibition displayed Toriyama's manga manuscripts from "Dragon Ball".
Toriyama served as the main screenwriter for the animated film "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F" (2015). The film featured the resurrection of the long-dead villain Frieza, who tries to improve his skills before seeking revenge. Toriyama continued to work on the film's sequels until 2022. He also provided the scripts for the sequel manga "Dragon Ball Super" (2015-), though the artwork was provided by the younger artist Toyotarou (1978-). There were 18 volumes of the manga published between 2016 and 2022.
By 2022, Toriyama was 67-years-old. He has been married to the retired manga artist Yoshimi Kato since 1982, and they have two adult children. He works from his home studio in Kiyosu, and reportedly lives a reclusive life. He rarely appears in public or offers interviews. He has never retired, and seems to have no intention to do so.
Akira Toriyama died at the age of 68 on march 1, 2024.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Al Capp (born Alfred Gerald Caplin) was an American cartoonist and humorist from New Haven, Connecticut. He is primarily known for creating the comic strip "Li'l Abner" (1934-1977), which depicted the lives of a fictional clan of hillbillies in an impoverished mountain village. At its prime the strip had 60 million readers in more than 900 American newspapers, and was also reprinted in 28 foreign countries. Capp won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1947 for Cartoonist of the Year. He posthumously won their 1979 Elzie Segar Award, for his "unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning".
In 1909, Capp was born in New Haven, Connecticut to a family of Latvian Jews. His parents were Otto Philip Caplin (1885-1964) and his wife Matilda Davidson (1884-1948). Their respective families had migrated from Latvia to the United States in the 1880s, in order to escape pogroms in the Russian Empire. Capp grew up in poverty, and had several younger siblings. His brothers Elliot and Jerome went on their own careers as cartoonists, while his sister Madeline became a publicist.
In August 1919, Capp was run down by a trolley car. He had his left leg amputated above the knee, and awoke from a days-long coma to discover that he was missing a limb. Capp was eventually given a prosthetic leg, and adopted a slow way of walking. His childhood tragedy reportedly led him to develop a darker worldview, and a more sardonic sense of humor than other cartoonists of his time. Capp's father was an amateur cartoonist, and introduced his son to drawing as a form of therapy. Capp studied the art styles of the illustrator Phil May, and the then-popular comic strip cartoonists Billy DeBeck, Rudolph Dirks, Tad Dorgan, Rube Goldberg, Milt Gross, George McManus, Fred Opper, and Cliff Sterrett.
Capp attended Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but never gained a high school diploma. In adult life, he claimed that he kept failing his geometry class. Capp subsequently wished to become a professional cartoonist, and took classes in three different art schools: the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Designers Art School (located in Boston). He was kicked out of all three for nonpayment of tuition. Due to his impoverished background, Capp had trouble in financing his education.
In early 1932, Capp hitchhiked his way to New York City. He settled himself in Greenwich Village, and supported himself by drawing advertising strips for a meager fee. By March 1932, Capp had been hired as a cartoonist by the Associated Press. He was disappointed that they wanted him to take over "Colonel Gilfeather", a comic strip created by Dick Dorgan, instead of allowing him to create his own strip. He revamped the strip, but eventually grew fed up with the task. Capp left the Associated Press in September 1932, and left New York City as well. He temporarily moved back to Boston, in order to marry his girlfriend Catherine Wingate Cameron. They had met as classmates in an art class.
In 1933, Capp moved back to New York City in search of a job. He reportedly only had about 5 dollars in his pocket during his return. He was hired as a ghost writer and ghost artist for the boxing-theme comic strip "Joe Palooka", while Ham Fisher remained the strip's sole credited writer. In an early story arc for this strip, Capp introduced a new character. He was Big Leviticus, an oafish mountaineer. He turned out be a crude prototype for Lil'Abner.
While still working as a ghost writer, Capp had started developing ideas about a comic strip focused on depicting mountain-dwellers. During his teen years, Capp had hitchhiked his way through rural West Virginia and the Cumberland Valley. He believed that the locals could inspire a decent strip. Capp sold "Li'l Abner" (the new strip) to the United Feature Syndicate, and was hired as its main artist. The strip was launched on August 13, 1934, printed on only 8 different newspapers. The strip soon became much more successful, because Capp had a talent for creating outlandish characters and bizarre situations. He also included both black humor and social commentary into his stories.
Until 1934, Capp still used his real name when signing a strip. His syndicate asked him to start using a simpler name which could fir into fit into a cartoon frame. He chose Al Capp as his professional name, and had his name changed legally in 1949. Capp eventually created sub-series for his comic strip, which satirized other comic strip. The most successful of these parodies was Fearless Fosdick (1942-1977), a parody version of "Dick Tracy".
Besides the popular "Li'l Abner", Capp went on to create two other comic strips. He co-created "Abbie an' Slats" (1937-1971). The strip's protagonist duo were the spinster Abigail "Abbie" Scrapple and her orphaned cousin Aubrey Eustace "Slats" Scrapple, sharing a household. Capp remained the strip's main writer from 1937 to 1945, but was then replaced by his brother Elliot Caplin. The strip was syndicated to about 400 newspapers, but never became the major hit that Capp had hoped for. Capp then went on to co-create "Long Sam" (1954-1962), featuring a tall and attractive mountain girl as a protagonist. The strip is considered an example of "good girl art" in comics, art focusing on attractive young women in skimpy or form-fitting clothing. While briefly popular in its own right, this strip faced frequent changes in writing staff which led to an early cancellation.
During the 1950s, Capp was an outspoken liberal, and satirized politician Joseph McCarthy for (in his words) "terrifying the helpless and naive". During the 1960s, Capp's favorite targets for satire included campus radicals, hippies, and counterculture icons. He harshly criticized militant antiwar demonstrators and student political groups. Capp started being viewed as reactionary by the public at large, though he vocally supported struggles for racial equality and gay rights.
In 1972, Capp was arrested in Wisconsin on charges of "attempted adultery", as adultery was a felony in this state. He was accused of propositioning a married woman. The resulting negative publicity led to hundreds of newspapers dropping his comic strip. The popularity of "Li'l Abner" further declined over the following years, largely due to a perceived decline in Capp's own humor. Capp was in poor health at the time, and he was not as inventive as he once was. Capp announced his retirement on November 13, 1977, publicly admitting that he had stayed on longer than he should have.
In November 1979, Capp died from emphysema at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire. His illness was caused by a lifetime of chain smoking, and he was 70-years-old at the time of his death. Capp was buried in Mount Prospect Cemetery in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Capp was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2004. Since his death in 1979, Al Capp and his work have been the subject of more than 40 books, including three biographies.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Alan Alda (born under the name Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo) is an American actor, comedian, film director, and screenwriter from New York City. His father was the Italian-American actor Robert Alda. Alda's best known role was playing chief surgeon Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the medical-themed sitcom M*A*S*H (1972-1983) for 11 seasons. He twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" for this role. Alda was later nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor", for his portrayal of career politician Ralph Owen Brewster (1888-1961) in the biographical film "The Aviator" (2004). The film depicted Brewster's opposition to the commercial interests of Howard Hughes, and the alleged political corruption which caused the end of Brewster's career.
In 1936, Alda was born in the Bronx, New York City. By that time, his father Robert Alda (1914-1986) had already started performing in vaudeville and burlesque theaters. Alda's mother was former beauty queen Joan Browne. Alda had Italian ancestry on his father's side of the family, and Irish ancestry on his mother's side of the family. Alda spend much of his childhood touring the United States with his father, as his father's acting job required frequent travel.
In 1943, Alda contracted polio. His parents chose to administer a painful treatment regimen, "consisting of applying hot woolen blankets to his limbs and stretching his muscles". This treatment had been developed by the Australian nurse Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952), and was based on the principle of muscle rehabilitation. Though the treatment was considered controversial, it seemingly helped Alda to recover his mobility.
Alda received his secondary education at Archbishop Stepinac High School, an all-boys Roman Catholic high school located in White Plains, New York, United States. The school was named in honor of Aloysius Stepinac (1898 - 1960), the Archbishop of Zagreb who was hero-worshiped for his conviction for treason by communist Yugoslavia. Alda received his college education at Fordham University, a Jesuit research university located in New York City. He graduated In 1956 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
During his college years, Alda worked for the radio station WFUV. The station was owned by Fordham University, and was operated by its students. Alda joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) , a training program intended for prospective commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. He subsequently entered the United States Army Reserve. He served for a year at Fort Benning, a United States Army post straddling the Alabama-Georgia border . He then spend 6 months stationed in Korea. His official rank at that time was that of a gunnery officer, though Alda claims that he was placed in charge of a mess tent.
In 1956, Alda was introduced to Jewish-American musician Arlene Weiss (a clarinetist). They soon bonded due to their similar tastes in humor, and started dating each other. They were married on March 15, 1957. They had three daughters, born between 1958 and 1961.
Alda started his acting career in the mid-1950s, as a theatrical actor. He joined the Compass Players (1955-1958), a short-lived improvisational theatre revue which was based in Chicago. He subsequently joined the improvisational group Second City, and the regional theater company Cleveland Play House for its 1958-1959 season. In 1958, he had his first guest star role in television. He appeared in an episode of "The Phil Silvers Show", a military-themed sitcom about a swindler operating within the United States Army.
Alda made his film debut in the comedy-drama film "Gone Are the Days!" (1963). The film was a satire of segregation and bigotry, based on a play written by Ossie Davis (1917-2005). Alda was part of the recurring cast of "That Was the Week That Was" (1963-1965), a political satire series which targeted various political figures of the era. It was based on a British satire series of the same name. Most episodes of the American version are considered lost, though there are surviving audio recordings.
In 1968, Alda had his first starring role in a film. He portrayed sports journalist George Plimpton (1927-2003) in the sports comedy "Paper Lion". The film depicted Plimpton's brief term as a player of the Detroit Lions, and focused on his inexperience and ineptitude as a football player.
Alda played the accountant Morton Krim in the World War II-themed war comedy "The Extraordinary Seaman" (1969). The film depicts four sailors of the United States Navy who have been stranded on an island of the Philippines. They encounter the ghost of a British naval officer who was killed in World War I, and he encourages them to launch an attack on Japanese positions. Due to the ghost's perpetual bad luck, their attack is ill-fated.
Alda next played the male lead in the drama film "Jenny" (1970). In the film, main character Jenny Marsh (played by Marlo Thomas) was impregnated in a one-night-stand and has few options in life. Her acquaintance Delano (played by Alda) agrees to marry her and to claim the child's paternity, in an effort to avoid being drafted for war service. The film depicts the problems of a typical "marriage of convenience" (a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment), and Delano's attempts to maintain both his marriage and his long-term relationship with another woman. The film earned 2,825,000 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
Alda also played the main character in the crime film "The Moonshine War" (1970), which was set in Prohibition-era Kentucky. He played John "Son" Martin, a man whose main source of income is the production of moonshine whiskey. An acquaintance in the Internal Revenue Service starts pressuring him for a cut on the profits. When Son refuses, the acquaintance reports his activities to a violent gang leader and his henchmen. Son has to outwit the gang in order to survive. The film was one of several films greenlit by Louis Polk and Herb Solow, the then-new co-leaders of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Alda had his first role in a horror film, when he played the main character in the occult-themed horror film "The Mephisto Waltz" (1971). He played music journalist Myles Clarkson, who unexpectedly befriends piano virtuoso Duncan Ely (played by Curd Jürgens). He does not realize that Ely is dying due to cancer, and that he intends to perform a body-swapping spell to take over Clarkson's body. Once the spell succeeds, Ely starts a new career in Clarkson's body and kills Clarkson's daughter. Ely fails to realize that his new "wife" Paula Clarkson (played by Jacqueline Bisset) intends to use the same spell to swap bodies with Ely's adult daughter. Bisset was praised for her "chillingly effective" performance, but film critics argued that Alda had been miscast in this role.
Alda had a scarier role in the psychological thriller "To Kill a Clown" (1972), playing disturbed Vietnam War veteran Evelyn Ritchie. Ritchie was once a military officer, but retired after having one of his legs amputated. He agrees to become the landlord of a young married couple, despite his intense dislike for the artistic lifestyle of his tenant Timothy Frischer (played by Heath Lamberts). He starts treating Frischer as a military subordinate, and insists on keeping both of his tenants as prisoners in their residence. The young couple soon learn that Ritchie has sadistic tendencies, and that he had a history of tormenting his subordinates throughout his military career.
Alda had the big break in his career when cast to play chief surgeon Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the medical-themed sitcom M*A*S*H (1972-1983). The series depicted life within a "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" (MASH) during the Korean War (1950-1953). It was based on the novel "MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors" (1968) by military surgeon H. Richard Hornberger. The series often questioned the United States' role in the Cold War, and satirized authority figures. Its ratings placed it among the top 10 most viewed shows throughout most of its run, and it was critically acclaimed. Alda appeared in all 256 episodes of the series, which helped him become a household name in the United States. Alda eventually served as the series' producer, creative consultant, and co-writer.
Alda played the male lead in the romantic comedy "Same Time, Next Year" (1978), which was his first film role since the early 1970s. The film depicts an extramarital affair which lasts for 26 years (1951-1977), despite the two lovers only meeting once per year. The film also covers the effects time has on the couple's political ideologies, and how they react to the deaths of various family members. The film was partially shot at the Heritage House Inn in Little River, California. The inn became a popular romantic getaway due to the film's enduring popularity. Alda was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy", but the award was instead won by rival actor Warren Beatty.
Alda was part of the ensemble cast in the comedy film "California Suite" (1978). He played successful screenwriter Bill Warren, who is involved in a custody dispute with his ex-wife, the workaholic Hannah Warren (played by Jane Fonda). Both parents claim custody over their adolescent daughter Jenny Warren (played by Dana Plato), and have little regard for Jenny's plans about her own life. The film's cast was nominated for several awards, but Alda was overshadowed by his co-stars.
Alda received his first screenwriting credit for the political drama film "The Seduction of Joe Tynan" (1979). He also played the film's eponymous character. He portrayed an ambitious American senator, whose marriage seems to be deteriorating. He briefly has an extramarital affair with labor lawyer Karen Traynor (played by Meryl Streep), but decides against seeking a divorce. The film earned about 19.6 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Alda was praised more for his ability as a screenwriter than his acting in this film. Streep was nominated for several acting awards for her supporting role, having a breakthrough in her career.
Alda made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy film "The Four Seasons" (1981), depicting the relationships between three upper middle-class married couples. Alda kept for himself the role of Jack Burroughs, a lawyer who has a tendency towards expressing narrow moral attitudes. The film was an unexpected box office hit, earning about 50,4 million dollars at the box office. It was the ninth highest-grossing film of 1981, and won the "Bodil Award for Best Non-European Film". Alda was again nominated for the "Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy", but the award was instead won by rival actor Dudley Moore.
Alda had a hiatus in his acting and directing career during the early 1980s, as he had to take care of his terminally-ill parents. He attempted a comeback by directing the comedy film "Sweet Liberty" (1986), which parodies Hollywood filmmaking. Alda kept for himself the role of Michael Burgess, a college professor and historical novelist. Burgess wants to oversee the adaptation of his historically-accurate and realistic novel into a Hollywood film, but soon realizes that the film's screenwriter has turned the film into a historically inaccurate soap opera. He then sets out to sabotage the film. The film only earned 14.2 million dollars at the box office, despite the critical praise for its leading actors. The poor box office performance was attributed to its release time at movie theaters. It was directly competing with two more lucrative films, "Top Gun" and "Short Circuit".
Alda's next directing effort was the romantic comedy "A New Life" (1988), which depicted the problems faced by middle-aged divorced people. Alda played Steve Giardino, a workaholic businessman who received a divorce after more than 25 years of marriage. His attempts to pursue a new romance are complicated by his inexperience at dating and his unwillingness to father children again. Giardino soon suffers a heart attack due to his poor eating habits. He falls in love with the female physician attending to his problem, Dr. Kay Hutton (played by Veronica Hamel). The film was a box-office flop, only earning 7,7 million dollars at the box office. Critics found the film pleasant, but predictable.
Alda played pompous television producer Lester in the comedy-drama film "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989). In the film, Lester wants to finance a documentary celebrating his own life and work. He hires his brother-in-law to direct it, documentary filmmaker Clifford "Cliff" Stern (played by Woody Allen). He is unaware that Stern despises him. Stern uses the film to expose Lester's mistreatment of his employees, and Lester's sexual harassment towards actresses. The film earned 18,2 million dollars at the box office. For his role, Alda won the "National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor".
Alda had his final directing credit with the romantic comedy "Betsy's Wedding" (1990). Alda played the main role of Eddie Hopper, a construction contractor who insists on organizing a lavish wedding for his beloved daughter Betsy Hopper (played by Molly Ringwald). Since Eddie can not actually afford the wedding expenses, he requests financial assistance from loan sharks. The film earned 19.7 million dollars at the box office, but its leading actresses (Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy) were both nominated for Golden Raspberry Awards. Unlike Alda's previous directing efforts, critics were mostly hostile towards the film.
Alda played the evil mentor Leo Green in the erotic thriller "Whispers in the Dark" (1992). In the film, main character Ann Hecker (a psychiatrist, played by Annabella Sciorra) seeks help from her mentor Leo Green due to suffering from disturbing dreams. Hecker is soon implicated in the murder of her female patient Eve Abergray (played by Deborah Unger), and then in the murder of the police detective investigating the case. She eventually realizes that her mentor has been obsessed with her for years. He committed both murders in a misguided attempt to protect her. This was Alda's first villainous role in a film since the early 1970s. The film only earned 11.1 million dollars at the box office.
In 1993, Alda became the new host of the science-themed television program "Scientific American Frontiers" (1990-2005). The series was a spin-off of the popular science magazine "Scientific American" (1845-). The show typically focused on new technology, and on scientific and medical discoveries. Alda remained the host for 12 years, and was credited with inspiring youngsters to follow scientific careers.
Alda was reduced to the supporting role of the protagonist's confidant in the black comedy film "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1993). The main plot involved amateur detectives who were investigating the mysterious death of a neighbor, who seemed to have died twice and on two entirely different locations. They eventually realize that they have stumbled on the deaths of two sisters with a close family resemblance, and that the motive for the murders was their family fortune. The film only earned 11.2 million dollars at the box office. Its perceived failure led to the termination of a long-term deal between director Woody Allen and the film studio TriStar Pictures.
Alda had a more comedic role in the political satire film "Canadian Bacon" (1995). The film satirized international relations between Canada and the United States. Alda played an unnamed President of the United States who wants to start a new war to boost his sagging poll numbers, but lacks a credible enemy to serve as an opponent. He finds that Russia is not interested in renewed hostilities, and a proposal to declare war on international terrorism is rejected as absurd. So he uses a flimsy excuse to declare war on Canada, and uses television channels to transmit anti-Canada propaganda to the gullible American population. The film was a box office flop, despite featuring a large cast of Canadian actors. It is mostly remembered as the final film appearance for actor John Candy.
Alda next had a supporting role in the black comedy "Flirting with Disaster" (1996). In the film, an adult, married man searches throughout the United States for the biological parents who gave him up for adoption. He eventually learns that his biological father is Richard Schlichting (played by Alda), a man who has devoted the last 30 years in producing and distributing "lysergic acid diethylamide" (LSD). The family reunion is less than happy, and the protagonist is introduced to a biological brother who despises him. The film earned 14,7 million dollars at the box office.
Alda had another villainous role in the action thriller film "Murder at 1600" (1997), playing national security adviser Alvin Jordan. In the film, Jordan has organized a conspiracy in order to blackmail the President of the United States into resigning, and to start a second Korean War. The conspiracy involved murdering a White House secretary (who had a brief affair with the president) and framing the President for murdering her. The film earned 41,1 million dollars at the worldwide box office, Alda's most profitable film in a decade.
Alda played news anchorman Kevin Hollander in the media-themed thriller "Mad City" (1997). In the film, a fired museum guard takes several people hostage at his former workplace. The news media decides to exploit the situation for profit, and several reporters compete in trying to get the lion's share of the publicity. The situation escalates until the museum guard becomes a suicide bomber. The film only earned 10.5 million dollars at the box office.
Alda's career had declined in the early 2000s, but this situation was only temporary. In 2004, Alda joined the recurring cast of the political television series "The West Wing" (1999-2006). The series depicted the administration of a fictional United States president and his staff. Alda played Republican senator Arnold Vinick for 28 episodes. His character was depicted as a fiscal conservative, who was opposed to corporate welfare and resented to Christian' right's influence on his political party. Vinick became the new Secretary of State in the finale of the series. For his role, Alda won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2006.
Alda's film career experienced a revival with his portrayal of career politician Ralph Owen Brewster (1888-1961) in the biographical film "The Aviator" (2004). He was nominated for the "Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor", the first Academy Award nomination in Alda's career. The award was instead won by rival actor Morgan Freeman. The critical acclaim for his role went against years of criticism for his acting abilities. Alda received several new offers for film roles.
Alda remained active as an actor throughout the 2000s and 2010s. He published three different memoirs between 2005 and 2017, covering different aspects of his life and career. In July 2018, he announced in an interview that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015. While this has not ended his acting career, he feared that the effects could be distracting to viewers of his work.
From 2018 to 2020, Alda had a recurring role in the crime drama television series "Ray Donovan" (2013-2020). The series depicted the life and career of a professional "fixer" of the entertainment industry, in charge of bribes, payoffs, threats, crime-scene clean-up, and other illegal activities. Alda also appeared in the spin-off film "Ray Donovan: The Movie" (2022), which concluded remaining plot-lines from the series. By 2022, Alda was 86-years-old. He may no longer be in his prime, but the aging actor seems to have no plans to retire yet.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Alan Oppenheimer is an American actor from New York City, who started his career in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Oppenheimer started performing voice acting roles. He eventually emerged as one of the most prolific voice actors in the United States, with roles in numerous series and films. His better known roles include the evil emperor Ming the Merciless in "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon" (1979-1982), the tyrant Overlord and his mind-controlling Vizier in "Blackstar" (1981), the arrogant narcissist Vanity Smurf in "The Smurfs" (1981-1989), the evil sorcerer Skeletor, the shape-shifting animal Cringer, the heroic Man-at-Arms, and the aquatic villain Mer-Man in "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" (1983-1985), the pacifistic naturalist Beachcomber, the sailor Seaspray, and the gun-enthusiast and munitions expert Warpath in "The Transformers" (1984-1987), the android wizard Prime Evil in "Ghostbusters" (1986), and the cryptic advisor Merlin in "The Legend of Prince Valiant" (1991-1993).
In 1930, Oppenheimer was born in New York City. His father was the stockbroker Louis Oppenheimer. In 1958, Oppenheimer married costume designer Marianna Elliott. They had three children. He received a divorce at some point prior to the mid-1980s. In 1984, Oppenheimer married the professional tennis player Marilyn Greenwood. Their marriage lasted less than a decade, and ended in a divorce. In 1992, Oppenheimer re-married his first wife Marianna Elliott. Their marriage lasted until her death in 2003. He has remained single since her death.
In 1993, Oppenheimer had a guest star role in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". He played the Klingon cleric Koroth. His character cloned the long-dead messianic warrior Kahless, in hope of restoring his peoples' faith in their religion.In 1994, Oppenheimer played the ill-fated star-ship captain Keogh in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". After successfully completing a rescue mission, Keogh fell victim to a suicide attack (along with most of his crew). In 1997, Oppenheimer played an unnamed ambassador of the Nezu in "Star Trek: Voyager". His character attempted to enlist the USS Voyager to rescue his planet from destruction. This was Oppenheimer's last role in a "Star Trek" television series. Oppenheimer has mostly avoided live-action roles since 1998.
In 2022, Oppenheimer voiced Skeletor again for an appearance in the film "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers". By 2022, Oppenheimer was 92-years-old. He has never fully retired, though he has played less prominent roles in recent productions. He remains popular to animation fans for his iconic roles in several classic series.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Albert Uderzo is a French comic book writer and artist, of Italian descent. Albert was born in 1927 in the town of Fismes, in the Marne department of north-eastern France. Marne was created from the remains of the older province of Champagne, and the local capital is Chalons-en-Champagne.
Alnert's parents were Silvio Uderzo (1888-1985) and Iria Crestini. They had met in 1915, during World War I. Silvio was at the time serving in the Royal Italian Army, and Iria was working at the arsenal of La Spezia, Liguria, where she was maintaining and repairing weapons and ammunition. Silvio was discharged from military service in 1919, and the couple married in 1920. Silvio returned to his civilian job as a carpenter, and the Uderzo family soon migrated to the French Third Republic, where there were more job opportunities.
Albert was named after his older brother Albert Uderzo, who had been born in 1925 . The older Albert had died of pneumonia when he was only 8-months-old, and the grieving parents wanted a replacement. The official name of the younger Albert at the birth registry was Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, due to a misunderstanding between Silvio and the employee at the registry. The family rarely used this "official" name.
Albert was born an Italian citizen, and officially gained French citizenship 1934. He experienced racism against Italian immigrants as a child, though he was both born and raised in France. He recalled people blaming him for Benito Mussolini's policies and spitting at him.
In the 1930s, Albert developed a fascination for American comic and animated cartoons, and was particularly impressed with the works of Walt Disney. He was a poor student at school, but received good grades in sketching and art-related lessons. He had been practicing drawing as a hobby since he was in kindergarten, and he was good at it. When he was 11 or 12 years old, his parents realized that Albert was color-blind. It had not affected his sketches, because most of them were black-and-white.
During World War II, Albert was too young to serve in the conflict, but his older brother Bruno was conscripted and fought in the Battle of France (1940). By the 1950s, Albert had become a professional artist, and he met his partner René Goscinny in 1951. During the 1950s, Uderzo provided the artwork for moderately successful series such as the historical fiction series "Oumpah-pah" and "Jehan Pistolet" (both written by Goscinny) and the aviation comic series "Tanguy et Laverdure" (written by Jean-Michel Charlier).
Uderzo and Goscinny created the historical fiction series "Asterix" in 1959, featuring heroic Gauls fighting in the historical Gallic Wars (58-50 BC). It became one of the most successful European comic book series, with Uderzo serving as its main artist from 1959 to 2004. When Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo decided to take over the writing duties as well. While writing several successful stories of his own, Uderzo is mostly considered an inferior writer to Goscinny. There was a perceived decline in the writing quality of the series over the decades.
In 2005, Uderzo released "Asterix and the Falling Sky", the only science-fiction entry in this historic fantasy series, and intended to serve as a parody of then-popular anime and manga series. The story was widely mocked for its dated humor, and the use of anti-Japanese stereotypes dating back to World War II. It was the last Asterix story written by Uderzo.
