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1-50 of 1,478
- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Ella Purnell was born in London, U.K. She is best known for her roles in Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (2016), in BBC One's Ordeal By Innocence (2017) and Starz' Sweetbitter (2017), in which she plays the series lead role of Tess in the adaptation of Stephanie Danler's hit novel of the same name.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, to Winifriede Lucinda (Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress, and Thomas Andrew McDowall, a merchant seaman of Scottish descent. Young Roddy was enrolled in elocution courses at age five. By age 10, he had appeared in his first film, Murder in the Family (1938), playing Peter Osborne, the younger brother of sisters played by Jessica Tandy and Glynis Johns.
His mother brought Roddy and his sister to the U.S. at the beginning of World War II, and he soon got the part of "Huw", the youngest child in a family of Welsh coal miners, in John Ford's How Green Was My Valley (1941), acting alongside Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp in the film that won that year's best film Oscar. He went on to many other child roles, in films like My Friend Flicka (1943) and Lassie Come Home (1943) until, at age eighteen, he moved to New York, where he played a long series of successful stage roles, both on Broadway and in such venues as Connecticut's Stratford Festival, where he did Shakespeare. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1949.
In addition to making many more movies (over 150), McDowall acted in television, developed an extensive collection of movies and Hollywood memorabilia, and published five acclaimed books of his own photography. He died at his Los Angeles home, aged 70, of cancer. He never married and had no children.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Jonathan Southworth Ritter was born in Burbank, California, on September 17, 1948. He was the son of legendary country singer/actor Tex Ritter (born Woodward Maurice Ritter) and his wife, actress Dorothy Fay (née Dorothy Fay Southworth). The couple married in 1941 and had their first child, Tom Ritter, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. John was destined to follow in his parents footsteps. He was enrolled at Hollywood High School where he was student body president.
After graduation from high school, he attended the University of Southern California where he majored in Psychology and minored in Architecture. His first appearance on TV was in 1966 as a contestant on The Dating Game (1965) where he won a vacation to Lake Havasu, Arizona. After making his very first cameo appearance, he was induced to join an acting class taught by Nina Foch. He changed his major to Theater Arts, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama. He also studied acting with Stella Adler at the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop. Between 1968 and 1969, he appeared in a series of stage plays in England, Scotland, Holland and in Germany.
His TV debut came playing a campus revolutionary on Dan August (1970) which starred Burt Reynolds and Norman Fell, who later starred with him on Three's Company (1976). Then he appeared as "Reverend Matthew Fordwick" on The Waltons (1972). He continued making more guest appearances on Medical Center (1969), M*A*S*H (1972), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), The Streets of San Francisco (1972), Kojak (1973), Rhoda (1974) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970). While working on The Waltons (1972), he received word that his legendary father had passed away, just a day after New Year's Day in 1974. The following year, in late 1975, ABC picked up the rights for a new series based on a British sitcom, Man About the House (1973). Ritter beat out 50 people, including a young Billy Crystal, to get a major role. The first pilot was trashed, and in order for it to be improved, Joyce DeWitt, an unknown actress, played the role of "Janet Wood", along with Susan Lanier as the dumb blonde, "Chrissy Snow". It did better than the first pilot, but the producers still needed a change and Suzanne Somers came to the show at the very last minute to play "Chrissy". The series, Three's Company (1976), was born. When it debuted as a mid-season replacement, it became a ratings hit. It focused mainly on his character, "Jack Tripper", a chef who pretended to be gay in order to share an apartment with two attractive ladies.
Before playing "Jack Tripper" on the small screen, he also made his box office debut in the movie Nickelodeon (1976). Two years later, he worked with his close friend, Jenny Sullivan, in Breakfast in Bed (1977), and the following year, played "Pres. Chet Roosevelt" in the movie Americathon (1979). Also in 1977, he and his brother emceed the Annual United Cerebral Palsy Telethon which he continued to support for over 15 years. He also became more popular with movies such as Hero at Large (1980) and They All Laughed (1981). In 1980, when Three's Company (1976) was sold into syndication, the show became a ratings phenomenon. At the height of Ritter's popularity, he won a Golden Globe in 1983 for Best Performance by an Actor after being nominated twice for Best TV Actor in a Musical-Comedy Series and, one year later, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor In a Comedy Series after being nominated twice. By its eighth season, the show began to drop in the ratings and was canceled in 1984. After cancellation, he starred in its spin-off, called Three's a Crowd (1984), also starring Mary Cadorette, but it lasted for only one season.
His first animated movie was that of a man turning into a dragon, whose job was to defeat "Ommendon" in The Flight of Dragons (1982). The following year, he came back to series television as "Detective Harry Hooperman" in the comedy/drama, Hooperman (1987) for which he was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 1988 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He also won a People's Choice Award for this role. He continued doing more box-office films such as Skin Deep (1989), in which he played a womanizing, alcoholic writer whose life seemed to be falling apart at the seams. In the movies, Problem Child (1990), and Problem Child 2 (1991), he played the surrogate father of a rebellious little boy who wrought havoc on the family. He also worked on Noises Off... (1992) and Stay Tuned (1992) before returning to another TV sitcom called Hearts Afire (1992) that also starred Billy Bob Thornton. The show had well-written scripts but failed to reach a massive audience which led to its cancellation in 1995. While he was working on Hearts Afire (1992), he played "Ward Nelson" on North (1994). Then, he had the opportunity to work with Billy Bob Thornton, in the movie Sling Blade (1996), in which Ritter played the gay manager of a department store. He also provided the voice of "Clifford" in Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000). He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award 4 times in a row, totaling seven Emmy nominations in his 35-year career. In 1999, he was also nominated for an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series playing the role of "George Madison" on an episode of Ally McBeal (1997).
