Celebrity Bedroom Eyes
As the title says; list of celebrities with bedroom eyes, sleepy eyes aka Greek eyes. No particular order. A work in progress...
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- Irene Courakos is known for Degrassi High (1987) and School's Out! (1992).
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tony Award and Emmy Award winner Judith Light made her professional stage debut in 1970 and made her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of A Doll's House starring Liv Ullmann and Sam Waterston. She made her television breakthrough in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live (1968). She assumed the role of Karen Woleck (originated by Kathryn Breech (1976-77), and for a brief period, replaced by Julia Duffy (1977)). Light's extensive theater experience added multidimensional facets to the character, and the performance earned the actress two consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Light departed from her character in 1983 - to star in ABC's new prime-time sitcom Who's the Boss? (1984) - the role of Karen Woleck was not recast, instead, she departs for an off-screen life in Canada, coinciding with Light's departure from the series. After Light's success on daytime, she landed the leading role of assertive advertising executive Angela Bower on the ABC sitcom Who's the Boss? (1984). The actress co-starred with Tony Danza, who played her housekeeper (and eventual lover). Also featured were Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro and Katherine Helmond. The series ran for eight seasons and had constant success. Light also lent her craft to the short lived sitcoms Phenom (1993) and The Simple Life (2003), and several made-for-TV productions, including the biographical drama The Ryan White Story (1989) (in which she portrayed Jeanne White, the mother of HIV/AIDS positive teenager Ryan White); the actress also portrayed Alabama murderer Audrey Marie Hilley in Wife, Mother, Murderer (1991).
In 1999, Light returned to her theater roots for the off-Broadway production of Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit (2001); the actress received rave reviews as a college professor battling ovarian cancer-and reprised the role for the national tour. Light returned to television in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999); the actress assumed the recurring role of Judge Elizabeth Connelly, making her first appearance during the third season episode Guilt (2002), which was broadcast on March 29, 2009. The character appeared in 25 more episodes of the series, making her last appearance in season 12 episode Behave (2010). Light also appeared in the ABC comedy-drama Ugly Betty (2006), in which Light's performance as the recurring Claire Meade resulted in a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2014, she began starring as Shelly Pfefferman in the critically acclaimed Amazon Studios dark comedy-drama series Transparent (2014), for which she received Golden Globe, Primetime Emmy, and Critics' Choice Television Award nominations.- Actress
- Producer
- Editorial Department
Emmy Award-winning Sarah Michelle Gellar was born on April 14, 1977 in New York City, the daughter of Rosellen (Greenfield), who taught at a nursery school, and Arthur Gellar, who worked in the garment industry. She is of Russian Jewish and Hungarian Jewish descent.
Eating in a local restaurant, Sarah was discovered by an agent when she was four years old. Soon after, she was making her first movie An Invasion of Privacy (1983). Besides a long list of movies, she has also appeared in many TV commercials and on the stage. Her breakthrough came with the television series Swans Crossing (1992). In 1997, she became known to the cinema audience when she appeared in two movies: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Scream 2 (1997). But she is most commonly known for her title role in the long-running television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). She also won an Emmy Award for her performance as Kendall Hart on the soap opera All My Children (1970).
Sarah has since starred in many films, including Simply Irresistible (1999), Cruel Intentions (1999), and the live-action Scooby-Doo (2002) movies as the lovable Daphne Blake. She also provided her voice to several movies, including Small Soldiers (1998), Happily N'Ever After (2006) and TMNT (2007), starred in the box office hit The Grudge (2004), and co-starred with Robin Williams and James Wolk in the television series The Crazy Ones (2013).
She resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband, Freddie Prinze Jr.. They have been married since 2002, and have two children.- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Eliza Dushku was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Judith (Rasmussen), a political science professor, and Philip R. Dushku, a teacher and administrator. Her father is Albanian and her mother is American (of Danish, Irish, English, and German descent). She was discovered at the end of a five-month search throughout the United States for the perfect girl to play the lead role of Alice opposite Juliette Lewis in the film That Night (1992). Since then, she has been in several films and has worked with actors such as Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Reiser, and Jim Belushi. Born in Boston on December 30, 1980, she has studied the piano, drums, and several types of dance (jazz, tap, and ballet). Her previous acting experience includes numerous amateur presentations at the Watertown Children's Theater where she was part of the company since she was in the first grade. In addition to acting, she is sometimes seen on stage at the Children's Theater signing for the deaf.- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
She spent the first years of her childhood in her Greek homeland until she moved to Hamburg with her parents in 1958. After her parents divorced in 1961, Vicky Leandros grew up with her father, attended a high school in Hamburg and received singing, guitar and ballet lessons. Her extraordinary singing talent quickly became apparent and she was further encouraged. She made her first television appearance at the age of 13 on NDR's "Aktuelle Schaubude". Their first single was also released in 1965 and was titled "Knife, Scissors, Fork, Light". Vicky Leandros had her international breakthrough when she took part in the "Grand Prix d''Eurovision de la Chanson" in Vienna in 1967.
For Luxembourg she sang the French title "L'' Amour est bleu" and reached fourth place. The song was an incredible success, it was interpreted in a total of four languages and went quadruple platinum. For her performance, Vicky Leandros was awarded the "Golden Europe" in 1968. She owes her international popularity not least to the fact that she performed her songs in several languages right from the start. At the age of 16 she sang in French, Italian, English, Greek, German and even Japanese, later adding Spanish and Dutch. Vicky Leandros made her greatest success and the step to global stardom in 1972. She took part again for Luxembourg in the "Grand Prix d''Eurovision de la Chanson" and won the competition with her title "Après toi".
"Après toi" was recorded in seven languages and sold over 4.5 million copies - making it the best-selling song worldwide in 1972. From then on, Vicky Leandros sang in the largest stadiums in Europe, such as the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Paris Olympics, and she got her own TV show on the British television station BBC. She also had her own television shows in Germany, such as "Portrait Vicky Leandros" (1973) and "Mein Lied für Dich" (1974). After further successful single releases, she went to the USA in 1976, but was unable to build on her European successes there. In 1980 she married the Greek Ivan Zissiadis, with whom she had their son Leandraki. The divorce took place in 1983 and was accompanied by dramatic events and great media interest.
Ivan Zissiadis kidnapped their son to Greece. After lengthy court negotiations, Vicky Leandros was awarded custody and her son was returned to her care. In the years that followed, Vicky Leandros continued to have worldwide success. She recorded many albums in different languages, which were awarded multiple gold and platinum awards. She recorded 31 albums for the Japanese market alone, 63 for Greece, 46 for the Benelux countries and many more. In 1986 she married Baron Enno Freiherr von Ruffin, with whom she had their daughters Milana and Sandra. In the following years she largely withdrew from the public eye in order to be able to devote herself to family life. After a nine-year break from the stage, Vicky Leandros went on tour again for the first time in 1995 and produced three successful albums with producer Jack White.
Since Vicky Leandros didn't want to be dismissed as just a pop singer, she separated from White in 1999 and recorded the album "Now!" on. In September 2001 she was awarded the "Golden Tuning Fork". Even though she was able to celebrate great success in Germany, she was always particularly celebrated in her Greek homeland. She received a great honor in 2003 when, accompanied by a 300-strong choir and a 70-person orchestra, she was allowed to perform in the venerable Herodes Atticus, at the foot of the Acropolis. She was subsequently awarded the "Order of St. Marco First Class," making her an official ambassador of the Orthodox Church. Vicky Leandros is the first woman to be awarded this medal. In spring 2005, Vicky Leandros announced her separation from her husband Enno Freiherr von Ruffin.
In March 2006, Vicky Leandros took part in the preliminary round of the "Eurovision Song Contest" in order to be able to represent Germany in the international competition this time. But she couldn't prevail against Olli Dittrich's country band "Texas Lightening". Vicky Leandro's track record to date includes over 450 single and over 460 long play releases. She sold over 40 million records worldwide. Parallel to her singing career, Vicky Leandros entered Greek politics in 2006, where she won a mandate for the social democratic PASOK and has since served as deputy mayor of the city of Piraeus.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Anjanette Comer was born on 7 August 1939 in Dawson, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for The Baby (1973), Guns for San Sebastian (1968) and The Loved One (1965).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Before the age of five, Tracy had a film credit to her name. The daughter of singer Ricky Nelson and Kristin Harmon, she appeared as one of Henry Fonda's daughters in the movie Yours, Mine and Ours (1968). In 1982, she became the popular Valley Girl "Jennifer DeNuccio" on the television series Square Pegs (1982) which ran from 1982-83. This show made Tracy's name well known in Hollywood. She made a few small appearances in movies while continuing to pursue television roles, and returned in series Glitter (1984). Two years later, she was in the Nick Nolte/Bette Midler movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). In 1987, Tracy was very sick and one month after her marriage to William R. Moses, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, but later cured. In 1989, she returned to television as "Sister Stephanie 'Steve' Oskowski" in Father Dowling Mysteries (1989). Since that time, she has appeared in a handful of television movies, including the TV series A League of Their Own (1993) and had a recurring role on Melrose Place (1992).- Actress
- Writer
- Music Department
Lisa Zane was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Lisa is an actor and writer, known for Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), The Nurse (1997) and Monkeybone (2001).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Sharon's early life was one of constant moving as her father served in the military. When she lived in Italy, she was voted "Homecoming Queen" of her high school. After being an extra in a few Italian films, Sharon headed to Hollywood where she would again start as an extra. Her first big break came when she was cast as the shapely bank secretary, "Janet Trego", in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) (1963-1965). In 1967, she would meet her future husband, director Roman Polanski, on the set of the English film The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). Sharon's big role would be that same year when she was the starlet in Valley of the Dolls (1967). With her marriage to Roman, her life became one of parties, travel and meeting influential movie people. She would appear as a red-haired beauty in the spy spoof The Wrecking Crew (1968) working with Dean Martin and the equally beautiful Elke Sommer. Sharon was 2 months pregnant of her first child while filming in Italy and France a funny Italian comedy movie 12 + 1 (1969) in February 1969. On August 9, 1969 Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Steve Parent, and Voytek Frykowski were murdered by 3 of Charles Manson's followers: Charles 'Tex' Watson, Susan Atkins (died in prison in 2009), and Patricia Krenwinkel. Manson died in prison in 2017. Watson and Krenwinkel are still in prison.- Actress
- Producer
The second daughter of manufacturing executive Oscar Blum and his wife Dorothy, Tanya Roberts was born 1949 in Manhattan and grew up in the elite Westchester County suburbs Scarsdale and Greenburgh. Tanya reportedly dropped out of high school, got married and hitchhiked around the country until her mother-in-law had the marriage annulled. She met psychology student Barry Roberts while waiting in line to see a movie. A few months later, she proposed to him in a subway station, and they were married. She studied acting under Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen. In her early years in New York, she supported herself as an Arthur Murray dance instructor and by modeling. She appeared in off-Broadway productions of "Picnic" and "Antigone", and in television commercials for Ultra Brite, Clairol and Cool Ray sunglasses.