In 2007, Uderzo sold his shares of the company "Editions Albert René" (which owns the rights to Asterix) to the publishing company Hachette. He had a public falling out with his daughter Sylvie Uderzo who also owned shares of the original company and disagreed with her father's decision. After a few years of mostly working on short-stories and comic strips, Uderzo announced his retirement in 2011. He died in 2020.
According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, Uderzo was the 10th most often translated French-language author, with Goscinny being the 4th one. He was the third most often translated French-language comics author behind René Goscinny and Hergé.- Edward Alexander "Aleister" Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, philosopher, professional writer, and self-proclaimed prophet. In his youth, Crowley joined the occult organization Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887-1903), where he received much of his training in theurgy and ceremonial magic. In 1904, Crowley established his own religion: Thelema (Greek for "the will"). He had supposedly received a divine revelation from an angel. Crowley believed that humans should strive to overcome both their desires and their socially-instilled inhibitions in order to find out the true purpose of their respective lives. Several of Crowley's religious ideas went on to influence Wicca, the practice of chaos magick, Satanism, and Scientology.
In 1875, Crowley was born in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire to a wealthy family. His father was the retired engineer Edward Crowley (1829-1887), who was 46-years-old at the time of Crowley's birth. Edward had grown wealthy due to being the partial owner of a successful brewery. Cowley's mother was Emily Bertha Bishop (1848-1917), a member of a somewhat prominent family whose members lived in both Devonshire and Somerset.
Crowley's parents were converts of the Plymouth Brethren, a Christian fundamentalist movement whose members believed that the Bible is the only authority for church doctrine and practice. Crowley received his early education at an evangelical boarding school located in Hastings. He was then send to the Ebor preparatory school in Cambridge. The boy grew to hate the abusive Reverend Henry d'Arcy Champney, who inflicted sadistic punishments on his students. Crowley eventually dropped out of this school, due to health problems. The boy had developed albuminuria, a urine disease.
By the time he was 12, Crowley was skeptical about Christianity and its teachings. Years of bible study had resulted in Crowley realizing and memorizing the inconsistencies in the Bible. He eagerly pointed these to his religious teachers. In his teen years, Crowley largely rejected Christian morality. He felt the need to satisfy his sexual urges, and did not view this need as immoral. He received college lessons in chemistry, and started writing poetry as a hobby. In his early 20s, Crowley was also a chess enthusiast, and an increasingly skilled mountaineer. In 1894, Crowley joined the Scottish Mountaineering Club. In 1895, Crowley climbed the peaks of five mountains in the Bernese Alps.
By 1895, Crowley started using his nickname "Aleister" as his legal name. From 1895 to 1898, Crowley attended Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied primarily philosophy and literature. He was the president of the local chess club, and briefly considered pursuing a career as a professional chess player. In 1896, Crowley had his first sexual experience with another man while vacationing in Stockholm, Sweden. He would later embrace his bisexuality. He had sexual sexual relationships with various men while living in Cambridge, though such activities were illegal in Victorian England. In 1897, Crowley started a romantic relationship with the on-stage female impersonator (drag queen) Herbert Charles Pollitt (1871-1942). They eventually broke up because Pollitt refused to join his boyfriend in his studies of mysticism and occultism. Crowley later wrote several texts concerning his lifelong regrets about ending his relationship with Pollitt.
In 1898, Crowley dropped out of Cambridge. He maintained excellent grades, but he lost interest in actually pursuing a degree. Also in 1898, Crowley published two volumes of his poems. Shortly after leaving Cambridge, the novice occultist Crowley started hanging out with members of the occultist organization Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887-1903). He was formally initiated into the organization in November 1898. His initiation ritual was performed by the organization's de facto leader, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854 -1918). Crowley grew to consider Mathers to be an ineffectual leader.
In the late 1890s, Crowley received training in ceremonial magic by more experienced members of the Golden Dawn. He was fascinated with the ritual use of drugs. He rose through the organization's ranks, but was soon refused entry into the group's inner Second Order. The openly bisexual and libertine Crowley was disliked by several conservative members of the organization. Crowley had started a feud with a fellow member, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939). Yeats' friends resented Crowley.
A schism eventually started within the Golden Dawn, between Mathers' supporters and the members who disliked Mathers' autocratic policies. Crowley chose to support Mathers, and tried to take over one of the organization's temples in the name of Mathers. The dispute resulted in a court case between the rival factions of the Golden Dawn, over ownership of the temple. Mathers lost the court case, and Crowley started being treated as a pariah by members of the winning faction.
In 1900, Crowley decided to migrate to Mexico. He settled in Mexico City, where he experimented with the Enochian invocations of the famed occultist and alchemist John Dee (1527-1608/1609). His mountaineering activities led him to reach the top of several Mexican mountains, such as Iztaccihuatl, Popocatepetl, and Colima. After leaving Mexico, Crowley started traveling the world in search of new experiences. He visited California, Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), India, and France. Crowley took part in a failed mountaineering expedition that attempted to reach the peak of K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth. The expedition reached an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters). They abandon the attempt to reach the peak, as Crowley and several other expedition members were suffering from malaria.
In August 1903, Crowley married Rose Edith Kelly (1874-1932), the sister of one of his close friends. It was a marriage of convenience, not love. Rose wanted to escape an arranged marriage, and was fleeing from domineering family members. Her brother viewed the marriage as a personal betrayal by Crowley. The couple took an extended honeymoon. In February 1904, the couple settled in Cairo Egypt. Crowley started invoking ancient Egyptian deities in magical ceremonies. He also took the opportunity to study Islamic mysticism.
In early April 1904, Crowley started listening to the disembodied voice of the angel Aiwass. It supposedly delivered to Crowley messages from the god Horus, concerning a new age for humanity. Crowley recorded his divine revelations in "The Book of the Law", the first publication of Thelema. The disembodied voice supposedly also requested a number of difficult tasks from Crowley, who simply chose to ignore them as unreasonable demands.
In 1905, Crowley returned to his private estate in Scotland, for the first time in several years. He renounced his former mentor Mathers, as Crowley was convinced that the old man was conspiring against him. Crowley established his own printing company, the "Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth". He chose the name to mock a Christian charity organization, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (1698-). The primary purpose of the company was the promotion of Crowley's literary works. By this point, Crowley was relatively famous as a poet. Several of his poems were favorably received by critics, but they never sold well.
Crowley soon resumed world traveling. He led a failed mountaineering expedition to climb the mountain Kanchenjunga in Nepal. Crowley faced a mutiny over his reckless behavior during the expedition. He returned to India, then made an extended tour of Southern China. He also visited Hanoi in Vietnam. He worked on a new ritual while in China, invoking his Holy Guardian Angel. He proceeded to travel through Japan and Canada, and visited New York City in a failed effort to secure funding for a new mountaineering expedition.
Crowley's return to the United Kingdom came with a nasty surprise for him. He learned that his first-born daughter Lilith Crowley had died of typhoid fever during his absence. He also realized that his wife Rose was struggling with alcoholism, and that she was probably not fit to be a parent. His own health was failing at the time, and he underwent a series of surgical operations.
In 1907, Crowley started regularly using hashish in his magic rituals. In 1909, he published an essay concerning the mystical aspects of hashish use. He published several books concerning the occult during the late 1900s. The family fortune which he had inherited was running out at the time, and he tried to secure additional funds. At one point, Crowley was hired by George Montagu Bennett, the Earl of Tankerville, to protect him from evil witchcraft. Crowley realized that Tankerville was a cocaine-addict suffering from paranoia, so Crowley just improvised a drug rehabilitation project for his employer.
In 1908, Crowley realized that horror short stories were selling much better than poetry. So he published a series of his own horror stories. He also became a regular writer for a weekly magazine, the so-called "Vanity Fair" (1868-1914). In 1909, Crowley established his own magazine, "The Equinox" (1909-1998). The magazine specialized in texts about occultism and magick, but also regularly published poetry, prose fiction, and biographies.
In 1909, Crowley divorced his wife Rose, as he was fed-up with her drinking binges. Rose was institutionalized in 1911.In November 1909, Crowley started a long journey through the deserts of Algeria. He chose to recite the Quran on a daily basis while living in the desert. At one point, Crowley offered a blood sacrifice to the demon Choronzon while still in Algeria. He returned to London in January 1910, to find that his old mentor Mather was suing him for publishing secret texts of the defunct Golden Dawn. Crowley both won the court case, and enjoyed the publicity which the case brought him. The yellow press was portraying him as a Satanist, and Crowley found it amusing to embrace various stereotypes about Satanism at the time.
In 1910, Crowley organized the Rites of Artemis, a public performance of magic and symbolism. All the performers were associates and followers of Crowley. The celebrations received favorable reviews from the press. The encouraged Crowley soon organized the Rites of Eleusis in Westminster, but this performance received mostly negative reviews. There were press reports at the time that Crowley was homosexual, but the authorities made no attempt to arrest him. Crowley devoted the next couple of years to his writing activities, completing 19 works on magic and mysticism in this period. He also continued publishing poetry and fiction.
In 1912, Crowley published the magical book "The Book of Lies", one of his best-reviewed works. Crowley found himself accused of plagiarizing the works of the German occultist Theodor Reuss (1855-1923), based on the similarities between their ideas. Crowley managed to convince Reuss that the similarities were coincidental, and befriended Reuss in the process. Crowley was then initiated in Reuss' own occult organization, the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). With Reuss' permission, Crowley established a British branch of the organization and completely rewrote most of the organization's rituals. OTO was practicing sex magic, and Crowley liked that idea.
In 1913, Crowley served as the producer for a group of female violinists. Primarily because the group's leader was a close friend and lover of Crowley. He followed them during 6 weeks of performances in Moscow, Russia. Crowley wrote several new works while in Moscow. In January 1914, Crowley and his long-term lover Victor Neuburg settled together in a Parisian apartment. The couple experimented with sex magic rituals, which involved the use of strong drugs. At the time, Crowley regularly invoked the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury in his new rituals. Noticing that Neuburg had started distancing himself from Crowley by the end of their vacation in Paris, Crowley had an intense argument with him and ritually cursed Neuburg.
By 1914, Crowley was nearly bankrupt. He financially depended on donation by his followers. In May 1914, he transferred the ownership of his estate in Scotland. Later that year, Crowley suffered from a bout of phlebitis. Following his recovery, he decided to migrate to the United States for financial reasons. He settled in New York City, where he became a regular writer for the American version of the magazine "Vanity Fair" (1913-1936). He continued experimenting with sex magic while living in the Big Apple.
During World War I, Crowley declared his support for the German Empire against the British Empire. His sympathies were possibly influenced by his German friends in the OTO. In 1915, Crowley was hired as a writer for the propagandist newspaper "The Fatherland", which championed German interests in the United States. Crowley left New York City for a while, going on an extended tour of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. He visited Vancouver to make contact with the local variation of the OTO. Crowley spend part of the winter of 1916 in New Orleans, which was his favorite American city. In February 1917, Crowley headed to Florida for a family reunion with a number of his evangelical Christian relatives who had settled there.
Later in 1917, Crowley returned to New York City. He struggled with unemployment, as several of the newspapers and magazines which had previously hired him had shut down. In 1918, Crowley worked on a new translation of the Taoist book "Tao Te Ching". At the time, Crowley claimed to have started experiencing past life memories. Fueled by his belief in reincarnation, Crowley proclaimed himself to be a reincarnation of Pope Alexander VI/Rodrigo de Borja (1431-1503, term 1492-1503). Having more free time than usual while living in Greenwich Village, Crowley found a new hobby in painting. He exhibited several of his painting at a local literary club, and attracted some attention from the local press.
In 1919, the impoverished Crowley moved back to London. The local press labeled a traitor for his Germanophile tendencies. He was suffering from asthma attacks at the time. An English doctor prescribed a supposedly miraculous drug for Crowley, which promised to cure his asthma. The drug was actually heroine, and was highly addictive. Crowley developed a drug addiction. In January 1920, Crowley moved to the Parisian apartment of his lover Leah Hirsig. While there, he started efforts to establish a new organization, the Abbey of Thelema. He named it after a fictional organization which had appeared in the works of Francois Rabelais (c. 1483-1553).
In April 1920, Crowley settled in Sicily with a number of his supporters and their families. They established the Abbey of Thelema. They established daily rituals for the sun god Ra. Crowley offered a libertine education for the children of his followers, and allowed them to witness sex magic rituals. The organization soon attracted new followers, but Crowley's drug addiction was increasingly out of control. In 1922, Crowley published the autobiographical novel "Diary of a Drug Fiend". The British press criticized it for supposedly promoting the use of drugs.
In 1923, Crowley was at the center of an international scandal. A young Thelemite follower died from a liver infection, after drinking polluted water. His widow published stories of the unsanitary conditions in the Abbey, and of self-harm rituals which Crowley had created for his followers. The international press published scathing stories for Crowley. Benito Mussolini, the fascist Prime Minister of Italy (1883-1945, term 1922-1943) decided to deport Crowley in April 1923. The Abbey was not officially targeted by the fascist government, but it soon collapsed due to its lack of leadership. There was no way to attract more followers of Crowley to Sicily without using Crowley's physical presence as a tool for recruitment.
In self-exile in Tunis during much of 1923, Crowley started working on his autobiography, "The Confessions of Aleister Crowley". In January 1924, Crowley moved back to France in preparation for a series of nasal operations. For the next few years, Crowley spend part of each year in Tunis and part of each year in France. He wrote a few significant works at the time, though some of his personal relationships deteriorated.
In the mid-1920s, Crowley declared himself to be the new leader of the OTO, following the death of Reuss. His right to leadership was questioned by other candidate leaders,. The OTO soon split itself to several rival factions, each proclaiming itself to be the true continuation of the original organization. In 1928, Crowley was deported from France. Due to Crowley's past loyalty to the German Empire, the French authorities worried that he may be a German agent.
In 1929, Crowley moved back to the United Kingdom. He secured a book deal with Mandrake Press, which agreed to publish his autobiography and several works of prose fiction. The Great Depression negatively affected Crowley. In November 1930, Mandrake went into liquidation. Crowley was left with no regular published for his works, and no regular source of income. Crowley spend part of the year 1930 in Berlin, Germany, where his expressionistic paintings were displayed in a gallery. His works gained favorable press reviews, but few of them were actually sold. Painting was not a profitable occupation for Crowley.
In January 1932, Crowley started socializing with German communists and other far left figures in Berlin, despite having never previously expressed any interest in their ideologies. Some of his biographers suspect that Crowley was merely acting as a spy for British intelligence at this time. Later that year, he returned to London for another nasal surgery. In desperate need of money, Crowley launched a series of court cases for libel against his perceived enemies. The litigation proved more expensive than he expected, and he was declared bankrupt in February 1935. The bankruptcy case revealed that Crowley's expenses over the past few years had far exceeded his income.
In 1936, Crowley published "The Equinox of the Gods". It was his first new book in half a decade, and sold unusually well. Crowley also managed to secure funding from the Agape Lodge, a Californian splinter faction of the OTO. His benefactor was the Lodge's de facto leader, the rocket engineer Jack Parsons (1914-1952). Crowley was concerned at the time about the disestablishment of the German faction of the OTO, whose members faced persecution by the Nazi Party. Several of Crowley's German friends had been arrested, and others had fled the country.
During World War II, Crowley was closely associated with the British intelligence community. His biographers are uncertain whether he was working as a British agent, or merely assisting actual agents. Among Crowley's close associates during the War were two fellow British writers who were working as intelligence agents: Roald Dahl (1916-1990) and Ian Fleming (1908-1964). Crowley supposedly helped create a new war slogan for the BBC, called "V for Victory". His asthma attacks worsened during the war, in part because the medication he needed was unavailable. He was briefly hospitalized in Torquay. Among Crowley's last published works was a wartime book about the concept of human rights.
On December 1, 1947, Crowley died due to chronic bronchitis, aggravated by pleurisy. He was 72-years-old at the time of his death. Despite Crowley maintaining several friendly and professional contacts during the last years of his life, only about a dozen people bothered to attend his funeral. His body was cremated, and his ashes were delivered to the next leader of the OTO, Karl Gemer. Gemer was living at the time in exile in the United States. Gemer buried Crowley's ashes in a garden located in Hampton, New Jersey. Crowley remains one of the most famous and influential occultists of his era, thought the nature of his legacy remains a controversial topic. - Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Alex Hirsch is an animator, television writer, and voice actor from Piedmont, California. His primary claim to fame is serving as the show creator for the hit animated series "Gravity Falls" (2012-2016), a mystery comedy series where twin protagonists investigate the local mysteries of a strange town in Oregon. Hirsch also served as the voice actor for Grunkle Stan/Stan Pines, his sidekick Soos Ramirez, and the demon Bill Cipher.
In 1985, Hirsch and his twin sister Ariel were born in Piedmont, California. Piedmont is a small city, which had about 10,500 residents in 1980. It is completely surrounded by the neighboring city of Oakland. Piedmond has a reputation for racial segregation, and was formerly identified as a "sundown town" (an all-white municipality where "colored people" had to leave town by sundown).
Hirsch reportedly has Jewish descent on his father's side of the family, but he was raised to be agnostic. The family regularly celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah, without sharing in theistic beliefs. From 1994 to 1998, Hirsch and his sister Ariel spend their summer vacations living with their great-aunt Lois in a cabin in the woods. Hirsch has credited these summer vacations as an inspiration for "Gravity Falls".
Hirsch received his secondary education at Piedmont High School, a co-educational school established in 1922. The school was highlighted in news stories during the 1990s, when it was discovered that its social clubs and charity organizations were actually drinking clubs for students. In 2002, Hirsch won the school's annual Bird Calling Contest. Shortly after, he had a guest star appearance in "Late Show with David Letterman".
Hirsch received his college education at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts, 1961-), a private art university located in Santa Clarita, California. The university has a decades-long history of training aspiring animators. During his college years, Hirsch developed several animated short films. One of his films was chosen by Nicktoons Network for broadcast as part of their short-lived variety series "Shorts in a Bunch" (2007). In 2006, while still a college student, Hirsch was hired by the animation studio Laika to work in an upcoming animated feature. The film ended in development hell. Hirsch graduated from CalArts in 2007.
Shortly after his graduation, Hirsch was hired as a writer and storyboard artist for an animated series which was still in its development stages. It was "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" (2008-2010), which lasted for 3 seasons and 46 episodes. The series focused on an innocent young boy who finds a mentor in the person of the ill-tempered Captain K'nuckles, an Irish pirate who has semi-retired due to old age. The series was noted for its steampunk-like depictions of the 19th century, and for its moral ambiguity.
Hirsch was later credited with the development of the animated series "Fish Hooks" (2010-2014), which lasted for 3 seasons and 110 episodes. The series featured anthropomorphic fish in an high school setting. Part of the plot focused on the unrequited love of the character Oscar for his best friend Bea Goldfishberg, while she was oblivious to his affections for most of the series' duration. For this series, Hirsch voiced the recurring character Clamantha. She was the school's head cheerleader who had an unrequited love for Oscar. The series had an unusual visual style, a mix of 2D digital animation and photo collages. It won a BAFTA award, and was nominated for several other awards.
In 2012, Hirsch launched his own animated series, "Gravity Falls" (2012-2016). Hirsch reportedly based several of the characters on members of his family and past acquaintances. It featured twin siblings Dipper and Mabel Pines investigating paranormal incidents in a small town of Oregon. The series started with monster-of-the-week episodes, but had a series-wide story arc concerning a number of peculiar journals and their initially unnamed author. The series received critical acclaim and high ratings, winning two Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards, and a BAFTA Children's Award. The series lasted for 2 seasons and 40 episodes, with Hirsch not interested in further continuing its plots.
In 2018, Hirsch published a graphic novel based on "Gravity Falls". It became a New York Times Best Seller. Also in 2018, Hirsh served as a story contributor to the animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse". In 2020, Hirsch started voicing several characters in the animated series "The Owl House" (2020-). The series was created by animator Dana Terrace, who is Hirsch's longtime girlfriend.
In 2021, Hirsch started serving as an executive producer for the science fiction comedy series "Inside Job" (2021-). The series focuses on a shadow government organization which strives to keep secret a number of conspiracies. The series is largely inspired by real-life conspiracy theories. It features (among other things) reptilian shapeshifters, human-animal hybrids, and survivors from the hollow Earth. The series has received critical praise for both its satirical elements, and for its semi-realistic portrayal of real-life problems, such as "office politics, sexism, classism, jingoism".
As of 2022, Hirsch is 36-years-old, and has no interest in retiring. He remains popular among animation fans, and he has been noted for his vocal criticism of censorship in the medium.- Actress
- Producer
Alexandra Vandernoot is a Belgian actress of Yugoslavian descent. To English-speaking audiences she is primarily known for portraying Tessa Noël, the first lover and confidant of immortal protagonist Duncan MacLeod in the fantasy series "Highlander: The Series" (1992-1998). Vandernoot was a regular cast member in all season 1 episodes and the first four episodes of season 2, but then departed the series for personal reasons. She has since had regular roles in many French-speaking television series and mini-series, such as the comedy-drama series "Station Horizon" (2015).
In 1965, Vandernoot was born in Brussels. Her father was André Vandernoot (1927-1991), an award-winning music conductor. He also served as the artistic director for various orchestras, and for the opera house La Monnaie. Vandernoot's mother was Dusanka Sifnios (1933-2016), a Yugoslavian ballerina and choreographer with an international career. Sifnios had served as the muse of choreographer Maurice Béjart (1927-2007) during the 1960s, and was the first person to perform Béjart's ballet version of Maurice Ravel's "Boléro".
Vandernoot studied drama at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels .She started her film career in the 1980s, but was often limited to minor roles. Among her few notable film roles was the period film "The Supper" (1992), which depicted the private meeting of a politician with the scheming diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754-1838). Taleyrand was famous for serving leaders of four different French regimes, and for his betrayal of his supposed masters. Vandernoot portrayed Dorothea von Biron, Duchess of Dino (1793-1862), the favorite niece and alleged mistress of Talleyrand.
Vandernoot's first major role in a television production was that of Tessa Noël in "Highlander: The Series" . Her character was depicted as a French antique dealer, professional sculptor, and professional illustrator. Tessa was the long-term lover and business partner of immortal Duncan MacLeod, and one of the few peoples aware of his immortality and the struggles which he faced with rival immortals. She was also aware that he was destined to outlive her, and that he was sterile and unable to produce children with her. Tessa tended to remind Duncan that he was not omnipotent, and that the he was not solely responsible for the safety of the world.
While the role of Tessa made Vandernoot famous for a while, she found the work schedule of the series to be exhausting. "Highlander" had twice as many episodes per season as the average European television series, and she had to appear in all of them. Shootings for the series took place in two different series: Vancouver, Canada and Paris, France. This required Vandernoot to spend several months in Canada, where she had no family or friends. She found herself missing her family, and she requested to leave the series in order to re-establish contact with them. The producers and writers quickly developed a death scene for Tessa. Having already survived encounters with several dangerous foes over the previous episodes, Tessa is eventually ambushed and killed by a random mugger. Her death continued to haunt Duncan for the entire duration of the series.
Following her return to Europe, Vandernoot started a long-term with Bernard Uzan. Uzan was a French director and screenwriter. They had their first son, Léo in 1995. Their daughter Julia was born in 2003. Vandernoot eventually returned to "Highlander" for guest star appearances. She initially played a villain impersonating Tessa, and later an alternate reality version of Tessa. To Vandernoot's reported surprise, her character remained highly popular with the series' audience. This led to her guest appearances in the series, and also to Vandernoot's appearances in fan conventions.
Vandernoot had the supporting role of Christine Brochant in the box-office hit "The Dinner Game" (1998). Her character was the wife of Parisian publisher Pierre Brochant (played by Thierry Lhermitte). During her husband's brief association with a supposedly foolish civil servant, Brochant's new friend accidentally reveals to Christine that her husband has a mistress. This comedy was the top-grossing French film of 1998. It has inspired four different remakes.
During the 2010s, Vandernoot had several theatrical roles. She appeared in new plays by (among others) Bernard Uzan, Francis Vener, Éric Le Roch, and Alil Vardar. She has went on theatrical tours to perform her various notable roles. Vandernoot has kept working into the 2020s. By 2022, she was 57-years-old. She seems to have no plans to retire.- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a popular English poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom for 42 years (term 1850-1892). He often wrote poetry based on mythology. Among his most famous works was the "Idylls of the King" (printed in updated versions, 1859-1885), a collection of narrative poems based on Arthurian legends. It was the most famous Victorian era-version of the legends, and remains popular. His poems typically reflect intense feelings of "grief, melancholy, and loss", as Tennyson struggled with depression throughout his life.
In 1809, Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire. Somersby is a small village, located within a range the low hills known as the Lincolnshire Wolds. His father was the Anglican clergyman George Clayton Tennyson (1778-1831). George served as the rector of Somersby (term 1807-1831), the rector of Benniworth (term1802-1831) the rector of Bag Enderby, and the vicar of Grimsby. He was shrewd at managing his money and fairly affluent throughout his career. Tennyson's mother was Elizabeth Fytche (1781-1865), daughter of another clergyman.
In 1816. Tennyson started his education at the King Edward VI Grammar School, an all-boys grammar school located in Louth. It had been established in 1551, with financing provided by Edward VI of England (1537-1553, reigned 1547-1553). Tennyson finished his schooling there in 1820.
George Tennyson was an amateur poet, and encouraged his sons to write their own poetry. In 1826, at age 17, Alfred Tennnyson co-wrote a poetry collection with two of his older brothers, These brothers were Frederick Tennyson (1807-1898) and Charles Tennyson Turner (1808-1879) ,who went on to have literary careers of their own.
In 1827, Tennyson started his tertiary education at the Trinity College of Cambridge. While there, he joined a local intellect society, the Cambridge Apostles. Tennyson met and befriended fellow poet Arthur Hallam (1811-1833) and aspiring clergyman William Henry Brookfield (1809-1874).
In 1829, Tennyson won the Chancellor's Gold Medal, a prestigious literary award granted by the University of Cambridge. In 1830, Tennyson published "Poems Chiefly Lyrical", his first solo poetry collection. Its popularity helped him build a reputation as a promising writer. Among the poems included was "Mariana", a narrative poem about a woman who is isolated from society and has suicidal thoughts. The poem was loosely inspired by the play "Measure for Measure" (1604) by William Shakespeare, but rejected the play's happy ending. It was the first poem about social isolation Tennyson ever published, and the theme would appear frequently in his future poems.
In 1831, George Tennyson died at the age of 53. Alfred Tennyson dropped out of College and returned home to the rectory. He had to financially support his widowed mother. The Tennyson family was granted permission to keep using the rectory, even after George's death. At about this point, Tennyson arranged his sister Emilia engagement to his best friend Arthur Hallam.