Soon afterwards, he landed his last television role in 8 Simple Rules (2002), based on the popular book. On this sitcom he played "Paul Hennessey", a loving, yet rational dad, who laid down the ground rules for his three children and dealt with such topics as curfews, sex, drugs, getting arrested, etc. The show was a ratings winner in its first season and won a People's Choice Award for Best New Comedy and also won for Favorite Comedy Series by the Family Awards. While working on "8 Simple Rules," he also starred in his second-to-last film, Manhood (2003). That same year, he felt ill while rehearsing on set, and was taken across the street to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, where he was mistakenly treated for a heart attack. He died from an undiagnosed aortic dissection which is a tear in the wall of the aorta. He underwent surgery and died on September 11, 2003, just six days shy of his 55th birthday. In the years that he worked, John Ritter was a brilliant comedian and a passionate actor, who wanted to make everybody laugh. Shortly before his death, his eldest son, Jason Ritter, was cast in the role of "Kevin" in the highly-rated drama Joan of Arcadia (2003).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Kyle M. Chandler is an Emmy-winning American actor who was born in Buffalo, New York in 1965. He resides in the United States with his wife, Kathryn Chandler, and their two children, Sawyer and Sydney. Some of his most notable credits include "Friday Night Lights" (Friday Night Lights (2006)), "Bloodline" (Bloodline (2015)), The Wolf of Wall Street (The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)), Argo (Argo (2012)) and Zero Dark Thirty (Zero Dark Thirty (2012)), to name a few.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Bobby Lee was born on 17 September 1972 in San Diego, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011), Mad TV (1995) and Paul (2011).- Actress
- Additional Crew
India Amarteifio was born on 17 September 2001 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Sex Education (2019), Line of Duty (2012) and Doctor Who (2005).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Cassandra Peterson was born in Manhattan, Kansas, and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began her career at age 17 as the youngest showgirl in Las Vegas history in the show "Vive Les Girls" at the Dunes Hotel. After receiving advice from "The King" himself, Elvis Presley, she traveled to Europe where she pursued a career as a singer and actor. She worked in several Italian films, including Federico Fellini's Roma (1972) and performed throughout Europe as lead singer of an Italian rock band.
Upon returning to the United States, she toured the country as star of her own musical-comedy show, "Mama's Boys". She eventually settled in Hollywood, where she spent four and a half years with L.A.'s foremost improvisational comedy group, The Groundlings. In 1981, she auditioned for the role of horror hostess on a local Los Angeles television station. Her show, Elvira's Movie Macabre (1981), and her newly created character, Elvira, became an overnight sensation.
Cassandra has used Elvira's celebrity status to bring attention to many worthy causes and organizations over the years, including her well-known work for animal welfare and raising money and awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. In addition to co-writing and performing in both the local L.A. and nationally syndicated television versions of "Movie Macabre", she co-wrote, produced and starred in two feature films, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and Elvira's Haunted Hills (2001). In 2010, she returned to syndicated television in a reboot of her original series, Elvira's Movie Macabre (2010). She returned in 2014 in a similar show format for Hulu's 13 Nights of Elvira. Her latest endeavors include producing, writing and starring in Elvira's 40th Anniversary, Very Scary, Very Special, Special - a 2021 four-hour special streaming on Shudder, and Dr. Elvira, a Halloween promotional mini-series for Netflix.
Cassandra Peterson has spent over four decades solidifying the Elvira brand that has become synonymous with Halloween and the horror genre.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Anne Bancroft was born on September 17, 1931 in The Bronx, NY, the middle daughter of Michael Italiano (1905-2001), a dress pattern maker, and Mildred DiNapoli (1907-2010), a telephone operator. She made her cinema debut in Don't Bother to Knock (1952) in 1952, and over the next five years appeared in a lot of undistinguished movies such as Gorilla at Large (1954), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), New York Confidential (1955), Nightfall (1956) and The Girl in Black Stockings (1957). By 1957 she grew dissatisfied with the scripts she was getting, left the film business and spent the next five years doing plays on Broadway. She returned to screens in 1962 with her portrayal of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker (1962), for which she won an Oscar. Bancroft went on to give acclaimed performances in The Pumpkin Eater (1964), The Slender Thread (1965), Young Winston (1972), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975), The Elephant Man (1980), To Be or Not to Be (1983), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) and other movies, but her most famous role would be as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967). Her status as the "older woman" in the film is iconic, although in real life she was only eight years older than Katharine Ross and just six years older than Dustin Hoffman. Bancroft would later express her frustration over the fact that the film overshadowed her other work. Selective for much of her intermittent career, she appeared onscreen more frequently in the '90s and early '00s, playing a range of characters in such films as Love Potion No. 9 (1992), Point of No Return (1993), Home for the Holidays (1995), G.I. Jane (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Keeping the Faith (2000) and Up at the Villa (2000). She also started to make some TV films, including Deep in My Heart (1999) for which she won an Emmy. Sadly, on June 6, 2005, Bancroft passed away at the age of 73 from uterine cancer. Her death surprised many, as she had not disclosed her illness to the public. Among her survivors was her husband of 41 years, Mel Brooks, and their son Max Brooks, who was born in 1972. Her final film, the animated feature Delgo (2008), was released posthumously in 2008 and dedicated to her memory.- Bruce Spence was born on September 17, 1945 in New Zealand. When he was growing up in Henderson, just out of Auckland, the last thing he ever expected to be was an actor. Bruce's family were winemakers, and he worked in the family winery from a very tender age, later attending Henderson High School then Massey University, where he studied horticulture. From this background he retained a passion for growing things, and has created a succession of beautiful gardens for himself and friends. At 20, Bruce moved to Australia, where to his surprise he was accepted into the National Gallery of Victoria Art School. Bruce's mother, Olga, was a painter and potter. In 1969 Bruce joined a ragtag group working at the tiny La Mama theatre in Melbourne. The group became the revolutionary Australian Performing Group, and Bruce's talent for acting was discovered. Forced to choose between art and acting, he decided to try his luck at the latter. He went on to perform in numerous plays with the group, then the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company, the South Australian Theatre Company and several other companies, even the National Arts Centre of Canada where he played the lead in the award-winning "The Floating World" by John Romeril. He now lives in Sydney, where his recent acting credits with the Sydney Theatre Company include "The Secret River", "The Harp in the South", "Endgame" and "Rules for Living". Bruce has appeared in close to 100 films, including Mad Max 2 ("The Road Warrior") and 3 ("Beyond Thunderdome"), "Ace Ventura" Part II, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith", "Finding Nemo", "The Matrix Revolutions" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales". He has also appeared in numerous television roles. When starring as the wizard Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander in the cult series "Legend of the Seeker", which was filmed in New Zealand, Bruce found he had come full circle, working directly opposite his old high school in Henderson. At home in Sydney he lives quietly with his wife, Jenny and an adoring tabby cat. They have two children and four grandchildren. Between jobs Bruce works on his own burgeoning garden and as a volunteer at the Royal Botanic Garden, where he and his group propagate plants. He is also currently chair of the NSW Actors' Benevolent Fund.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Felix Solis was born on 17 September 1971 in New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and director, known for The Forgotten (2004), Man on a Ledge (2012) and The International (2009).- Ritu Arya is an English actress and drummer. She first became known for her role as Dr. Megan Sharma in the soap opera "Doctors" (2013-2017), for which she was nominated for a British Soap Award. She gained further recognition for her roles as Flash in the sci-fi series "Humans" (2016-2018) and Lila Pitts in the Netflix superhero series "The Umbrella Academy."