In 1977, Tanya and her husband -- by then a scriptwriter -- moved to Hollywood. She began appearing in made-for-TV films including Pleasure Cove (1979), Zuma Beach (1978), and Waikiki (1980). Her film debut was in The Last Victim (1976). After appearing in several minor films, her first big break came when she was selected as the last Angel on the final season of Charlie's Angels (1976), and was featured on the cover of People magazine (02/09/1981). The attention she garnered helped secure her most significant film roles: The Beastmaster (1982) (and posed for the cover and an inside spread in Playboy magazine to promote the film), the title role in Sheena (1984) and as a Bond girl in A View to a Kill (1985). She continued to appear in films, though mainly direct-to-video and direct-to-cable features. She was featured in the CD computer game The Pandora Directive (1996) and had a recurring lead role in the television series That '70s Show (1998). Widowed in 2006, Tanya Roberts died of sepsis from a urinary tract infection in 2021.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
This elegant lady has defined the television version of the rich, sophisticated businesswoman who knows what she wants, and will do whatever it takes to get it. She was born Patsy Ann McClenny on February 3, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. She began acting as a child, when her mother enrolled her in drama lessons after she was too shy to give a book report in class. From the age of 10, she performed in children's plays. Later, she would do dinner theater and stock productions in Dallas. She chose Morgan as a stage name. In 1973, Morgan decided to pursue a career in television; just 6 weeks after moving to New York, she landed the key role of Jennifer in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1951); she stayed on until 1977.
Morgan moved to Los Angeles, where she originated the role of Jenna Wade on the wildly popular nighttime soap opera Dallas (1978) (Jenna was later portrayed by Priscilla Presley). Morgan made numerous guest appearances on television series. She played Constance (Weldon) Carlyle in Flamingo Road (1980), and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress; that was her breakout series that propelled her to stardom.
Morgan continued to perform in live theater, her acclaimed portrayal of Skye in the off-Broadway comedy "Geniuses" helped make it one of the "Top Ten Plays" of the year according to Time Magazine and the New York Times. Other stage appearances have included productions of "Goodbye Charlie" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On television, she played the naughty Racine in the soap opera Paper Dolls (1984) in 1984. Later, she starred in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981) from 1985-86, having made a niche for herself playing ambitious beauties. Morgan received an Emmy nomination for a special episode of Murphy Brown (1988).
Morgan has shared some of her beauty secrets by authoring the book "Super Looks" which is a complete guide that includes makeup, exercise, and diet tips. Morgan is a member of the Entertainment Industry AIDS Task Force. She is an active speaker on environmental issues and helped found the Environmental Communications Office, which encourages entertainment industry professionals to become better educated and more active on environmental issues. Morgan is a collector of movie memorabilia (particularly anything about Marilyn Monroe) and antique clothing. She is a ballet fan and is also interested in anthropology and paleontology; Morgan is truly a brainy beauty.- Cyd Hayman originally planned to become a journalist but turned to acting through LAMDA, taking various jobs to pay her fees. She worked in rep at Liverpool, Ipswich, Folkestone and the Mermaid in London before getting her big break on television in the series Manhunt (1970), in which she played the leading role of Nina. Before that, she had appeared in Armchair Theatre (1956), the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964), and Love Story (1963). Other television roles include Clochemerle (1972), The Lotus Eaters (1972), The Persuaders! (1971), Crime of Passion (1970), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971), and The Two Ronnies (1971). Her film credits include Percy (1971) and Guns Before Butter (2005).
- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Barbara Parkins is best remembered as an icon of the Sixties who had starring roles in two of the era's more notorious productions, Peyton Place (1964) and Valley of the Dolls (1967). After arriving in Hollywood as a teenager, Parkins soon began appearing on episodic television programs such as Wagon Train (1957) and Perry Mason (1957). She also appeared with George Burns as a dancer in his nightclub act. She was soon offered the pivotal role of "Betty Anderson" in what would become television's first prime-time soap opera, Peyton Place (1964). The show was an immediate success and turned Parkins, along with costars Ryan O'Neal and Mia Farrow into household names. Parkins was nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Actress and stayed with the series for its entire 5 year run. Her popularity was further solidified when, in 1967, she starred in the motion picture Valley of the Dolls (1967), which became a huge box office hit. She became close friends with her "Dolls" costar, Sharon Tate and traveled to London to be her bridesmaid when Tate married director Roman Polanski in 1968. Parkins fell in love with England, UK. After Tate's murder in 1969, Parkins decided to leave Hollywood and took up residence in London. There, she appeared on the BBC and starred in such international productions as Puppet on a Chain (1970), Christina (1974) and Shout at the Devil (1976). Her career, however, was no longer the prime focus of her life. She married in the late 1970's and lived in France for awhile. When her marriage ended, Parkins returned to the United States and gave Hollywood another try. She appeared in popular TV shows of the day, such as The Love Boat (1977), Fantasy Island (1977), and Hotel (1983). She also filmed Bear Island (1979) with Donald Sutherland and Vanessa Redgrave and Breakfast in Paris (1982). Parkins joined other original cast members for a Peyton Place reunion movie, Peyton Place: The Next Generation (1985), in 1985. Her career, however, was once again put on hold when her daughter, Christina Parkins, was born. Parkins has made infrequent appearances since the late 1980's although she did return to weekly television for a brief stint in the CBS-TV series Scene of the Crime (1991) which was filmed in the city she was born, Vancouver. In 1997, Parkins was the guest of honor at a 30th anniversary screening of Valley of the Dolls (1967) in San Francisco. During a question-and-answer segment with columnist Ted Casablanca, she announced to the sold-out audience that she planned to retire. The following year, however, she appeared in Scandalous Me: The Jacqueline Susann Story (1998), based on the life of Valley of the Dolls' controversial author. Whether Parkins will resume her career full- time or really retire is unknown at this time.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Anna Thalbach was born on 1 June 1973 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Downfall (2004) and The Little Ghost (2013).- Actress
- Director
- Additional Crew
Katharina Thalbach was born on 19 January 1954 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress and director, known for The Tin Drum (1979), Der Minister (2013) and I've Never Been to New York (2019). She is married to Uwe Hamacher.- Julia Brendler was born on 26 February 1975 in Schwedt, German Democratic Republic. She is an actress, known for Dolphins (1999), Deeply (2000) and Nord Nord Mord (2011).
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Diana Glenn was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She is known for The Slap (2011), Satisfaction (2007) and Black Water (2007). She has been married to Vince Colosimo since 2010. They have one child.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Nastassja Kinski was born Nastassja Aglaia Nakszynski on January 24, 1961 in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski. In 1976, she met director Roman Polanski, who urged her to study method acting with Lee Strasberg in the United States. Kinski starred in the Italian romantic drama Stay as You Are (1978) with Marcello Mastroianni, gaining her recognition in the United States after the film's release on December 21, 1979. She played the title character in Polanski's romantic drama Tess (1979), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" (1891).
Kinski starred in Francis Ford Coppola's romantic musical One from the Heart (1981), her first film made in the United States. The film became a box office bomb and was a major loss for Coppola's production company Zoetrope Studios. She also starred in the erotic horror movie Cat People (1982) with Malcolm McDowell, a remake of the 1942 classic of the same name. She appeared in Wim Wenders' drama movie Paris, Texas (1984) with Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell. One of her most acclaimed films, the film won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival.
During the 1990s, Kinski appeared in a number of American films, including the action movie Terminal Velocity (1994) opposite Charlie Sheen, One Night Stand (1997), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998), John Landis' Susan's Plan (1998), and The Lost Son (1999). She has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States.- Actress
- Writer
Lara Parker was born, Mary Lamar Rickey, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and grew up in Memphis. She attended Central High School in Memphis, and won a scholarship to Vassar College. At Vassar, Lara began a major in philosophy, which she completed at Southwestern at Memphis (now Rhodes College), receiving her BA. She attended graduate school at the University of Iowa and completed all course work on a Masters in speech and drama.
It was during the summer when Lara was supposed to write her thesis, she acted at the Millbrook Playhouse, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. She did 5 leading roles in 6 weeks. Rather than returning to Iowa, she decided to try her luck in New York. During only her second week in the city, she was cast as Angelique, the witch, in the daytime horror serial, Dark Shadows (1966). It was a role she held for 5 years.
It culminated with the film, Night of Dark Shadows (1971). While still in New York, Lara appeared on Broadway, in the play, "Woman is My Idea", as well as 2 off-Broadway plays: "Lulu" and "A Gun Play".
In 1972, Lara moved to Los Angeles, and began working in film and prime-time television, performing many guest starring roles, and occasionally returning to daytime television.
After retiring from acting, she changed her focus back to what her original interests were. She became a high school and college English teacher, and obtained her MFA in creative writing (from Antioch University). Parker authored four novels based on "Dark Shadows" (see book section, below).
Parker lived in California with her husband, Jim Hawkins and their daughter, Caitlin Hawkins. She died at age 84 from cancer in October 2023.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Nancy Travis was born in New York City, to Theresa, a social worker, and Gordon Travis, a sales executive. She lived in Baltimore and Boston before returning to her birthplace to study drama at New York University. Her first job out of school was with New York's American Jewish Theater, after which she hit the road, joining the national tour of Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs." She has maintained a connection to the stage throughout her career. A founding member of the New York-based off-Broadway theater company Naked Angels, she appeared in their production of Frank Pugliese's play "Aven-U Boys, " as well as "King of Connecticut" with Frances McDormand. She also performed in the Broadway run of the award-winning play "I'm Not Rappaport" with Cleavon Little and Judd Hirsch. More recently, she appeared in Athol Fugard's "My Children, My Africa," which the author directed at the La Jolla Playhouse. No stranger to television, Travis starred with Peter Gallagher and Isabella Rossellini in the Tom Cruise-directed segment of the Showtime anthology series Fallen Angels (1993).- Judy Gringer was born on 23 January 1941 in Denmark. She is an actress, known for The Factory Outing (1978), Julefrokosten (1976) and Poeten og Lillemor (1959).
- Jane Buckingham is an American author, a marketing expert and the founder and president of Trendera, a boutique marketing firm specializing in trend forecasting, brand strategy and generational research. Jane is considered one of the country's foremost experts on Generations X, Y and Z, and has been studying and interpreting trends for over 25 years. Jane is the bestselling author of The Modern Girl's Guide book series and was a host of the television series The Modern Girl's Guide to Life, which aired on the Style network for four years.
- Silvia Monti was born on 23 January 1946 in Bassano del Grappa, Veneto, Italy. She is an actress, known for Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), Blackie the Pirate (1971) and The Fifth Cord (1971). She has been married to Carlo de Benedetti since 10 July 1997. She was previously married to Luigi Donà dalle Rose.
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- Soundtrack
Sophia Loren was born as Sofia Scicolone at the Clinica Regina Margherita in Rome on September 20, 1934. Her father Riccardo was married to another woman and refused to marry her mother Romilda Villani, despite the fact that she was the mother of his two children (Sophia and her younger sister Maria Scicolone). Growing up in the slums of Pozzuoli during the second World War without any support from her father, she experienced great sadness in her childhood. Her life took an unexpected turn for the best when, at age 14, she entered into a beauty contest and placed as one of the finalists. It was here that Sophia caught the attention of film producer Carlo Ponti, some 22 years her senior, whom she later married. Perhaps he was the father figure she never experienced as a child. Under his guidance, Sophia was put under contract and appeared as an extra in ten films beginning with Le sei mogli di Barbablù (1950), before working her way up to supporting roles. In these early films, she was credited as "Sofia Lazzaro" because people joked her beauty could raise Lazzarus from the dead.