In 1833, Tennyson published a second poetry collection under the generic title "Poems". It included the earliest version of "The Lady of Shallott", which would later become one his most famous poets. However this collection met with harsh criticism, and Tennyson's reputation suffered. He did not dare publish anything for the next decade, though he privately continued writing poems.
In September 1833, Arthur Halam died of cerebral hemorrhage during his vacation in Vienna. Halam was only 22-years-old, and his death surprised his family and friends. Tennyson mourned him, and started writing poets in his memory. The most important of them was "In Memoriam A.H.H.", first published in 1850. It contained Tennyson's thoughts on mortality, and also his thoughts on the then-popular scientific theory of the "transmutation of species". Tennyson wondered whether life was guided by the inherent cruelty of nature, and explored the implications of natural selection a decade before scientist Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) wrote on the same topic.
In 1837, Tennyson and his family moved away from the rectory. He settled in Beech Hill Park, within the village of High Beach. The location was deep within Epping Forest, an ancient woodland in Essex. In wintertime, Tennyson had access to a frozen pond. He enjoyed skating there. His new house was not far from London, and he could socialize with friends who lived there. His needy mother, however, demanded his presence at home. She prevented him from ever spending the night in London.
In the late 1830s, Tennyson befriended Dr. Allen, the administrator of a local asylum. Allen also managed an ecclesiastical wood-carving enterprise, and convinced Tennyson to invest in it. When this business venture failed, Tennyson lost much of the family fortune. In 1840, Tennyson moved to London.
In May 1842, Tennyson published a new poetry collection under the generic title "Poems". Some of the poems had been published before, others were brand new. Its sales were surprisingly good, and he also earned profits from its reprint in the United States. By 1846, Tennyson had earned more than 600 pound pounds sterling from this single work. This helped him escape serious financial difficulties, which had lasted for years. His critical reputation also improved, with some critics viewing as the leading poet of his generation.
In 1850, Tennyson was appointed as the new Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. He succeeded the Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850), who died from pleurisy earlier that year. He was reportedly only chosen because the older poet Samuel Rogers (1763 - 1855) had refused his appointment to the position.
In June 1850, Tennyson married his childhood acquaintance, the hymn-writer Emily Sellwood. Emily was better at at conducting business tasks than her husband, and she became Tennyson's business manager. They would have two sons. A difficult second pregnancy left Emily with permanent health problems.
From 1851 to 1853, Tennyson and his family lived in Chapel House, a Georgian brick house located in Twickenham. The house has been preserved as a Grade II-listed building. It is considered of historical significance due to its connection to Tennyson. Other famous figures resided there during the 20th century.
In 1853, Tennyson rented Farringford House, a country house located in the Isle of Wight. In 1856, he bought the country house from its previous owners. He lived there until 1869. The place eventually attracted tourists who wanted to meet Tennyson, much to his annoyance. He moved out in 1869, but continued to use Farringford as his winter home.
In December 1854, Tennyson published the narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". It commemorated an ill-fated cavalry charge during the Battle of Balaclava (October 1854), where about 110 British soldiers were killed and other 161 wounded due to their blind obedience to an order by a superior. It became one of Tennyson's most famous poems, inspiring sequels and adaptations by other writers and musicians.
In 1865, Tennyson was offered the rank of baronet by the government, but denied the honor. In 1868, he was offered the same rank, but again denied the honor. In 1883, the Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809 - 1898) offered him the rank of a baron, and Tennyson took the offer. In 1884, he was officially appointed as the 1st Baron Tennyson. It was a new hereditary title that would be inherited by his descendants. From this point Alfred became known under the name "Lord Tennyson". Tennyson was reportedly the first person to be raised to a British peerage for their writing.
Tennyson continued writing well into his old age. He tried to become a playwright as well, though his plays were not considered particularly memorable. His last major work was the play "The Foresters" (1892), featuring incidental music by Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). It was unpopular in the United Kingdom, but met with success in the United States.
Tennyson died in October 1892, at the age of 83. He was buried at Westminster Abbey. He left an estate of 57,206 pounds sterling. His eldest son Hallam Tennyson (1852-1928) succeeded him as the 2nd Baron Tennyson. Hallam published a biography of his father in 1897. Hallam is mainly remembered for a brief term as the Governor-General of Australia (term 1903-1904).
Tennyson was succeeded as Poet Laureate with Alfred Austin (1835 - 1913), a poet chiefly noted as a nature-lover. Austin was widely considered to be inferior to Tennyson. Tennyson's fame has far outlasted many of his contemporaries, and he is among the relatively few Victorian era-writers whose works remain popular with the wider public.- Alfred Lunt was an American actor, particularly known for his professional partnership with his wife Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983). Lunt was one of Broadway's leading male stars.
Lunt was born in 1892 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father Alfred D. Lunt was active in the lumber business, while his mother Harriet Washburn Briggs was a housewife. Lunt's ancestry in both Maine and Massachusetts dated back to the colonial era. He was a distant descendant of Henry Lunt, an early settler of Newbury, Massachusetts. Lunt's paternal grandmother was Scottish American. Lunt's maternal ancestors lived in New England since colonial times, and including a number of Mayflower arrivals.
Alfred D. Lunt died in 1893. The widowed Harriet married a Finnish-American physician, Dr. Karl Sederholm. The Sederholms eventually settled in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin, a small unincorporated community in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Lunt was raised in Genesse Depot, along with three younger half-siblings, He attended Carroll College in nearby Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Lunt fist gained publicity in 1919, for his starring role in the comedy play "Clarence" by Booth Tarkington (1869-1946). He distinguished himself in a variety of theatrical roles, including in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and Chekhov's "The Seagull ". On May 26, 1926, Lunt married actress Lynn Fontane. The two became the preeminent Broadway acting couple. Their successes included a play written specifically for them, the menage a trois-themed "Design for Living" (1932) by Noël Coward.
Lunt started acting in films in the 1920s. His film debut was the silent drama "Backbone" (1923) for Goldwyn Pictures. Subsequent films included the South Sea romance "The Ragged Edge" (1923), the romantic comedy "Second Youth" (1924), the circus-themed comedy "Sally of the Sawdust" (1925), and the comedy film "Lovers in Quarantine" (1925).
Lunt's most successful film effort was the comedy film "The Guardsman" (1931). In the film, A jealous husband creates a second identity in order to woo his wife, and she plays along. Lunt played the role of the husband, and Lynn Fontane the role of the wife. It was a critical success, but not particularly successful at the box office. Lunt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role, but the Award was instead won (in a tie) by Wallace Beery and Fredric March.
Lunt returned to being mostly a theatrical actor. He had a cameo in the World War II film "Stage Door Canteen" (1943), and appeared as himself in the documentary film "Show Business at War" (1943). During the 1940s, Lunt and and Fontane starred in several radio dramas. In the 1950s and the 1960s, they appeared frequently on television.
Lunt officially retired from the stage in 1958, at the age of 66. His last film appearance was the television film "The Magnificent Yankee" (1965), where he played the United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935).
Lunt spend his last years in retirement at his summer home "Ten Chimneys" in in Genesse Depot. He died in August 1977, about a week before his 85th birthday. The cause of death was cancer. Fontane remained in "Ten Chimneys" until her own death in 1983. Ten Chimneys was afterwards converted into a house museum, and a resource center for theater. - Actress
- Director
- Writer
Alicia Coppola is an American actress, primarily known for television roles. In 1968, Coppola was born in the town of Huntington, New York, which is located on the north shore of Long Island. The town is a major bedroom community for nearby New York City.
Coppola attended the Kent School, a co-educational college preparatory school located in in Kent, Connecticut. She graduated in 1986, and later enrolled at New York University, a private research university. She graduated in 1990, at the age of 22.
Coppola started her television career with a one-shot role on the legal-themed comedy-drama series "Against the Law" (1990-1991). From 1991 to 1994, she played the role of public relations manager Lorna Devon in the soap opera "Another World" (1964-1999). In one of the story arcs of the series, Lorna found out that she was the illegitimate daughter of romance novelist Felicia Gallant (played by Linda Dano), one of the series' main characters. In 1994, Coppola left the series and she was replaced in the role of Lorna by fellow actress Robin Christopher (1965-).
For much of the 1990s, Coppola mostly appeared in guest roles in various television series, such as "NYPD Blue", "Touched By an Angel", and "Chicago Hope". Among her few notable roles was that of Lieutenant Stadi in the science fiction series "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001). In the pilot episode "Caretaker", Stadi is a Betazoid helmsman of the USS Voyager and the love interest of pilot Tom Paris (played by Robert Duncan McNeill). Stadi is killed during the accidental teleportation of the spaceship to the Delta Quadrant and Paris is chosen as her replacement. The character is alluded to in later episodes and appears more prominently in the spin-off video game "Star Trek: Starship Creator" (1998) and the alternate-reality-themed anthology series "Star Trek: Myriad Universes" (2008-2010).
Coppola played the recurring role of Patricia Damiana in the short-lived drama series "Trinity" (1998-1999). The series depicted the family life of an Irish-American police detective in the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. The series lasted a single season, consisting of 10 episodes. Two of them remained unaired when the series was canceled.
In 1999, Coppola gained the main role of Karen Chandler in the comedy-drama series "Cold Feet" (1999), the American adaptation of the successful British series "Cold Feet" (1997-2003, 2016-). The British series depicted the relationship problems of three different British couples, such as mutual infidelities, cases of uncertain paternity of the couple's children, and the consequences of not informing your romantic partner about your previous marriages. The American series only lasted a single season, and was canceled due to low ratings. Only 4 of the 8 episodes were ever aired.
In 2000, Coppola gained the main role of investment banker Marissa Rufo in the stock-market themed television series "Bull" (2000-2001). The series depicts an alliance of young, ambitious investment bankers who are trying to create a new company, while competing with the investment firms which previously employed them. And each of the main characters has secret agendas of their own. The series lasted a single season, and only 12 of the 20 episodes were ever aired. The series had been inspired by the "bull market" (period of generally rising prices in the financial market") of the 1990s, but its release coincided with the "dot-com crash" (2000-2002), a financial crisis in the United States.
In the early 2000s, Coppola returned to mostly making guest star appearances in television. She appeared in a number of police procedural series, such as "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "Monk", and "Bones". From 2003 to 2005, Coppola played the recurring character of Liutenant Commander Faith Coleman in the military-themed legal drama series "JAG" (1995-2005) and its spin-off series "NCIS" (2003-). In both series, Coleman is depicted as an officer of the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG Corps), a legal department within the United States military.
Coppola was next part of the main cast in the post-apocalyptic series "Jericho" (2006-2008), where she played Mimi Clark. In the series, Clark is an an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent from Washington D. C. , who was visiting Kansas on an audit mission when the United States' major cities fell victim to nuclear attacks. With the country in ruins and her family and friends wiped out in the attacks, Clark is effectively stranded in Kansas. During the second season of the series, Clark develops a romantic relationship with local farmer Stanley Richmond (played by Brad Beyer). The two characters get married in the finale of the series, during the opening stages of a Second American Civil War.
In 2007, Coppola had a notable film role as FBI Agent Spellman in the adventure film "National Treasure: Book of Secrets", which depicts a re-investigation of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865) and the possible involvement of the historic secret society Knights of the Golden Circle (1854-1864). The film was a major box office hit of its era, earning about 457 million dollars at the worldwide box office. It was the 9th most financially successful film of 2007, outperformed by only 8 films: "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (1st), "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2nd), "Spider-Man 3" (3rd), "Shrek the Third" (4th), "Transformers" (5th), "Ratatouille" (6th), "I Am Legend" (7th), and "The Simpsons Movie" (8th). "National Treasure" outperformed a number of minor hits, such as the period film "300" (10th), the thriller film "The Bourne Ultimatum" (11th), and the thriller film "Live Free or Die Hard" (12th).
In the video game "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2" (2009), Coppola voiced the character of She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, one of Marvel Comics' popular female characters. In the comics, Walters is depicted as a shy female lawyer who happens to be the first cousin of Hulk/Bruce Banner. After being seriously injured in an assassination attempt, Walters received a blood transfusion from her cousin Banner, who was the only available donor with a blood type matching her own. This resulted in her gaining super-powers similar to his own. She-Hulk typically retains Walters' intellect and legal training, but displays a much more outgoing and flirtatious personality than Walters.
In 2010, Coppola started playing the recurring character of FBI agent Lisa Rand in the military-themed police procedural series "NCIS: Los Angeles" (2009-), a spin-off of the series "NCIS". In the series, Rand is an expert on kidnapping cases and consults the main characters in a number of cases. Rand has appeared in several episodes from 2010 to 2018.
In 2011, Coppola gained the supporting cast role of Valentina in the supernatural television mini-series "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" (2011), an adaptation of the namesake novel series by British writer Elizabeth J. Braswell. The series depicts the Mai, a human-cat hybrid race who claim descend from the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet. Valentina is depicted as the leader of the Mai who live in San Francisco, and a veteran of its never-ending-war with an organization of assassins called "The Order". Valentina devotes most of her time to her political and military duties, and apparently neglects her only daughter Jasmine (played by Alyssa Diaz), one of the series' main characters.
In 2012, Coppola played the recurring character of forensic pathologist Jonelle in the police-themed comedy-drama series "Common Law" (2012). The series depicts a duo of homicide detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department, who have been assigned as partners by their superiors, despite their feelings of hatred for each other. Jonelle is depicted as the ex-girlfriend of one of the two main characters, Travis Marks (played by Michael Ealy). The series lasted a single season, consisting of 12 episodes.
In the early 2010s, Coppola continued to appear mostly as a guest star in television series such as "Teen Wolf", "Criminal Minds", and "Sons of Anarchy". In 2016, she joined the cast of the soap opera "The Young and the Restless" (1973-), playing the recurring character of Dr. Meredith Gates. In the series, Gates is depicted as a doctor employed in a prison infirmary. She is the attending physician of one of the series' main villains, businessman Victor "Darth Victor" Newman (played by Eric Braeden). Victor manipulates Gates into falling in love with him, in part relying on her sympathy for his betrayal by his own family, and on part on his apparent resemblance to Gates' father and her obvious "daddy issues". Coppola left the series after the completion of her character arc.
From 2016 to 2018, Coppola played the recurring role of ambulance driver Sue in the series "Shameless" (2011-). Sue is depicted as a work colleague for the main character Ian Clayton Gallagher (played by Cameron Monaghan), who works as an emergency medical technician (EMT) during seasons 7 and 8. Sue does not appear in Season 9, where Ian has lost his job and is serving prison time for past crimes.
In 2019, Coppola joined the cast of the musical television series "Empire" (2015-), in the recurring role of assistant district attorney Megan Conway. In the series, Conway uses ruthless tactics during an investigation on the criminal connections of the Lyons family, powerful executives of the music industry with shady pasts.
By 2019, Coppola was 51-years-old but she remained a rather popular character actress, with no signs of her career slowing down. .- Actress
- Music Department
- Writer
Andrea Libman is a Canadian actress from Toronto. She has often worked as a voice actress in animated works. Her best known roles were the regular characters Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie in the long-running fantasy series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" (2010-2019) and most of its spin-offs.
Her major characters were noted for their contradictory traits. Fluttershy was typically depicted as soft-spoken, gentle and caring towards nearly all animals, and extremely loyal towards her relatively few friends. But when acting sternly and assertively, she could intimidate fellow ponies, cockatrices, and giant dragons. Several episodes also explored Fluttershy's anger-management issues, as she had several instances of explosive rage. Pinkie Pie was typically depicted as an excitable and fun-loving baker, party organizer, and entertainer. She considered it her life's goal to bring joy to nearly everyone she met. But several episodes explored Pinkie's insecurities, her fears that her friends did not respect her or that they would eventually abandon her, and her self-doubt when confronted with skilled rivals.
Libman has had several other notable roles in animation. She voiced Ikuko Otonashi in the English dub of "Maison Ikkoku" (1986-1988). The character was depicted as the young niece of the series' female lead, Kyoko Otonashi. Libman voiced the rebellious girl Penny in the animated film "Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies" (1986). Her character sought help to overthrow the tyrannical regime of King Gurumes. Libman also voiced the child version of the regular character Chi-Chi in the Ocean dub of "Dragon Ball" (1986-1989). The character was initially depicted as a tough and temperamental girl, who grew up to become the wife of protagonist Goku. The adult Chi-Chi's main goal was to remind her superhuman husband and son to not neglect the challenges and obligations of normal life while pursuing adventures.
Libman voiced the sentient gynoid (female android) Roll in the OVA series "Mega Man: Upon a Star" (1993-1994). Roll is typically depicted as the sister of the protagonist Mega Man, though her age and personality vary wildly in adaptations of the Mega Man video game series. Libman voiced the Parisian boarding school girl Madeline in the second and third seasons of "The New Adventures of Madeline" (1993-2001). The series was based on a series of children's books by Ludwig Bemelmans. Libman also voiced the female dinosaur LaBrea in "Dino Babies" (1994-1996). Her character was the only female character among the series' 6 co-protagonists.
Libman voiced the younger version of the regular character AndrAIa in "ReBoot" (1994-2001), while Sharon Alexander voiced the adult version of the character. The character was depicted as a sentient Game Sprite from an Atlantis-themed game. AndrAIa's design was mermaid-like and she used a trident in combat. She was initially depicted as the new partner and best friend of Enzo Matrix, while she later became Enzo's long-term romantic partner.
Libman voiced Anita in the OVA series "Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge" (1997-1998), an adaptation of the video game series "Darkstalkers". In this media franchise, Anita was typically depicted as an emotionally detached orphan girl with unexplained psychic powers. She was the young ward and surrogate daughter of the vampire hunter Donovan Baine, who had rescued her life in their first encounter and then decided to become her self-appointed protector.
Libman voiced the co-protagonist Emmy in "Dragon Tales" (1999-2005). Her character was depicted as a 6-year-old human girl who used magic to travel to the fantasy world of Dragon Land, and befriended several young dragons. Her best friend was the female dragon Cassie. Emmy was depicted as athletic and intelligent, but impulsive. Libman voiced the human girl Lemony in "Yakkity Yak" (2002-2003). Her character was the love interest of the anthropomorphic pineapple Keo, and the best friend of the sentient robot Penelope (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain).
Libman was the first voice actress to voice the original character X-23 in a 2003 episode of "X-Men: Evolution". Her character was depicted in the series as a female clone of Wolverine, created by the espionage organization HYDRA. X-23 was depicted as a living weapon, who was "trying to become a real little girl". A new version of the character was soon introduced in Marvel's comic books, and eventually became a popular character in her own right. The comic book version of X-23/Laura Kinney was also initially depicted as a female clone of Wolverine, but she was later revealed to be his biological daughter.
Libman voiced Zipzee, a female Breezie (insect-like pony), in several direct-to video films of the Generation 3 incarnation of "My Little Pony". Libman started depicting the character in 2006. Zipzee was depicted as mainly interested in tending to her flowers, though she was allergic to pollen. Libman voiced the recurring character of Toodles Galore in a few episodes of "Tom and Jerry Tales" (2006-2008). Her character was depicted as an attractive white female cat, and the main love interest for co-protagonist Tom Cat.
Libman voiced the young technician Mileina Vashti in the second and last season of "Mobile Suit Gundam 00" (2007-2009). Mileina was depicted as an expert in electronics, robotics, physics, and mechanical engineering, but was frustrated at having to deal with repetitive tasks. She was romantically interested in the enigmatic Tieria Erde, despite the fact that his disembodied consciousness survived only within a computer.
Libman voiced the candy-maker Harmony Bear in "Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-lot" (2007-2010). Her character was part of the series' supporting cast. Harmony was also depicted in this series as the lead vocalist of the music group "Care Bear Honeys". Libman voiced the unicorn Sweetie Belle in the animated short films "My Little Pony: Meet the Ponies" (2008), which were created to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the "My Little Pony" franchise. Sweetie Belle was depicted as the only unicorn in Ponyville.
Libman voiced the co-protagonist Cathy Smith in "Monster Buster Club" (2008-2009). Cathy was a humanoid alien who had settled on Earth and had taken a human form. She appeared to be a normal 12-year-old girl, but she was actually 250 years and belonged to a species with long lifespans. She was still an adolescent by the standards of her species. Her superhuman powers included the ability to stretch her limbs and to communicate through telepathy.
Libman voiced the hairstylist and inventor Lemon Meringue in "Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures" (2010-2015). Lemon was depicted as creative and quick-thinking, but single-minded in the pursuit of her goals and overly competitive . In the 4th season of the series, Libman also voiced the new character of Sweet Grapes. The character was rather optimistic in trying to improve the mood and behavior of her twin sister Sour Grapes, who was perpetually in a foul mood and rarely demonstrated affection for others (including Sweet).
Libman voiced the anthropomorphic bee Maya in "Maya the Bee" (2012-2017). The series was an adaptation of the children's book "The Adventures of Maya the Bee" (1912) by Waldemar Bonsels, which has received several adaptations in the century following its original publication. In the original novel, Maya was exiled from her hive due to her interest in exploration. She remained loyal to her hive, and warned them in advance of a hornet attack on the bees.
Libman voiced the regular character of Cylindria in "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures" (2013-2015). Cylindria was the bespectacled best friend of the heroic Pac-Man, and the brains behind some of his operations. A subplot of the series was that people assumed that Pac and Cylindria were romantically involved, despite Cylindria's seeming lack of interest in romance. The female ghost Pinky viewed Cylindria as her main rival in winning Pac's affection.
Libman voiced Bramble the Kelpie in a 2018 episode of "DuckTales". Kelpies are shape-shifting water spirits in Scottish folklore, often in horse form. They supposedly carried many riders into the depths of the waters in order to drown them. In the episode, Bramble and her ally Briar tried repeatedly to win the trust of the Duck family and their companions in order to lure them to their death. Since the Ducks were aware of the nature of kelpies, the plan never worked. The design of Bramble was based on the form of Twilight Sparkle, the protagonist of "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic".
By 2022, Libman was 38-years-old. She has had an active career since the 1990s, and seems to have no interest in retiring yet. She has gained a fan following due to her many memorable characters in animated series, and her connection to several long-running franchises. She seems likely to gain further key roles in animated works.- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Angela Lansbury was born in 1925 into a prominent family of the upper middle class living in the Regent's Park neighborhood of London. Her father was socialist politician Edgar Isaac Lansbury (1887-1935), a member of both the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Labour Party. Edgar served as Honorary Treasurer of the East London Federation of Suffragettes (term 1915), and Mayor of Poplar (term 1924-1925). He was the second Communist mayor in British history, the first being Joe Vaughan (1878-1938). Lansbury's mother was Irish film actress Moyna Macgill (1895-1975), originally from Belfast. During the first five years of Angela's life, the Lansbury family lived in a flat located in Poplar. In 1930, they moved to a house located in the Mill Hill neighborhood of north London. They spend their weekends vacationing in a farm located in Berrick Salome, a village in South Oxfordshire.
In 1935, Edgar Lansbury died from stomach cancer. Angela reportedly retreated into "playing characters", as a coping mechanism to deal with the loss. The widowed Moyna Macgill soon became engaged to Leckie Forbes, a Scottish colonel. Moyna moved into his house in Hampstead.
From 1934 to 1939, Angela was a student at South Hampstead High School. During these years, she became interested in films.. She regularly visited the local cinema, and imagined herself in various roles. Angela learned how to play the piano, and received a musical education at the Ritman School of Dancing.
In 1940, Lansbury started her acting education at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, located in Kensington, West London. She made her theatrical debut in the school's production of the play "Mary of Scotland" (1933) by Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959). The play depicted the life of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587, reigned 1542-1567), and Lansbury played one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting.
Also in 1940, Lansbury's paternal grandfather, George Lansbury, died from stomach cancer. When the Blitz started, Moyna Macgill had reasons to fear for the safety of her family and few remaining ties to England. Macgill moved to the United States to escape the Blitz, taking her three youngest children with her. Isolde was already a married adult, and was left behind in England.
Macgill secured financial sponsorship from American businessman Charles T. Smith. She and her children (including Angela) moved into Smith's house in Mahopac, New York, a hamlet in Putnam County. Lansbury was interested in continuing her studies, and secured a scholarship from the American Theatre Wing. From 1940 to 1942, Lansbury studied acting at the Feagin School of Dramatic Art, located in New York City. She appeared in performances organized by the school.
In 1942, Lansbury moved with her family to a flat located in Morton Street, Greenwich Village. She soon followed her mother in her theatrical tour of Canada. Lansbury secured her first paying job in Montreal, singing at the nightclub Samovar Club for a payment of 60 dollars per week. Lansbury was 16 years old at the time, but lied about her age and claimed to be 19 in order to be hired.
Lansbury returned to New York City in August, 1942, but Moyna Macgill soon moved herself and her family again. The family moved to Los Angeles, where Moyna was interested in resurrecting her film career. Their first home there was a bungalow in Laurel Canyon, a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills.
Lansbury helped financially support her family by working for the Bullocks Wilshire department store in Los Angeles. Her weekly wages were only 28 dollars, but she had a secure income while her mother was unemployed. Through her mother, Lansbury was introduced to screenwriter John Van Druten (1901-1957), who had recently completed his script of "Gaslight" (1944). He suggested that young Lansbury would be perfect for the role of Nancy Oliver, the film's conniving cockney maid. This helped secure Lansbury's first film role at the age of 17, and a seven-year contract with the film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She earned 500 dollars per week, and chose to continue using her own name instead of a stage name.
In 1945, Lansbury married actor Richard Cromwell (1910-1960), who was 15 years older than she. The troubled marriage ended in a divorce in 1946. The former spouses remained friends until Cromwell's death.
In 1946, Lansbury started a romantic relationship with aspiring actor Peter Shaw (1918-2003), who was 7 years older than her. Shaw had recently ended his relationship with actress Joan Crawford (c. 1908-1977). The new couple started living together, while planning marriage. They wanted to be married in the United Kingdom, but the Church of England refused to marry two divorcees. They were married in 1949, in a Church of Scotland ceremony at St. Columba's Church, located in Knightsbridge, London. After their return to the United States, they settled into Lansbury's home in Rustic Canyon, Malibu. In 1951, both Lansbury and Shaw became naturalized citizens of the United States, while retaining their British citizenship.
Meanwhile, Lansbury continued appearing in MGM films. She appeared in 11 MGM films between 1945 and 1952. MGM at times loaned Lansbury to other film studios. She appeared in United Artists' "The Private Affairs of Bel Ami" (1947), and Paramount Pictures' "Samson and Delilah" (1949). In 1948, Lansbury made her debut in radio roles, followed by her television debut in 1950.
In 1952, Lansbury requested the termination of her contract with MGM, instead of its renewal. She felt unsatisfied with her film career as an MGM contract player. She then joined the East Coast touring productions of two former Broadway plays. By 1953, Lansbury had two children of her own and was also raising a stepson. She and her family moved into a larger house, located on San Vincente Boulevard in Santa Monica. In 1959, she and her family moved into a house in Malibu. The married couple were able to send their children to a local public school.