- Matthew Settle continues to evolve into a respected actor of Stage and Screen. Known in households, around the world, for his work in the cultural phenomenon, Gossip Girl (2007), as "Rufus Humphrey", as well as the celebrated "Capt. Ronald Speirs" from the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning Band of Brothers (2001), Settle has worked with such notables as Steven Spielberg, Sir David Frost, Jonathan Mostow and Peter Bogdanovich.
Settle recently appeared as the lead character, "Billy Flynn", in Broadway's "Chicago" for 64 acclaimed performances. He was nominated for a teen choice award for his role in Gossip Girl (2007) and shares an award with Steven Spielberg for his portrayal as the lead "Jacob Wheeler" in TNT's Emmy award-winning mini-series, Into the West (2005).
Settle's career has taken him on an informative journey through more than 30 countries, and afforded him the opportunity to play a rich diversity of roles for nearly 20 years. Since living between Rome, London, and Los Angeles, Settle spends the majority of his time in New York, where he resides with his daughter.
He is the son of Dr. Robert E. Settle, Doctorate of Theology and Joan Settle an Concert Organist. - Producer
- Director
- Actor
Bryan Singer is an American film director and producer who got his start writing and co-directing the short film Lions Den with his classmates while he attended USC. He was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct X-Men, which helped kick-start the superhero renaissance. He later directed three sequels. He went to direct Superman Returns, a revival of the Superman film series starring Brandon Routh. He also directed Valkyrie, Bohemian Rhapsody and Jack the Giant Slayer.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Baz Luhrmann is an Australian writer, director and producer with projects spanning film, television, opera, theater, music and recording industries. He is regarded by many as a contemporary example of an auteur for his distinctly recognizable style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, design and musical components of all his work. As a storyteller, he 's known as a pioneer of pop culture, fusing high and low culture with a unique sonic and cinematic language. He is the most commercially successful Australian director, with his films making up four of the top ten highest worldwide grossing Australian films ever.
During his studies at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, Luhrmann collaborated with other students to create ''Strictly ballroom'', a stage production drawn from his childhood experiences in the world of ballroom dancing. Luhrmann later adapted the show into his 1992 film debut, Strictly Ballroom (1992), which premiered at Cannes to a fifteen-minute standing ovation. Thus began the ''Red Curtain Trilogy'', which would include the film Romeo + Juliet (1996) as well as the Oscar-winning Moulin Rouge! (2001). The latter also took home Golden Globes for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Original Score. This first body of work was capped by Luhrmann's 2002 Broadway adaptation of the opera ''La Bohème'', recognized by two Tony Awards.
In 2004, Luhrmann collaborated once more with actress Nicole Kidman to create No. 5 The Film, a short film featuring the iconic Chanel perfume, as well as costumes designed by Karl Lagerfeld. With its success, the piece ushered in a new era of fashion advertising and became a landmark in the evolution of branded content. In 2008, Luhrmann worked with Kidman for a third time on the ambitious epic Australia (2008), the titular country's second-highest grossing film of all time. He later adapted F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''The Great Gatsby'' into a 2013 film, The Great Gatsby (2013), which went on to become the director's highest-grossing movie at over $353 million worldwide. The film was awarded with two Oscars and earned praise from Fitzgerald's granddaughter, who noted that "Scott would have been proud". The film's soundtrack pulled the Roaring 20s into the 2000s, blending early 20th century jazz with contemporary hip-hop. The album, produced by Luhrmann, Anton Monsted, and Jay-Z, hit number one on the Billboard charts and garnered several Grammy nominations.
Most recently, Luhrmann created The Get Down (2016), a 2016 Netflix series and 1970s-set mythic saga of how the South Bronx, at the brink of bankruptcy, gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco. In the interest of cultural authenticity and historical accuracy Luhrmann collaborated with some of the era's most legendary artists, including [linl=nm0334739], Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, Nas, Kurtis Blow, and Hector Xtravaganza. The show was a critical success, certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes, and described by Variety as "a reclamation of, and a love letter to, a marginalized community of a certain era, told through the unreliable tools of romance, intuition and lived experiences."
Add further information about Elvis film release here. Needs to be in his bio.- Director
- Writer
- Visual Effects
Neill Blomkamp is a South African-Canadian film director and screenwriter who is known for the science fiction films District 9, Elysium and Chappie. He also directed the supernatural horror film Demonic and the 2007 short film Halo: Landfall, based on the Microsoft science fiction video game franchise. He had a child from his wife Terri Tatchell.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Mena was born in Cairo, Egypt and raised in Markham, Ontario, Canada. He attended the University of Toronto for Neuroscience before transferring to Ryerson University's notable theater program and graduating with a BFA in acting. He got his first big break starring in ABC Spark & Teen Nick's mystery-drama television series "Open Heart" as "Jared Malik."
After several years of acting in high-profile television and film projects, Massoud went on to star as "Tarek Kassar" in the highly-anticipated series "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan".
In 2018 it was announced that, after an extensive worldwide search and multiple auditions, he had landed the coveted role of "Aladdin" in the Disney live-action remake of "Aladdin," directed by Guy Ritchie.
After leading "Aladdin" to the highly coveted $1 Billion Dollar mark at the box office, Massoud went on to star in Netflix's "The Royal Treatment" which became its #1 film worldwide for several weeks in a row in 2022.
Outside of acting, he's passionate about staying active and healthy. Sports like basketball have always been an important part of his life. During his high-school years, he was a member of the Ontario Basketball Association. He also has a passion for recreational horseback riding and the environment.- Augustus Prew was born on 17 September 1987 in Westminster, London, England, UK. He is an actor, known for About a Boy (2002), Kick-Ass 2 (2013) and Charlie St. Cloud (2010). He has been married to Jeffery Self since 14 January 2018.
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Sam Esmail was born on 17 September 1977 in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Mr. Robot (2015), Homecoming (2018) and Leave the World Behind (2023). He has been married to Emmy Rossum since 28 May 2017. They have two children.- Producer
- Actor
- Director
Paul Feig is an American film director and writer who is known for creating Freaks and Geeks and directing Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy and A Simple Favor. He is known for directing films starring frequent collaborator Melissa McCarthy. He also directed the highly controversial 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters. He also directed episodes of The Office.- Annabelle Apsion is an English actress, best known for playing Monica Gallagher in the hit television comedy-drama Shameless, which she played intermittently between 2004 and 2006, before becoming a regular cast member for the show's fourth series in 2007. She left the show in 2008 in order to pursue other projects, with her final scenes airing in March 2009. She briefly returned to the role in 2011 and for the final series in 2013.
- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Danielle Brooks was born on 17 September 1989 in Augusta, Georgia, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Peacemaker (2022), Orange Is the New Black (2013) and Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (2021). She has been married to Dennis Gelin since 13 January 2022. They have one child.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Danny Ramirez was born on 17 September 1992 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Assassination Nation (2018), Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Born in Bangor, North Wales and raised in Brighton, on the South coast of England, Ian Whyte was 7'1" tall by the time he was 17 years old. Ian always stood out from the crowd. Tall, slim and athletic, little did he know of his future career in the limelight. Ian discovered basketball in his teens, and quickly caught the attention of national team scouts who saw his physical attributes and determination as valuable assets. He quickly progressed to the junior national team ranks, but uninspired by school at the time, Ian was keen to escape at the earliest possible opportunity. He spent a year at Henry Hudson High School in New Jersey, where he again attracted the attention of basketball scouts, earning sports scholarships to Iona College in New York and Clarion University in Pennsylvania.
Ian returned to England in 1994 to play for the London Towers, a new franchise owned by the music promoter Barry Marshall. Still eager to find himself Ian only stayed a season with the Towers, transferring to their crosstown rivals, The London Leopards, but again, only for one season.
in 1995, Europe freely opened its doors to sportsmen and women from across the continent. Ian played for teams right across Europe. In France, Belgium, Greece and Portugal, where he won the domestic treble; League, cup and playoff championships with F.C. Porto in 1997 and went to the ¼ finals of the European cup.
Ian returned to England soon after to play for the Newcastle Eagles, a place that would become his home until his retirement from the game in 2003. Throughout his career Ian tirelessly distinguished himself, representing his country 80 times.
In 2003 Ian received a phone call that would change the whole course of his life. By his own admission he was keen to retire from basketball on his terms rather than through injury or old age, so he responded to a casting call for the new film Alien Vs Predator. His success in gaining the role is a matter of history, but personally it was a tremendous victory for him to finally find an outlet for his emotional creativity.
Ian was fortunate to work alongside such luminaries as the Oscar winning special effects duo of Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr as well as Oscar winning VFX supervisor John Bruno. He also met soon to be double Oscar winning makeup effects artist Mark Coulier who encouraged him to get in touch with Nick Dudman, the creature effects supervisor for the Harry Potter franchise. Upon completion of filming on AVP Ian travelled back to England and straight into the world of Harry Potter. Not credited as an actor this time, Ian was hired to help bring to life the character of Madame Maxime played by the sublime Francis De La Tour. Ian worked full time for an entire year on the film, faithfully doubling The character who stood a glorious 8'6" tall.
During this time Ian found himself in great demand, but had to turn down roles on such exciting projects as The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy and a worldwide tour with Cirque du Soleil.
Soon after the release of Harry Potter, the AVP sequel went into production. Shot entirely in Vancouver Canada, Ian had to re-audition for the part of the Predator, (in reality an entirely new character) however, through his own personal discipline and foresight he had been preparing for it ever since the release of the first film. Ian was of course successful in giving the directors exactly what they wanted and AVP Requiem was shot in 2006. Ian's dedicated self imposed preparation involved a great deal of martial arts training and Ian based the characteristics of the Warrior loosely on the Chinese martial art known as Ba Gua. The shooting schedule for requiem was extremely intense. Half the time as AVP with twice the action! During production Ian found time to very quickly travel to New Zealand to meet with the visionary director Neil Blomkamp to discuss the role of the Master Chief in his new film based on the Halo video game franchise. The trip from Vancouver to New Zealand took 4 days and Ian spent less than 18 hours in the country, so a meeting quickly turned into an audition, a costume fitting and negotiations with the producers before returning to Vancouver. Sadly, after being in Pre-production for six months the film never went into full production.
The 2009 remake of Clash of the Titans followed soon after. Directed by Louis Leterrier the character of Sheikh Suliman gave Ian a golden opportunity to perform with a glittering ensemble cast once again.
Ian extended his dramatic credentials alongside Steven Tompkinson in the gritty 1970's Northern police drama, Harrigan.
Prometheus followed soon after when multi Oscar winning director Sir Ridley Scott brought to life the enigmatic myth of the space jockey, last seen in the original Alien film.
In 2010 Ian auditioned for the role of "The Mountain" in the upcoming TV smash Game of thrones. Ian was not cast, but was invited to fill the role of "The White Walker" for season one. Thus began a period of great creativity which saw Ian play roles in every season of the multi award winning show. Different prosthetic make ups allowed Ian to deliver multiple characters including the giant "Wun Wun" who featured in the two top rated, (according to IMDb) battle episodes of the franchise in series 5 and 6.
Never one to shy away from the responsibilities of a global franchise, Ian became involved with Star Wars in 2013 after Disney took over film production. Ian would have been an obvious choice to play the Wookie Chewbacca, but did not audition for the part. The casting brief was so specific and despite his experience and skill, Ian's deep dark brown eyes excluded him from the role. However, he went back to his action creature roots, as he was asked to be Peter Mayhew's stunt double as well as to bring to life other creatures of the Star Wars universe, which he subsequently reprised for Rogue One, Solo and most recently the Disney+ series, Andor.
In 2020, Ian had the honour and pleasure of working with the multi award winning director Robert Eggers in his Hamlet inspired, Viking epic The Northman, starring Alexander Skarsgard.
Ian continues to transform himself for screens big and small.- Alex Hassell was born on 17 September 1980 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Violent Night (2022) and The Boys (2019). He is married to Emma King.
- Sunrise Coigney was born on 17 September 1972 in San Francisco, California, USA. She is an actress, known for In the Cut (2003), Campfire Stories (2001) and 100 Centre Street (2001). She has been married to Mark Ruffalo since 11 June 2000. They have three children.
- Mia Talerico is the adorable baby Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan in Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie (2010). Her parents are Chris and Claire Talerico. She was born in Santa Barbara, California. Her infancy is seen in her character in the comedy series. Phil Baker, co-creator of the show, said that they talk to Mia's mom to know what Mia does and likes, and they incorporate them into their stories.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
James Urbaniak was born on 17 September 1963 in Bayonne, New Jersey, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Oppenheimer (2023), The Fabelmans (2022) and The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023). He has been married to Sara Pocock since 30 March 2017. He was previously married to Julie Marie Anderson.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
David Huddleston was born on 17 September 1930 in Vinton, Virginia, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Big Lebowski (1998), Blazing Saddles (1974) and The Producers (2005). He was married to Sarah C. Koeppe and Carole Ann Swart. He died on 2 August 2016 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
William Shockley is an American actor, writer, producer (p.g.a.) and director.