By her late teens, Sophia was playing lead roles in many Italian features such as La favorita (1952) and Aida (1953). In 1957, she embarked on a successful acting career in the United States, starring in Boy on a Dolphin (1957), Legend of the Lost (1957), and The Pride and the Passion (1957) that year. She had a short-lived but much-publicized fling with co-star Cary Grant, who was nearly 31 years her senior. She was only 22 while he was 53, and she rejected a marriage proposal from him. They were paired together a second time in the family-friendly romantic comedy Houseboat (1958). While under contract to Paramount, Sophia starred in Desire Under the Elms (1958), The Key (1958), The Black Orchid (1958), It Started in Naples (1960), Heller in Pink Tights (1960), A Breath of Scandal (1960), and The Millionairess (1960) before returning to Italy to star in Two Women (1960). The film was a period piece about a woman living in war-torn Italy who is raped while trying to protect her young daughter. Originally cast as the more glamorous child, Sophia fought against type and was re-cast as the mother, displaying a lack of vanity and proving herself as a genuine actress. This performance received international acclaim and was honored with an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Sophia remained a bona fide international movie star throughout the sixties and seventies, making films on both sides of the Atlantic, and starring opposite such leading men as Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, and Charlton Heston. Her English-language films included El Cid (1961), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Arabesque (1966), Man of La Mancha (1972), and The Cassandra Crossing (1976). She gained wider respect with her Italian films, especially Marriage Italian Style (1964) and A Special Day (1977), both of which co-starred Marcello Mastroianni. During these years she received a second Oscar nomination and won five Golden Globe Awards.
From the eighties onward, Sophia's appearances on the big screen came few and far between. She preferred to spend the majority of her time raising sons Carlo Ponti Jr. (b. 1968) and Edoardo Ponti (b. 1973). Her only acting credits during the decade were five television films, beginning with Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980), a biopic in which she portrayed herself and her mother. She ventured into other areas of business and became the first actress to launch her own fragrance and design of eyewear. In 1982 she voluntarily spent nineteen days in jail for tax evasion.
In 1991 Sophia received an Honorary Academy Award for her body of work, and was declared "one of world cinema's greatest treasures." That same year, she experienced a terrible loss when her mother died of cancer. Her return to mainstream films in Ready to Wear (1994) was well-received, although the film as a whole was not. She followed this up with her biggest U.S. hit in years, the comedy Grumpier Old Men (1995), in which she played a sexy divorcée who seduces Walter Matthau. Over the next decade Sophia had plum roles in a few independent films like Soleil (1997), Between Strangers (2002) (directed by Edoardo), and Lives of the Saints (2004). Still beautiful at 72, she posed scantily-clad for the 2007 Pirelli Calendar. Sadly, that same year she mourned the death of her 94-year-old spouse, Carlo Ponti. In 2009, after far too much time away from film, she appeared in the musical Nine (2009) opposite Daniel Day-Lewis. These days Sophia is based in Switzerland but frequently travels to the states to spend time with her sons and their families (Eduardo is married to actress Sasha Alexander). Sophia Loren remains one of the most beloved and recognizable figures in the international film world.- Monika Dierauer was born in 1969. She is an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Stadtklinik (1993) and Westerdeich (1995).
- Sandra Maria Gronewald is known for Gute Arbeit Originals (2016), Hallo Deutschland (1997) and Drehscheibe Deutschland (1998).
- Actress
- Executive
Caren Miosga-Grob was born on 11 April 1969 in Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress and executive, known for Tagesthemen (1978), Ich war Angela Merkel: Das Zahlemann Protokoll (2021) and Titel, Thesen, Temperamente (1967). She has been married to Tobias Grob since 2007. They have two children.- Actress
- Writer
Anne Gesthuysen was born on 2 October 1969 in Geldern, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She is an actress and writer, known for Verbotene Liebe (1995), Morgenmagazin (1992) and Wir sind doch Schwestern (2018). She has been married to Frank Plasberg since August 2012. They have one child.- Martina Servatius was born on 30 October 1954 in East Berlin, East Germany. She was an actress, known for Verbotene Liebe (1995), Tatort (1970) and Familie Neumann (1984). She was married to Karl Jürgen Sihler. She died on 4 July 2016 in Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany.
- Petra Gerster was born on 25 January 1955 in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. She is an actress, known for Heute (1963), ML Mona Lisa (1988) and Der Schuß (2001). She has been married to Christian Nürnberger since 1985. They have two children.
- Astrid Frohloff was born on 21 August 1962 in Wittingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress and executive, known for The Millennium Disaster - Computer Crash 2000 (1999), 18:30 (1995) and Kontraste (1968). She is married to Jürgen Hogrefe. They have one child.
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Sondra Locke was born May 28, 1944 as Sandra Louise Smith, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, a quiet little town about 60 miles southeast of Nashville. She was the daughter of Raymond Smith, a military man stationed at nearby Tullahoma, and Pauline Bayne. Smith departed the scene before Sondra's birth. In 1945, her mother wed William B. Elkins, and together they had a son, Donald, on April 26, 1946. The short union ended in divorce. In 1948, Bayne remarried. Alfred Locke bestowed his surname on Pauline's children and raised them as his own. Sondra's stepfather was a carpenter; her mother worked in a pencil factory. For the smart, fanciful Locke, "My childhood felt as if I had been dropped off at an extended summer camp from which I was waiting to be picked up." The bright girl loved to read, which puzzled her simple mother, who was always pushing her to spend more time outside. Sondra's happiest moments occurred on weekend visits to the local movie theater.
Locke was a cheerleader in junior high and graduated valedictorian of Shelbyville Mills' 1957-1958 eighth grade class. At Shelbyville Central High School, the "classroom was the one place where I felt like I had a chance to prove myself and I continued to excel. I felt safe there and I liked it." Her best friend was classmate Gordon Anderson, the son of a teacher, whose family had relocated to the area from Arkansas around 1953. He was a fey young man, who shared many of Sondra's fanciful hopes about the future and was her collaborator in devising harmless ways to make their lives in Shelbyville more magical. One of the duo's frequent activities was making home movies with Gordon's Super 8 camera.
When Gordon attended Middle Tennessee State University (in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles from Nashville) in 1962, Sondra enrolled there too. Upon completing freshman year, Sondra had a blowup with her mother, left home, and did not return to college. Instead, she worked in Nashville as a promotions assistant for WSM-TV, with occasional modeling and voiceover work. While in Nashville, Locke began acting in community theater as a member of Circle Players Inc. Along the way she dated George Crook, a cameraman from WSM, and Brad Crandall, head of the station's public relations department. She also enjoyed a romance with law student Gary Gober, whom she had been in plays with. Meanwhile, Gordon revealed to her that he was homosexual. He went off to Manhattan to study acting and, for a while, had a lover there. Anderson was talented but unfocused about his theater craft and eventually returned to Tennessee. Because of Locke's spiritual kinship with Anderson, she and Gordon decided to wed. The mixed-orientation couple were married at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville on September 25, 1967. (Reputedly, the marriage was never consummated.)
If Gordon was unable to launch his own acting career, he had no such problems igniting Sondra's. Months before their wedding, he learned that Warner Bros. was holding a nationwide search for a young actress to play a key role in the screen adaptation of Carson McCullers' novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968). Anderson helped Locke research the part of Mick, a teenage waif in a southern town who befriends a suicidal deaf-mute (Alan Arkin) boarding at the house where she lives. For the audition, in Birmingham, Alabama, Gordon bleached her eyebrows, bound her bosom and carefully fixed her hair, makeup and outfit so that she would instantly impress casting agents. The ploy succeeded, and, after several callbacks, Locke -- who lied about her age to seem younger -- was hired. The movie was released in the summer of 1968 and earned respectful reviews from critics, although many filmgoers found the picture too arty. Sondra was Oscar-nominated for her sensitive portrayal.
Next, Sondra moved to Los Angeles, with Gordon in tow. She hoped to parlay her Academy Award nomination into further movie assignments. The big-eyed, wiry bottle blonde found it difficult to win choice roles, making her accept lesser projects, the most famous of which was Willard (1971), a film about marauding rats. Cover Me Babe (1970), A Reflection of Fear (1972) and The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974) faded into cinematic obscurity. In the lattermost, Locke played a Christ figure and had torrid love scenes with Paul Sand. Episodic television provided steadier acting opportunities: the anthology program Night Gallery (1969) and dramatic series including The F.B.I. (1965), Cannon (1971), Kung Fu (1972) and Barnaby Jones (1973). Thanks in part to the limited media of the time, she was able to maintain the ruse of younger age, which no doubt extended her shelf-life amid professional lulls. It was in 1972 that she first met rising kingpin Clint Eastwood when he was preparing to direct his second feature film, Breezy (1973). For the title role, Locke was passed over in favor of nine-years-younger Kay Lenz.
For half of the 1970s, the Andersons resided at West Hollywood's Andalusia condominium complex whilst seeing other people. For a time, Sondra was involved with Bruce Davison, her co-star from Willard (1971). While working on the teleplay Gondola (1974), she gained a new boyfriend, sandy-haired actor Bo Hopkins. He was once divorced and shared her penchant for falsifying birthdates. In the spring of 1974, she visited the set of Hopkins' current project, The Killer Elite (1975), and networked with composer Jerry Fielding, who was about to score a new Western showcase for Clint Eastwood. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) had a role that Locke thought could revitalize her career. This time, Eastwood was responsive and hired the 31-year-old to play his romantic interest. In early October 1975, the complementary pair fell hard for each other on location in Page, Arizona. "We were almost living together from the very first days of the film," Locke remembered. Besotted Clint confided he'd never been in love before and wrote a poem for his new mate: "She made me monogamous." This serially philandering megastar was 14 years her senior and a foot taller than she.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) was indeed a hit, with Sondra sparking a flurry of interest among male viewers as virtually nonspeaking eye candy. Yet she stopped pursuing film roles on her own initiative to assume wifely duties, appearing on the big screen exclusively in Eastwood-controlled projects thereon. The sole exception to this was The Shadow of Chikara (1977), an Arkansas-lensed Western with burly Joe Don Baker. (The home invasion thriller Death Game (1977), though released after Locke and Eastwood became an item, was actually shot in 1974.) "Clint wanted me to work only with him," she said. "He didn't like the idea of me being away from him."
Over the next few years, Locke had two abortions from her relationship with Eastwood. In 1979, she underwent a tubal ligation at UCLA to prevent further pregnancies. She and Clint settled into a $1.12 million, seven-bedroom Spanish-style Bel-Air mansion originally built in 1931, which she spent months renovating and decorating, and which she believed would be hers for life. She continued to spend platonic time with Gordon, whom she never divorced, nurtured by their spiritual relationship. Gordon moved in and out of gay relationships, and sometimes he and a boyfriend would socialize with Clint and Sondra. As for the professional side of things, Locke and Eastwood reteamed for his action opus The Gauntlet (1977), slapstick adventure-comedy Every Which Way But Loose (1978), its sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980), the quirky satire Bronco Billy (1980) and the fourth, darkest, most ambitious "Dirty Harry" vehicle, Sudden Impact (1983). All were stellar box office performers and cemented the twosome as filmdom's most visible couple.
During this period, Sondra took a few TV roles when Clint was starring in a movie that had no part for her to play (such as Escape from Alcatraz (1979) or Firefox (1982)). The first time she worked apart from him for any length of time since The Shadow of Chikara (1977) in 1976 was Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story (1982). (Rosemary Clooney personally asked Locke to star in the CBS biopic on the strength of her performance in Bronco Billy (1980).) She later made an appearance on Britain's Tales of the Unexpected (1979) series. For the most part, however, she found herself sitting on the sidelines waiting for Eastwood to cast her in something.
By the mid-1980s, Sondra, over 40 but still refusing to admit it, was acutely aware that in Hollywood terms her leading lady days were just about finished. She had long been interested in film directing and had observed carefully how Eastwood and others directed the pictures she was in. With his blessing, she found a property that intrigued her and that his Malpaso production company would package, and developed it into a project for Warner Bros. She made Ratboy (1986), but despite good reviews, the film received scant distribution. In retrospect, Locke concluded that her exertion of authority over the project caused her longtime paramour to turn away from her, to find someone who was more compliant. (In an unpublicized affair with stewardess Jacelyn Reeves, Eastwood sired two legally fatherless children born in 1986 and 1988, in Monterey -- an "evil betrayal" Locke was unaware of.)