Meanwhile she continued her film career as a freelance actress, but continued to be cast in middle-aged roles. She regained her A-picture actress through well-received roles in the drama film "The Long, Hot Summer" (1958) and the comedy film "The Reluctant Debutante" (1958). She also appeared regularly in television roles, and became a regular on game show "Pantomime Quiz" (1947-1959).
In 1957, Lansbury made her Broadway debut in a performance of "Hotel Paradiso". The play was an adaptation of the 1894 "L'Hôtel du libre échange" ("Free Exchange Hotel"), written by Maurice Desvallières (1857-1926) and Georges Feydeau (1862-1921). Lansbury's role as "Marcel Cat" was critically well received. She continued appearing in Broadway over the next several years, most notably cast as the verbally abusive mother in "A Taste of Honey". She was cast as the mother of co-star Joan Plowright (1929-), who was only four years younger.
In the early 1960s, Lansbury was cast as an overbearing mother in "Blue Hawaii" (1961). The role of her son was played by Elvis Presley (1935-1977), who was only 10 years than her. The film was a box office hit, it finished as the 10th-top-grossing film of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the "Variety" national box office survey. It gained Lansbury renewed fame, at a difficult point of her career.
Lansbury gained critical praise for a sympathetic role in the drama film "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (1960), and the role of a manipulative mother in the drama film "All Fall Down" (1962). Based on her success in "All Fall Down", she was cast in a similar role in the Cold War-themed thriller "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962). She was cast as Eleanor Iselin, the mother of her co-star Laurence Harvey (1928-1973), who was only 3 years younger than she. This turned out to be one of the most memorable roles in her career. She received critical acclaim and was nominated for a third time for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The award was instead won by Patty Duke (1946-2016).
Lansbury made a comeback in the starring role of Mame Dennis in the musical "Mame" (1966), by Jerome Lawrence (1915-2004) and Robert Edwin Lee (1918-1994). The play was an adaptation of the novel "Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade" (1955) by Patrick Dennis (1921-1976), and focused on the life and ideas of eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis. The musical received critical and popular praise, and Lansbury won her first Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. Lansbury gained significant fame from her success, becoming a "superstar".
Her newfound fame led to other high-profile appearances by Lansbury. She starred in a musical performance at the 1968 Academy Awards ceremony, and co-hosted the 1968 Tony Awards. The Hasty Pudding Club, a social club for Harvard students. elected her "Woman of the Year" in 1968.
Lansbury's next theatrical success was in 1969 "The Madwoman of Chaillot" (1945) by Jean Giraudoux (1882-1944). The play concerns an eccentric Parisian woman's struggles with authority figures. Lansbury was cast in the starring role of 75-year-old Countess Aurelia, despite her actual age of 44. The show was well received and lasted for 132 performances. Lansbury won her second Tony Award for this role.
In 1970, Lansbury's Malibu home was destroyed in a brush fire. Lansbury and her husband decided to buy Knockmourne Glebe, an 1820s Irish farmhouse, located near the village of Conna in rural County Cork.
Her film career reached a new height. She was cast in the starring role of benevolent witch Eglantine Price in Disney's fantasy film "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). The film was a box-office hit; it was critically well received, and introduced Lansbury to a wider audience of children and families.
In 1972, Lansbury returned to the British stage, performing in London's West End with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1973, Lansbury appeared in the role of Rose in London performances of the musical "Gypsy" (1959) by Arthur Laurents. It was quite successful. In 1974, "Gypsy" went on tour in the United States. with the same cast. For her role, Lanbury won the Sarah Siddons Award and her third Tony Award. The musical had its second tour in 1975.
Tired from musicals. Lansbury next sought Shakespearean roles in the United Kingdom. From 1975 to 1976, she appeared as Queen Gertrude in the National Theatre Company's production of Hamlet. In November 1975, Lansbury's mother Moyna Macgill died at the age of 79. Lansbury arranged for her mother's remains to be cremated, and the ashes scattered near her own County Cork home.
In 1976, Lansbury returned to the American stage. In 1978, Lansbury temporarily replaced Constance Towers (1933-) in the starring role of Anna Leonowens (1831-1915) in The King and I. While Towers was on a break from the role, Lansbury appeared in 24 performances.
In 1978, Lansbury appeared in her first film role in seven years, as the novelist and murder victim Salome Otterbourne in the mystery film "Death on the Nile" (1978). The film was an adaptation of the 1937 novel by Agatha Christie (1890-1976); Otterbourne was loosely based on real-life novelist Elinor Glyn (1864-1943). The film was a modest box-office hit, and Lansbury befriended her co-star Bette Davis (1908-1989).
In 1979, Lansbury was cast in the role of meat pie seller Mrs. Lovett in the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (1979), by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler (1912-1987). The musical was loosely based on the penny dreadful serial novel "The String of Pearls: A Domestic Romance" (1846-1847), which first depicted fictional serial killer Sweeney Todd. Lansbury remained in the role for 14 months, and was then replaced by Dorothy Loudon (1925-2003). Lansbury won her fourth Tony Award for this role. She returned to the role for 10 months in 1980.
Lansbury's next prominent film role was that of Miss Froy in "The Lady Vanishes" (1979), a remake of the 1938 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980). She was next cast in the role of amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple in the mystery film "The Mirror Crack'd" (1980), an adaptation of the novel "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" (1962) by Agatha Christie. The novel was loosely inspired by the life of Gene Tierney (1920-1991). The film was a modest commercial success. There were plans for at least two sequels, but they ended in development hell.
In 1982, Lansbury was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame, She appeared at the time in the new play "A Little Family Business" and a revival of "Mame", but both shows were commercial failures. In film, Lansbury voiced the witch Mommy Fortuna in the animated fantasy film "The Last Unicorn" (1982). The film was critically well received, but was not a box-office hit.
Lansbury played Ruth in the musical comedy "The Pirates of Penzance" (1983), a film adaptation of the 1879 comic opera by William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900). The film was a box office bomb, earning about 695,000 dollars.
Lansbury's next film role was that of Granny in the gothic fantasy film "The Company of Wolves" (1984), based on a 1979 short story by Angela Carter (1940-1992). Lansbury was cast as the grandmother of protagonist Rosaleen (played by Sarah Patterson), in a tale featuring werewolves and shape-shifting. The film was critically well received, but barely broke even at the box office.
At about that time, Lansbury appeared regularly in television films and mini-series. Her most prominent television role was that of Jessica Fletcher in the detective series "Murder, She Wrote" (1984-1996). Jessica was depicted as a successful mystery novelist from Maine who encounters and solves many murders. The character was considered an American counterpart to Miss Marple. The series followed the "whodunit" format and mostly avoided depictions of violence or gore.
The series was considered a television landmark for having an older female character as the protagonist. It was aimed primarily at middle-aged audiences, but also attracted both younger viewers and senior citizen viewers. Ratings remained high for most of its run. Lansbury rejected pressure from network executives to put her character in a relationship, as she believed that Fletcher should remain a strong single female.
In 1989, Lansbury co-founded the production company Corymore Productions, which started co-producing the television series with Universal Television. This allowed Lansbury to have more creative input on the series. She was appointed an executive producer. By the time the series ended in 1996, it tied with the original "Hawaii Five-O" (1968-1980) as the longest-running detective drama series in television history.
Her popularity from "Murder, She Wrote" made Lansbury a much-sought figure for advertisers. She appeared in advertisements and infomercials for Bufferin, MasterCard and the Beatrix Potter Company.
Lansbury's highest-profile film role in decades was voicing the character of singing teapot Mrs. Potts in Disney's animated fantasy film "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Lansbury performed the film's title song, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
During the late 1980s and 1990s, Lansbury lived most of the year in California. In 1991, she had Corymore House, a farmhouse at Ballywilliam, County Cork, built as her new family home. She spend Christmases and summers there.
Following the end of "Murder, She Wrote", Lansbury returned to a career as a theatrical actress. She temporarily retired from the stage in 2001, to take care of her husband Peter Shaw, whose health was failing. Shaw died in 2003, from congestive heart failure at the couple's Brentwood, California home. Their marriage had lasted for 54 years (1949-2003).
Lansbury felt at the time that she could not take on any more major acting roles, but that she could still make cameos. She moved back to New York City in 2006, buying a condominium in Manhattan. Her first prominent film role in years was that of Aunt Adelaide in the fantasy film "Nanny McPhee" (2005). She credits her performance in the film with pulling her out of depression, a state of mind which had lasted since her husband's death.
Lansbury returned to performing on the Broadway stage in 2007, after an absence of 23 years. In 2009, she won her fifth Tony Award. She shared the record for most Tony Award victories with Julie Harris (1925-2013). In the 2010s, she continued regularly appearing in theatrical performances. In 2014, she returned to the London stage, after an absence of nearly 40 years.
In 2015, Lansbury received her first Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress. At age 89, she was among the oldest first-time winners. Also in 2015, November 2015 was awarded the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
In 2017, she was cast as Aunt March in the mini-series "Little Women". The mini-series was an adaptation of the 1868-1869 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). The series lasted for 3 episodes, and was critically well received.
In 2018, Lansbury gained her next film role in Disney's fantasy film "Mary Poppins Returns" (2018), a sequel to "Mary Poppins". Lansbury was cast in the role of the Balloon Lady, a kindly old woman who sells balloons at the park. The films was a commercial hit, earning about 350 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
In 2019, Lansbury performed at a one-night benefit staging of Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1895). a farce satirizing Victorian morals. She was cast in the role of society lady Lady Bracknell, mother to Gwendolen Fairfax.
By 2020, Lansbury was 95 years old, one of the oldest-living actresses. She has never retired from acting, and remains a popular icon.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Angus T. Jones is a former child actor from Austin, Texas. He is mainly remembered for playing co-protagonist Jake Harper in the first 10 seasons of the hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men". He played the role regularly for a decade, from 2003 to 2013. He won two Young Artist Awards for his role, and he was nominated for a third one.
He made his film debut in the crime film "Simpatico" (1999), which depicted a former con-man attempting to retaliate against two partners who had abandoned him. Jones played the dog-loving boy James McGuire in the comedy "See Spot Run" (2001), in what was his first significant film role. His character was able to teach a trained FBI dog to relax and play, like normal dogs.
In the sports drama "The Rookie" (2002), Jones portrayed Hunter Morris. His character was the son of professional baseball player Jim Morris (1964-), and looked up to his father. The character was based on Jim Morris' real-life son. Jones also had the small role of the protagonist's son in the romantic comedy "Bringing Down the House" (2003). His character had reading difficulties. He overcame them with the help of his nanny, Charlene Morton (played by Queen Latifah), who managed to gain the boy's trust.
In the comedy film "George of the Jungle 2" (2003), Jones portrayed George Jr., the Prince of the Jungle. His character was depicted as the son of "king" George of the Jungle (played by Christopher Showerman) and "queen" Ursula Stanhope (played by Julie Benz). The film was loosely based on the short-lived animated series "George of the Jungle" (1967) by Jay Ward and Bill Scott. The film was released direct-to-video, unlike the first live-action adaptation of the series.
Jones gained his first major television role in 2003, when cast as Jake Harper in "Two and a Half Men". His character was the young son of divorced parents. Jake was jointly raised by his financially-struggling father Alan Harper (played by Jon Cryer), and his hedonistic uncle Charlie Harper (played by Charlie Sheen). Jake was initially portrayed as a relatively bright boy, but rather naive and absent-minded. As the character grew older, Jake was increasingly depicted as dimwitted, lazy, and gluttonous. The sitcom enjoyed high ratings, and Jones became a household name.
By 2010, "Two and a Half Men". had become the most popular sitcom in the United States. That year, Jones signed a new contract. He was guaranteed payment of 7.8 million dollars over the next two seasons, amounting to 300,000 dollars for each of the 26 episodes. At the time, he was the highest paid child star in television.
During the sitcom's 9th season (2011-2012), Jake's character was revised. The adolescent was depicted as a habitual user of marijuana. He was also depicted as promiscuous, and involved in sexual relationships with older women. In March 2012, Jones stated in a public appearance that he was uncomfortable with these changes in the portrayal of his character.
By the autumn of 2012, Jones had converted to Christianity. He also joined a Seventh-day Adventist church, though it was not affiliated with the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists (the official representative of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists). Jones publicly criticized the sitcom as "filth" which contradicted his moral values, and expressed his frustration with having to continue appearing in it. At the time, filming for most of his appearances in the 10th season had been completed.
Jones left the sitcom at the end of the 2012-2013 season. Initially there were plans for him to make guest appearances in the 11th season of the sitcom, but he did not participate in any of its episodes. In March 2014, Jones officially confirmed the end of his involvement in the series. In 2015, Jones agreed to participate in a few scenes for the series finale. In the episode, Jake informs his father that he has married a Japanese dancer, and that he has two stepchildren of his own.
Following his departure from "Two and a Half Men", Jones started attending classes at the University of Colorado Boulder. It is a public research university, active since 1876. It has offered mixed-sex education since the 1870s. In 2016, Jones accepted a management position in the production company Tonite. The company had recently been established. It had been co-founded by Justin Combs, a son of the record producer Sean Combs. Jones and the younger Combs had been friends for several years, before agreeing to work together.
By 2022, Jones was 29-years-old. He has mostly retired from acting, and he has pursued a business career. Jones has stayed away from the spotlight for several years. His fame persists due to the enduring popularity of his long-running sitcom. He has kept his private life out of the public eye.- Anissa Jones was an American child actress of Lebanese descent. She is primarily remembered for the role of the orphan girl Buffy Davis in the hit sitcom "Family Affair" (1966-1971). The series lasted for 5 seasons and 138 episodes. Jones' career rapidly declined following the end of the sitcom. She died due to "combined drug intoxication" when only 18-years-old.
In 1958, Jones was born in West Lafayette, Indiana. West Lafayette is a college town, primarily known as the home of Purdue University. Jones' father was the engineer John Paul Jones, who was at that time a faculty board member at Purdue University. Jones' mother was Mary Paula Tweel, a Lebanese-American zoology student.
Jones spend the first few years of her life in Charleston, West Virginia, where her family had settled. Around 1963, the Jones family moved to Playa Del Rey, California. Her father had accepted a job in aerospace engineering in California, and was eager to relocate to the West Coast. The marriage of Jones's parents soon deteriorated, and they were already divorced by 1965.
In 1964, Jones made her debut at television commercials. She was only 6-years-old at the time. She begun pursuing acting roles in 1965. She had her big break in 1966, when cast in a co-starring role in the new sitcom "Family Affair". She was 8-years-old at the time, but she was cast in the role of a 6-year-old. Jones was unusually short for her age, and she reportedly looked younger than her actual age.
Jones soon became a popular child actress, and she made several guest appearances in other television series. She served as a guest host in the variety show "The Hollywood Palace",. She was also interviewed in the talk shows "The Mike Douglas Show" and "The Merv Griffin Show". She made her film debut in 1969, with a small part in the drama film "The Trouble with Girls". The film's main star was Elvis Presley, in one of his last acting roles. The film depicted the murder of a pharmacist in Iowa, and the efforts of a band manager to profit from the crime.
"Family Affair" ended in 1971, leaving Jones without a regular role for the first time in her acting career. Despite auditioning for various roles over the following years, she was nearly always rejected. Her acting career ended at the age of 12. In 1976, Jones was still living in California and had a regular boyfriend.
On August 27, 1976, Jones went partying with her friends in the beach town of Oceanside, California. The following day, Jones was found dead at the home of Helen Hennessy, a close friend. An autopsy revealed that she had consumed a combination of cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal. A small vial of blue liquid was found next to her corpse, but the police could not determine what it was. Jones was given a small, private funeral service. Her remains were cremated, and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
Following Jones' death, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested for illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones. Moshos died in late December 1976, while still awaiting his trial. In 1979, a court decision forced Moshos' estate to make compensations payments to Jones' surviving relatives. Jones' last surviving relative (her mother) died in January 2012. Jones is long gone, but is still fondly remembered for her sitcom role. - Ann Nocenti is a veteran comic book writer and editor from New York City. As a writer, she is primarily remembered as the main writer for "Daredevil" vol. 1 #236-291 (1986-1991), "Catwoman" vol. 3 (2012-2014), and "Katana" (2013-2014). She has written stories for several other characters, including (among others) Spider-Woman, Doctor Strange, Nightmare, Spider-Man, and Venom. As an editor, Nocenti is primarily remembered for serving as an editor for both the "Uncanny X-Men" and the "New Mutants" from 1984 to 1988.
Nocenti has created several recurring characters for Marvel Comics. Her most popular creations include the tyrant and slave-master Mojo (portrayed as a parody of television executives), the young demon Blackheart (a son of the hell-lord Mephisto), the dimension-traveling sorceress Spiral/Rita Wayword, the pyrokinetic assassin Typhoid Mary/Mary Walker (both a love interest and a foe for Daredevil), the rebel leader Longshot (a love interest for Dazzler), the Inhuman prince Ahura Boltagon (a son of the heroes Black Bolt and Medusa), and the cyborg assassin Bushwacker/Carl Burbank (a recurring foe for Daredvil and the Punisher).
Nocenti was interested in comic books as a child, though her parents allowed her access to few series of the time. She liked teenage humor stories by Archie Comics, but thought that "bad girl" Veronica Lodge was a smarter and more enjoyable character than her "good girl" rival Betty Cooper. Nocenti loved reprints of the satirical comic strip "Pogo" (1948-1975) by Walt Kelly. Nocenti also enjoyed reprints of the detective-themed comic strip "Dick Tracy" (1931-) by Chester Gould. She found the strip's "grotesque" and deformed villains to be fascinating, and thought that the strip's heroes were comparatively bland. Nocenti never had access to superhero comics.
Nocenti received her college education at the "State University of New York at New Paltz", a public university which had its own art education program. As a college student, Nocenti found herself interested in the underground comix of Robert Crumb. They were representative of the values of the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Following her graduation from college, Nocenti replied to a Marvel Comics ad for new personnel. She was hired as an assistant editor by the editor Dennis O'Neil (1939-2020).
From 1982 to 1984, Nocenti primarily worked as an assistant editor for various Marvel titles. She variously worked under the supervision of the editors Al Milgrom, Carl Potts, and Louise Jones. She was also interested in writing her own stories. Her debut story was published in a 1982 issue of the anthology title "Bizarre Adventures".
Nocenti's first regular writing assignment was to write the final few issues of a series featuring the superheroine Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew. Since Nocenti was aware that the series was ending due to a decline in its sales, she decided to write a storyline which ended with Jessica's death. She came to regret this decision, as she realized that the readers had a "personal attachment" to the character. Nocenti served as a story consultant to an Avengers storyline which featured the resurrection of Spider-Woman.
Nocenti served as the solo writer of the miniseries "Beauty and the Beast" (1984-1985). It served as a spotlight for the mutant superheroes Dazzler/Alison Blaire and Beast/Hank McCoy. The series depicted them as lovers, and portrayed Dazzler as an outcast, following the end of her acting career. These subplots were not followed by other writers.
Nocenti created Longshot and his original cast of friends and foes in the eponymous miniseries "Longshot" (1985-1986). She used atypical influences for a comic book writer, crediting the works of Marshall McLuhan, Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman and Walter Lippmann for inspiring aspects of the series. Nocenti was pursuing her master's degree at the time, and figured that some of the texts available to her would make great material for a comic book story.
In 1986, Nocenti was asked to contribute a story to the series "Daredevil". The series had no regular writer at the time, following the end of long runs by Dennis O'Neil and Frank Miller. Two issues later, Nocenti was assigned as the series' new main writer. She took the series to a new direction, with the character Daredevil/Matt Murdock running a non-profit urban legal center. Nocenti's stories for the series often explored social issues, such as "sexism, racism, and nuclear proliferation". Nocenti continued writing the title until 1991, and she became the series "longest-running regular writer". She was then replaced by Daniel G. Chichester, who tried to conclude several of the series' long-running subplots.
From 1993 to 1994, Nocenti wrote the series "Kid Eternity" for Vertigo Comics. The series featured a revamped version of the Golden Age character Kid Eternity/Christopher "Kit" Freeman, who could summon demons to assist him in conflicts. For Marvel, Nocenti wrote 1990s miniseries for the villains Typhoid Mary (which she had created years earlier) and Nightmare. Nightmare had been a long-established demonic villain, who could manipulate subconscious minds of dreaming beings. Nocenti worked on the first attempt to turn him into a villain protagonist and to provide him with his own supporting cast.
In 1996, Nocenti wrote two issues of "The All-New Exiles" for Malibu Comics. The series focused on a misfit cast of villains and antiheroes who were forced to join forces after finding themselves collectively blamed for a mysterious disaster in New York City. They had to clear their names and discover what had actually caused the disaster. Nocenti's issues focused on a treacherous ally of the team, who was manipulating teammates Amber Hunt and Siena Blaze into fighting each other. The series only lasted for 11 issues, with its storyline resolved in a crossover title. This was Nocenti's last work for Marvel and its imprints during the 1990s.
During the 1990s, Nocenti started a new career as a journalist. She eventually placed her comic book work in hiatus, in order to pursue new career opportunities. She worked as a writer for the political magazine "The Nation" (1865-), while publishing articles in several other publications. In 2004, Nocenti became the new editor of the monthly magazine "High Times" (1974-).
In 2004, Nocenti started regularly writing for DC Comics. She wrote several stories for the Batman-related comic books. She published the graphic novel "Batman/Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows" (2004). The story had the hero Batman/Bruce Wayne and the female villain Poison Ivy/Pamela Lillian Isley teaming up for a case. Nocenti placed emphasis on Ivy's redeeming qualities, and hinted that Ivy's long-term attraction to Batman was based on genuine emotional needs, rather than mere lust.
In 2004, Nocenti wrote a two-part miniseries about Catwoman/Selina Kyle. In 2012, she was assigned as the main writer in a rebooted version of Catwoman's solo series. She continued writing the series until 2014. Nocenti contributed a Catwoman story to the anthology collection "Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular" (2020). The anthology celebrated the completion of 80 years of stories about the popular villain and antihero.
By 2022, Nocenti was 65-years-old. She has never fully retired from comic book writing, but she has mostly contributed stories to anthologies and miniseries in recent years. She has had a fan following due to her interesting takes on several established characters, and her own creation of eccentric characters. - Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey) was an American professional sharpshooter from Ohio. She starred for several years in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Her stage acts were filmed for one of Thomas Edison's earliest Kinetoscopes in 1894. Later in life, Oakley trained other women in marksmanship. She was an advocate for female self-defense.
Oakley was born in a rural area of Darke County, Ohio, not far from the the state's border with Indiana, in 1860. Her family's residence was located 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the settlement of Woodland (later renamed to Willowdell). Oakley's father was the farmer Jacob Mosey (1799-1866), a veteran of the War of 1812 (1812-1815). Oakley's mother was Susan Wise (1830-1908), who was 31 years younger than her husband. Both parents were Quakers from Pennsylvania, and they were both of English descent. Oakley was the 6th of 9 children born to this couple.
In the winter of 1865, Jacob Mosey was caught in a blizzard. Hypothermia turned him into an invalid. He died months later, having never recovered from the ordeal. In 1867, Oakley learned how to trap animals in order to supplement her family's income. In 1868, Oakley learned how to handle firearms and how to hunt animals with them. She sold the hunted game to restaurants and hotels.
In March 1870, Oakley was placed in the Darke County Infirmary. Nancy Edington, the superintendent's wife, trained Oakley in sewing and decorating. Months later, Oakley was hired as a servant by a local family. The family promised her a meager salary (0.50 dollars per week) and help in financing her education. They reneged on both promises.
From 1870 to 1872, Oakley was mentally and physically abused by her employers. She was treated as an unpaid slave instead of a servant. She eventually run away. In her autobiography, she nicknamed these employers as "the wolves". She never mentioned their real names. Modern biographers are uncertain whether her employers were the Studabaker family or the Boose family.
In 1872, Oakley moved in with the Edington family, who she knew from the Infirmary. In 1875, Oakley moved into her mother's house for the first time in 5 years. She used her hunting skills to become her family's main breadwinner. Her earnings allowed her to soon pay off the mortgage on her mother's farm.
In November 1875, professional sharpshooter Frank E. Butler (1847-1926), placed a 100 dollars bet (per side). He claimed that he could beat any sharpshooter in Ohio. Oakley took on the challenge, and a match was arranged between the two sharpshooters. Oakley won the match, and impressed Butler. Soon after the match, Butler started courting Oakley. They were married on June 20, 1882, after Butler received a divorce from his first wife. They remained married for 44 years.
Oakley started professionally performing as a sharpshooter in the late 1870s or early 1880s. She took the stage name "Oakley", reputedly naming herself after the neighborhood of Oakley, Cincinnati. She and Butler had settled in the neighborhood during the early years of her relationship.
In 1885, Oakley and Butler were hired as performers by "Buffalo Bill's Wild West", a circus-like attraction that toured annually. The owner was the showman Buffalo Bill (1846-1917), who was a veteran of both the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Early in her career in the show, Oakley developed a professional rivalry with one of her co-workers, the sharpshooter Lillian Smith (1871-1930). Smith was younger than Oakley, and was trying to upstage her.
In the late 1880s, Oakley and Buffalo Bill's Wild West toured Europe. Oakley performed her act for (among others) Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901, reigned 1837-1901), Marie Francois Sadi Carnot, President of France (1837-1894, term 1887-1894). Umberto I, King of Italy (1844-1900, reigned 1878-1900), and Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941, reigned 1888-1918). Oakley won favorable reviews by the European press.
In 1894, Oakley starred in Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope film "The Little Sure Shot of the Wild West, an exhibition of rifle shooting at glass balls, etc". It was a filming of her act, making Oakley one of the earliest performers to be filmed. In 1898, Oakley volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War (1898). Her offer was turned down by the government of President William McKinley (1843-1901, term 1897-1901), likely because of her gender.
In 1901, Oakley was seriously injured in a train accident. She was temporarily paralyzed, and endured five spinal operations in order to regain her mobility. She resigned from Buffalo Bill's Wild West during her recovery. In 1902, Oakley acted professionally in the Western-themed stage play "The Western Girl".
In 1904, Oakley filed 55 libel lawsuits against various newspapers. Most of them were owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The newspapers had published a false news story than Oakley was a cocaine addict and a habitual thief. They had confused Oakley with a burlesque performer who used "Annie Oakley" as an alias. By 1910, Oakley had won 54 of the 55 lawsuits.
In 1912, Oakley and Butler settled for a few years in Cambridge, Maryland. In 1917, they moved to North Carolina. Oakley continued performing into the 1920s. In 1922, Oakley was injured in a car accident, forced to wear a a steel brace on her right leg. She made a comeback performance in 1923, and set new shooting records in 1924.