Shockley is a partner in Tiki Tane Pictures along with Allen Gilmer and Tom Brady, a film production company based in Los Angeles and Austin, TX. Tiki Tane is represented by UTA Independent Film Group. They are in post-production on Long Shadows, an American period piece directed by Shockley, starring Blaine Maye, Sarah Cortez, Jacqueline Bisset, Dominic Monaghan and Dermot Mulroney.
As an actor, Shockley will next be seen in Haunting of the Queen Mary, starring Alice Eve, directed by Gary Shore; Natty Knocks with Robert England and Bill Mosley, directed by Dwight Little; Far Haven with Bailey Chase, directed by Gary Wheeler; and Martingale with Kelly Sullivan, directed by Jeremy Berg.
Shockley made his directorial debut with the short film, Common Threads, starring Nancy Stafford, a period western set in Tucson, Arizona, 1887. Common Threads won 8 Film Festival Awards, including 'Best Short Film - Family' at the 2017 'IFS Film Festival' in Los Angeles. At the 2017 'Best Shorts Awards Competition' in La Jolla, CA, Common Threads won 6 Awards of Excellence, including Short Film, Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Family Programming and Ensemble Cast. And at the 2017 Lady's First International Film Festival in Cork, Ireland, Common Threads won Best Production Design.
In 1986, while doing theatre in Dallas, Texas, Shockley had his first audition, and was cast by Paul Verhoeven in Robocop. His next decision was easy. Sell everything and move to Los Angeles.
After just a few months of living in LA, Shockley landed a slew of episodic and movie-of-the-week roles. He was then cast in the feature films Howling: Rebirth with Phil Davis, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane with Andrew Dice Clay, and The Joyriders with Martin Landau and Kris Kristofferson. Paul Verhoeven cast Shockley again in the cult classic, Showgirls.
Shockley has also worked in numerous television projects. He won over audiences for six years as 'Hank Lawson', the saloon-keeper in CBS' highly regarded drama, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", starring Jane Seymour. Shockley was given a development deal by CBS and starred in his own series, "California", a Dr. Quinn spin-off. Shockley also starred opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the CBS sitcom, "Bagdad Cafe", and opposite Teri Garr in the critically acclaimed ABC series, "Good & Evil ".
Shockley has co-written 12 feature scripts that have been produced, and has also produced 10 feature films and 3 TV movies.
Aside from acting, Shockley does extensive voice over work in television and radio advertising. He has voiced campaigns for AT&T, Enterprise, Sony, Sprint, Bausch & Lomb, Toyota, Siemens, Cisco Systems, Isuzu, Fruit of the Loom and XM Satellite Radio, to name a few.
In the world of on air radio, Shockley hosted 52 weeks of "The Road", a syndicated country music program airing in 200 cities. The program featured live country music concert tracks mixed with interviews with the artists. "The Road" was nominated by Billboard Magazine as Best Syndicated Radio Program.- Actor
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After leaving Vietnam with his family in 1975 Dustin Tri Nguyen (pronounced "Gwen") went on to establish himself as one of Hollywood's premiere Asian-American actors, having starred on the hit TV shows "21 Jump Street," "Seaquest DSV," "VIP," He went on to star in the films THE REBEL and THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS 2. In 2005 Dustin won the much sought after role in the Australian based critically acclaimed film LITTLE FISH starring opposite Academy Award-winner Cate Blanchett. In the film Dustin plays 'Jonny,' Blanchett's love interest in a story that revolves around her 'Tracy,' an ex-heroin-addict trying to rebuild her life. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become the number-one film in Australia. Along the way, it collected 5 Australian Film Institute Awards and 3 Film Critics' Awards. LITTLE FISH then opened in New York to rave reviews. Critics took note of Dustin's performance and transformation into a leading man among the A-list cast. This very performance earned him the 2007 Asian Excellence Award for Best Supporting Actor in a feature film.
Dustin can be seen starring in and directing Justin Lin's series "Warrior" on Cinemax. The Show, based on the writings of Bruce Lee and set in the late 1870s San Francisco during the Tong Wars in Chinatown. In the Series he plays the "Big Bad" Zing. Dustin is especially looking forward to season 2 where he has directed the sixth episode of the show. This past season also saw Dustin guest starring on the NBC hit Drama "This Is Us."
In more recent years, Dustin has transitioned to directing and producing films under his Vietnam-based Dreamscape DBS; the production company he shares with his producer wife, Bebe Pham. 2015 was a particularly good year for Dustin as his second directorial effort, JACKPOT, was chosen to represent Vietnam for Best Foreign Language Films at the 2016 Oscars. The film also was one of the surprise hits with Vietnamese audiences that year as it was inspired by the true events of a poor countryside lottery peddler who returned the winning lottery ticket to its rightful owner. By summer of 2016, JACKPOT collected 3 Golden Kite Awards (Vietnam's highest cinematic award) for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Screenplay, in addition to People's Choice Award for the Best Film of 2015.
In 2014, Dustin collaborated as an actor in a Vietnamese adaptation of Dostoyevsky's A GENTLE CREATURE. This film, GENTLE, earned him a Leonardo da Vinci Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 2015 Milan International Film Festival. In the same year, Dustin starred in Universal Pictures' sequel to THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS.
In 2013, Dustin made his directorial debut with a script he wrote which was his personal homage to Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, called ONCE UPON A TIME IN VIETNAM - the first fantasy-martial-arts-drama in Vietnam. The film was picked up by Lionsgate for North America distribution, as well as being distributed in England, Germany, Italy, France, Australia and South America.
In 2011, Dustin was awarded Best Actor at the Vietnamese International Film Festival for his performance as an abusive and bitter single father raising two children in the Mekong Delta in FLOATING LIVES.
In 2009, Dustin was awarded the Vietnamese Golden Lotus Award (Vietnam's Highest Film Award) for Best Actor in the motion picture THE LEGEND IS ALIVE, as well as the Golden Kite Award (Vietnam's Cinema Association) for the very same role. He was also awarded the Golden Rooster (China's most prestigious film award) for Favorite International Actor for this very role. Dustin played Long, a mentally challenged man, whose only wish is to bring his recently deceased mother's ashes to America. Along his journey, Long encounters and reluctantly involves himself with a young girl who has been sold to human traffickers.
In 2008, Dustin starred in Justin Lin's film FINISHING THE GAME, which had premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2006, Dustin starred in his first villain role in the Vietnamese blockbuster THE REBEL, a French-Vietnamese 1920's period action-drama. It marked his first return to Vietnam in 32 years.