The showdown between Sondra and Clint occurred on December 29, 1988 at their mountain hideaway in Sun Valley, Idaho. After an unpleasant screaming match, Eastwood suggested Locke go back to Los Angeles. She sensed their relationship had passed a point of reconciliation, a fact confirmed when she scarcely saw Eastwood in subsequent months and when industry friends they knew in common shunned her. As she admitted later, "In my head I guess I knew it was over, but in my heart Clint and I were still not severed." On April 10, 1989, while she was directing a demanding sequence in a new police procedural, Impulse (1990), Eastwood had the locks changed on their house in Bel-Air. He also ordered her possessions to be boxed and put in storage. A letter addressed to "Mrs. Gordon Anderson," imperatively telling her not to come home, was delivered to her lawful husband's doorstep. When Gordon telephoned Sondra on the set and read her the letter, she fainted dead away in front of the cast and crew.
On April 26, 1989, Sondra filed a palimony lawsuit against her domestic partner of 14 years. Her "brazenness" in taking on the powerful Eastwood amazed and shocked Tinseltown and titillated the public. Her action sought unspecified damages and an equal division of the property she and Eastwood had acquired during their relationship. Locke asked for title to the Bel-Air home they had shared and to the Crescent Heights (West Hollywood) place Eastwood had purchased in 1982 (in which Gordon lived). The closed hearing was held on May 31, 1989, before a private judge. Before any court decision could be made, a private settlement was reached between the parties. Locke received $450,000, the Crescent Heights property, and a $1.5 million multiyear development-directing pact at Warner Bros. In return, she dropped her suit. By then, the fall of 1990, she was happy to end the hassle. (In the past months she had been diagnosed with cancer, undergone a double mastectomy, and endured chemotherapy.)
For the next three years Locke submitted over 30 projects to Warner Bros., but none received a green light to move ahead. Moreover, the studio refused to assign her to direct any of their in-house projects. In the mid-1990s, Sondra discovered evidence that Eastwood had arranged to reimburse Warner Bros. for her three-year studio contract -- a matter that he had never mentioned to her. It became obvious that the studio's negative professional attitude toward her had little or nothing to do with her directing or project-finding abilities. On June 5, 1995, Locke sued Eastwood again, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. She claimed that Clint's behind-the-scene actions had sent a message "to the film industry and the world at large ... that Locke was not to be taken seriously." (According to Sondra's lawyer, the situation was Clint's "way of terminating the earlier palimony suit.")
While Locke's case was revving up at the Burbank Courthouse, Eastwood begged her to settle. On September 24, 1996 -- the morning jurors were set to begin a second day of deliberation -- Sondra announced her decision to drop her suit against Clint for an undisclosed monetary reward. One contingency was laid down: she would not reveal the settlement amount. The jubilant plaintiff said, "This was never about money. It was about my fighting for my professional rights." According to the victor, "I didn't enjoy it. But sometimes you have to do things you don't enjoy." Locke added, "In this business, people get so accustomed to being abused, they just accept the abuse and say, 'Well, that's just the way it is.' Well, it isn't."
But Locke was not finished. She had a pending action against Warner Bros. for allegedly harming her career by agreeing to the sham movie-directing deal that Eastwood had purportedly engineered. On May 24, 1999, just as jury selection was beginning (and four days before Locke turned 55), the studio reached an out-of-court settlement with Sondra.
In the decade following her courtroom saga, Sondra did not direct another movie. She did make a brief return to acting with cameo roles in back-to-back low-budget independent features, The Prophet's Game (2000) and Clean and Narrow (2000), both of which failed to secure a theatrical release. In 2001, she sold her home in the Hollywood Hills and moved to another part of L.A. After interim flings with producer Hawk Koch and John F. Kennedy's nephew Robert Shriver, she had a live-in relationship with one of the physicians who had treated her during her cancer siege. Dr. Scott Cunneen, described by Locke as "Herculean," was 17 years her junior, his mother only three years older than Sondra. She eventually split up with him.
In 2016, preceded by a protracted absence from the public eye, trade press reported that Locke would come out of retirement to co-star in Alan Rudolph's Ray Meets Helen (2017) opposite Keith Carradine. The film was booked for a limited run in spring 2018. No longer able to hide her true year of birth in the post-internet era, Sondra was playing a romantic lead at the unheard of age of 74.
Locke died on November 3, 2018, of cardiac arrest stemming from metastatic breast cancer. It was not publicized until mid-December. The mysterious six-week delay raised a lot of eyebrows, especially since the belated news leaked opening day of the latest Eastwood blockbuster, The Mule (2018). According to a death certificate obtained by the media, her cancer had returned in 2015 and spread to her bones. Locke's remains were cremated at Westwood (Village) Mortuary and the ashes entrusted to her husband of 51 years. Rosanna Arquette, Frances Fisher and Evan Rachel Wood were among the celebrities who paid tribute. Despite the acrimony that followed the collapse of her famous relationship, Locke will be long remembered for her prominent roles in some of Eastwood's most popular works -- and perhaps dichotomously, as a pioneer for the rights of independent working women.- Actress
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Dunja Rajter was born on 3 March 1940 in Nasice, Yugoslavia. She is an actress, known for The Sinister Monk (1965), Stoljetna eskadra (1961) and Roots of Evil (1979). She has been married to Michael Eichler since 28 August 2009. She was previously married to Les Humphries and Gérard Vandenberg.- Actress
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From the adorably quirky "Ann" in State and Main (2000) to a sister seeking justice in The Winslow Boy (1999) to the tightly wound risk-taker and hidden co-conspirator "Susan" in The Spanish Prisoner (1997), Rebecca Pidgeon has portrayed a wide range of multifaceted characters in both film, television and on the stage.
Pidgeon was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to British parents, Elaine (nee Simpson), a yoga teacher, and Carl R. Pidgeon, a professor then teaching at MIT. She spent much of her childhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her paternal grandmother's sister was visual artist Olga Lehmann, and Rebecca's ancestry is English, as well as Scottish, German, and French.
She appeared alongside Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in RED (2010) for director Robert Schwentke. Her television credits include Phil Spector (2013) (for HBO opposite Al Pacino), and Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007) (for CBS opposite Tom Selleck). She had recurring roles on the hit series The Unit (2006) for CBS and The Shield (2002) for F/X, and had a regular role on In Justice (2006) for ABC.
She did memorable turns in Uncle Vanya for The BBC and in Samuel Beckett's Catastrophe, opposite Sir John Gielgud and Harold Pinter for Channel 4. Pidgeon played "Deeny" in The Old Neighborhood on Broadway and "Claire" in Boston Marriage at The Geffen Playhouse. She originated the role of "Carol" in Oleanna which had its world premiere at the Orpheum Theatre, off-Broadway. The character was described by one critic as "Mamet's most fully realized female character...a mousy, confused cipher". As a member of the Royal National Theatre in London, she received stellar notices for her work in Speed-the-Plow and The Changeling.
A member of The Atlantic Theatre Company, where she starred in Dangerous Corner, Pidgeon is a graduate of London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In addition to her accomplished career as an actress, Pidgeon is a singer/songwriter, whose latest album Slingshot was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Pidgeon is married to playwright/director David Mamet. Her children are Noah and Clara Mamet, an actress, and actress Zosia Mamet is her stepdaughter. She is a convert to Judaism.- Actress
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Strikingly comely brunette Patty Shepard was born in 1945 in Greenville, South Carolina. The daughter of a U.S. Air Force official, Patty moved to Spain when she was only 18 years old. After becoming popular as a model in a series of TV commercials, the lovely Ms. Shepard embarked on an acting career, making her film debut in a small part in La ciudad no es para mí (1966) (aka "The City is Not for Me"). She initially acted in paella westerns and thrillers before appearing in a handful of horror movies which include Assignment Terror (1970) (aka "Dracula vs. Frankenstein"), The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971) (aka "The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman"), Crypt of the Living Dead (1973) (aka "Crypt of the Living Dead") and The Witches Mountain (1973) (aka "The Witches' Mountain") and Special Killers (1973) (aka "La Ragazza di Via Condotti"). Patty often acted alongside Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy in these films and projects a certain eerie otherworldly aura that's stunningly similar to Barbara Steele. Other films include the end-of-the-world science fiction feature Creation of the Damned (1974) (aka "Refuge of Fear") and the tongue-in-cheek spaghetti Western oddity The Stranger and the Gunfighter (1974) (aka "The Stranger and the Gunfighter"). After appearing in the horror movies Rest in Pieces (1987) (aka "Rest in Pieces") and Slugs (1988) (aka "Slugs"), Shepard retired from acting in the late 1980's. She died of a heart attack at her home in Madrid, Spain on January 3, 2013.- Actress
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Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, comedienne, singer, and model. Monroe is of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent. She became one of the world's most enduring iconic figures and is remembered both for her winsome embodiment of the Hollywood sex symbol and her tragic personal and professional struggles within the film industry. Her life and death are still the subjects of much controversy and speculation.
She was born Norma Jeane Mortenson at the Los Angeles County Hospital on June 1, 1926. Her mother, Gladys Pearl (Monroe), was born in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, to American parents from Indiana and Missouri, and was a film-cutter at Consolidated Film Industries. Marilyn's biological father has been established through DNA testing as Charles Stanley Gifford, who had been born in Newport, Rhode Island, to a family with deep roots in the state. Because Gladys was mentally and financially unable to care for young Marilyn, Gladys placed her in the care of a foster family, The Bolenders. Although the Bolender family wanted to adopt Marilyn, Gladys was eventually able to stabilize her lifestyle and took Marilyn back in her care when Marilyn was 7 years old. However, shortly after regaining custody of Marilyn, Gladys had a complete mental breakdown and was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and was committed to a state mental hospital. Gladys spent the rest of her life going in and out of hospitals and rarely had contact with young Marilyn. Once Marilyn became an adult and celebrated as a film star, she paid a woman by the name of Inez Melson to look in on the institutionalized Gladys and give detailed reports of her progress. Gladys outlived her daughter, dying in 1984.
Marilyn was then taken in by Gladys' best friend Grace Goddard, who, after a series of foster homes, placed Marilyn into the Los Angeles Orphan's Home in 1935. Marilyn was traumatized by her experience there despite the Orphan's Home being an adequate living facility. Grace Goddard eventually took Marilyn back to live with her in 1937 although this stay did not last long as Grace's husband began molesting Marilyn. Marilyn went to live with Grace's Aunt Ana after this incident, although due to Aunt Ana's advanced age she could not care properly for Marilyn. Marilyn once again for the third time had to return to live with the Goddards. The Goddards planned to relocated and according to law, could not take Marilyn with them. She only had two choices: return to the orphanage or get married. Marilyn was only 16 years old.
She decided to marry a neighborhood friend named James Dougherty; he went into the military, she modeled, they divorced in 1946. She owned 400 books (including Tolstoy, Whitman, Milton), listened to Beethoven records, studied acting at the Actors' lab in Hollywood, and took literature courses at UCLA downtown. 20th Century Fox gave her a contract but let it lapse a year later. In 1948, Columbia gave her a six-month contract, turned her over to coach Natasha Lytess and featured her in the B movie Ladies of the Chorus (1948) in which she sang three numbers : "Every Baby Needs a Da Da Daddy", "Anyone Can Tell I Love You" and "The Ladies of the Chorus" with Adele Jergens (dubbed by Virginia Rees) and others. Joseph L. Mankiewicz saw her in a small part in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and put her in All About Eve (1950) , resulting in 20th Century re-signing her to a seven-year contract. Niagara (1953) and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) launched her as a sex symbol superstar.