In 1925, Oakley's health declined and she was forced to retire from performing. She died in November 1926, at the age of 66. The reported cause of death was pernicious anemia, caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were buried at Brock Cemetery, located in the vicinity of Greenville, Ohio.
Oakley was survived by her husband Frank Butler, who died 18 days after Oakley's death. Butler had reportedly refused to eat anything after his wife's death. They had no children. Oakley did not leave much of an inheritance to her relatives, as she had donated most of her personal fortune to charities. Her incomplete autobiography was inherited by actor Fred Stone (1873-1959). Oakley's name remains associated with the legends of the "Wild West", and there have been several adaptations of her life in fiction. - Producer
- Writer
- Animation Department
Arlene Klasky is an animator, graphic designer, and television producer from Omaha, Nebraska. She is of Polish-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. She co-founded the animation studio Klasky Csupo (1982-) with Gábor Csupó, who was at that time married to her.
During the 1980s, Klasky and her studio provided logos for television series, and produced music videos for bands such as the Beastie Boys. They also produced animated shorts for "Sesame Street". However, their main claim to fame was producing animated shorts about the Simpsons family for "The Tracey Ullman Show".
By 1989, Klasky was largely preoccupied with raising her two infant sons. When the television networks Nickelodeon asked her to pitch ideas for a new animated television series, she initially thought that she had no ideas to offer. She instead took inspiration from her sons to create a series about infants that could talk. Nickelodeon green-lighted the project, which was developed into the long-running series "Rugrats" (1991-2004).
During the 1990s and early 2000s, her studio produced several other series for Nickelodeon. Klasky co-produced the spin-off films "The Rugrats Movie" (1998) and "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" (2000), which performed well at the box office. She was also credited as a co-creator for the sequel series "All Grown Up!" (2003-2008), which featured the infants of "Rugrats" having aged to their adolescence.
In 2006, Nickelodeon decided to end its partnership with Klasky Csupo, though episodes of "All Grown Up!" were still being broadcast. Having lost its main client, the studio went into decline and. For the next decade or so, its main products were a digital comic book and a web series.
In 2018, Klasky Csupo started work on a reboot series of the "Rugrats", with Klasky serving as an executive producer. The new series debuted in 2021, and used CGI animation instead of the traditional animation of its predecessor. As of 2022, Klasky is 72-years-old and continues to lead her animation studio.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Armin Mueller-Stahl is a German actor with a relatively long film career. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as an abusive father in the biographical drama "Shine" (1996).
In 1930, Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. The town developed around the castle of Schalauer Haus, which had been founded by the Teutonic Knights. Tilsit was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945, and renamed to Sovetsk. It is currently part of the Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia located in Central Europe. The town is located close to the Oblast's borders with Lithuania, and has long had an ethnic Lithuanian minority.
Mueller-Stahl's father was bank teller Alfred Müller (who later changed the family name to Mueller-Stahl) ,and his mother was university professor Editha Maaß. Editha was born to a Baltic German family from Estonia. During World War I, the Maaß lived in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg). They moved to Tilsit in 1918.
Mueller-Stahl was born in Germany's Weimar Republic period, and spend his childhood and early adolescence in Nazi Germany. In 1938, he moved with his family to the town of Prenzlau in Brandenburg. During World War II, Mueller-Stahl parted with his father. Alfred was drafted into military service, and later fought on the Eastern Front of World War II. In 1945, Alfred died in a military hospital in Schönberg , Mecklenburg.
In 1945, Editha briefly moved her family to Goorstorf, located near Rostock, the largest city of Mecklenburg. They returned to Prenzlau following the end of World War II. Armin continued his school education there. He graduated from school in 1948, at the age of 18.
Mueller-Stahl initially aspired to become a professional violinist. In 1948, he moved to Berlin. There he attended the city conservatory in West Berlin, where he studied violin playing and musicology. He graduated in 1949, and acquired qualifications to work as a music teacher. At this point, he decided to become an actor instead.
After a few years of studies, Mueller-Stahl made his professional debut at the "Theater am Schiffbauerdamm" of Berlin in 1952. In 1954, he started performing in the Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") , a prestigious theater in East Berlin. For the next 20 years, he was primarily a theatrical actor. During the 1960s, he started a side career as a character actor in East German films. By the 1970s, he repeatedly appeared in polls as East Germany's most popular actor.
From 1973 to 1976, Mueller-Stahl played the Stasi agent Werner Bredebusch in the spy thriller television series "The Invisible Visor" (1973-1979). Bredebusch was initially the series' main character, a Stasi agent who impersonates deceased fighter pilot Achim Detjen and infiltrates West Germany. The series achieved high ratings, and Mueller-Stahll received acclaim. He left the series in 1976, and its ratings soon declined.
In 1976, Mueller-Stahl signed an open letter, protesting against East Germany's decision to exile singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann (1936-). Consequenly, Mueller-Stahl found himself blacklisted in East Germany. After a few years of being unable to find roles in his country, Mueller-Stahl migrated to West Germany.
In 1981, Mueller-Stahl played Von Bohm, the male lead in the romantic drama "Lola" (1981). The film depicted Von Bohm as a building commissioner who struggles against widespread corruption in the town of Coburg, while falling in love with brothel-employed singer Lola (played by Barbara Sukowa). Following the film's relative success, Mueller-Stahl found steady work in West German cinema throughout the 1980s.
Although he barely spoke English at this point of his life, Mueller-Stahl was cast as General Petya Samanov in the American television miniseries Amerika. The dystopian series depicted a version of the United States which was under Soviet military occupation, and in which Soviet general Samanov is the de facto ruler of the occupied country. "Amerika" was the second-highest rated miniseries of the 1986-87 U.S. television season.
Mueller-Stahl decided to to seek more acting roles in the United States, and made his American film debut in the crime drama "Music Box" (1989). He was cast in the role of Mike Laszlo, a Hungarian-American family man, who is exposed as a wanted war criminal who killed numerous civilians during the Siege of Budapest (1944-1945). The film won the "Golden Bear" at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.
Mueller-Stahl next received the primary role of Polish-Jewish immigrant Sam Krichinsky in the family drama "Avalon" (1990). The film concerned the gradual assimilation of Krichinsky's family into modern American culture. The film was critically praised, and its screenwriter won the "Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay".
In 1991, Mueller-Stahl played the role of Inspector Grubach in the mystery thriller "Kafka". The film depicted a conspiracy in 1910s Prague, and was loosely inspired by the works of Franz Kafka (1883-1924). The film under-performed at the box office, but gained a cult following.
During the same year, Mueller-Stahl played New York City-based taxi driver Helmut Grokenberger in the anthology film "Night on Earth". In the film, Helmut is an East German immigrant in the United States. He is a former professional clown, whose ineptness as a driver and ignorance of New York geography make him ill-suited for his new profession. The film was critically well-received.
In 1992, Mueller-Stahl played Meissen porcelain collector Baron Kaspar Joachim von Utz in the eponymous film "Utz". The film was an adaptation of a 1988 novel by Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989), concerning a passionate collector and his unwillingness to part with his collection, even at the offer of a better life abroad. For this role, Mueller-Stahl won the "Silver Bear for Best Actor" at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1996, Mueller-Stahl played Peter, the abusive father of concert pianist David Helfgott (1947-). The film concerns the negative effects of long-term physical and mental abuse of David by his father. Mueller-Stahl's role was critically praised, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The award was instead won by rival actor Cuba Gooding Jr. (1968-).
In 1998, Mueller-Stahl played German scientist Conrad Strughold in the science fiction film "The X-Files", a spin-off of the then-popular television series "The X-Files" (1993-2002, 2016-2018). In the film, Strughold is a member of the Syndicate, a shadow government which collaborates with extraterrestrial would-be colonists. The film was a box-office hit, earning 189 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
In 2007, Mueller-Stahl played Semyon, a high-ranking member of the Russian mafia, in the gangster film "Eastern Promises". The film was critically praised, and appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.Mueller-Stahl won the "Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role".
In 2009, Mueller-Stah played former Stasi colonel Wilhelm Wexler in the action thriller "The International". In the film, Wexler works with a merchant bank that has secret ties to drug cartels, powerful corporations, corrupt governments, and terrorist organizations,. The film earned about 60 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was considered notable for drawing inspiration from real-world banking scandals of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Also in 2009, Mueller-Stahl portrayed Cardinal Strauss, Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Papal Conclave, in the mystery thriller "Angels & Demons". The film was an adaptation of a 2000 novel by Dan Brown (1964-). It concerns the assassination of fictional Pope Pius XVI, and a conspiracy trying to influence the election of his successor. The film earned about 486 million dollars at the worldwide box office, the highest-grossing film in Mueller-Stah's career.
In 2011, Mueller-Stahl received the "Honorary Golden Bear" at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. His only film role in the 2010s was playing Fr. Zeitlinger in the experimental film "Knight of Cups ". The film uses images from tarot cards as a main theme, while elements of the plot were inspired by the "Hymn of the Pearl" (2nd century) and the "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678) by John Bunyan.
By 2021, Mueller-Stahl was 90-years-old. He lives in semi-retirement in California, where he enjoys its pleasant climate. He has written a number of novels and short stories, and has taken painting as a hobby.- Animation Department
- Director
- Writer
Art Babbitt (born Arthur Harold Babitsky) was an American animator and animation director from Omaha, Nebraska. He worked in several animation studios over his long career, but is mostly remembered for his early work for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. During the 1930s, Babbitt redesigned and developed the character of Goofy. In his view, Goofy was a composite character: "a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured hick". Babbitt was credited as the main animator for the Evil Queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), and for Geppetto in "Pinocchio" (1940).
In 1907, Babbitt was born to a Jewish family in Little Bohemia, Omaha. It was a neighborhood of Omaha which had a large population of Czech emigrants from Austria-Hungary since the 1880s. By the time he finished kindergarten, his family decided to move to Sioux City, Iowa. His father was paralyzed in an accident at work, forcing Babbitt to become a breadwinner at an early age.
In the late 1920s, Babbitt had decided to follow the career of an animator. At the time, the industry was providing career opportunities for hopeful young artists. In 1929, Babbitt was among the first animators hired by a new animation studio, Terrytoons (1929-1973). The studio had been established by experienced animator Paul Terry, and its headquarters were located in Long Island, New York.
In 1932, Babbitt applied for a job at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Los Angeles. The studio was more prestigious than Terrytoons, and was reputed to offer better salaries for its top talents. Babbitt was initially hired as an assistant animator, but was soon promoted to a regular animator in recognition of his talents. He was put to work in animated short films, helping animate characters such as Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and the Big Bad Wolf.
When the studio started working on its first animated feature film, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" , Babbitt was entrusted with animating the Evil Queen. It was one of the toughest assignments on the film, as the character was not rotoscoped (unlike several of the others). There was an effort to make the character "regally beautiful", to have her movements be graceful, and for her emotions to be primarily expressed through her lovely mouth and eyes. Babbitt and his assistants reportedly produced enough drawings of the Queen to fill a paper house.
His efforts on the feature film were rewarded with a salary increase. Babbitt was one of the highest-paying jobs in the studio. For the first time in his life, he could afford a large house, three cars, and two servants. At about this time, Babbit married his first wife. She was the actress and dancer Marge Champion (1919-2020). She had been hired as a dance model for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and had impressed Babbitt. Their marriage only lasted to 1940, ending in divorce.
During the late 1930s, Babbitt worked on two other feature films "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia". He animated Geppetto in "Pinocchio", the protagonist's father. He also designed several characters for two segments of Fantasia: "The Nutcracker Suite" and "The Pastoral Symphony". Among his creations were Disney's versions of the gods Zeus, Vulcan, and Boreas.
In 1941, came the Disney animators' strike. Many of the studio's animators wanted to unionize in order to achieve better working conditions. Babbitt became one of the strike's leaders, though he was primarily campaigning for the rights of others and not his own self-interest. At one point, Babbitt and studio head Walt Disney nearly had a fist fight over a verbal insult. Studio staff intervened to stop them.
Following the strike, Babbitt and Walt Disney continued working together for a while, despite their mutual distrust and hostility. Babbitt found a friendlier working environment at his next employer, Warner Bros. Cartoons. His career was interrupted for a few years by military service in the Pacific War. In the post-war years, Babbitt was among the early staff of the animation studio United Productions of America (UPA, 1941-2000). The studio had been established by former Disney personnel, and Babbitt found himself working alongside former colleagues.
UPA was noted for its "very flat" and stylized designs, in contrast with Disney's style. They were considered as one of the most innovative animated studios of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Babbitt worked on several of their award-winning shorts until 1955. He subsequently acquired partial ownership of Quartet Films, a studio primarily working on television commercials.
Over the following decades, Babbitt rarely worked on theatrical films. But he was eventually hired by animator Richard Williams (1933-2019) to serve as the lead animator for the unfinished feature film "The Thief and the Cobbler". Babbitt designed several of the film's characters. The film was in production from 1964 until 1993, and was eventually released in a partially finished form. Babbitt did not live long enough to finish the film or to see it released. During that film's production, Babbitt also provided some character animation for "Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure" (1977).
In the early 1990s, Babbitt was invited by executive Roy E. Disney (Walt's nephew) to reconcile himself with Disney and its staff. Babbitt had reunions with his former rivals Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. He died in March 1992, at the age of 84. He was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, located in Hollywood Hills. Babbitt was posthumously named a Disney Legend in 2007. A small collection of Babbitt's personal films and home movies was eventually acquired by the Academy Film Archive. Babbitt is long gone, but continues to have a high reputation among animation historians and fans of American animation.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Art Carney was an American actor with a lengthy career but is primarily remembered for two roles. In television, Carney played municipal sewer worker Ed Norton in the influential sitcom "The Honeymooners" (1955-1956). In film, Carney played senior citizen Harry Coombes in the road movie "Harry and Tonto" (1974). For this role, Carney won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1918, Carney was born in an Irish American family in Mount Vernon, New York. His father was publicist Edward Michael Carney, and his mother was housewife Helen Farrell. Carney was the youngest of the family's six sons. He was educated at Mount Vernon High School (at the time called "A.B. Davis High School").
In the 1930s, Carney was a singer with the orchestra of big band leader Horace Heidt (1901-1986). They appeared often in radio shows, and were regulars in the pioneering game show Pot o' Gold (1939-1947). Carney had an uncredited cameo in the film adaptation "Pot o' Gold" (1941), which was his film debut.
His career was interrupted when he was drafted for World War II service. He served as an infantryman and machine gun crewman for the duration of the war. He fought in the Invasion of Normandy (1944), where he was wounded in the leg by shrapnel. Following his injury, his right leg was shorter than his left one. He walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
Following the War, Carney appeared regularly on radio as a character actor. He also served as a celebrity impersonator, imitating the voices of (among others) Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Dwight David Eisenhower. He had a recurring role as the Red Lantern in the fantasy adventure series "Land of the Lost" (1943-1948), and another as Charlie the doorman in radio and television version of the sitcom The Morey Amsterdam Show (1948-1950).
Carney was first paired with fellow actor Jackie Gleason (1916-1987) in 1950, in a comedy sketch appearing in the variety series "Cavalcade of Stars" (1949-1952). Gleason appeared as lunchroom loudmouth Charlie Bratten, and Carney as mild-mannered victim Clem Finch. Due to good chemistry between the two actors, Carney became a show regular and appeared in several other comedy sketches with Gleason. "Cavalcade of Stars" was eventually reworked into "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1952-1957), with Gleason as the lead actor and Carney as his sidekick.
The most notable of the recurring sketches was "the Honeymooners", pairing the verbally abusive Ralph Kramden (Gleason) with his optimistic best friend Ed Norton (Carney). The sketch eventually was eventually given its own series, "The Honeymooners" (1955-1956). The series only lasted for 1 season, and a total of 39 episodes. The sitcom was canceled due to low ratings, but found success in syndication. Its depiction of the American working class was popular and influenced several other sitcoms. The popular animated sitcom "The Flintstones" (1960-1966) started as a Honeymooners parody, with the character Barney Rubble based on Ed Norton.
Due to his popularity as Gleason's sidekick, Carney was offered a number of lead roles in television. He starred in the television special "Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf" (1958), adapted from the story "Peter and the Wolf" (1936) by Sergei Prokofiev. He was eventually given his own show "Art Carney Special" (1959-1961), which was not particularly successful.
Carney had few notable guest star roles in television during the 1960s. He played an alcoholic department store Santa Claus in the episode "The Night of the Meek" (1960) of The Twilight Zone, and portrayed the villain "The Archer" in two episodes of "Batman". He opened the 1970s by playing both Santa Claus and villain Cosmo Scam in the Christmas television special "The Great Santa Claus Switch" (1970), where he appeared alongside Jim Henson's Muppets.
Carney had suffered a career decline until the 1970s, in part due to his alcoholism. He first found success in film as the leading character "Harry and Tonto" (1974), as a lonely senior citizen who goes on a cross-country journey with his pet cat. His critical success in the role and winning an Academy Award helped revive his career. He was offered many new film roles, though few leading ones.
Among his better-known film roles were the deranged preacher John Wesley Gore in "W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings" (1975), aging detective Ira Wells in "The Late Show" (1977), senile surgeon Dr. Amos Willoughby in "House Calls" (1978), and thrill-seeking bank robber Al in "Going in Style". During this period, Carney won both the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor and the Pasinetti Award for Best Actor.
Carney had a notable role in the television film "Star Wars Holiday Special" (1978) as Trader Saun Dann, a member of the Rebel Alliance. In the 1980s, Carney was mostly reduced to minor roles again. He is better remembered as the kind-hearted farmer Irv Manders in the horror film "Firestarter" (1984) and theatrical producer Bernard Crawford in the comedy-drama "The Muppets Take Manhattan" (1984). He mostly retired from acting by the late 1980s.
Carney emerged from retirement to play the supporting role of Frank Slater in "Last Action Hero" (1993). Frank is depicted as the "favorite second cousin" of the film's protagonist Jack Slater (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger). Frank's death provided motivation for the revenge-seeking protagonist. Frank's final line in the film was "I'm outta here", and this was indeed Carney's last appearance in a film before his death.
Carney lived in retirement until 2003. He died in his sleep in November 2003, in his home near Westbrook, Connecticut. His death was attributed to unspecified "natural causes". He was 85 years old and had reportedly managed to stay sober since he originally quit drinking in 1974. He is interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
Carney was survived by his wife Jean Myers, who died in October 2012. Carney was the grandfather of politician Devin Carney, who served in the Connecticut General Assembly.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer of Irish descent, considered a major figure in crime fiction. His most famous series of works consisted of the "Sherlock Holmes" stories (1887-1927), consisting of four novels and 56 short stories. His other notable series were the "Professor Challenger" stories (1912-1929) about a scientist and explorer, and the "Brigadier Gerard" stories (1894-1910) about a French soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Doyle's literary works have frequently been adapted into film and television.
In 1859, Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to an Irish Catholic family. His father was Charles Altamont Doyle (1832 - 1893), a professional illustrator and water-colorist who is primarily remembered for fantasy-style paintings. Doyle's mother was Mary Foley (1837-1920). Through his father, Doyle was a nephew of the antiquarian James William Edmund Doyle (1822 - 1892), the illustrator Richard Doyle (1824-1883), and the gallery director Henry Edward Doyle (1827 -1893). Doyle's paternal grandfather was the political cartoonist and caricaturist John Doyle (1797-1868).
During his early years, Doyle's family had financial problems due to his father's struggles with depression and alcoholism. They received financial support from affluent uncles, who also financed Doyle's education. From 1868 to 1870, Doyle was educated at Hodder Place, a Jesuit preparatory school located at Stonyhurst, Lancashire. From 1870 to 1875, Doyle attended Stonyhurst College, a Roman Catholic boarding school. He disliked the school due to its rather limited curriculum, and the constant threats of corporal punishment and ritual humiliation used to discipline students.
From 1875 to 1876, Doyle received further education at Stella Matutina, a Jesuit school located at Feldkirch, Austria. His family wanted him to perfect his use of the German language, but this school offered a wider range of study subjects. Stella Matutina attracted student from many countries, and was more cosmopolitan in nature than Doyle's previous schools.
Doyle decided to follow a medical career. From 1876 to 1881, Doyle studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. He also took botany lessons at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. During his university years, Doyle started writing short stories. He had trouble finding a publisher, and "Blackwood's Magazine" (1817-1980) rejected his submitted work. Doyle's first published short story was "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley" (1879), featuring a demon in South Africa. That same year, Doyle published his first academic article in a science journal. The article examined the uses of the flowering plant Gelsemium as a poison. As an experiment, Doyle self-administrated doses of the poison and recorded the symptoms.
In 1880, Doyle worked for a while as a doctor in the whaling ship "Hope". In 1881, following his graduation from medical school, Doyle served as a ship's surgeon on the SS Mayumba. In 1882, Doyle and a former classmate established a medical practice in Plymouth, Devon. Their partnership failed, and Doyle soon started his own practice in Southsea, Hampshire. He did not have many patients, so he decided to resume writing fiction to supplement his income.
In 1886, Doyle created the character of Sherlock Holmes. He loosely based his creation on his former college teacher Joseph Bell (1837 - 1911), inspired by Bell's emphasis on the importance of "deduction and inference and observation". Doyle completed the first Holmes novel, "A Study in Scarlet" (1887), and sold the rights to the publishing house "Ward, Lock & Co." (1854-1964). The novel's publication was delayed until November, 1887, but it was well-received by professional critics.
Doyle next completed the sequel novel "The Sign of the Four" (1890), commissioned from the American literary magazine Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (1868-1915). He started writing short stories about Holmes for the British literary magazine "The Strand Magazine" (1891-1950).
Besides Holmes stories, Doyle wrote seven historical novels between 1888 and 1906. He wrote "Micah Clarke" (1889), as a fictionalized account of the Monmouth Rebellion (1685) and its consequences. The novel also voices Doyle's arguments against religious extremism. He wrote "The White Company" (1891) to examine the role of mercenaries in 14th-century warfare, depicting the campaigns of Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376) in the Kingdom of Castile. He wrote "The Great Shadow" (1892) to feature the experiences of soldiers in the Battle of Waterloo (1815). He wrote "The Refugees" (1893) to examine the fates of Huguenot refugees who were fleeing 17th-century France to escape religious persecution by Louis XIV (1638-1715, reigned 1643-1715). He wrote "Sir Nigel" (1906) to examine the early phases of the Hundred Years' War (1337 - 1453). He regarded these novels to be his best literary work, though they were never as popular as his crime novels.
In 1900, Doyle served as a volunteer doctor in the Second Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902), though he had no previous military experience. He was stationed at a field hospital at Bloemfontein. At about this time, Doyle wrote the non-fiction book "The Great Boer War" (1900), which covered in detail the early phases of the war. He also wrote the companion work "The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct" in order to defend the British Empire from accusations of misconduct in its military efforts. These works were translated in multiple languages, and were appreciated by the British government. For his services to the British Empire, Doyle was knighted in 1902. In 1903, Doyle became a knight of the Order of Saint John, a British royal order of chivalry that was based on the original Knights Hospitaller.
In 1906, Doyle was involved in efforts to exonerate the lawyer George Edalji, a mild-mannered man who had been convicted of animal mutilations on insufficient evidence. Doyle helped publicize other instances of miscarriages of justice, and convinced the public that there was need of reforms in the legal system. In 1907, British authorities reacted to this campaign by establishing the Court of Criminal Appeal.
In 1909, Doyle wrote the non-fiction work "The Crime of the Congo" (1909). In the book, Doyle denounced the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State, and claimed that the Belgian colonial forces had enslaved the local population. He quoted testimonies from many witnesses and tried to convince the public of a need to intervene in the area.
World War I (1914-1918) was a difficult time for Doyle , as several of his relatives and friends died due to the war. Doyle's son Kingsley was seriously wounded in the Battle of the Somme (1916), and never fully recovered. Kingsley died of pneumonia in 1918, while still hospitalized. Doyle's brother, Brigadier-general Innes Doyle, died of pneumonia in 1919. Doyle's brother-in-law, the famous author E. W. Hornung, died of pneumonia in 1921. The series of deaths led Doyle to further embrace Spiritualism, and that faith's claims about existence beyond the grave. He spend much of the 1920s as a missionary of Spiritualism, and investigated supposed supernatural phenomena. He also wrote many non-fiction spiritualist works. In 1926, Doyle financed the construction of a Spiritualist Temple in Camden, London.
In July 1930, Doyle suffered a heart attack while staying in his then-residence, Windlesham Manor, in Crowborough, Sussex. He spend his last moments in reassuring his wife Jean Leckie that she was wonderful. He was 71-years-old at the time of his death. He was survived by two sons and two daughters. His daughter Jean Conan Doyle (1912 - 1997) was the copyright holder of much of her father's works until her own death.
Since Doyle was no longer a Christian at the time of his death, his family declined giving him a Christian burial place. Doyle was buried in Windlesham Manor's rose garden. His remains were later re-interred in Minstead churchyard, New Forest, Hampshire. His wife's remains were buried beside him. His gravestone epitaph described him as "Steel true/Blade straight/Arthur Conan Doyle/Knight/Patriot, Physician and man of letters".
Doyle is long gone, but his works have remained popular into the 21st century. Doyle has been cited as an influence on later crime writers, and Agatha Christie's earliest novels were strongly influenced by Sherlock Holmes' stories. His life's events have inspired several biographies, and a number of fictionalized accounts.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Arthur Quirk Bryan was an American actor from Brooklyn, New York City. He is primarily remembered as a voice actor for radio and animation. His best known roles were the wisecracking physician and surgeon Dr. George Gamble in "Fibber McGee and Molly" (1935-1959), and the inept hunter Elmer Fudd in "Looney Tunes". Bryan voiced Fudd from 1940 to 1959, the heyday of the character in theatrical animation. When playing Fudd, Bryan nearly always vocalized consonants [r] and [l], pronouncing them as [w] instead. This became one of the character's main traits. Following Bryan's death in 1959, Hal Smith voiced Fudd in two animated shorts. In 1962, the production crew decided to cease using Fudd as a character. The character would later be revived, with most subsequent voice actors imitating Bryan's performance in the role.
In 1899, Bryan was born in Brooklyn. In his early years, he sang in a number of churches in the New York City area. He had aspirations to become a professional singer. In 1918, the teen-aged Bryan was hired as an as insurance clerk for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1926, Bryan was hired as a singer by the New York City-based radio station WINS.
In 1928, Bryan was hired as a tenor soloist by the radio station WFAN, which was also located in New York City. From 1929 to 1931, Bryan worked as an announcer for the New Jersey-based radio station WOR. In the autumn of 1931, Bryan moved to Philadelphia to work as an announcer for the radio station WCAU. In 1933, he started working for the radio station WTEL, which was also based in Philadelphia. In 1934, Bryan moved back to New York City. He was hired by the radio station WHN.