Dustin's martial arts expertise was fully showcased in 2000 when he starred in a Levi's Jeans' European "Hero" campaign, which expanded upon his ever-growing international profile. The campaign was uniquely groundbreaking in that it was the first time Levi's had ever used an Asian star in their awarded winning campaigns. For Dustin, it offered the first opportunity to apply his love for the martial arts along with his dramatic training as he collaborated with director Jonathan Glazer (UNDER THE SKIN, SEXY BEAST, BIRTH) on the fight choreography.
Dustin currently lives in Vietnam with his wife, Bebe Pham, and their three children.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A very pleasing and thoroughly enjoyable vision on 1950s film and 1960s TV, Patricia Crowley effortlessly lit up her surroundings with a warm, inviting personality and fresh-faced attractiveness that she still carries today. At her peak she courted top TV stardom in the mid-'60s as the beleaguered wife and mom on the successful series Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965) and easily made the original Doris Day film role her own. Both she and TV husband Mark Miller made a handsome couple and the series deserved more than its two-season run. Perhaps audience taste, which was changing rapidly with the counterculture era taking over, triggered its somewhat quick demise.
Born September 17, 1933 (some sources incorrectly list 1929), in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, to Vincent, a coal mining foreman, and Helen (Swartz) Crowley, it was her older sister Ann Crowley (born October 17, 1929) who triggered Pat's interest in performing when, during Ann's appearance in a Chicago musical production, the ten-year-old Pat was given a walk-on part. Ann Crowley would go on to have a promising musical career appearing in such late 40s/early 50s N.Y. shows as "Carousel", "Oklahoma!" and "Paint Your Wagon". By age 11, Patricia had become a photographer's model and subsequently attended New York's High School of Performing Arts. She won her first major TV part scarcely out of high school and seemed destined to become an important teen star as the bobbysoxer lead in the Saturday morning TV series A Date with Judy (1951), which was adapted from the highly popular radio series of the 1940s. When the series moved to prime time, however, another actress replaced her.
Like her sister, Patricia was also musically inclined and appeared in a few tuneful stage shows such as "Tovarich" and "Kiss Me Kate" (as Bianca). Billed as "Pat Crowley", she made an auspicious Broadway debut with the relatively short-lived comedy play "Southern Exposure" in 1950, earning the 1951 Theatre World Award for "promising personality". She followed this with another short run (one day) in the comedy "Four Twelves Are 48".
After a number of early 1950s TV assignments, Pat was brought out to Hollywood to co-star with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in one of the pair's typical slapstick outings Money from Home (1953). In it, she played a feisty lady veterinarian. She then moved engagingly into the show business comedy Forever Female (1953) co-starring William Holden and Ginger Rogers. As the young aspirant who is vying with the long-in-the-tooth Rogers for a prime Broadway ingénue role, Pat made the most of her role and earned a Golden Globe award for "best promising female newcomer". From there, she played the second female lead in the musical Red Garters (1954) but crooning headliners Rosemary Clooney and Guy Mitchell got most of the songs. Pat did have a dance number, however, opposite Mitchell with the tune "Meet a Happy Guy".
While much of her work came from dramatic TV showcases, Pat continued in movie roles co-starring as the girlfriend of Tony Curtis in the boxing yarn The Square Jungle (1955), appearing as the female ingénue in the sudsy drama There's Always Tomorrow (1956) opposite veterans Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett, and reuniting with Martin & Lewis in their very last film Hollywood or Bust (1956) before the pair's professional breakup.
When her film career started to lose steam in the late 50s (she did appear to good effect, however, with Jeffrey Hunter in the crime drama Key Witness (1960) as a couple terrorized by gang leader Dennis Hopper), Pat found steadier work on TV and guested on many of the popular shows of the day both drama Bonanza (1959), Cheyenne (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)) and the occasional comedy (The Tab Hunter Show (1960)). It was in the sitcom vein that Pat achieved her biggest success when she was cast as "Joan Nash", the nontraditional, harried wife/columnist of an English professor whose four precocious sons and huge sheep dog added greatly to the mayhem in Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1965). Based on the best-selling Jean Kerr book, it was a role that suited Pat (now billed Patricia) to a tee and made her a household name at the time.
Since then, Patricia has continued to maintain a strong visibility especially on TV, although she was not given the star-making opportunities like this again. Crowley is best known to a later generation of viewers for her regular roles on daytime's Generations (1989) (1989-1990), Port Charles (1997) (1997-2003) and The Bold and the Beautiful (1987) (2005). A guest on such sitcoms as Frasier (1993), Roseanne (1988) and Friends (1994), recurring roles on Joe Forrester (1975) (perfectly paired with Lloyd Bridges), Dynasty (1981) and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) also showed Pat to good advantage. More recently, she has graced episodes of "The Closer" and "Cold Case" and a featured role in the film Mont Reve (2012).
In 1958 Patricia married Ed Hookstratten, a successful attorney for top entertainment and sports icons. They had a son, Jon, and a daughter, Ann, named after her sister. After their two-decade marriage ended, she went on to marry producer Andy Friendly in 1986. While many understandably agree that Patricia Crowley's talents deserved perhaps a better serving in Hollywood, particularly on film, she has nevertheless proved herself a lovely, lively and still ingratiating presence.- Actor
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Malik Yoba was born on 17 September 1967 in Bronx, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Cool Runnings (1993), New York Undercover (1994) and Cop Land (1997). He has been married to Cat Wilson since 21 December 2003. He was previously married to Trisha Mann.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Shirley Ballas was born on 17 September 1960 in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Doctor Who (2023), It's a Fabulous World and Children in Need (2020).- Actress
- Producer
Graduate of St. Mary's College, Susan Ursitti Sheinberg acted for several years in commercials, TV, film and stage. She received her Master's degree in Design and Manufacturing. She is also the mother of three, Susan is very involved with the community in such organizations as the Parent's Association at Brentwood School and also on the Advisory Board for the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation. She's also an active Board member of C.O.A.C.H. for Kids. In 2003 Susan and Jon have worked with Julia Butterfly Hill to get the Initiative for Old Growth on the 2004 ballot.- Actor
- Writer
Charles Martinet was born on September 17, 1955 in San Jose, California, USA as Charles Andre Martinet. He is an actor and writer, best known for voicing many characters in Nintendo games including Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, and Baby Luigi in video games from 1991 to 2023, including the Super Mario series, Luigi's Mansion series, WarioWare series, Yoshi's Island series, Super Smash Bros series & more. He has also voiced some minor characters in the Mario franchise including Male Piantas, Isle Delfino Commercial, Big Top, Clawgrip, Tryclyde, Mouser and Wart. He also voiced many characters in Super Punch-Out!! (1994).