When she went to a supper honoring her in the The Seven Year Itch (1955) , she arrived in a red chiffon gown borrowed from the studio (she had never owned a gown). That same year, she married and divorced baseball great Joe DiMaggio (their wedding night was spent in Paso Robles, California). After The Seven Year Itch (1955) , she wanted serious acting to replace the sexpot image and went to New York's Actors Studio. She worked with director Lee Strasberg and also underwent psychoanalysis to learn more about herself. Critics praised her transformation in Bus Stop (1956) and the press was stunned by her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller . True to form, she had no veil to match her beige wedding dress so she dyed one in coffee; he wore one of the two suits he owned. They went to England that fall where she made The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) with Laurence Olivier , fighting with him and falling further prey to alcohol and pills. Two miscarriages and gynecological surgery followed. So had an affair with Yves Montand . Work on her last picture The Misfits (1961) , written for her by departing husband Miller, was interrupted by exhaustion. She was dropped from the unfinished Something's Got to Give (1962) due to chronic lateness and drug dependency.
On August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe's day began with threatening phone calls. Dr. Ralph Greenson, Marilyn's physician, came over the following day and quoted later in a document "Felt it was possible that Marilyn had felt rejected by some of the people she had been close to." Apart from being upset that her publicist slept too long, she seemed fine. Pat Newcombe, who had stayed the previous night at Marilyn's house, left in the early evening as did Greenson who had a dinner date. Marilyn was upset he couldn't stay, and around 7:30pm she telephoned him to say that her second husband's son had called her. Peter Lawford also called Marilyn, inviting her to dinner, but she declined. Lawford later said her speech was slurred. As the evening went on there were other phone calls, including one from Jose Belanos, who said he thought she sounded fine. According to the funeral directors, Marilyn died sometime between 9:30pm and 11:30pm. Her maid unable to raise her but seeing a light under her locked door, called the police shortly after midnight. She also phoned Ralph Greenson who, on arrival, could not break down the bedroom door. He eventually broke in through French windows and found Marilyn dead in bed. The coroner stated she had died from acute barbiturate poisoning, and it was a 'probable suicide' though many conspiracies would follow in the years after her death.- Actress
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Sharen Camille is known for Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), Super Force (1990) and Superboy (1988).- Dedra London was born on 22 October 1975 in the USA. She was an actress, known for In Broad Daylight (1991). She died on 9 September 1992 in Oklahoma, USA.
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Helen Slater was born in Bethpage, New York, to Alice Joan (Citrin), a lawyer and peace activist, and Gerald Slater, a television executive. She was raised in Massapequa, Long Island, New York, and is of Eastern European Jewish descent. Appearing in many shows as a child, she attended the New York High School of Performing Arts, graduating in 1982. Having made her acting debut in Amy & the Angel (1982), co-starring with James Earl Jones and Matthew Modine. Helen took her career very seriously. Within months of her graduation, she attended auditions for the upcoming spin-off of the famous Superman (1978) franchise, Supergirl (1984). It was to be shot in England at Pinewood Studios, where the first "Superman" movies were filmed. Slater even spoke to Christopher Reeve about playing a superhero to assure herself she could do it. After being the first to present herself for audition, she was cast as the lead in the film and her career took off. Although Supergirl (1984) received mixed reviews, most critics were impressed with Helen's abilities. In fact, the critics' consensus was that she did a better job at keeping a secret identity (a mousy schoolgirl) than Reeve did as Clark Kent. In her next film, she was cast as a modern-day "Joan of Arc" in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) with Yeardley Smith and Peter Coyote. The film, though not particularly successful, has managed to attract a somewhat cult following. She next appeared in one of her best-received roles, that of the female half of the bumbling husband-and-wife team that kidnaps Bette Midler in the comic blockbuster, Ruthless People (1986), and scored again in the hit The Secret of My Success (1987). Both roles helped to cement her status as an actress of note. Next, she and her friend, Melanie Mayron, starred in the feminist comedy, Sticky Fingers (1988), a critical but not financial success. It was in this film and her next, Happy Together (1989), that she was able to prove that she could do comedy as well as drama. She went on to do more feature films such as City Slickers (1991), A House in the Hills (1993) and Lassie (1994), before making regular appearances on television. Her regional stage credits include appearances in such plays as "Grease" and "Shakespeare and Friends". On Broadway, she starred in "Responsible Parties" and "Almost Romance". She also attended classes at both NYU and UCLA, trying to broaden her acting abilities. On television, she has appeared in Caroline in the City (1995), as well as many others. She also became a spokeswoman for Preference by L'Oreal in both TV and print ads. She is an accomplished pianist and now has an album out called "One of These Days". She co-founded the New York theater group, The Naked Angels, with her friend Gina Gershon. In 1990, she married award-winning editor Robert Watzke and they have a daughter, born in 1995. She stepped out of the limelight for a couple of years, appearing mainly in the occasional TV show, but came back strong in 2003, showing moviegoers and TV audiences how great an entertainer she really is.- Actress
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Angelina Jolie is an Academy Award-winning actress who rose to fame after her role in Girl, Interrupted (1999), playing the title role in the "Lara Croft" blockbuster movies, as well as Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010) and Maleficent (2014). Off-screen, Jolie has become prominently involved in international charity projects, especially those involving refugees. She often appears on many "most beautiful women" lists, and she has a personal life that is avidly covered by the tabloid press.
Jolie was born Angelina Jolie Voight in Los Angeles, California. In her earliest years, Angelina began absorbing the acting craft from her actor parents, Jon Voight, an Oscar-winner, and Marcheline Bertrand, who had studied with Lee Strasberg. Her good looks may derive from her ancestry, which is German and Slovak on her father's side, and French-Canadian, Dutch, Polish, and remote Huron, on her mother's side. At age eleven, Angelina began studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, where she was seen in several stage productions. She undertook some film studies at New York University and later joined the renowned Met Theatre Group in Los Angeles. At age 16, she took up a career in modeling and appeared in some music videos.
In the mid-1990s, Jolie appeared in various small films where she got good notices, including Hackers (1995) and Foxfire (1996). Her critical acclaim increased when she played strong roles in the made-for-TV movies True Women (1997), and in George Wallace (1997) which won her a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy nomination. Jolie's acclaim increased even further when she played the lead role in the HBO production Gia (1998). This was the true life story of supermodel Gia Carangi, a sensitive wild child who was both brazen and needy and who had a difficult time handling professional success and the deaths of people who were close to her. Carangi became involved with drugs and because of her needle-using habits she became, at the tender age of 26, one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS. Jolie's performance in Gia (1998) again garnered a Golden Globe Award and another Emmy nomination, and she additionally earned a SAG Award.
Angelina got a major break in 1999 when she won a leading role in the successful feature The Bone Collector (1999), starring alongside Denzel Washington. In that same year, Jolie gave a tour de force performance in Girl, Interrupted (1999) playing opposite Winona Ryder. The movie was a true story of women who spent time in a psychiatric hospital. Jolie's role was reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), the role which won Nicholson his first Oscar. Unlike "Cuckoo", "Girl" was a small film that received mixed reviews and barely made money at the box office. But when it came time to give out awards, Jolie won the triple crown -- "Girl" propelled her to win the Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award and the Academy Award for best leading actress in a supporting role.
With her newfound prominence, Jolie began to get in-depth attention from the press. Numerous aspects of her controversial personal life became news. At her wedding to her Hackers (1995) co-star Jonny Lee Miller, she had displayed her husband's name on the back of her shirt painted in her own blood. Jolie and Miller divorced, and in 2000, she married her Pushing Tin (1999) co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Jolie had become the fifth wife of a man twenty years her senior. During her marriage to Thornton, the spouses each wore a vial of the other's blood around their necks. That marriage came apart in 2002 and ended in divorce. In addition, Jolie was estranged from her famous father, Jon Voight.
In 2000, Jolie was asked to star in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). At first, she expressed disinterest, but then decided that the required training for the athletic role was intriguing. The eponymous character was drawn from a popular video game. Lara Croft was a female cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond. When the movie was released, critics were unimpressed with the final product, but critical acclaim wasn't the point of the movie. The public paid $275 million for theater tickets to see a buffed up Jolie portray the adventuresome Lara Croft. Jolie's father Jon Voight appeared in the movie, and during filming there was a brief rapprochement between father and daughter.
One of the Lara Croft movie's filming locations was Cambodia. While there, Jolie witnessed the natural beauty, culture and poverty of that country. She considered this an eye opening experience, and so began the humanitarian chapter of her life. Jolie began visiting refugee camps around the world and came to be formally appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some of her experiences were written and published in her popular book "Notes from My Travels" whose profits go to UNHCR.
Jolie has stated that she now plans to spend most of her time in humanitarian efforts, to be financed by her actress salary. She devotes one third of her income to savings, one third to living expenses and one third to charity. In 2002, Angelina adopted a Cambodian refugee boy named Maddox, and in 2005, adopted an Ethiopian refugee girl named Zahara. Jolie's dramatic feature film Beyond Borders (2003) parallels some of her real life humanitarian experiences although, despite the inclusion of a romance between two westerners, many of the movie's images were too depressingly realistic -- the movie was not popular among critics or at the box office.
In 2004, Jolie began filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005) with co-star Brad Pitt. The movie became a major box office success. There were rumors that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Jolie insisted that because her mother had been hurt by adultery, she herself could never participate in an affair with a married man, therefore there had been no affair with Pitt at that time. Nonetheless, Pitt separated from his wife Jennifer Aniston in January 2005 and, in the months that followed, he was frequently seen in public with Jolie, apparently as a couple. Pitt's divorce was finalized later in 2005.
Jolie and Pitt announced in early 2006 that they would have a child together, and Jolie gave birth to daughter Shiloh that May. They also adopted a three-year-old Vietnamese boy named Pax. The couple, who married in 2014 and divorced in 2019, continue to pursue movie and humanitarian projects, and now have a total of six children. She was appointed Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George at the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to United Kingdom foreign policy and the campaign to end warzone sexual violence.- Franca Polesello was born on 27 July 1936. She was an actress, known for The Easy Life (1962), Operation White Shark (1966) and Colossus of the Arena (1962). She died on 8 March 2021 in Rome, Italy.
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Nancy Pelosi is an American Democratic Party politician serving as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since January 2019. She is the first woman in U.S. history to hold this position. As such, and having first been elected to Congress in 1987, Pelosi is the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history. As Speaker of the House, she is second in the presidential line of succession, immediately after the vice president.
As of 2019, Pelosi is in her 17th term as a congresswoman. She represents California's 12th congressional district, which consists of four fifths of the city and county of San Francisco. She initially represented the 5th district (1987-1993), and then, when district boundaries were redrawn after the 1990 Census, the 8th district (1993-2013).- Anouska Hempel was born on 13 December 1941 in Wellington, New Zealand. She is an actress, known for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Black Snake (1973) and Space: 1999 (1975). She has been married to Mark Aubrey Weinberg since 24 March 1980. They have one child. She was previously married to Bill Kenwright and Constantin Johannes Hempel.
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Entrancing, gorgeous Lesley Ann Warren started gearing towards a life in show business right off the bat as a young ballerina who trained at the School of American Ballet at the age of 14. Little did she know that Hollywood stardom would arrive on her doorstep in the form of a "Cinderella" story.