In 1936, Bryan moved to Los Angeles. He was initially hired as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures. He soon transitioned into acting roles, frequently portraying supporting characters in B Movies. He portrayed newspaper editor Joe McGinty in the horror film "The Devil Bat" (1940). His later roles included an unnamed Philistine merchant in the Biblical drama "Samson and Delilah" (1949), two appearances in the film series "Road to ...", and a single appearance in an "Ozzie and Harriet" feature film.
From 1938 to 1940, Bryan was a regular cast member in the radio talk show "The Grouch Club". The show featured radio stars who voiced their frustrations with the recurring problems of everyday life. Vitaphone produced a short film series based on the show, with Bryan depicting unfortunate souls who struggled with taxation, with the vote registry, and with the lack of available parking places.
In 1940, Bryan was asked to voice Elmer Fudd for the animated short film "Elmer's Candid Camera". The film introduced an entirely new design for the character, following a few years of appearances by prototype versions of Fudd. Previous versions of the character had been voiced by Mel Blanc, Danny Webb, and Roy Rogers. But it Bryan's voice for the character who made Fudd a hit with the audience of the time. Bryan would continue to portray Fudd for 19 years. Fudd would serve as the main antagonist for another hit character of the "Looney Tunes" film series, Bugs Bunny.
Bryan was increasingly famous as a voice actor in the early 1940s. He was hired to portray semi-regular character Lucius Llewellyn in the radio sitcom "The Great Gildersleeve" (1941-1958), using the same voice as Elmer Fudd. In 1942, Bryan used his natural voice to portray the barber Floyd Munson in the same series. In 1943, writers Don Quinn and Phil Leslie decided to create a role for Bryan in their radio series "Fibber McGee and Molly", based on what they liked about Bryan's previous performances. His new role was Dr. George Gamble, who would exchange creative insults with the main character Fibber McGee (voiced by Jim Jordan).
Bryan was also hired to portray protagonist Major Hoople in a radio adaptation of the comic strip "Our Boarding House" (1921-1984). Hoople was portrayed as a "retired military man of dubious achievement", who would boast of the adventures of his youth. He has been described as a modernized version of Falstaff. The radio adaptation was not particularly successful, only lasting from June 1942 to April 1943. No recordings of this series have survived.
From 1948 to 1949, Bryan was a regular panelist on the television quiz show "Quizzing the News". The panelists had to identify events in the news based on spoken clues and drawings. During the 1950s, Bryan regularly appeared on television, though mostly in one shot roles. He portrayed history teacher Professor Warren in the short-lived sitcom "The Halls of Ivy" (1954-1955), his only recurring role in this medium.
In November 1959, Bryan died of a sudden heart attack. He was 60 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, located in North Hollywood. His final appearance as Fudd was the posthumously released short "Person to Bunny" (April 1960), a parody of the interview show "Person to Person" (1953-1961). Bryan was initially replaced by Hal Smith as Fudd's voice actor, but the production crew decided to cease using Fudd as a character in 1962. Decades following his death, Bryan is still remembered as one of the most prominent voice actors of his era.- Actress
- Music Department
- Writer
Ashleigh Ball is a Canadian voice actress and musician from Vancouver. As a musician, she is primarily known as a singer and flutist for the alternative rock band "Hey Ocean!" (2004-). As a voice actress she is primarily known for voicing two of the main characters of the long-running fantasy series "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" (2010-2019). She voiced the stubborn apple farmer Applejack and the overconfident speedster Rainbow Dash, both of them being tomboy characters. Ball voiced alternate reality versions of the two characters in four "Equestria Girls" films (2013-2016) and several television specials. These versions were depicted as adolescent musicians, with emerging magical powers.
Ball's first significant voice role was that of adolescent inventor Mary Test in the science fantasy series "Johhny Test". She voiced the character from 2006 to 2014, while the character was previously voiced by Brittney Wilson. For the same series, Ball voiced the character of Sissy Blakley, who served as both a rival and a love interest to the protagonist.
Ball voiced the accident-prone Oopsy Bear in the short-lived series "Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-lot" (2007-2008). It was the third television series based on the "Care Bares" franchise. Oopsy had been introduced in the computer-animated film "Care Bears: Oopsy Does It!" (2007), with Ball as his voice actress.
In 2008, Ball voiced recurring antagonist Kirstee in the second and last season of the series "Bratz" (2005-2008). Ball replaced Kaley Cuoco, who had voiced the character in the first season. Kirstee worked as an intern for fashion magazine "Your Thing", while the protagonists worked for a rival magazine. They antagonized each other for both personal and professional reasons.
Ball had the recurring role of Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff in the second season of the superhero series "Iron Man: Armored Adventures" (2009-2012). This version of the character was initially depicted as a professional thief. After being captured by the covert organization SHIELD, she was recruited into their ranks. She had been given the option of either working for them, or serving a long prison sentence.
Ball voiced regular character Plum Pudding in "Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures" (2010-2015). Her character was depicted as a professional dancer and the owner of her own dance studio. Plum had a competitive streak, and a quick temper. Ball also voiced Princess Allura in "Voltron Force" (2011-2012). This version of the character struggled between her duties as a pilot and as a head of state for the planet Arus. She eventually chose her niece Larmina as a replacement pilot.
Ball voiced co-protagonist Princess Talia in the English version of the magical girl series "LoliRock" (2014-2017). Talia was depicted as the most serious, disciplined, intelligent, and goal-oriented member of a team of magical girls. She blamed herself because her older sister Izira was defeated and captured by a foe, while Talia was attending a festival. She figured that she had to train hard in order to avenge her sister.
By 2022, Ball was 39-years-old. She has gained a cult following for her relatively high-profile voice roles. Fans of her voice acting have at times become interested in her music releases, and she has performed music at fan conventions. She has never stopped working regularly, and she seems to have no plans to retire yet.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Barbara Luddy was an American actress and vaudeville singer from Great Falls, Montana. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Luddy regularly worked as a voice actress for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Her best known role was voicing the co-protagonist Lady in the animated romance film "Lady and the Tramp" (1955). Her other prominent voice roles included the heroic fairy Merryweather in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and the maternal kangaroo Kanga in the featurettes "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974). Archive footage of Luddy's voice was also used for Kanga in the feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977).
In 1908, Luddy was born in Great Falls, Montana. The city was named for its proximity to the Great Falls of the Missouri River, a series of 5 waterfalls located in north-central Montana. The city was established in 1883 by the businessman and politician Paris Gibson (1830-1920), who planned to use the waterfalls as a source for hydroelectricity. Great Falls became the first city in Montana with its own hydroelectric dam. Luddy's parents were Will and Molly Luddy.
Luddy was educated in a convent for Ursulines, a Catholic religious order dedicated to the education of girls. Luddy started performing as a singer in the vaudeville circuit during her childhood. By the late 1920s, Luddy served as an actress in a touring company with fellow vaudevillian Leo Carrillo (1880-1961). In 1929, their company toured Australia. The press in Sydney praised Luddy for "her pert audacity and vivaciousness".
During the 1930s, Luddy started regularly performing as a voice actress in radio shows. From 1936 to 1943, Luddy was part of the main cast in the anthology series "The First Nighter Program" (1930-1953). Most of the series' episodes featured romantic-comedy plots. In 1937, Luddy signed a long-term contract for her exclusive services in this series.
During World War II, Luddy was part of the main cast in the radio soap opera "Lonely Women" (1942-1943). It was one of the many soap operas created by scriptwriter Irna Phillips (1901-1973), who typically focused on depicting the complexities of modern life. Luddy voiced Judith Clark, a lovesick secretary. The cast of characters in this series was originally all-female, but male characters were among the late additions to the series.
By the 1950s, Luddy started regularly working for Disney Animation as a voice actress. By the 1960s, she started having minor roles in television. She appeared in then-popular series, such as the sitcom "Hazel" (1961-1966), and the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" (1965-).
In April 1979, Luddy died due to lung cancer. She was 70-years-old at the time of her death, dying a month before her 71st birthday. She is still fondly remembered by animation fans for her voice roles, long after her heyday. Her character of Lady became a regular supporting character in the Disney comic strip "Scamp" (1955-1988), where the eponymous protagonist was Lady's son.- Barbara O'Neil was an American actress, mostly remembered for playing Ellen O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" (1939). She was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress .
O'Neil was born in St. Louis, Missouri to a prominent family. Her father was businessman David O'Neil (1874-1947), president of the O'Neil Lumber Company. David was also a poet and theatrical actor. O'Neil's mother was suffrage leader Barbara Blackman O'Neil (1880-1963), president of the Equal Suffrage League. O'Neil's maternal grandmother was portrait painter Carrie Horton Blackman (1856-1935).
O'Neil was mostly raised in Europe, where had father had retired. She was educated at the Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. She received her acting education in Yale School of Drama, where her mentor was drama teacher George Pierce Baker (1866-1935).
Baker recommended O'Neil as an actress to the University Players (1928-1932), a summer stock theater company who was seeking a new leading lady. O'Neil made her theatrical debut in 1931, and her Broadweay debut in 1932. Her first Broadway performance was a play depicting the life of Carrie Nation (1846-1911), a radical member of the temperance movement. The real-life nation had become famous for attacking taverns with her hatchet.
After several years as a theatrical actress, O'Neil made her film debut in the drama film "Stella Dallas" (1937). She acted alongside female lead Barbara Stanwyck (1907-1990), and secondary lead Anne Shirley (1918-1993).
O'Neil found steady work in films during the late 1930s. Her films included the adultery-themed drama "Love, Honor and Behave" (1938), the American Civil War-themed drama "The Toy Wife" (1938), the racketeering-themed crime drama "I Am the Law" (1938), the British Empire-themed drama "The Sun Never Sets" (1939), and the adultery-themed romantic drama "When Tomorrow Comes" (1939), O'Neil played the historical figure Elizabeth Woodville (c. 1437-1492), Queen consort of England in the period film "Tower of London" (1939).
O'Neil received her most prominent Ellen O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" (1939). As in the source novel by Margaret Mitchell, Ellen is still a young woman who has three daughters, and is married to a much-older man. In the film, the role of the elderly husband Gerald O'Hara was played by Thomas Mitchell, daughter Scarlett O'Hara was played by Vivien Leigh, daughter Suellen O'Hara was played by Evelyn Keyes, and daughter Carreen O'Hara was played Ann Rutherford. O'Neil was actually only three years older than Leigh, six years older than Keyes, and 7 years older than Rutherford.
O'Neil's next prominent film role was that of murder victim Françoise, duchesse de Praslin (1807-1847) in the period film "All This, and Heaven Too" (1940). O'Neil was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for this role. The award was instead won by rival actress Jane Darwell (1879-1967).
O'Neil's next films included the medical missionary-themed drama "Shining Victory" (1941), the Bluebeard-themed psychological thriller "Secret Beyond the Door" (1947), the immigrant-themed drama "I Remember Mama" (1948), the film noir "Whirlpool" (1950), the film noir "Angel Face" (1953), and the film noir "Flame of the Islands" (1956).
O'Neil's last prominent film role was that of Mother Didyma in the convent-themed film "The Nun's Story" (1959). She largely retired from film at the age of 49. She briefly returned with a supporting role in "Lions of St. Petersburg" (1970), which was her final role in any form.
O'Neil continued living in retirement until her death in 1980, due to a heart attack. She was 70-years-old. - Barney Phillips was an American actor of German descent. He was born in 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri, under the name "Bernard Philip Ofner". His father was Harry Nathan Ofner, a salesman employed in the leather industry. His mother was Leona "Lonnie" Frank, a German emigrant who became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
In 1935, Phillips moved to Los Angeles, California, in hopes of working in the film industry. His film debut was the Western film "Black Aces" (1937), a B-movie produced by Universal Pictures. He had no other credited role in films for several years, though he had several theatrical credits.
In 1941, Phillips enlisted in the United States Army. He served in the signal corps during World War II. Following the war, he returned to the film industry, working mostly as an extra.
The first notable role of his career was the recurring character Sergeant Ed Jacob in the police procedural television series "Dragnet" (1951-1959). He voiced the recurring character of police sergeant Hamilton J. Finger in the radio series "Rocky Fortune" (1953-1954). The main character of the series was amateur sleuth Rocco "Rocky Fortune" Fortunato (played by Frank Sinatra).
Phillips was a prolific character on film and television for the following decades, though he was often typecast as a police officer in these roles. In the early 1960s, Phillips appeared in several episodes of the anthology television series "The Twilight Zone": "The Purple Testament" (1960), "A Thing about Machines" (1960) , "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" (1961), and "Miniature" (1963). He is most remembered for the "Real Martian" episode, where he played the cook Haley. In the episode, Haley helps thwart an invasion of Earth from Martians. But reveals that he is an agent from planet Venus, and that he is preparing the Earth for colonization by his own planet.
Phillips was cast in the war-themed series" Twelve O'Clock High" (1964-1967) as one of the main characters, Doc Kaiser. The series featured the missions of the fictional 918th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Phillips often worked as a voice actor for animated series. He voiced the powerful genie Shazzan in "Shazzan" (1967-1969), he voiced the strongman Porthos in the "The Three Musketeers" (1968-1969), and provided additional voices in "The Funky Phantom" (1971-1972).
In the late 1970s, Phillips was part of the main cast in the short-lived sitcom "The Betty White Show" (1978-1979). He played the character Fletcher Huff, a struggling actor co-starring in a police-procedural show-within-a-show, Phillips also played the recurring character of Judge Buford Potts in the action comedy "The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-1985).
Phillips died in 1982, due to cancer, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. A few years following his death, Phillips received his final film credit, as the character Dr. Batt in the psychological drama "Beyond Reason". The film had been produced in 1977, but was not released until 1985. The film was mainly notable as a rare directing credit for actor Telly Savalas (1922-1994). - Benjamin Tabart was a pioneer writer of children's literature in the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and owner of his own publishing house in London. He is primarily known for the moralizing fairy tales published under the title "Benjamin Tabart's Juvenile Library" (1801-1820). His best known story was the original version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1804), though it was loosely based on "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" (1734) by an anonymous author.
Tabart employed Mary Jane Clairmont as an editor. Clairmont was the second wife of philosopher William Godwin (1756 -1836), and the stepmother of novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851). - Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Bernhard Kaun was an American film score composer and orchestrator, primarily active from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. He is primarily remembered by horror fans for composing the score of the gothic horror film "Frankenstein" (1931). Kaun served for over a decade at Warner Bros., and composed the scores of many crime and mystery films for this studio.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Bill Finger was a comic book writer. His father Louis Finger was born in Austria and emigrated to the United States in 1907, while still a teenager. Louis worked as a tailor. Tessie, Bill's mother, was born and raised in New York City. Both parents were in their early 20s at the time of Finger's birth. Bill Finger had two sisters.
Finger was born in Denver, Colorado, but the Finger family eventually moved to New York City. Finger was mostly raised in The Bronx, and attended DeWitt Clinton High School. He graduated high school in 1933, and started his working career in the Great Depression. In 1938, Finger entered the comic strip business, as a ghost writer for a few comic strips created by Bob Kane's studio. Kane was a fellow graduate of DeWitt Clinton High School and the two of them were acquaintances.
In 1938-1939, National Comics (predecessor of DC Comics) had its first major success with a character called "Superman". This created a market for superheroes and several creators started working on creating other hero/vigilante characters. Bob Kane came up with a hero called "Bat-Man" or "Batman", and asked for Finger's assistance on the project. Finger rejected several of Kane's initial ideas about the character and suggested several changes in design and characterization. He came up with a civilian identity for the character as "Bruce Wayne", which Finger named after Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland and general Anthony "Mad Anthony" Wayne.
Kane marketed the "Batman" character to National Comics, and Batman's first story was published in "Detective Comics" #27 (May 1939). The script was written by an uncredited Finger, making him the first of many ghost writers to work on comics officially credited to Bob Kane. When Kane negotiated a contract about selling the rights to the "Batman" character, he claimed he was the sole creator of the character and demanded a sole mandatory byline on all Batman comics and adaptations thereof, acknowledging him as the creator. Finger's work on the character was not acknowledged.
Finger kept on working in "Batman"-related stories for much of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s either as a writer or a ghost writer. He is generally credited by comic book historians with creating or co-creating a number of Batman's foes and supporting characters. Among them: the Joker, Catwoman, Robin, Ace the Bat-Hound. Bat-Mite, Clayface, Bat-Girl/Betty Kane, the Penguin, the Scarecrow, Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Calendar Man. He also came up with the name "Gotham City" for the previously nameless metropolis where Batman operates, and co-created the Batmobile and the Batcave.
Besides "Batman", Finger's other writing credits for National Comics/DC Comics involve various stories for "Green Lantern", "Superman", and "Superboy". He is credited with co-creating Green Lantern/Alan Scott, the original character with that code-name. The Green Lantern series of the 1940s was a fantasy series, and the hero had magical powers. A reboot of the series in 1959 turned "Green Lantern" into a science fiction series featuring space cops and aliens, as the fantasy concept was considered outdated. In "Superman" stories, Finger is credited for adapting "Kryptonite" into comic books in 1949. The fictional element was created for the Superman radio series, but was adapted into the comic book series and became a permanent part in of the "Superman" saga. Finger's main contribution in the "Superboy" series was creating the character Lana Lang, as a love interest for the teenage hero.
Outside National Comics,Finger also contributed stories and characters to rival companies, such as Fawcett Comics, Quality Comics and Timely Comics (predecessor of Marvel Comics). Marvel credits him with the co-creation of the All-Winners Squad (introduced in 1946), the company's first superhero team.
Finger mostly retired from comic book writing c. 1961, starting a new career as a screenwriter for films and television series. He was even hired to write two episodes for the 1960s "Batman" live-action series. But he was in increasingly poor health, suffering a series of heart attacks in 1963, 1970 and 1973. He died due to atherosclerosis in 1974. His remains were cremated, and the ashes scattered on a beach. Finger has no known grave.
Finger was married twice, and he was survived by a son, Fred. While he never claimed rights to the Batman character, his granddaughter Athena Finger requested a creator's credit for his work. After negotiations, DC Entertainment finally credited Finger as Batman's co-creator in 2015.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Billie Thomas was an African-American child actor who was best-known for appearing in the "Our Gang" film series from 1934 to its end in 1944.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Thomas auditioned for an "Our Gang" role when he was three years old. He was cast as a background player in the short films "For Pete's Sake!", "The First Round-Up", and "Washee Ironee", all from 1934.
With the short film "Mama's Little Pirate" (1935), Thomas became the third actor to portray the character "Buckwheat", who had at first been depicted as a bowed-pigtailed female character at first, portrayed by Carlena Beard (1929-1972) and Willie Mae Walton (1918-2018); Thomas was effectively cross-dressing for the role. Buckwheat eventually became a more masculine character, and was first credited as male in "The Pinch Singer" (1936). He gained an entirely-new costume for "Pay as You Exit" (1936), where he played a slave in search of a master. Thomas kept this new look--overalls, striped shirt, oversized shoes, and a large, unkempt Afro--for the duration of playing this role, until 1944.
Thomas performed in "Our Gang" for 10 years. During this time, he was only absent for a single film, "Feed 'em and Weep" (1938), because he was ill. His character was paired with that of Eugene "Porky" Lee: they were "the little kids" who outsmarted "the big kids": George "Spanky" McFarland and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer.
As a young child, Thomas had a speech impediment; this was transferred to his character and used as a comic device. Both Buckwheat and Porky spoke in "garbled dialogue" and pronounced "OK" as "O-tay!"
The series' original short films were produced by Hal Roach Studios, but production was taken over by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. From 1938 to 1944, MGM produced 52 "Our Gang" short films and Thomas was the only cast member to appear in all of them. He was the only holdover from the Hal Roach era to remain in the series until its end.
Thomas' team-up with Eugene Lee ended when Lee was replaced by new cast member Robert Blake. By 1940 Thomas had outgrown his speech impediment, and Buckwheat started speaking clearly as well. The series' final film was "Dancing Romeo" (1944), and Thomas was 12 years old during its production.
While Buckwheat became synonymous with the "pickaninny" stereotype of African-American children, Thomas himself was well-liked for being depicted as a playmate and equal to the white children of the series. "Our Gang" featured a desegregated cast during the Jim Crow Era.
Thomas largely retired from acting following the 1940s. He served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956 and received both a National Defense Service Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. Following his discharge, Thomas was offered new acting roles but he rejected them. He viewed an acting career as "a rat race ... with no security". Instead, he chose a more modest career as a film lab technician for the Technicolor corporation.
In the summer of 1980, surviving "Our Gang" cast members appeared in the second annual meeting of the fraternal organization the Sons of the Desert (named after a Laurel and Hardy film). Thomas received a spontaneous standing ovation by 500 fans, and cried in response. On October 10, 1980, he suffered a heart attack and died. He was 49 years old.
Thomas was survived by his son William Thomas Jr. In 1992, the younger Thomas created the Buckwheat Memorial Scholarship for students of California State Northridge University. The scholarship was named in honor of his father and his best-known role.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bob Gunton is an American actor, primarily known for portraying strict and authoritarian characters in popular films. His better known roles include Chief George Earle in "Demolition Man" (1993), Prison Warden Samuel Norton in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), medical school dean Dr. Walcott in "Patch Adams" (1998), and politician Cyrus Vance in "Argo" (2012).
In 1945, Gunton was born Santa Monica, California. His parents were labor union executive Robert Patrick Gunton Sr. and his wife Rose Marie Banovetz. Gunton was raised in California and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. His college years were spent in the Paulist Seminary St Peter's College, in Baltimore, Maryland, and the University of California, Irvine.
Gunton joined the United States Army in 1969, when 24-years-old. He served until 1971. He served as a radio telephone operator with the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He was assigned to the Fire Support Base Ripcord during the Vietnam War. When the base was evacuated during a siege by North Vietnamese Army (NVA), Gunton manage to retrieve important radios that were in danger of falling in enemy hands. He was awarded with a Bronze Star commendation for his deed.
Gunton was primarily known for theatrical roles in the late 1970s and 1980s. He played Raoul in the Broadway musical "King of Hearts" (1978). For this role he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. The award was instead won by rival actor Ken Jennings (1947-).
From 1979 to 1983, Gunton played the role of President of Argentina Juan Perón (1895-1974, term 1946-1955, 1973-1974) in "Evita". He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
In 1980, Gunton acted in the play How I Got That Story. He won both the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Male Performer and the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actor. He was also nominated Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play.
In 1985, Gunton played the King in the musical "Big River". The musical was an adaptation of the novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884) by Mark Twain. For this role Gunton was again nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.
From 1987 to 1990, Gunton played protagonist Sweeney Todd in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". He was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. While critically acclaimed for this role, Gunton won none of these awards.
In the 1990s, Gunton started focusing more on film roles. More often playing antagonists than heroes or supporting characters,. In 2007, Gunton joined the main cast of the popular action drama television series "24", playing politician Ethan Kanin. He played the role until the end of the series in 2010. In 2015, Gunton joined the main cast of the superhero series "Daredevil". He played the super-villain Leland Owlsley (codenamed "the Owl in the comics).
By 2020 Gunton was 74-years-old. He has never retired, and continues to appear regularly in film and television.- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Bob Kane was an American comic book writer and artist of Jewish descent, most famous for co-creating Batman and several members of Batman's supporting cast. Kane was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1994 and into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1996.
Kane was born under the name "Robert Kahn" in New York City. His father was the engraver Herman Kahn, and his mother was the housewife Augusta. Both of his parents were originally from Eastern Europe.
Kane attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where he was friends with future comic book writer Will Eisner. Following his graduation, he legally changed his name to "Robert Kane" and enrolled at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art to study art. The school was a private college, located at Cooper Square on the border of the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
Kane originally wanted to become an animator, and in 1934 he was hired as a trainee animator by the animation studio Fleischer Studios (1921-1942), headed by the brothers Max Fleischer (1883-1972) and Dave Fleischer (1894-1979). He worked for up to two years in the production of animated short films, but had left the studio by 1936.
Kane entered the comics field in 1936, as a freelance penciler and inker. His early work was published in the magazine "Wow, What A Magazine!," which was edited by cartoonist Jerry Iger (1903-1990). Kane's most notable contribution was the comic serial "Hiram Hick", which he both drew and inked.
In 1936, Jerry Iger and .Will Eisner partnered to create their own company, "Eisner & Iger" (1936-1939). It was a comic book packager, producing complete comic stories that could be sold to publishers that did not have their own creative staff. In 1937, Kane was hired by this upstart company.
Kane's early work included the anthropomorphic animal series "Peter Pupp" (published by the magazine "Wags" in the United Kingdom and by Fiction House's "Jumbo Comics" in the United States), the comedy series "Ginger Snap" (published in "More Fun Comics"), the comedy series "Oscar the Gumshoe" (published in "Detective Comics"), the comedy series "Professor Doolittle" (published in "Adventure Comics"), and the adventure series "Rusty and his Pals" (published in "Adventure Comics). Among them, Peter Pupp stood out for its "overtones of mystery and menace".
By 1939, Superman had become a major hit for an early incarnation of DC Comics and there was a new market for comic book superheroes. Interested in creating his own superhero Kane started working on a new character, "Bat-Man". Kane said his influences for the character included actor Douglas Fairbanks' film portrayal of the swashbuckler Zorro; Leonardo da Vinci's diagram of the ornithopter, a flying machine with huge bat-like wings; and the 1930 film "The Bat Whispers", based on Mary Rinehart's mystery novel "The Circular Staircase" (1908).
Kane had already used Bill Finger as a ghost writer for his early comic strips. He asked Finger to provide additional ideas for Batman, and to write the initial Batman stories. Following a number of Finger's suggested redesigns, "Batman" debuted in "Detective Comics" #27 (May, 1939). It became a major hit for an early incarnation of DC Comics.
Early Batman stories were written and penciled by Bob Kane's own art studio (located in The New York Times building) and then sold for publication. Kane received the sole credit for whatever he and his staff created. Finger remained the main writer of the series, while Jerry Robinson (1922-2011) and George Roussos (1915-2000) were hired as Kane's art assistants. The four of them are jointly credited for introducing most of Batman's early supporting characters and memorable villains.
By the early 1940s, DC Comics demanded more Batman stories than the Bob Kane studio could produce. In response, DC hired its own writers and artists to work on additional stories, though Bob Kane continued to receive the sole credit for the stories. The most notable of these "ghost artists" was Dick Sprang (1915-2000) who remained attached to the Batman series for at least a decade, and co-created a popular new villain, the Riddler. Among the ghost writers of Batman, the most notable was Gardner Fox (1911-1986), who introduced some of Batman's notable equipment.