He also voiced for Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier (1995) as Pa Conshohocken, Ray Trace, PiTooie, and voiced Coliey Joe, Big Moe, Lar-Man in the Stooge Fighter 3 Mini Game as a brief side job for Sierra-Online company in 1995 before moving on to work for Nintendo on Super Mario 64, a Nintendo 64 game.
Charles Martinet starred in cameo film roles including Matlock (1989) in the episode "The Captain". He also played in The Dead Pool (1988), Nine Months (1995), and The Game (1997), he also did the character voices for Anastasia 1997. The non Disney animated movie Beauty and the Beast (1997) by Enchanted Tales.
Charles Martinet originally wanted to be in law school and wasn't interested in voice acting due to the fear of speaking in public, during his school year, one of his friends convinced him to drop out of Law School and become a voice actor, he finally decided to drop out of Law School and pursue after acting and voice acting. He voiced for Mario in Mario Teaches Typing (1991), and practiced voice acting as Super Mario, he later voiced in Super Punch Out (1994) on a Super Nintendo game and in 1995 voiced the some of the characters at Sierra-Online company in the PC game Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier (1995).
One day while Charles was relaxing at the beach, he got a phone call from his agent and was told that he got the part to play Super Mario in Super Mario 64 in the English version. Since then he has been voice acting for Nintendo video games. He also voiced in other video games including Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance (1999), Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds (2001), Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (2004), Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (2009), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011), Dragon Ball Legends (2018).
On April 5th 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) released, which he voiced Mario's dad in many languages (English, Catalan, European French, German, Italian, and European Spanish) He also voiced Giuseppe in nearly every language.
Charles Martinet retired as the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in the Mario games on August 21st 2023 and became a Mario Ambassador for Nintendo the same day. His last Nintendo game he worked on before retiring was Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022) as the voice of Mario and Luigi (although that game got ''The Tower of Doooom'' and ''The Last Spark Hunter'' DLC released in 2023, and featured his voice) He was replaced by Kevin Afghani starting from Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023) and WarioWare: Move It! (2023). However, Martinet's voice is still being reused in re-releases of Mario games which he voiced Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi in, starting from Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2024).- Actor
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Martijn Lakemeier (1993) first came to the scene at age of 14, when he made his acting debut in WINTER IN WARTIME, the Dutch Oscar submission in 2010. For his magnificent portrayal of a young boy coming of age during World War II, he won the prestigious Dutch film award the Golden Calf for Best Actor. He is the youngest winner to date. Besides the Golden Calf, Martijn was also awarded the Rembrandt Award for Best Actor, an important Dutch audience award. Nearly one million people went to see WINTER IN WARTIME in Dutch cinemas, which is a huge box office hit for Dutch standards. The film crossed the Dutch borders and was awarded Best Film at the annual European Youth Film Festival of Rome and was selected as the Dutch entry for the Academy Awards. WINTER IN WARTIME had theatrical releases in the US, Germany, Great Britain and Canada. In 2009 Martijn played his second leading role in the teenage movie LOVER OR LOSER directed by Dave Schram, after the book by immensely popular Dutch children's writer Carry Slee. In 2011, Martijn plays another lead in the well-received Dutch short film DAYS OF GRASS. After graduating high school, Martijn is added to the cast of the popular Dutch TV series FEUTEN, in which he plays the Dutch heir to the throne in his freshman years. Later that year Martijn can be seen in the critically acclaimed Dutch drama series THE SECRETS OF BARSLET. The same year Martijn stars in three Dutch movies: the award-winning film THE MARATHON, the art house film IT IS ALL SO QUIET, by Golden Calf winning director Nanouk Leopold and YOUNG by Colette Bothof. In 2014 DUTCH HOPE, in which Martijn plays one of the lead roles, wins a Golden Calf (Dutch equivalent of the Emmy Awards) for best TV drama series. Furthermore he plays roles in the films SUMMER and ZURICH. In 2015 Martijn played in the film VENTOUX, after the Dutch best selling novel by Bert Wagendorp. And in the romantic comedy YES, I DO! in which he plays one of the lead roles. In 2016 he played on of the leads in the film VENTOUX directed by Nicole van Kilsdonk. In that same year he finished shooting a French film TOUT LÁ-HAUT. He is playing the lead next to Marwan Kenzari in the feature THE EAST directed by Jim Taihuttu. Currently he is on set of the third season of successful TV series DUTCH HOPE.- Actress
- Soundtrack
In 'Some Day We'll Laugh: An Autobiography', she says, "In 1902 the family moved to Bar Harbor, Maine. (...) At 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, 1902, I was born at No. 1 Eden St. and Papa immediately dubbed me, 'Maid of Bar Harbor!'"
The child "born in a trunk" of parents who graced the carnival and vaudeville circuits, was christened Esther Worth, but at age 2 she became part of the family act (with her four brothers and her parents) with the billing now extended to "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet."
The wholesome but fun-loving teen Esther broke into silent films in several uncredited roles. Her first appearance in a motion picture was in The Deep Purple (1915), filmed at the World Studios, New Jersey. She also appeared in the serial Phantom Fortunes (1916). Afterwards, she appeared with her family in live theatre productions at the smaller venues, eventually crossing the continent and finding themselves in Los Angeles. As early as 1918 she and her brothers began finding extra work at Universal City.
At her peak, she she became one of the industry's highest-paid silent stars in scores of dramas, comedies and westerns, notably opposite Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix. Her more familiar earlier silent roles were as Mrs. Darling in the silent classic Peter Pan (1924), as the Fairy Godmother in A Kiss for Cinderella (1925), and as Mary Jane Wilks in the film version of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1920). She was publicized as "The American Venus" by none other than showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. after appearing as a dazzling beauty queen in the film of the same name (The American Venus (1926)).
Appearing in close to 100 films over a 30-year period, she made several for Paramount and MGM come the advent of sound, including her first talkie The Sawdust Paradise (1928); the title role in The Case of Lena Smith (1929) a "lost" film directed by Josef von Sternberg; Betrayal (1929) starring Emil Jannings and Gary Cooper, and the romantic musical The Prodigal (1931) opposite Metropolitan opera star Lawrence Tibbett.
In England, she appeared opposite Basil Rathbone in After the Ball (1932) and Conrad Veidt in Rome Express (1932). Esther wanted Paramount Studios to up her contract to $100,000 when talkies came in; the company did not agree, and let her go. She went free lance in small productions. After supporting roles in Tin Pan Alley (1940) and San Francisco Docks (1940), and 7th billing in a B film in 1940 (San Francisco Docks (1940)), she retired from the screen at 38.