The New York-born actress (August 16, 1946) is the daughter of a night club singer, Margot Warren (née Verblow), and real estate agent, William Warren. Her mother had earlier given up her own entertainment career for marriage and family. Growing up, Lesley attended the Professional Children's School at the age of 6 and High School of Music & Art as a young teenager. At age 17, she studied under Lee Strasberg at his Actors Studio, the youngest student to ever be accepted at the time.
Looking for on-camera work, the teenager appeared unbilled as Shelley Winters's young daughter in the melodrama The Chapman Report (1962) and was given a bit in the daytime TV show "The Doctors." The slender, young hopeful gathered early musical stage experience in such shows as "Bye Bye Birdie" (as swooning teen Kim McAfee), then made an auspicious Broadway debut in "110 in the Shade", the 1963 musical version of "The Rainmaker," and won Broadway's "Most Promising Newcomer" Award. She subsequently received the Theatre World Award for her lead work as a "cat burglar" opposite Elliott Gould in the very short-lived (8 performances) musical "Drat! The Cat!" in 1965.
The attention Lesley received from this brief stage venture, however, led to her capturing the beguiling title role in the Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II TV musical production of Cinderella (1965) with Stuart Damon as her Prince and a glittering, all-star cast in support. The Walt Disney people immediate signed the exquisite "Cinderella" to a fresh-faced ingénue contract. Co-starring in the moderately-received musical showcases The Happiest Millionaire (1967) and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), Lesley became convinced that she needed to quickly nip the saccharine stereotype in the bud if she was to grow and sustain as an adult actress.
Rebelling against her studio-imposed image, Lesley left Disney determined to pursue roles with more depth, drama and character. Changing her name temporarily to "Lesley Warren" to reinforce her more mature goal, she was hired in 1970 to replace Barbara Bain in the long-running espionage series Mission: Impossible (1966) when Bain left over contractual issues. Audiences were quite cool in their reception to the "new and improved" Lesley and didn't buy her as a femme-fatale replacement for the cool and aloof Ms. Bain.
After only one season, Lesley realized her mission to grow was impossible (in spite of an encouraging Golden Globe nomination) and left the show, seeking greener pastures in the TV mini-movie market. She displayed a wide range of vulnerable neurotics as well as sexier ladies that began to alter her pristine image. Such 1970s material included the plane crash adventure Seven in Darkness (1969) as one of several blind survivors; the love drama Love Hate Love (1971) co-starring Ryan O'Neal; a failed pilot in the title role of Cat Ballou (1971); a mild western as one of The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972); the exotic "silent star" biopic The Legend of Valentino (1975); the rags-to-riches story Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977), for which she won a Golden Globe award; the epic WWII story Pearl (1978); and the social melodramas Betrayal (1978) and Portrait of a Stripper (1979). Lesley also impressed with her starring roles in the Civil War miniseries Beulah Land (1980) and as a Polish-Jewish immigrant in Evergreen (1985). On stage, she ambitiously attempted to recreate Scarlett O'Hara opposite Pernell Roberts's Rhett Butler in a 1973 Broadway-bound musical version of "Gone with the Wind: The Musical." The show quickly died on the West Coast before ever reaching New York.
In the early 1980s, Lesley's movie career resurrected itself with a priceless performance as kingpin James Garner's whiny-voiced, peroxide-blonde spitfire Norma Cassidy in the slapstick musical Victor/Victoria (1982). Earning both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, this delightful, scene-stealing turn was followed by a couple of other quality offbeat films that were directed by Alan Rudolph -- Choose Me (1984) and Songwriter (1984). Warren went on to receive a Golden Globe nomination supporting Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson in the former, and a People's Choice Award for the latter. She continued to attempt to spread her wings as a worldly "cougar" type opposite young blond and boyish Christopher Atkins in the critically-panned drama A Night in Heaven (1983). She also played Miss Scarlet in the movie version of the board game Clue (1985).
Award-worthy TV roles for Lesley with a Golden Globe performance as a successful madam in the miniseries Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue (1977). She also received Emmy and Golden Globe noms as the conflicted wife of a naval officer turned Russian double agent (Powers Boothe) in Family of Spies (1990), as well as for her Cable Ace nom for her work as a barmaid who aspires to be a country-western singer in Baja Oklahoma (1988). In 1997, she returned to Broadway with the musical revue "Dream" co-starring Margaret Whiting, which focused on classic "Golden Age" standards.
Entering her sixth decade of acting, Lesley remains highly active well into the millennium with often high-maintenance roles in such films as the Losing Grace (2001), Secretary (2002), My Tiny Universe (2004), When Do We Eat? (2005), The Shore (2006), Stiffs (2010), I Am Michael (2015), The Sphere and the Labyrinth (2015) and 3 Days with Dad (2019). Among her later TV credits are "Touched by an Angel," "The Practice," "Less Than Perfect," "American Princess," and a recurring role as an overly dependent mom named Jinx in the mystery crime series In Plain Sight (2008). Her dim, riotous Norma Cassady role had TV often pitching her as a scatter-brained comedienne, as in her recurring TV guest parts on Will & Grace (1998) and Desperate Housewives (2004).
Lesley has a son, actor/producer Christopher Peters, from her 1967-'73 marriage to makeup artist/hair stylist-cum-film producer Jon Peters. Since 2000, she has been married to advertising exec and sometime actor Ron Taft, a former vice-president at Columbia.- Actress
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Blonde Welsh leading actress who spent the majority of her career working in television. Her rare forays to the big screen resulted in two of the more intense heroines inhabiting the world of Hammer horror in the 60's. On both occasions she appeared opposite Noel Willman: as one of his victims in The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) and as a newlywed wife in 19th century Cornwall by The Reptile (1966), who does not know that he is a sinister neighbor.
Jennifer began acting after a brief flirtation with performing music (as a clarinetist in the Welsh National Youth Orchestra). She studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and then went on to the repertory stage. Her earliest TV credits were mainly in anthology dramas and adaptations of classics, commencing with a tiny part in a BBC production of Great Expectations (1959). She went on to marry the star Dinsdale Landen who played Pip (a union which endured until his death in 2003). In Barnaby Rudge (1960), Jennifer had a more substantial role to play as the old locksmith's daughter, Dolly Varden. She also appeared for ITV as Ophelia, opposite Barry Foster's Hamlet (1961), as Lady Edith Plantagenet in Richard the Lionheart (1962) and even got to star in a short-lived (and, alas, forgotten) six-part BBC thriller entitled A Man Called Harry Brent (1965) (penned by the prolific Francis Durbridge). During the 70's and 80's, Jennifer remained much in demand providing poise and decorum to anything from cop shows (Barlow at Large (1971)), to period dramas (The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)) and sitcoms (Keeping Up Appearances (1990)).- Alexandra Hay was born on 24 July 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Model Shop (1969) and Skidoo (1968). She died on 11 October 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Robyn Millan was born on 17 January 1949 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Ryan's Hope (1975), Hawaii Five-O (1968) and The Patty Duke Show (1963). She died on 14 July 2020.
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Ami Dolenz was born on 8 January 1969 in Burbank, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Can't Buy Me Love (1987), Rescue Me (1992) and Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1993). She has been married to Jerry Trimble since 10 August 2002.- Charlene Dallas was born on 13 April 1947 in Alameda, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Rancho Deluxe (1975), Kojak (1973) and Criminal Act (1989).
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Audrey Landers is an accomplished actor, singer, writer, director, composer, producer, and business woman. She majored in Psychology at Columbia University/ Barnard College, and studied music theory at Juilliard School of Music. However, she is best known to fans all over the world for her memorable role as "Afton Cooper" for eight years in the iconic television series "Dallas." Afton was the sultry songstress, singing all the songs that Audrey wrote. She also appeared in the Dallas series revival on TNT, reprising her role. She starred as Val in A Chorus Line: The Movie, and countless guest starring roles and films. Ms. Landers stars in Hallmark Channel's, Love At Sea, Lifetime's Engaged to a Psycho (2020) and in Murder at the Mansion. She will costar in a 2 hour Showtime movie pilot in 2022. Audrey wrote and recorded her first hit record at age 14 on Epic Records. She has an ongoing 3 decade career as a multi-gold and platinum recording artist and songwriter, earning 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums and 2 platinum albums. Many of her European hits have become Evergreens, including Manuel Goodbye and Playa Blanca, and have been re-recorded by artists in many countries. She's had concerts in Europe, Las Vegas and Atlantic City, headlining with Billy Crystal, Glen Campbell, Bob Hope, Rich Little, Tom Jones, and many more. Recently Ms. Landers performed songs from The Great American Songbook with the 64 piece Pops Orchestra. Behind the scenes, Ms. Landers has been writing, producing and/or directing films, TV series and music videos since the 1980's. She and her business partner, mother Ruth Landers, coproduced feature films released by MGM and Paramount, such as Ghost Writer, Club Fed, California Casanova, and Circus Island (which Audrey also wrote and directed.) The Huggabug Club is the award-winning musical educational children's television series that Audrey created. She wrote the 47 half hour episodes, as well as the 250+ original songs in the series. Ruth Landers donated the tv series to Public Television for 5 years, and the show has been an invaluable learning tool for preschoolers. Ms. Landers produced The Huggabug Club Live! stage production which toured the United States, delighting audiences of all ages. Audrey continues to produce and direct music videos for a variety of up and coming recording artists. Continuing their long-standing business partnership, Ruth and Audrey created Landers STAR Collection®, a women's clothing and accessories company, offering affordable glamorous fashion to women across the globe, from HSE Munich, QVC UK, Italy and France. The Landers fashion philosophy is, "Every woman is a star and she deserves to shine ®." The Florida Motion Picture & Television Association, Inc. voted unanimously to bestow its Lifetime Achievement Award upon Audrey Landers at their 22nd Annual Crystal Reel Awards. Audrey's son, Daniel Landers is continuing the family tradition as the 3rd generation in the Entertainment Industry. Daniel is an accomplished composer, songwriter, musician, actor, performer, and social media influencer. Together they are collaborating on a cutting edge, dark pop musical for film and stage, a half hour comedy series, and a high concept drama series.- Award-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley can always be counted on to give her all. Grand in style, exotic in looks, divinely outgoing in personality and an engaging interpreter of Tennessee Williams' florid Southern-belles on stage, she was born Elizabeth Ann Cole on August 30, 1939, in Ocala, Florida. The daughter of Arthur Kingman and Lucille (Ayer) Cole, the family moved to Louisiana where Elizabeth graduated from Louisiana State University Laboratory School (University High) in Baton Rouge in 1957.
The liberal-minded Elizabeth immediately embarked upon an acting career following her education and relocated to New York. Briefly using her real name, her big breakthrough year occurred in 1959 when she made her off-Broadway debut with "Dirty Hands", played "Esmeralda" in the Neighborhood Playhouse production of "Camino Real" and took on Broadway with Dore Schary's "The Highest Tree". Now using the marquee name of Elizabeth Ashley, the 1960s proved to be even better, taking her to trophy-winning heights. After understudying the lead roles in Broadway's "Roman Candle" and "Mary, Mary", she won the role of Mollie in the delightful comedy "Take Her, She's Mine" and won both the "supporting actress" Tony and Theatre World Awards for it. Neil Simon was quite taken by the new star and created especially for her the role of Corie Bratter in 1963's "Barefoot in the Park" opposite Robert Redford. She received another Tony nomination, this time for Best Actress. In addition to these theatrical pinnacles, Elizabeth also found happiness in her private life when she met and married (in 1962) actor James Farentino, who was also on his way up. This happiness, however, was short-lived...the marriage lasted only three years. The attention she earned from Broadway led directly to film offers and she made a highly emotive debut in Harold Robbins glossy soaper The Carpetbaggers (1964), headlining handsome George Peppard. The critics trashed the movie but Elizabeth sailed ahead...temporarily.