From 1943 to 1946, Bob Kane focused entirely on the Batman newspaper comic strip, and no longer produced new Batman stories for comic books. In his absence, Jerry Robinson became the main penciler for the Batman stories. Additional ghost artists of the period included Jack Burnley (1911-2006) and Win Mortimer (1919-1998). Several Batman-related covers were designed by Fred Ray (1920-2001), who was also the primary Superman cover-artist of the 1940s,
In 1946, the Batman newspaper comic strip ended, and Bob Kane started producing comic book stories for Batman again. He eventually hired his own ghost writers and ghost artists, The most notable among them were Lew Sayre Schwartz (1926-2011), the main artist of the Batman series between 1946 and 1953, and Sheldon Moldoff (1920-1967), the main artist of the series between 1953 and 1967. Schwartz is mainly remembered for co-creating a popular villain, called Deadshot. Moldoff is remembered for co-creating the villains Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze, the second version of the villainous Clayface, Batman's allies Bat-Mite, Bat-Girl/Betty Kane, and Batwoman/Kathy Kane, and Batman's pet dog Ace the Bat-Hound.
In the 1960s, Kane found work in television animation., He created the television series "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse" (1960-1962), featuring two anthropomorphic animal superheroes. Courageous Cat was a parody of Batman, while sidekick Minute Mouse was a parody of Robin. Kane subsequently created the television series "Cool McCool" (1966-1967), depicting the adventures of an inept secret agent.
In 1966 or 1967, Kane chose to retire from his work in comic books and animation. He was 52-years-old and had been working on the field for three decades. He started producing "fine art" works for exhibitions in galleries. His work as a painter was prolific, though comic book historians have noted that he again hired ghost artists to help him produce the paintings.
In 1989, Kane was hired as a consultant for the live-action "Batman" (1989) film directed by Tim Burton. He served in the same consulting role for its three sequels, released between 1992 and 1997. In 1998, Kane was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he eventually died. He was 83-years-old and had lived in retirement for two decades.
Kane was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. Several of the characters Kane created remain popular, and he continues to receive posthumous credit in works based on his creations.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Bob Newhart is an American actor and stand-up comedian. His comedic style involves deadpan delivery of dialogue, a slight stammer when talking, and comedic monologues. He has cited earlier comedians George Gobel (1919-1991), Ray Goulding (1922-1990), and Bob Elliott (1923-2016) as his main influences in developing his comedy style.
In 1929, Newhart was born in a hospital in Oak Park, Illinois. His parents were George David Newhart (1900-1985) and his wife Julia Pauline Burns (1900-1994). George was the son of an American father and a Canadian mother, had both German and Irish ancestry, and claimed maternal descent from the O'Conor family of Connacht; his mother was an Irish-American. George had partial ownership in a plumbing and heating-supply business, which was the Newhart family's main source of income.
Bob Newhart was raised in the vicinity of Chicago and attended a number of local Roman Catholic schools: first the St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park, then St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. He graduated the prep school (equivalent to a high school) in 1947, then enrolled at the Loyola University Chicago. He graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor's Degree in business management.
Shortly after graduating from the university, Newhart was drafted into the the United States Army. He served as a personnel manager for the Army during the Korean War (1950-1953). He was honorably discharged in 1954, during the post-war demobilization of the American armed forces. He attempted to continue his studies, and enrolled into the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. However he never completed his degree, quitting a required internship because his employer had demanded "unethical" behavior from him.
Newhart briefly worked as an accountant for the USG Corporation (United States Gypsum Corporation), a Chicago-based company which manufactures construction materials. He quit after regularly facing trouble in "adjusting petty cash imbalances". He then proceeded to work as a clerk for various employers, but found himself struggling financially.
In 1958, Newhart was hired as an advertising copywriter for a Chicago-based production company. To entertain himself, he started exchanging "long telephone calls about absurd scenarios" with a friendly co-worker. The 29-year-old Newhart had the idea to try his hand as a comedian, and developed a comedy routine based on the telephone calls. He recorded his routine into audition tapes, and send them to radio stations. His routine was met favorably. In 1959, Newhart started performing as a stand-up-comedian in nightclubs, and signed a contract with a new record company which was seeking to recruit some talent. The company was Warner Bros. Records (established in 1958), a subsidiary of the film studio Warner Bros.
Newhart became famous primarily through his audio releases. His comedy album "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" (1960) became the first comedy album to make number one on the Billboard charts, and earned him the 1961 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
This success opened to him new career opportunities, in television and film. NBC offered him his own variety television show, the short-lived "The Bob Newhart Show" (October, 1961-June 1962). The show won the 1962 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, but was canceled anyway. It had won the award while facing four other candidates: "The Andy Griffith Show", "Car 54, Where Are You?", "Hazel", and "The Red Skelton Show". Each of them managed to outlast the award-winning show.
In 1962, Newhart made his film debut in the war film "Hell Is for Heroes". Newhart played the character James Driscoll, an Army company clerk who broadcasts misleading radio messages to the enemy limes during World War II. As essentially comic role in an otherwise dramatic film.
Newhart appeared frequently as a guest star in television over the subsequent years, but had relatively few film roles. He appeared in the caper story "Hot Millions" (1968), the reincarnation-themed fantasy film "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" (1970), the war film "Catch-22" (1970), and the tobacco-smoking-themed satirical film "Cold Turkey" (1971).
From 1972 to 1978, Newhart starred in the hit sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show". He played the character Robert "Bob" Hartley, Ph.D. (Newhart), a Chicago psychologist who is surrounded by eccentric patients, work colleagues, friends, and family members. Hartley was effectively the "straight man" to the wacky characters surrounding him.
In 1977, Newhart voiced Bernard, the male lead in the animated film "The Rescuers" (1977). The film features the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization, with its headquarters located in New York City. Bernard is not initially one of its members, but works as their janitor. When Miss Bianca, Hungary's representative in the organization, must choose a partner for her first field mission, she impulsively chooses Bernard over the the other available agents. Part of the success of the film is based on the contrast between the two partners, the adventurous, brave, but rather impulsive Bianca, and the overly cautious, shy, and reluctant hero Bernard. "The Rescuers" earned worldwide gross rentals of 48 million dollars at the box office during its initial release, and had a total lifetime worldwide gross of 169 million dollars through subsequent re-releases.
In 1980, Newhart appeared in two live-action films, the comedy-drama "Little Miss Marker", and the political comedy "First Family". The first features Newhart as a member of a gangster-run gambling operation. The gangsters are surprised when a client uses his 6-year-old daughter as collateral for a bet, and and more surprised when the client commits suicide. The film deals with jaded criminals who develop parental feelings for the orphan girl. The other film was a more cynical comedy, with Newheart as an inept President of the United States. The main plot deals with the President tolerating the kidnapping of American citizens by a fictional African country, because the country offers some valuable resources in exchange for their new American slaves.
From 1982 to 1990, Newhart starred in a second hit sitcom, called simply "Newhart". He played the character Dick Loudon, a Vermon-based innkeeper who finds himself surrounded by strange employees, neighbors, and competitors. The show had a famous ending where the entire series is "revealed" to be a dream of Robert Hartley, Newhart's character from his first sitcom.
In 1990, Newhart returned to the role of Bernard, in the sequel film "The Rescuers Down Under". Early in the film, Bernard is preparing a marriage proposal for Miss Bianca, but his plans are derailed when they are both send to Australia for an urgent mission. The duo are partnered with Australian agent Jake, and Bernard is frustrated with when Jake competes with him for Bianca's affections. At the end of the mission, Berbard finally makes his marriage proposal, unwilling to let orders for further missions to interfere with his plans to marry the woman he loves. The film only earned 47.4 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became Walt Disney Animation Studio's least successful theatrical animated film of the 1990s.
From 1992 to 1993, Newhart starred in his third sitcom, called simply "Bob". He played the character Bob McKay, a veteran comic book writer and artist from the 1950s. Having long retired into obscurity, McKay is hired by a corporation to produce a revival of his classic character, the superhero "Mad-Dog". The first season introduced a large cast of eccentric co-workers. The second season dismissed most of these characters, and had McKay serving as the President of a company producing greeting cards. The series suffered from low ratings, and was canceled at the end of its second season. Only 33 episodes were produced.
From 1997 to 1998, Newhart starred in his fourth sitcom "George & Leo". He played the character George Stoody, a bookstore owner who finds himself offering hospitality to a professional magician and part-time criminal, who recently robbed a Mafia-owned casino. The humor was based on the strong contrast between the two men, but the series failed to find an audience.
Newhart returned to theatrical films with the romantic comedy "In & Out" (1997). He had roles in the animated film "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie" (1998), the comedy "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" (2003), and the Christmas film "Elf" (2003) . From 2004 to 2008, Newhart played the major character Judson in three television films of "The Librarian" fantasy franchise. The franchise features a mystical library, which hides numerous magical and technological artifacts from various historical eras. A series of librarians have to guard the library and its contents from criminal organizations with sinister designs. Judson is the mentor who trains the current librarian, after the previous one was killed in action. The series hinted that Judson was older than he looked, and he was eventually revealed to be the original librarian. He was nearly immortal, and had trained succeeding librarians for centuries.
In 2011, Newhart played a small role in the black comedy "Horrible Bosses", playing the character of sadistic CEO Louis Sherman. Sherman is described as a "Twisted Old Fuck", who keeps people locked in his trunk.
In 2013, Newhart started playing the recurring character Arthur Jeffries (stage name "Professor Proton") in the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007-). Arthur was a scientist who decades ago served as the host of a science show aimed at children, inspiring series co-protagonists Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper to start science careers of their own. Leonard and Sheldon, now professional physicists with academic careers, eventually get to meet their childhood idol. Arthur's scientific career ended in disgrace, his television days are long over, and he has been reduced to earning a meager living as a party entertainer.
The role of Arthur Jeffries won Newhart his first Primetime Emmy Award. The character dynamic between Arthur and Sheldon was popular, as Sheldon continued to idolize Arthur, while Arthur found his "student" to be insufferable. Following the character's physical death, Newhart has continued to appear in the series as Arthur Jeffries' ghost. He appears to Sheldon at various points to offer him advice, serving as a mentor figure. Sheldon views Arthur as his version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Newhart turned 89 in 2018 but he continues to tirelessly appear in television projects and to entertain new generations of fans.- Additional Crew
Bob Peak was an American commercial illustrator, particularly known for creating film posters. He was strongly associated with the genres of fantasy and science fiction. He created the film posters for "Rollerball" (1975), "Superman" (1978), the first five "Star Trek" films (1979-1989), and "Excalibur" (1981).
In 1927, Peak was born in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and received his tertiary education at the University of Wichita (later renamed to the Wichita State University). He majored in geology, but decided to follow the career of an illustrator. Following his military service in the early 1950s, he completed an art degree at the "Art Center College of Design", a private art college located at the time in Los Angeles, California (its campus was later moved to Pasadena). He graduated in 1951.
In 1953, Peak moved to New York City. He started working on advertising art, with one of his earliest works being an advertising campaign for Old Hickory Whiskey. His first major work in film posters came in 1961, when hired to illustrate the film poster for "West Side Story". The poster was a perceived success, and Peak was subsequently hired by "Bill Gold Advertising". It was the company owned by veteran illustrator Bill Gold (1921-2018), and which produced thousands of film poster designs. Peak found steady job in the field.
In 1977, Peak was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the "Society of Illustrators", a professional society for illustrators with its home-base in New York City. In the early 1980s, he was hired to illustrate postage stamps for both the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
Peak died in 1992, at the age of 65. Several of his film posters are considered classics of the genre, and are fondly regarded by collectors of film memorabilia. His son Matthew Peak was also an illustrator of film posters, primarily remembered for creating posters for the horror film series "Nightmare On Elm Street".- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Bob Saget was an American actor, stand-up comedian, and television host from Philadelphia. His best known role was playing pater familias Danny Tanner on the hit sitcom "Full House" (1987-1995). He played the character again in the sequel series "Fuller House" (2016-2020). Saget served as the original host of the long-running clip show "America's Funniest Home Videos" from 1989 to 1997. Saget voiced the narrator in the hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005-2014), depicted as an older version of main character Ted Mosby.
In 1956, Saget was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia. His parents were supermarket executive Benjamin Saget and hospital administrator Rosalyn "Dolly" Saget. The Saget family eventually moved to Norfolk, Virginia. Bob received his early religious education at Temple Israel, a synagogue of Norfolk which adhered to Conservative Judaism. He was reportedly a rebellious student.
Saget spend part of his high school years in Los Angeles, where he befriended veteran comedian Larry Fine (1902-1975). He attended a Philadelphia high school during his senior year. He was originally interested in a medical career but his English teacher Elaine Zimmerman convinced Saget to aspire to an acting or filmmaking career instead.
Saget received his college education at the "Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts", a college associated with the Temple University of Philadelphia. One of his student films won a merit award at the Student Academy Awards. He graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts in 1978. He had already started performing in comedy clubs during his college years.
In 1978, Saget intended to take graduate courses at the University of Southern California. He dropped out due to health-related problems. He almost died due to a gangrenous appendix, costing him a loss of confidence. He decided afterwards to lose some weight, in the belief that it would improve his health.
Following his graduation, Saget spend about a decade working mostly as a comedian. He appeared in minor acting roles in both films and television. In 1987, Saget was performing comedy bits for the short-lived non-fiction show "The Morning Program". The show offered a mix of "news, entertainment and comedy", but was canceled due to low ratings.
Saget's big break came when he was chosen to portray widowed father Danny Tanner in the sitcom "Full House" (1987-1995). The series depicted Danny's efforts to raise three young daughters, with the assistance of his best friends. The show suffered from poor viewership in its first season, but attracted a family audience due to its portrayal of the struggles associated with parenting. By its third season, it was ranked among Nielsen's Top 30 shows. Saget became a household name, and the series lasted for 8 seasons and 192 episodes. The series was eventually canceled due to its increasing production costs. Its rating had remained high until its final episode.
In 1989, Saget was chosen as the host of the clip show "America's Funniest Home Videos". The show featured humorous homemade videos which were submitted by its viewers, often highlighting physical comedy, pranks, or unusual behavior by children and pets. While the show was popular with viewers, Saget himself was increasingly frustrated with its repetitive format. When his contract for the show expired in 1997, Saget was not interested in negotiating for a renewal.
In 1996, Saget directed the dramatic television film "For Hope". The film depicted the struggles of a woman who is slowly dying due to being afflicted with scleroderma, an autoimmune disease with no known cure. Saget was reportedly inspired by the life and death of his sister Gay Saget, who had died due to scleroderma. The film received high ratings in its debut.
In 1998, Saget directed the comedy film "Dirty Work". It depicted two half-brothers who offer to perform revenge schemes for paying clients, but have a personal grudge against a man who reneged on a deal with them. The film under-performed at the box office, but gained a cult following due to its reputation as a "gag-fest".
From 2001 to 2002, Saget had the starring role of Matt Stewart in the sitcom "Raising Dad". The premise of the series was that widowed father Matt Stewart was trying to raise two daughter, while pursuing a teaching career at his eldest's daughter's high school. Despite the series having a similar concept to "Full House", it failed to find an audience. It lasted for a single season.
In 2005, Saget was cast as the narrator in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" (2005-2014). The premise of the series was that middle-aged Ted Mosby narrates his life story (and the life stories of his best friends) to his son and daughter. The series repeatedly implied that Ted was an unreliable narrator, who either embellished or censored aspects of his various stories. The series was quite popular, lasting for 9 seasons and 208 episodes.
In 2007, Saget directed the direct-to-video parody film "Farce of the Penguins". The film was a full-length parody of the documentary film "March of the Penguins" (2005), featuring penguins conversing about their love lives. It featured the voices of several then-popular actors, including several of Saget's former co-stars from "Full House".
In 2009, Saget was cast in the main role of Steve Patterson in the sitcom "Surviving Suburbia". The premise of the series was that the members of a suburban family have problems in interacting both with each other, and with their new neighbors. The series only lasted a single season, and struggled with low ratings.
In 2014, Saget published his memoirs under the title "Dirty Daddy". In 2016, a sequel series to "Full House" was introduced under the title "Fuller House". It featured the lives of two of Danny Tanner's daughters, and Danny's grandchildren. Saget played the recurring role of Danny for 15 episodes. The sequel series lasted for 5 seasons. This was Saget's last major role in a sitcom. He continued, however, to regularly host television events.
In January 2022, Saget was in Florida for a stand-up tour. On January 9, Saget was discovered dead in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, located south of Orlando, Florida. He was 65-years-old. His autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt head trauma from an accidental blow to the back of his head, likely from a fall. He had died in his sleep. He was buried at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery, next to the graves of his parents and his sister. Mourners honored Saget by offering donations to the charity "Scleroderma Research Foundation" (SRF), since Saget had long served in its board of directors. Saget is gone, but his popularity endures due to his acting and directing roles in several popular films and television shows.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Bobby Troup was an American actor, jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter. As a songwriter, Troup is mostly remembered for writing the hit song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" (1946), about a cross-country drive through the highway U.S. Route 66. Tne song was originally performed by Nat King Cole and the King Cole Trio, and a second version was performed by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. Both versions were 1946 hits, and the song has since received many covers. As as an actor Troup is mostly remembered for playing Dr. Joe Early in the medical drama "Emergency!" (1972-1977).
Troup was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He attended the Hill School, a preparatory boarding school located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. In his college years, Troup attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a degree in economics.
Troup's first success as a songwriter was writing "Daddy" (1941), a hit song performed first by Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra. Popular versions of the song were then recorded by Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Kay Kyser, and The Andrews Sisters. However, his music career was interrupted by World War II service.
Troup enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942. He was trained as an officer, and then assigned to train African-American marine recruits at the camp Montford Point (modern Camp Gilbert H. Johnson), located in Jacksonville, North Carolina. In 1943, Troup became a recreation officer. He helped build a recreation hall, basketball court, and outdoor boxing ring. He also founded the first African-American band of U.S. Marines, and composed the song "Take Me Away from Jacksonville". The song is still used as an anthem by North-Carolina-based Marines.
While still serving with the Marines, Troup composed the popular song "Snootie Little Cutie" (1942) . It was first recorded by singers Frank Sinatra and Connie Haines. Following the end of the War, Troup returned to his music career. "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" was his first post-war hit as a songwriter. Other hits included "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956) performed by Little Richard, "The Meaning of the Blues" (1957) performed by Julie London, and "My City of Sydney" (1969) performed by Tommy Leonetti.
Troup released 10 records with his own recordings between 1953 and 1959. Despite his success as a songwriter, none of his records as a singer or pianist were commercially successful. His greatest success through the decade placed him in the producer's role, for Julie London's version of the hit song "Cry Me a River" (1955). It became a gold record.
Troup started acting as a side career. He made his film debut as an uncredited musician in the romantic comedy "Duchess of Idaho" (1950). He had credited roles in musical films such as "Bop Girl Goes Calypso" (1957), "The High Cost of Loving" (1958), and "The Five Pennies" (1959). Troup played then-recently deceased bandleader Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) in the biographical "The Gene Krupa Story" (1959). His last film role was that of disgruntled staff sergeant Gorman in the military-themed comedy "M*A*S*H" (1970).
Troup had a more substantial career in television. He was cast as a fictionalized version of himself in the short-lived series "Acapulco" (1961). He had guest-star roles in popular series such as "Perry Mason", "Dragnet", and "Mannix". He found success in his long-running role of Dr. Joe Early in "Emergency". Early was depicted as a neurosurgeon, working at Rampart General Hospital. The series lasted for 6 seasons, and a total of 122 regular episodes. Six television films based on the series were broadcast between 1978 and 1979.
In the 1980s, Troup appeared in the stalker-themed television film "The 25th Man" (1982), which was intended as a pilot for a television series. His last television appearance was a guest-star role in a 1985 episode of the detective series "Simon & Simon". Troup was 67-years-old at the time.
Troup lived in retirement until 1999. He died due to a heart attack in February 1999. He was 80-years-old at the time of death. He was survived by his second wife Julie London, who died in October 2000.- Bolaji Badejo was a graphic designer from Lagos. He is primarily remembered for his single acting role, playing the titular predatory alien in the science fiction-horror film Alien (1979).The film was a box-office hit, having earned a worldwide gross of US$143 million by 1992 estimates.
In 1953, Badejo was born in Lagos, Colonial Nigeria. At the time, Nigeria was a British colony. Badejo's family was of Yoruba descent, an ethnic group estimated to represent about 16% of the country 's population. Badejo's father would later serve as the director-general of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, a state-owned radio-broadcasting organization.
Badejo decided to follow a career as a visual artist. He studied abroad in the United States before moving to London, England, to get specialized training as a graphic designer. Bodejo was unusually tall, standing at a height of 2.08 meters (6 feet and 10 inches). Director Ridley Scott's casting crew was seeking a tall person to play the creature in his upcoming film. They found Badejo drinking at a Soho bar and offered him the role. He accepted the offer, although he had neither acting experience nor training.
In 1980, Badejo moved back to Nigeria. In 1983, Badejo opened his own art gallery. He remained active until 1992, when he died from sickle-cell anemia, a hereditary blood disorder that is very common among people of African descent. About 80% of sickle-cell disease cases recorded worldwide have occurred in Africa. Badejo was 39 years old at the time of his death.
Badejo is long gone but is still fondly remembered for his only acting role. "Alien" has had several sequels, prequels, and spin-offs, and the influence of the original film in modern science fiction cinema is quite large. - Director
- Writer
- Animation Department
Bretislav Pojar was a Czech film director and animator, specializing in puppet animation.
Pojar was born in Susice (former name "Schüttenhofen"), a small factory town in Czechoslovakia. Since the 19th century, the main employer in town was a match factory.
Pojar started work as an animator in the 1940s, working under film director Jirí Trnka. Pojar mostly focused on puppet animation, while other of his films used stop-motion animation.
In the 1960s, Pojar emigrated to Canada. He started producing films for the National Film Board. Pojar's short films often contained little to no dialogue, but managed to provide social commentary.
He won a number of competitive awards for his films, with a highlight being the short film "To See or Not to Se", about how the actual perception of reality may help overcome our irrational fears, The film won both a "Canadian Film Award" and the "Short Film Golden Bear" of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Another career highlight was the short film "Balablok" (1972), concerning the irrationality of violence and war. It used cutout animation, and won the "Grand Prix du Festival for Short Film" at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the 2000, Pojar moved to the Czech Republic in order to work on animated feature films. He co-directed the feature film "Fimfárum 2" (2006), an adaptation of stories by popular writer Jan Werich (1905-1980).
Pojar died in 2012, at the age of 89.- Buck was the name of the original family dog in the hit sitcom "Married... with Children" (1987-1997). It was played by the dog actor Michael, trained by Steven Ritt. Several episodes included voice-overs which revealed Buck's thoughts. The dog was a Briard, a French breed of large shepherd dogs. The breed was first introduced in dog shows during 1863, and is thought to originate from the historic region of Brie.
Michael remained in the series from 1987 to 1995, but developed age-related health problems by the show's final years. In 1995, it was decided that Michael should retire and that the character Buck should die. The character died in the 10th season episode "Requiem for a Dead Briard" (broadcast on October 1, 1995). The show then introduced the new family dog Lucky, as Buck's reincarnation.
Michael lived in retirement until his death in May 1996. He was 13-years-old at the time of his death, while the average life span for a Briard is about 10 years. "Married... with Children" has retained a cult following since its production ended, and Buck has remained a fan-favorite character. Ensuring enduring fame for Michael. - Director
- Animation Department
- Writer
Burt Gillett was an animator from the state of New York, and a notable director of animated short films. He directed about a 100 short films between 1920 and 1940, but is best remembered for directing "Three Little Pigs" (1933) for the Disney studio.
Gillett started his film career c. 1916, when he was hired by the animation studio "International Film Service" (1915-1921). It was a subsidiary company of the International News Service, owned by William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). The studio focused on creating adaptations for then-popular comic strips, such as "Krazy Kat," "The Katzenjammer Kids," and "Happy Hooligan."
Gillett worked in relative obscurity, until 1929 when hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Studio head Walt Disney was facing a problem at the time, because Ub Iwerks was the only experienced animator on the studio's staff. Walt decided to head to New York City and to offer employment to a number of experienced animators working in the city's studios. Gillett was the second animator to accept Walt's offer, following Ben Sharpsteen.
By the summer of 1929, Gillett had become on the Disney's leading directors. He took over control of the "Mickey Mouse" film series, starting with the short film "Wild Waves". In 1930, Gillett also started directing films in the "Silly Symphonies" film series, an anthology which focused on one-shot characters. His first film in the series was "Cannibal Capers", featuring the tribal dance of a cannibal tribe.
Two of Gillett's short films won the "Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film": "Flowers and Trees" (1932) and "Three Little Pigs" (1933). "Flowers and Trees" was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process, an is credited as a milestone in the development of color films. "Three Little Pigs" introduced Disney's version of the Big Bad Wolf (also known as "Zeke Wolf") and the Three Little Pigs. The characters later became regularly featured characters in Disney comic strips and comic books.
Due to his newfound fame in the animation industry, Gillett was offered a more lucrative position as the new studio head of the animation studio Van Beuren Studios. Gillett started working there in 1934, and helped the studio transition to producing only color cartoon shorts.
While at Van Beuren, Gillett introduced the film series "Rainbow Parade." It was a "Silly Symphonies"-style anthology series, produced fully in Technicolor. Gillett personally directed many of the series' films. His most notable works for the studio included the "Molly Moo-Cow" sub-series (1935-1936), three animated adaptation of the popular comic strip "Toonerville Folks" (1908-1955), and a few color films for Felix the Cat.
Gillett's policies at the Van Beuren studios were controversial at the time. In order to compete effectively with the Disney studio, Gillett adopted several of the methods and techniques used by Disney. This made the studio's products seem more modern, but their films were seen as derivative. Gillett also fired several animators who had failed to meet his quality standards. His most controversial policy was forcing employees to work overtime to complete films, without any compensation for the extra hours.
In the mid-1930s, the Animated Motion Picture Workers Union (AMPWU) filed a complain against Van Beuren with the National Labor Relations Board. Their complain was based on Gillett's policies, but the Board decided in favor of the studio management. Gillett celebrated his victory by firing union agitators.
The Van Beuren studio shut down in 1936, leaving Gillett temporarily unemployed. The studio had lost its main distributor, RKO Pictures, and was unable to find another distributor. RKO had signed an exclusive deal to distribute Disney's films, and most major film studios already had animation subsidiaries.
Gillett was re-hired by the Disney studio, and he returned to directing films. His most notable film during this period of his career was the horror comedy "Lonesome Ghosts" (1937). It featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as ghost hunters. The film's ghosts were portrayed as malicious pranksters. The short has received a number of adaptations of its own, including scenes in Disney-related video games.