She earned a fortune from investments but eventually lost it due to the stock market crash of 1929. Forced to find work outside of the world of entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s she appeared on radio shows and TV commercials. In the ensuing years she was employed as a department store salesperson and talent executive.
Esther Ralston was married and divorced three times, and had three children - one from the first marriage, and two from the third.
She was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her film work.- Actor
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel Maslany was born on 17 September 1988 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is an actor and composer, known for Impulse (2018), Four in the Morning (2016) and Essex County (2023). He has been married to Lucy Hill since 30 September 2017.- Billy Miller was born on 17 September 1979 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Young and the Restless (1973), General Hospital (1963) and American Sniper (2014). He died on 15 September 2023 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Na In-woo was born on 17 September 1994 in Gwangju, South Korea. He is an actor, known for River Where the Moon Rises (2021), Mr. Queen (2020) and It's Okay to Be Sensitive (2018).
- Actor
- Director
Genial, pleasant-voiced character actor Paul Benedict was born in New Mexico on September 17, 1938, and made hosts of stage, film and TV appearances in a career lasting five decades. The son of a doctor, he was diagnosed with acromegaly by an endocrinologist who happened to catch the nascent actor in a stage play. He underwent medical treatment that successfully prevented the advancing of the disease. Following military service with the Marine Corps., Paul went on to a highly successful entertainment career using his spade-sized jaw and large nose often to humorous effect.
Following his graduation from Suffolk University, Benedict began acting at the Theatre Company of Boston and performed with such up-and-coming hopefuls as Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino before moving to New York in 1968. Decades laterk, Pacino remembered his old colleague when he revived Eugene O'Neill's one-act, two-person drama "Hughie" on Broadway in 1996. Paul was cast as the hotel night clerk who listens patiently and endlessly to the forlorn ramblings of Pacino's hustler character. Paul made his unofficial Broadway debut in 1968 with "Leda Had a Little Swan," but it closed just before it officially opened. He then went on to appear in "Little Murders" (1969), "The White House Murder Case" (1970) and "Bad Habits" (1974).
Benedict began his on-camera career with the little seen western film spoof The Double-Barrelled Detective Story (1965) and then was seen in another spoof, the political satire The Virgin President (1968). He continued in a quirky, humorous vein in Norman Lear's Cold Turkey (1971), as well as Taking Off (1971), They Might Be Giants (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), Deadhead Miles (1972), Up the Sandbox (1972) and The Front Page (1974). Lear took a liking to Paul and began using him as a guest on some of his classic TV comedies, including "Maude" and "All in the Family," before casting him as Harry Bentley, the polite but put-upon white Englishman next door neighbor to affluent black couple Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley on the decade-long comedy series The Jeffersons (1975). It remains his best known oddball comedy role. Another familiar character would be The Mad Painter on the long-running children's PBS show Sesame Street (1969).
He played an fascinating assortment of erudite, toothy and tweedy characters on film, one of his best remembered being that of Reverend Lindquist in Jeremiah Johnson (1972). He also played the emissary of the governor in The Front Page (1974), a slave trader in Mandingo (1975), an untalented Shakespearean stage director in The Goodbye Girl (1977); an eccentric butler in The Man with Two Brains (1983); another butler in Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988); a business college professor in Cocktail (1988); a warden in The Chair (1988); a film school teacher in The Freshman (1990); an irritated judge in The Addams Family (1991); and a professor in Isn't She Great (2000).
Benedict made an impression as a stage director as well, including "Any Given Day," the original production of "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," and the Obie-winning "The Kathy and Mo Show." His final Broadway appearance was as Mayor Shinn in the 2000 revival of "The Music Man" and he took his final curtain call with Pinter's "No Man's Land" at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On TV, Paul made appearances on some of TV's most popular shows, including "Sweepstakes," "Mama Malone," "Murder, She Wrote," "The New Twilight Zone," "A Different World," "Tales from the Crypt," "Seinfeld" and "The Drew Carey Show." On film, Paul became a stock player for Christopher Guest and his hilarious "mockumentary" features -- This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Waiting for Guffman (1996) (as the long-awaited guest) and A Mighty Wind (2003).
Unmarried, the 70-year-old actor died of natural causes on December 1, 2008, at his home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.- Actress
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- Producer
Lupe Ontiveros was born on 17 September 1942 in El Paso, Texas, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for As Good as It Gets (1997), Selena (1997) and Chuck & Buck (2000). She was married to Elias P. Ontiveros. She died on 26 July 2012 in Whittier, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Kevin Clash was born on 17 September 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Sesame Street (1969), Muppet Treasure Island (1996) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990). He was previously married to Genia Loving.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Antoni Corone launched his career in the mid-1980s, usually cast as rugged, slightly imposing and domineering types - including club military men, officers of the law and mob types. With over 25 years in front of the camera with acclaimed turns in films like We Own The Night, Bad Boys 2, Oz , I Love You Phillip Morris, Sunlight Jr.i and the Sounds Of Philadelphia, among others, Antoni has held his own with many golden globe or academy award nominees or winners and consequently, has become a well established character actor. His production skills on many indie films have helped investors realize returns on their investments for the past 15 years, including executive producing, writing and co directing the web series sensation The MobKing. He is also an activist, and a volunteer... running workshops for actors of all levels, volunteering for his local school system and bringing awareness to issues such as bullying .- Nam Ji-hyun was born on 17 September 1995 in Incheon, Korea. She is an actress, known for 100 Days My Prince (2018), Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013) and Suspicious Partner (2017).
- Shelby Flannery was born on 17 September 1995 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for NCIS (2003), The 100 (2014) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Catherine Tyldesley was born on 17 September 1983 in Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Coronation Street (1960), Emmerdale Farm (1972) and Trollied (2011). She has been married to Tom Pitfield since 21 May 2016. They have two children.- Denyse Tontz was born on September 17, 1994 in San Diego, California. She is an actress and songwriter, known for Freeform's "The Fosters", USA's "Paradise Pictures" and SyFY/USA's "Incorporated". She will star in the upcoming drama "Grand Hotel", airing June 17th on ABC. Having begun songwriting at the age of eleven, Tontz has developed an audience in both the film world and the music world.
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Michelle Joyner was born on 17 September 1961 in Sacramento, California, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Cliffhanger (1993), Outbreak (1995) and Quantum Leap (1989). She has been married to Robert H. Egan since 2001. They have four children.- Actress
- Music Department
Lily Frazer was born on 17 September 1988 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Saint Maud (2019), Ladhood (2019) and Motherland (2016). She has been married to Adam Pritchard since 1 October 2022. They have one child.