Following intense roles in the superb all-star film epic Ship of Fools (1965) and the psychological crime drama The Third Day (1965), which again starred Peppard, the still-married Elizabeth divorced her husband and wed Peppard in 1966, taking a hiatus to focus on domestic life. The couple went on to have son Christian Peppard (born 1968), who would later become a writer.
The Peppard-Ashley marriage was a volatile one, however, and the twosome ultimately divorced in 1972. Wasting no time, Elizabeth returned to the stage and also went out for TV roles. Abandoning a film career that had just gotten out of the starting gate proved detrimental and she never did recapture the momentum she once had. Broadway, however, was a different story. The dusky-toned actress pulled out all the stops as Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1974) co-starring Keir Dullea and as Sabina in Thornton Wilder's "The Skin of Our Teeth" the following year, and she was back on top. Other heralded work on the live stage would include "Caesar and Cleopatra" opposite Rex Harrison, "Vanities" and, notably, "Agnes of God", for which she received the Albert Einstein Award for "excellence in the performing arts".
Following "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" for which she won a third Tony nomination, Elizabeth struck up a close friendship with author Williams. Over time, she would play and come to define three of his (and the theater's) finest female roles: Mrs. Venable in "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1995), Alexandra Del Lago in "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1998), and Amanda Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie" (2001). In addition, she also appeared in Williams' "Eight by Tenn" (a series of his one-act plays), "Out Cry", "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" and "The Red Devil Battery Sign". In 2005, 31 years after playing Maggie, she was again a success in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", this time as Big Mama.
Elizabeth went on to sink her teeth into a number of other famous plays as well, all peppered with her inimitable trademark flourish: Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", Isadora Duncan in "When She Danced", Maria Callas in "Master Class" and the scheming Regina in "The Little Foxes", to name a few. On '90s TV, she found daytime soaps to her liking with eye-catching parts on Another World (1964) and All My Children (1970). She also appeared in the ensemble cast of Burt Reynolds' series Evening Shade (1990). Occasional serious film supports in Rancho Deluxe (1975) and Coma (1978) were often intertwined with campier, over-the-top ones such as her psychotic lesbian in Windows (1980).
Overcoming a series of tragic, personal setbacks - a third divorce, a boating accident, a NY apartment fire, and a rape incident - the still-lovely Elizabeth continues to demonstrate her mettle and maintain a busy acting schedule on stage ("Enchanted April", "Ann & Debbie"); film (Happiness (1998), Labor Pains (2000), The Cake Eaters (2007), Ocean's Eight (2018)); and TV ("Caroline in the City," "Law & Order," "Treme," "Russian Doll").
Elsewhere, her memoir "Actress: Postcards from the Road" (1978) became a best seller. She was also a founding member of the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute while serving on the first National Council of the Arts during the administrations of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and has also served on the President's Committee for the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Awards. - Actress
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Making people laugh was only one facet of Valerie Harper's career, which extended from the stage to television and feature films. A native of Suffern, New York -- "I was born to suffer" -- Harper began her career as a dancer with the corps de ballet at Radio City Hall during its spectacular heyday. She gradually moved into acting, working in everything from industrial shows to regional theatre to the Second City comedy troupe of Chicago. Eventually, she made it to Broadway in productions of Dear Liar, the Tony Award winning Story Theatre, Something Different and Metamorphosis. Stardom came with television, including four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and Rhoda (1974), in which the latter she played the title role. Harper won Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, and her Rhoda's Wedding episode set that 1974's ratings record. Since retiring Rhoda Morganstern to re-runs, Harper was active on stage and in movies. Her feature films included Freebie and the Bean (1974), Chapter Two (1979), The Last Married Couple in America (1980) and Blame It on Rio (1984). In television, she starred on all three networks in movies of the week, including Farrell for the People (1982) (NBC), Don't Go to Sleep (1982) (ABC) and An Invasion of Privacy (1983) (CBS). A strong supporter of women's rights, Harper worked since the mid-80s on a film with second husband Tony Cacciotti which will probably never reach fruition after all this time, based on a true story involving domestic violence.- Actress
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Marilu Henner was born on 6 April 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for L.A. Story (1991), Taxi (1978) and Noises Off... (1992). She has been married to Michael Brown since 21 December 2006. She was previously married to Robert Lieberman and Frederic Forrest.- Actress
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Danielle Bisutti is a Los Angeles born and raised Emmy Award winning and BAFTA Award nominated actress, writer, producer, director and singer-songwriter. As a thespian, Bisutti has distinguished herself by bringing a wide range of diverse characters to life.
Danielle was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance as The Norse Goddess "Freya" in Sony PlayStation's top grossing video-game God of War, which won unanimous "Game of the Year" awards and 5 BAFTA Awards including "Best Game" in 2019. She won a Los Angeles area Emmy Award for her hosting role in Street Music Los Angeles in 2002. Danielle performance captured the role of "Claudia Grimstone" in Madden NFL 21: Face of the Franchise: Rise to Fame 2020, she voiced "Wonder Woman" in The Lego Movie 2 Video-game, she portrayed the ominous "Ms. Grey" in Lifetime's Nanny Killer, "Dana Gallagher in Shonda Rhimes' For the People and series regular role as Witch "Hexela" in BUYtv's Dwight in Shining Armor distributed by Paramount.
Film credits include top grossing Sony Pictures' cult favorite Insidious: Chapter 2 (receiving rave reviews: "Bisutti's performance as [Mother of Parker Crane] the younger version of the Bride in Black is a most elegant personification of evil."), Starring in Universal Studio's Curse of Chucky, Michael Rosenbaum's indie comedy Back in the Day, Lionsgate's Venice Underground with Eric Mabius, The Neighbor with Matthew Modine, and the lead in Lionsgate's faith-based film, No Greater Love.
Bisutti is perhaps best known for her series regular role as"Amanda Cantwell" opposite Keke Palmer on the hit Nickelodeon series True Jackson, VP. Her recurring roles on Matador for Robert Rodriguez's El Rey Network, Parks & Recreation, Last Man Standing, CSI Miami, Without A Trace, Raising the Bar and The O.C., Guest Starring roles on Anger Management, Grey's Anatomy, Mom, NCIS, NCIS LA, Criminal Minds, Dr. Ken, Castle, Hot in Cleveland, Newsreaders, 90210, Rizzoli & Isles, Beauty and the Beast, Body of Proof, Leverage, Bones, Cold Case, Two and a Half Men and Boston Legal.
Notable Theater credits include originating the role of "Diane" in the new musical Hipster Sweatshop at the Rockwell, "Sheila" in the musical HAIR Potawanami Tribe performed at the Democratic National Convention 1996 in Chicago followed by a 5 week tour at The New Athenaeum Theatre, Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, Maggie in Boy's Life, Yelena in Uncle Vanya, Victoria in Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30, Fastrada in Pippin, and Ophelia in Hamlet.
The Writer, Producer and Director: Her company Perfect Timing Productions current projects include: Mood Swings an TV comedy series for Pureflix 2019 and short film Little May "Official Selection" of Academy Award qualifying LA Shorts International Film Festival and Fade In Awards Grand Jury Prize "Best Short Script" 2019, Projects in development include TV pilots: Wonderland, Damsels and feature films projects: The Fort, The Christmas Rebound, and Wake Me.
The Singer-Songwriter: Danielle's original songs have been placed in films: Venice Underground, April Moon, In the Presence of, Shadowheart, and theme song Heaven for indie feature City of... which she performed live at the 19th Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards Desert AIDS Project accompanying dancers Kupono and Marko from So You Think You Can Dance with with choreography by Ray Leeper. She received a Los Angeles Music Award for "Best Female Singer-Songwriter." Her album "Glimmer" was nominated for AAA Album of the Year and her song "In Passing" has received Unanimous Choice Recipient Award for Independent AC Single of the Year. Music Connection Magazine has featured Danielle in its Hot 100 Unsigned Artists list. Annually Danielle sings on stage with rock n' roll legends at the Venice Beach Sign Holiday Lighting ceremony, past artists: Al Jardine of The Beach Boys and Andy Summers of The Police. Danielle sings and plays piano, guitar and ukulele with her band Midnight Velvet, interweaving jazz and blues standards in their smooth, inventive way and reinterpret songs from the Great American Songbook to modern day rock-pop classics a la the vintage style of Postmodern Jukebox.
Danielle received her Bachelor of Arts at California State University at Fullerton graduating Magna Cum Laude with a double emphasis on Acting and Musical Theatre. While attending CSUF, she received several nominations for the Irene Ryan Best Actress Award and took runner-up at The Lincoln Center Theatre in NYC. She studied producing, directing, and screenwriting at The Hollywood Film Institute with Dov Simens, ScreenwritingU and Screenwriter University at The Writer's Store. She continued her studies with Eric Kline at Film Actor's Workshop, Larry Moss, Lesly Kahn and Shari Shaw Studios and improvisation at Upright Citizens Brigade.- Actress
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Gemma Jones was born on 4 December 1942 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Sense and Sensibility (1995), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010).- Actress
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A doe-eyed, honey-blond actress of extraordinary beauty, Suzy Kendall was one of the most popular British actresses of the 1960s. Yet, she never really sought the spotlight and accepted fame only reluctantly. Born as Freida Harrison, her goal was actually to be a clothing designer and, in fact, she majored in fabric and fashion design at Derby College. In pursuing her studies, she inevitably ran into fashion photographers and agents. With few exceptions, they were very taken by her looks and urged her to go into modeling. While not particularly interested in that line of work, she was flattered by the compliments and saw a chance to make some extra income. In addition, she saw it as a way to draw attention to her fashion ideas. So, she signed up with a recommended agency, who gave her the name Suzy Kendall. To her surprise, she immediately was in constant demand. This was at a time when there was increased crossover in the British entertainment industry, with singers appearing in motion pictures. Before long, she began to receive film offers and, while not trained as an actress, was persuaded by her agents to accept film and television roles. The first roles were minor in nature, but included a part in the spy caper The Liquidator (1965), which was a major success. She became internationally known with her prominent role in To Sir, with Love (1967), a sort of British version of Blackboard Jungle (1955). That same year, she starred in the crime thriller The Penthouse (1967), playing a woman taken hostage by violent criminal predators. She disliked the film, but it was a major hit. It was around this time that she met the highly talented and famous but insecure Dudley Moore, with whom she co-starred in 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968). They immediately hit it off and gradually became a couple, marrying in 1968. At Moore's urging, she accepted the title role in Fraulein Doktor (1969), in which she plays a World War I femme fatale, based on Mata Hari. In spite of some good reviews, it was not a success. However, her career was boosted again in The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), in which she plays the girlfriend of a murder suspect who becomes the target of the real killer. The film was an international success and made director Dario Argento a household name among horror fans. By this time, she wanted to become a mother and cut back on her career. But Moore's career had found worldwide success and he didn't think the time was right for raising children. This and their increasing time spent apart took a toll, and they subsequently divorced. However, their marriage ended amicably and they remained good friends for the remainder of his life. She continued to work through the 1970's, mostly as threatened heroines in violent horror films of uneven quality. She soon found herself in a professional rut in an industry that wasn't all that important to her. She remarried and settled into a private life, concentrating on her marriage and raising their child. She did briefly return to the public eye in 2002, when she hosted a memorial service for her late former husband, Moore, who was friends not only with her but her current husband, as well, even giving their daughter piano lessons.
Her daughter, Elodie Harper, is a journalist with the British Broadcasting Corporation.- Bonnie Van Dyke was born on 1 February 1953 in the USA. She is an actress, known for Columbo (1971), The Bat People (1974) and Ark II (1976).