In 1938, Gillett was hired by the Walter Lantz Studio. He worked as a director for a hand full of films, most notably introducing the new character Lil' Eightball, as a caricature of an African-American child. The character starred in three animated shorts, but was then retired. Gillett also directed a few entries in the popular "Andy Panda" series.
Gillett retired from the animation industry in 1940, and lived the rest of his life out of the limelight. He died in 1971, at the age of 80. His fame in the animation industry endures, in part due to directing several highly regarded short films, and in part due to his pioneering work in producing color films. Animation histories often include both his accomplishments and his controversial decisions.- Actor
- Sound Department
- Soundtrack
Cameron Boyce was an American actor, with Afro-Caribbean and African-American descent. His paternal grandmother Jo Ann Allen was one of the "Clinton Twelve", the first African-Americans to attend an integrated high school in the Southern United States (specifically in Clinton, Tennessee).
In 1999, Boyce was born in Los Angeles, California. He was trained as a dancer from an early age. In 2008, he made his debut in the music video "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)" by the band "Panic! at the Disco". He was playing a child version of guitarist Ryan Ross. Also in 2008, Boyce gained a recurring role in the short-lived soap opera "General Hospital: Night Shift" (2007-2008).
Boyce's first appearance in a feature film was in the horror film "Mirrors" (2008), playing the role of Michael "Mikey" Carson (the son of the film 's protagonist). His second film appearance was in the spy film "Eagle Eye" (2008), playing the role of Sam Holloman. His next prominent film role was in the comedy film "Grown Ups" (2010), again playing the son of the film's protagonist.
Boyce showcased his dancing skills in the web series "The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers" (2010-2011). In 2011, Boyce appeared as a featured dancer in a "Dancing with the Stars" special and in the television sitcom "Shake It Up" (2010-2013). He made a guest appearance in the sitcom "Good Luck Charlie" (2010-2014), playing an impostor version of regular character Gabe Duncan.
Boyce next gained the co-starring role of Luke Ross in the sitcom "Jessie" (2011-2015). The premise of the series was that celebrity couple Morgan and Christina Ross had no free time to spend with their four children, so they hired aspiring actress Jessie Prescott (played by Debby Ryan) as a full-time nanny and surrogate mother to the kids. Luke was the second oldest child, who viewed Jessie as a love interest. The series was a ratings hit for Disney Channel. It lasted for 4 seasons, and a total of 98 episodes.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Carl Switzer was an American child actor, singer, dog breeder, and hunting guide from Paris, Illinois. He became famous for portraying Alfalfa in the film series "Our Gang" during the 1930s. His character was one of the most memorable characters ever portrayed in the series. Later in his career, Switzer's acting roles were limited to bit parts and appearances in B-movies. He supported himself through other lines of work. Switzer was fatally shot by an acquaintance over a money dispute. The circumstances of his death are disputed, due to contradictory accounts by the shooter and by an eyewitness.
In 1927, Switzer was born in Paris, Illinois. A small city located about 165 miles (266 kilometers) south of Chicago and 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of Indianapolis. Switzer was the youngest of four children born to George Frederick "Fred" Switzer (1905-1960) and his wife Gladys Carrie Shanks (1904-1997). Switzer's older brother was the child actor Harold Switzer (1925-1967).
In the early 1930s, the Switzer brothers were locally famous in their hometown for their music performances. In 1934, the Switzer family traveled to California. They visited the Hal Roach Studios (1914-1961) while sightseeing. The Switzer brothers gave an impromptu performance in the the Our Gang Café, the studio's open-to-the-public cafeteria. They were both offered contracts by producer Hal Roach (1892 -1992), who wanted them to appear in the film series "Our Gang" (1922-1944). The long-running series featured a large group of child actors.
Switzer made his film debut in the "Our Gang" short film "Beginner's Luck" (1935), where his character performs as the "Arizona Nightingale". By the end of the year, Alfalfa (Switzer) had become one of the series' main characters. His brother Harold was relegated to performing background characters in the series. In 1937, Switzer surpassed George McFarland in popularity. At the time, McFarland was the nominal star of the "Our Gang" series. Switzer had a difficult relationship with his co-stars, as he enjoyed playing cruel jokes on them.
Switzer's performances in "Our Gang" ended in 1940. His last appearance as Alfalfa was in the short film "Kiddie Kure" (1940), where the gang members attempted to convince a hypochondriac that his pills were unnecessary. Switzer was 12-years-old at the time of the film's production, making him the oldest member of the main cast. The production team considered him too old to keep playing a child.
Switzer initially found more work in films of the time. He played a young boy scout in the comedy film "I Love You Again" (1940). He next appeared in "Barnyard Follies" (1940), a B-Movie depicting efforts to raise funds for a rural orphanage. Switzer had a leading role in the comedy film "Reg'lar Fellers" (1941), a feature-film adaptation of the long-running comic strip "Reg'lar Fellers" (1917-1949) by Gene Byrnes.
Switzer was reduced to a supporting role in "Henry and Dizzy" (1942), his first appearance in the-then popular film series about the Aldrich Family (1939-1944). The films were adaptations of a long-running radio sitcom of the same name, which lasted from 1939 to 1953. Switzer played a younger member of the Twine family in "There's One Born Every Minute" (1942), a comedy about false advertising. The Twine family profits from marketing their puddings as containing the fantastic Vitamin Z, with the press failing to realize that this vitamin does not exist. A local scientist is persuaded to act as a shill for their product.
Switzer had a minor role in the musical comedy "Johnny Doughboy" (1942), which featured a plot about fictionalized versions of "has-been" child stars. Several other real-life former child stars had roles in this film, including Baby Sandy, Bobby Breen, and George McFarland. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Musical Score.
Switzer had the uncredited role of Auggie in "The Human Comedy" (1943), a comedy-drama film about life in the home front of World War II. His character was a friend of Ulysses Macauley (played by Jackie Jenkins). Over the following few years, Switzer would frequently appear in uncredited roles, in films such as "Going My Way" (1944) and "Courage of Lassie" (1946).
Switzer had his first leading role in years when cast as Sammy Levine in "Gas House Kids" (1946). The film depicted the life of unruly youths from the Gas House District of New York City. It was partly inspired by the forced relocation of the District's residents in the 1940s, to make way for an urban renewal project. About 600 buildings were razed, and 3,100 families were forced to relocate. The real-life tragic conditions had inspired the popular culture of the time. The film was successful enough to have its own sequels, "Gas House Kids Go West" (1947) and The "Gas House Kids in Hollywood" (1947). Switzer had leading roles in both sequels, his last leading roles in any film.
During the 1950s, Switzer had a few significant supporting roles in films. He played a co-pilot in the aviation adventure "Island in the Sky" (1953), a pilot in the disaster film "The High and the Mighty" (1954), and a Native American ranch hand in the Western film "Track of the Cat" (1954). He had a minor part in the comedy film "Dig That Uranium" (1956), where the Bowery Boys seek an uranium mine in the Wild West. Switzer also had several appearances in television, serving as a recurring guest star in "The Roy Rogers Show".
Switzer's film career was not particularly lucrative during his adult years. He supplemented his income by breeding and training hunting dogs, and by serving as a guide to hunting expeditions. His most notable clients were Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda. In 1954, Switzer married his girlfriend Diantha "Dian" Collingwood (1930-2004). She was the heiress of the company Collingwood Grain, which specialized in the construction of grain elevators. The marriage was a rather hasty decision, as the couple had only met 3 months prior to the wedding.
In 1956, Switzer was broke and his wife Dian was pregnant. Switzer's mother-in-law offered them the administration of a farm near Pretty Prairie, Kansas, and Switzer took the offer. His only, son Justin Lance Collingwood Switzer, was born later that year. Switzer had a reunion with his former co-star George McFarland in 1957. McFarland recalled that Switzer seemed restless, and he got the impression that Switzer was bored with his life as a farmer. He figured that this life "wasn't going to last" for Switzer.
Switzer received a divorce in 1957, and lost custody of his son. In January 1958, Switzer was mysteriously shot in the upper right arm while sitting in his parked car, in front of a bar in Studio City, Los Angeles. The bullet smashed through the car's window. The shooter was never found, and no motive was ever established.
In December 1958, Switzer was arrested by the authorities. He had been cutting trees in the Sequoia National Forest, with the intention to sell them as Christmas trees. This practice was illegal. He was sentenced to pay a fine of 225 dollars, and was also sentenced to one year's probation. This left him in financial trouble for the last month of his life.
In 1959, Switzer was hired to train a hunting dog by Moses Samuel "Bud" Stiltz. Switzer and Stiltz had been business associates for years, having met each other at the Corriganville Movie Ranch. During the dog's training, the dog ran off to chase after a bear. Stiltz demanded that Switzer had to either relocate his dog or pay him the equivalent of the dog's value. Switzer placed a reward for the relocation of the dog and the safe return of the animal. When the dog was found, Switzer rewarded the rescuer with 35 dollars in cash, and the worth of 15 dollars in alcoholic beverages. The reward money pushed Switzer further into poverty.
In late January, 1959, Switzer had an emotional conversation about his financial troubles with photographer Jack Piott. The two figured that Stiltz had to reimburse Switzer for the finder's fee. The two of them headed together to Stiltz's home in Mission Hills, where they got into an argument with him. After being struck on the left side of his head, Stiltz proceeded to threaten the two men with a loaded a .38-caliber revolver.
What happened next is uncertain. Stiltz testified that Switzer pulled a knife on him, and that he had shot him in self-defense. Tom Corrigan (Stiltz's adolescent stepson) later testified that Switzer had decided to end the fight and to leave empty-handed, but Stiltz shot him anyway. In any case, the bullet damaged one of Switzer's arteries and caused massive internal bleeding. Switzer had already died by the time his body was transferred to a hospital. He was 31-years-old at the time of his death.
Switzer was buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, located in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. His gravestone depicts the image of a hunting dog, to commemorate that he trained hunting dogs for a living. His death initially attracted little attention from the press, but the controversial circumstances of his death have become the subject of true-crime articles and documentaries. Switzer is still remembered as one of the better child actors of his era, and as a reliable actor in supporting roles.- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Carl Laemmle Jr. was an American film producer and studio executive from Chicago, Illinois. He was the son and the intended heir of the film producer Carl Laemmle (1867-1939), co-founder and studio head of Universal Pictures (1912-). Carl Junior served as Universal's head of production from 1928 to 1936. He either personally produced or greenlit the production of several hit films of the early sound era.
Carl Junior is primarily remembered for producing the war film "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930), and the horror films "Dracula" (1931), "Frankenstein" (1931), "The Mummy" (1932), "The Old Dark House" (1932), "The Invisible Man" (1933), and "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935). In an effort to modernize the studio, Carl Junior invested in "state of the art" technology for sound films, and high-quality production values. He also produced some of the studio's early color films, most of them being musicals. In several cases, the money invested in a film's production exceeded the revenue from its release and distribution. By the mid-1930s, the studio was cash-strapped.
The final film Carl Junior produced was the ill-fated romantic musical "Show Boat" (1936), based on the 1927 musical of the same name by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. The film was intended to be a prestigious "big-budget" production for Universal, but the company did not have sufficient funds at the time. At the insistence of company shareholders, the Laemmles (father and son) took a production loan from the Standard Capital Corporation. They pledged the Laemmle family's controlling interest in Universal as collateral. When the production of the film went over budget, Standard called in the loan before the film's completion and release. The Laemmle family was unable to pay, and Standard ceased control of Universal in April 1936.
Carl Junior fully retired from the film industry in 1936, at the age of 28. The new studio head at Universal was the financier John Cheever Cowdin (1889-1960), who soon instituted severe cuts in production budgets. Part of the new regime at Universal were the British film distributors Charles Moss Woolf (1879-1942) and Joseph Arthur Rank (1888-1972), who bought a significant stake in the studio.
Carl Junior spend the rest of his life in relative obscurity. In September 1979, he died from a stroke. He was 71-years-old at the time of his death. He was buried in the Chapel Mausoleum at Home of Peace Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles. His father had been buried in the same cemetery. Carl Junior is fondly recalled by horror fans for producing some of the earliest hits in the genre, but his historical reputation is otherwise overshadowed by more influential studio executives of the sound era.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carla Gallo is an American actress from Brooklyn, New York City. Her ancestry includes primarily Germans and Italians. She has had several recurring roles in television series. Her most notable role so far was that of supporting character Daisy Wick in the police procedural "Bones". Her character was an impulsive intern with a habit of non-stop talking. Gallo played this role for nearly a decade, from 2008 to 2017.
Gallo received her college education at Cornell University, a research university located in Ithaca, New York. She graduated with a degree in theater. She made her film debut in the black comedy film "Spanking the Monkey" (1994). She portrayed Toni Peck, the adolescent girlfriend of protagonist Ray Aibelli (played by Jeremy Davies). Toni is unaware that her boyfriend has a sexual relationship with his own mother Susan Aibelli (played by Alberta Watson). Toni is surprised when a jealous Susan attacks and injures her, in retaliation for sleeping with Ray. The film was a minor box office hit, earning 1,4 million dollars at the box office. That was about 7 times the size of the film's budget.
By 1999, Gallo started appearing in guest roles in various television series. Her earliest appearances in television series included episodes of the police procedural "Law & Order" and the medical drama "ER". She gained her first recurring role in the sitcom "Undeclared" (2001-2002), which focused on the lives of college freshmen. Gallo portrayed Lizzie Exley, a neurotic psychology student. Lizzie served as the main love interest of protagonist Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel), despite the fact that she was already dating an older man. The questionable nature of Steven and Lizzie's relationship was one of the series' main subplots. The series received critical acclaim, but suffered from low ratings throughout its first and only season. It was ranked as the 93rd most viewed show of American television at the time.
In 2003, Gallo joined the cast of the dark fantasy television series "Carnivàle" (2003-2005). The series was set in the 1930s, and mainly depicted traveling performers at a carnival. Gallo played the dancer Libby Dreifuss, the elder of the two surviving daughters of striptease artist Rita Sue Dreifuss (played by Cynthia Ettinger) and her manager Felix "Stumpy" Dreifuss (played by Toby Huss). During the first season, Libby's role focused on her lesbian relationship with her only friend, the fortune-teller Sofie Bojakshiya (played by Clea DuVall). After Sofie discovers that Libby was keeping secrets from her, she berates Libby and ends their relationship. In the second season, Libby's role focused on her ill-fated marriage to roustabout Clayton "Jonesy" Jones (played by Tim DeKay). She married him against the objections of both her parents, despite knowing that Jonesy was both a former lover of her mother and a former love interest of Sophie. The series only lasted for two seasons and 24 episodes, though the writers had planned the plot developments of a third season.
In 2008, Gallo joined the cast of police procedural "Bones" in its 4th season. Her character of intern Daisy Wick was developed as a knowledgeable and astute assistant to the protagonist Temperance "Bones" Brennan (played by Emily Deschanel), but her impulsiveness and motormouth nature were her main character flaws. Ongoing subplots about Daisy involved her on-and-off romantic relationship with FBI psychologist Lance Sweets (played by John Francis Daley), her treatment of Temperance as both a role model and as a surrogate family member, and getting used to the role of a single mother following the death of Sweets. Daisy ended the series as the lead anthropologist of the National Forensic Lab.
Also in 2008, Gallo joined the cast of the comedy-drama series "Californication" during its second season. She played the role of porn star and aspiring Hollywood actress Daisy, both a client and a lover for publicity agent Charlie Runkle (played by Evan Handler). Their relationship caused the end of Charlie's marriage to Marcy Runkle (played by Pamela Adlon). Gallo left the series following its 3rd season, having played Daisy for 11 episodes.
In 2009, Gallo joined the cast of the comedy-drama series "Men of a Certain Age" (2009-2011), which dealt with the experiences of three middle-aged men. Gallo played Annie, the young girlfriend of retired actor Terry Elliot (played by Scott Bakula). Annie was frequently annoyed at his immature behavior and his tardiness in their dates. The series lasted for 2 seasons and 22 episodes.
In 2014, Gallo had the supporting role of Paula Faldt-Blevins in the comedy film "Neighbors". Paula had a sexual relationship with frat boy Scoonie Schofield (played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse). This relationship motivated Paula's jealous ex-husband Jimmy Blevins (played by Ike Barinholtz) to scheme against the entire fraternity. The film earned 270.7 million dollars at the worldwide box office. In the summer of 2014, Gallo gave birth to her first daughter. In May 2017, Gallo gave birth to her second daughter. She eventually married her long-term partner Mark Satterthwaite. Her husband is a professional screenwriter.
Gallo returned to the role of Paula in the sequel film "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising" (2016). Paula had resumed her relationship with Jimmy, and was expecting her first baby. But she eagerly joined in an escalating conflict between her friends and a new sorority. The conflict was motivated by the incompatible money-making schemes of the two groups. It was eventually resolved through a mutually beneficial deal. The film earned 108.8 million at the worldwide box office, and decent reviews about several of its subplots.
In 2018, Paula portrayed film producer Lucy Fisher (1949-) in the biographical film "A Futile and Stupid Gesture ". The film covered the life of comedy writer Douglas Kenney (1946-1980), and portrayed several of Kenney's associates throughout his career. The real Kenney was killed in an accidental fall from a cliff, leaving behind notes for various unfinished projects. The film was released in the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, to lukewarm reviews.
Gallo has continued her career to the early 2020s. In May 2022, she was hired as part of the main cast of the upcoming series "Platonic". Filming started within the same month. By 2022, Gallo was 46-years-old. She has no plans to retire yet, and she has managed to keep her audience entertained for nearly 30 years.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carmen Silvera was a British comic actress of Spanish descent, primarily known for television roles. Her most memorable role was playing Edith Artois in the hit sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992), which depicted multiple ongoing conspiracies in German-occupied France during World War II.
Edith was the antagonistic wife of the series' main character, the opportunist café owner Rene Artois. Husband and wife were reluctant members of the French Resistance, while also collaborating with corrupt German officers and being involved in several other conspiratorial schemes. Ongoing plot-lines involving Edith included her suspicions that Rene was cheating on her (while she appeared unaware that he was having extramarital affairs with all of their waitresses, and that he had an unrequited love for resistance leader Michelle Dubois), her regular attempts to perform as a cabaret singer (despite having an awful singing voice), her romantic relationships with undertaker Monsieur Alfonse and the Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli, and Edith being far more patriotic and idealistic than her husband.
In 1922, Silvera was born in Toronto, Ontario to British expatriate parents. Her father was Roland Silvera (1895-1986), a well-known bowls player, and a member of the Stoke Bowling Club, Coventry. In the 1970s, Roland served as a president of the Warwickshire County Bowls Association. During his term, the association won the English Bowling Association Middleton Cup for the first time in its history.
The Silvera family emigrated back to England in 1924. They settled in Warwickshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England. Carmen was evacuated to Montreal, Canada during World War II. She originally aspired to follow a dancing career, taking lessons from a ballet company that served as one of several rival successors to the famed "Ballets Russes" (1909-1929). She appeared with the ballet company on stage, but only for a small number of performances.
Following the end of World War II, Silvera returned to England and decided to follow an acting career. She was trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and then started appearing repertory theatre. She had a brief marriage to theatrical actor John Cunliffe. In 1948, they were divorced after Silvera suffered a miscarriage. She never remarried, instead focusing o her career.
In the late 1950s, Silvera started appearing in television roles. Her first recurring role in a series was playing Camilla Hope in the soap opera "Compact" (1962-1965). The opera depicted the personal and professional lives of the employees of a magazine. It reportedly enjoyed high ratings throughout its run. Its demise was attributed to the dislike of its premise by BBC executives.
In 1966, Silvera played three different roles in the story arc "The Celestial Toymaker" of the hit science fiction series "Doctor Who" (1963-1989). One of her three roles was the Queen of Hearts in a set of living playing cards. The episodes were considered offbeat for featuring strong fantasy elements in a series that typically focused on science fiction and historical fiction. Silvera later returned to the series in the story arc "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", which featured dinosaurs transported to modern-age London. This story arc was noted for featuring villains who were well-intentioned extremists, firmly believing that the ends justify the means (in other words, that their crimes were justified by their righteous goal).
In 1970, Silvera had a guest star role in an episode of the World War II-themed sitcom "Dad's Army" (1968-1977), which featured the misadventures of the Home Guard. She portrayed Fiona Gray, a middle-aged woman who wants to join the war effort. Her character served as a new love interest for the main character, the aging Captain George Mainwaring. The episode was unusual in having a tragic theme, and emphasizing Mainwaring's loneliness. It was directed by David Croft, who would later cast Silvera in "'Allo 'Allo!".
Silvera made her film debut in the erotic film "Clinic Exclusive" (1971), at the age of 49. She played the role of Elsa Farson, an aging, lonely lesbian who is in love with Julie Mason (played by Georgina Ward), not caring that Mason is a ruthless businesswoman with a side career as a blackmailer. The film was scripted and produced by Hazel Adair, who had previously worked with Silvera in "Compact". Most of the film's actors were veterans from Adair's television productions.
Throughout the 1970s, Silvera had a few more film roles in British productions. Her last film role in this decade was playing Lady Bottomley in the sex comedy "Keep It Up Downstairs" (1976). The film's plot focused on the efforts of two aging aristocrats to find a rich wife for their son, despite the young man's disinterest in anything outside his career as an inventor.
Silvera found success late in life, when cast in the role of Edith Artois in the sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!" (1982-1992). Initially conceived as a parody of the wartime drama series "Secret Army" (1977-1979), it became a much more popular and long-running series than the one it parodied. Unusual for a sitcom, "'Allo 'Allo!" had overarching plot-lines, rather than featuring simple stand-alone stories. Nearly every character took part in conspiracies and had agendas of his/her own, but their schemes often clashed and backfired. Besides the ongoing scheming, the film placed emphasis on the characters' romantic and sexual lives, with a large amount of sexual innuendo in each episode. The series lasted for 9 seasons, and 85 episodes. Much of the main cast of series gained enduring popularity with the British public.
During the 1990s, Silvera enjoyed a revival of her theatrical career. She appeared in stage musicals, such as "That's Showbiz" (1997) by Jimmy Perry. Her last film role was a small part in the drama film "La Passione" (1996). The film was partly based on the childhood experiences of screenwriter Chris Rea as a son of immigrants in the United Kingdom.
Silvera was a heavy smoker for much of her life, and she was eventually diagnosed with lung cancer. She spend her last years as a resident of Denville Hall, a retirement home for professional actors and their spouses. In August 2002, Silvera died there due to cancer. She was 80-years-old. Her popularity endures primarily due to her appearances in classic sitcoms.- Carol Marsh was an English actress from Southgate, an urban area which at the time of her birth was outside London. She was in the prime of her career during the late 1940s and the 1950s. She worked frequently in radio plays until the 1980s. Her later life was reportedly reclusive.
Marsh was educated at a convent school. During her school years, she often appeared in school plays. She later decided to follow an acting career, and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music (RAM). She was trained in both acting and singing. She also received speech lessons, and additional additional lessons through joining "The Company of Youth", an acting school for young contract players maintained by British film studio The Rank Organisation.
In 1947, Marsh won an audition to play the role of Rose Brown in the film noir Brighton Rock (1948) (1948). The film was based on the popular thriller novel of the same title by Graham Greene, published in 1938, which had previously been adapted into a hit play. Marsh's character was the frail and naive wife of psychopathic gangster Pinkie Brown (played by Richard Attenborough), who is unaware that he had ulterior motives when he romanced her. Reportedly over 3,000 women had auditioned for the role. Marsh, a then-obscure rookie, was chosen due to closely matching the character's appearance and vulnerability. This was her film debut, and it is still regarded as her most popular role.
Marsh was next chosen for the lead role of Alice in a French film, "Alice in Wonderland" (1949). The film was based on the novel by Lewis Carroll, and most of Wonderland's characters were portrayed by stop-motion animated puppets. The film was not distributed in the United Kingdom, due to including a satirical version of Queen Victoria.
Marsh's third film was the romantic comedy Marry Me (1949) (1949). It included a frame story of a journalist investigating a matchmaking service, but it depicted the stories of various people involved in the service, in the style of an anthology. Marsh had the leading role of teenaged heiress Susan Graham in the romantic comedy "Helter Skelter" (1949). The film depicts Susan's efforts to avoid the matchmaking efforts of her legal guardians, to cure herself from a persistent case of hiccups, and to face the overbearing mother of her new boyfriend.
Marsh's next significant film role was in the Christmas film "Scrooge" (1951), an adaptation of the novella "A Christmas Carol" (1843) by Charles Dickens. Marsh played the role of Fan Scrooge, the beloved sister of Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Alastair Sim). The film expanded Ebenezer's backstory, fleshed out his business career, and explored his ambivalent relationship with his family; it was one of the most popular films in Britain during 1952.
Marsh next had the female lead role in the "Salute the Toff" (1952). The film was the sixth part in a film series about the upper-class detective The Toff/Richard Rollinson, based on the novels of John Creasey (1908-1973). Marsh played Fay Gretton, the woman who hires Rollinson and tasks him with locating her missing employer. The film was popular at the time of its release, but was considered lost for decades. It was rediscovered in the early 2010s, and received its first home video release.
Marsh worked extensively in radio and television during the 1950s, but her film career went on hiatus. She made a comeback in the horror film "Dracula" (1958), in her first film role since 1952. The film was a loose adaptation of the novel by Bram Stoker. Marsh played the female vampire Lucy Holmwood, based on the novel's Lucy Westenra. Marsh was one of the first actresses to portray female vampires for Hammer Film Productions, a film studio that specialized on horror films.
Marsh next played the female lead in the crime film "Man Accused" (1959), playing Kathy, a baronet's daughter. The film's protagonist Bob Jensen (played by Ronald Howard) is Kathy's fiance. Bob has been framed for murder, and tries to discover the identities of the real killers. The film was poorly received, in part due to its plot recycling elements from previous works. This was Marsh's last film role.
Marsh continued working extensively on radio, and it is estimated that she performed in over a hundred BBC radio plays. She also voiced roles for BBC's radio anthology "Children's Hour" (1922-1964), which was primarily aimed at an audience of children. During the 1970s, Marsh had a role in theatrical productions of the play "The Mousetrap" (1952) by Agatha Christie. The play features a small group of staff and residents in a guesthouse, as they start to suspect that one of them is a wanted killer. Christie used elements of the real-life Dennis O'Neill manslaughter case (1945) as elements in the origin of the play's killer.
Marsh retired in the 1980s. She spent the rest of her life in Bloomsbury, London, living alone. She never married, and (according to her obituary) became a recluse. In March 2010, she died in London, aged 83. Her name remains familiar to fans of classic British (and French) cinema, due to several of her films having had cult followings.