- Born Mary Eileen "Mimi" Chesterton (nicknamed Mimi by her friends and family) in St. Paul, Minnesota, titian beauty Claudia Jennings was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1966, she moved to Evanston, Illinois, the first suburb north of Chicago just south of the Wisconsin state line, where she graduated high school in 1968.
After joining the Hull House theater company in Chicago, she took a job as a receptionist at the offices of Playboy magazine in September 1968. Photographer Pompeo Posar asked her to test, and with a potential $5,000 check at stake -- enough for a ticket to Hollywood -- she agreed. She eventually appeared as a Playmate in November 1969, and later as 1970 Playmate of the Year. Re-naming herself Claudia Jennings to avoid family embarrassment due to posing in the nude, she became the most perennially popular Playmate of the 1970s, as well as the number one female star of "Drive-In" movies such as The Unholy Rollers (1972) and 'Gator Bait (1973). Her first film role was with the film Jud (1971), a low-budget, socially conscious, independent film about a Vietnam soldier's return home. While the film came and went without much notice, it encouraged Claudia to go into the acting business full time.
From 1970 to 1975, she lived with songwriter/producer Bobby Hart but, after their split, her personal life began to spiral. She began using drugs and soon got a reputation for being unreliable. As her cocaine use began to escalate, her career from this point began to flounder.
One of her last theatrical film roles was a co-starring part in the little-seen Canadian racetrack drama Fast Company (1979). After narrowly missing the role of Kate Jackson's replacement on Charlie's Angels (1976) to Shelley Hack in May 1979, she began a tumultuous relationship with Beverly Hills realtor Stan Herman. Following their split later that summer, Jennings turned her life around and tried to quit drugs and drinking, but sadly died before she could continue performing in better films. On the morning of October 3, 1979, she was at the wheel of her VW convertible in Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway, and drifted across the center divider, colliding head-on with a pickup truck near the intersection of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. She died a few minutes later before paramedics could arrive and get her to a nearby hospital. She was 29. - Actress
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Tisha Sterling was born on 10 December 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Coogan's Bluff (1968), Village of the Giants (1965) and The Whales of August (1987). She was previously married to Lal Baum.- Pert, blonde Linda Gaye Scott enlivened a few iconic 60s and 70s sci-fi shows and movies. She had a particularly good line in exotic characters and is well remembered as Moth, a feisty sidekick of Frank Gorshin's Riddler in two episodes of Batman (1966), silver-clad alien Vama in The Green Hornet (1966) and -- topping the weirdness scale-- an alien space hippie (!) in Lost in Space (1965). On the big screen, she was Arlette, the robot prostitute who seduces Richard Benjamin in the classic futuristic thriller Westworld (1973).
Linda was born in L.A., the daughter of advertising man Milton Bradley Scott and his wife, Jeanne Juliet Otto. Otto's mother was veteran Hollywood character actress Martha Wentworth, who, in the 40s, was known as the 'Woman of a Hundred Voices'. Linda was raised in the Bel-Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles, situated in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. The family later moved to Encino in San Fernando Valley and then to Coldwater Canyon, near downtown Beverly Hills. She attended Emerson Junior High School in West Los Angeles.
On screen from 1961, Linda made regular guest appearances on television until her retirement from acting 22 years later. Now devoted to philanthropic pursuits, she has set up a rescue and adoption facility to care for homeless and abused animals. - Angela Aames grew up in Pierre, South Dakota. She acted in high school and attended the University of South Dakota before coming to Hollywood in 1978 to begin her acting career. Her first film role was as Little Bo Peep in the film Fairy Tales (1978). She followed that up by playing Linda "Boom-Boom" Bang in H.O.T.S. (1979). Other film roles included ...All the Marbles (1981), Scarface (1983), Bachelor Party (1984), The Lost Empire (1984), Basic Training (1985), and Chopping Mall (1986). She did guest appearances on several television shows, including Cheers (1982) and Night Court (1984). Her last role was as Penny, a fitness instructor, on The Dom DeLuise Show (1987). Angela was found dead at a friend's home in West Hills in the San Fernando Valley on November 27, 1988. The coroner later ruled that her death was a result of a deterioration of the heart muscle, probably caused by a virus. She was 32 at the time.
- Not just another tall, beautiful brunette, Valerie Leon had extensive experience in British theatre, television and films, before she became a fixture in the "Carry On" series, appearing in seven of them. In addition to comedy, she also excelled in horror films, playing a dual role in one of Hammer's best, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), and had the distinction of appearing with two different James Bonds, Roger Moore and Sean Connery.
- Frances Drake was born on 22 October 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Mad Love (1935), The Preview Murder Mystery (1936) and The Invisible Ray (1935). She was married to David Brown and Lt. Cecil John Arthur Howard. She died on 18 January 2000 in Irvine, California, USA.
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- Soundtrack
Gail Russell was born in Chicago, Illinois, on September 21, 1924. She remained in the Windy City, going to school until her parents moved to California when she was 14. She was an above-average student in school and upon graduation from Santa Monica High School was signed by Paramount Studios.
Because of her ethereal beauty, Gail was to be groomed to be one of Paramount's top stars. She was very shy and had virtually no acting experience to speak of, but her beauty was so striking that the studio figured it could work with her on her acting with a studio acting coach.
Gail's first film came when she was 19 years old with a small role as "Virginia Lowry" in Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour (1943) in 1943. It was her only role that year, but it was a start. The following year she appeared in another film, The Uninvited (1944) with Ray Milland (it was also the first time Gail used alcohol to steady her nerves on the set, a habit that would come back to haunt her). It was a very well done and atmospheric horror story that turned out to be a profitable one for the studio. Gail's third film was the charm, as she co-starred with Diana Lynn in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944) that same year. The film was based on the popular book of the time and the film was even more popular.
In 1945 Gail appeared in Salty O'Rourke (1945), a story about crooked gamblers involved in horse racing. Although she wasn't a standout in the film, she acquitted herself well as part of the supporting cast. Later that year she appeared in The Unseen (1945), a story about a haunted house, starring Joel McCrea. Gail played Elizabeth Howard, a governess of the house in question. The film turned a profit but was not the hit that Paramount executives hoped for.
In 1946 Gail was again teamed with Diana Lynn for a sequel to "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay"--Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946). The plot centered around two young college girls getting involved with bootleggers. Unfortunately, it was not anywhere the caliber of the first film and it failed at the box-office. With Calcutta (1946) in 1947, however, Gail bounced back with a more popular film, this time starring Alan Ladd. Unfortunately, many critics felt that Gail was miscast in this epic drama. That same year she was cast with John Wayne and Harry Carey in the western Angel and the Badman (1947). It was a hit with the public and Gail shone in the role of Penelope Worth, a feisty Quaker girl who tries to tame gunfighter Wayne. Still later Gail appeared in Paramount's all-star musical, Variety Girl (1947). The critics roasted the film, but the public turned out in droves to ensure its success at the box-office. After the releases of Song of India (1949), El Paso (1949), and Captain China (1950), Gail married matinée idol Guy Madison, one of the up-and-coming actors in Hollywood.
After The Lawless (1950) in 1950 Paramount decided against renewing her contract, mainly because of Gail's worsening drinking problem. She had been convicted of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and the studio didn't want its name attached to someone who couldn't control her drinking. Being dumped by Paramount damaged her career, and film roles were coming in much more slowly. After Air Cadet (1951) in 1951, her only film that year, she disappeared from the screen for the next five years while she attempted to get control of her life. She divorced Madison in 1954.
In 1956 Gail returned in 7 Men from Now (1956). It was a western with Gail in the minor role of Annie Greer. The next year she was fourth-billed in The Tattered Dress (1957), a film that also starred Jeanne Crain and Jeff Chandler. The following year she had a reduced part in No Place to Land (1958), a low-budget offering from "B" studio Republic Pictures.
By now the demons of alcohol had her in its grasp. She was again absent from the screen until 1961's The Silent Call (1961) (looking much older than her 36 years). It was to be her last film. On August 26, 1961, Gail was found dead in her small studio apartment in Los Angeles, California.- Composer
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- Music Department
Lara Fabian was born on 9 January 1970 in Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium. She is a composer and actress, known for A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and De-Lovely (2004). She has been married to Gabriel di Giorgio since 27 June 2013.- Writer
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- Actress
Tanquil Lisa Collins was born on 10 July 1962 in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Baywatch (1989), SAF3 (2013) and Baywatch Nights (1995). She was previously married to Stuart M. Lucas.- Actress
- Make-Up Department
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Heidi Brühl was born on 30 January 1942 in Gräfelfing, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress, known for Hochzeit auf Immenhof (1956), Der Zigeunerbaron (1962) and Ferien auf Immenhof (1957). She was married to Brett Halsey. She died on 8 June 1991 in Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany.- Sascha Dupont was born on 3 February 1975 in Vejle, Denmark.
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Award-winning Canadian actress Susan Clark, born on March 8, 1943, took up acting at an early age (12) in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. Her family moved to Toronto around that period of time and she joined the Toronto Children's Players Theatre. Her first professional curtain call took place on the musical stage in a 1955 production of "Silk Stockings" which starred veteran actor Don Ameche.
The "acting bug" bit hard and a very determined Susan pressed her family to allow her to study at London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She gained valuable experience in repertory, making her London debut in "Poor Bitos" in the early 1960s. She even got a taste of on-camera work when she won multiple roles on a 1965 episode of The Benny Hill Show (1957). Returning to Canada, however, due to the illness of her father, she subsequently decided to trek, instead, to Los Angeles to continue her professional career. In search of on-camera work, she attracted notice in some guest roles on TV and this eventually led to a Universal contract. The ten-year contract was one of the last of its kind as Hollywood was witnessing the demise of the studio contract system.
After gaining some exposure on episodes of The Virginian (1962) and Run for Your Life (1965), Susan's first screen assignment for Universal was as the second female lead in the soap-styled drama Banning (1967) starring Robert Wagner, in one of his typical jet-setting playboy parts, and the scintillating Jill St. John, who would wed her "Banning" leading man two decades later. From there, Susan only grew in stature. Playing the second female lead again in the critically-praised crimer Madigan (1968) starring Richard Widmark and Inger Stevens, she finally earned top female billing opposite Clint Eastwood in Coogan's Bluff (1968) playing a sexy parole officer and enjoying romantic clinches with the up-and-coming film icon on film.
Tall and willowy with incandescent blue eyes, Susan continued to impress on celluloid with roles in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), Valdez Is Coming (1971) and, in particular, Skin Game (1971). It was 70s TV-movies, however, that would take full advantage of Susan's vibrant, intelligent acting talents. First came the tender-hearted mini-movie Something for a Lonely Man (1968). While a vehicle for Bonanza's Dan Blocker, co-star Susan made a strong, spunky impression as his small-town romantic interest. This was followed by choice roles in The Challengers (1970) and The Astronaut (1972).
1975 was a banner year for Susan who not only provided a couple of excellent scenes as Gene Hackman's wife in the film-noir Night Moves (1975) but, made a resounding, Emmy-winning impression on TV audiences as feminist track-and-field Olympian-turned-golf star Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who is later felled by cancer, in the TV mini-bio Babe (1975). This was a pronounced victory for Susan both professionally and personally for it was on this set that she met her second husband, co-star Alex Karras, who played Babe's spouse George. Susan was in immediate demand and was quickly cast as another feisty, ill-fated heroine, this time in the form of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart (1976). Predictably, Susan was wonderful and earned a second Emmy nomination for her efforts (she didn't win).
She and Karras (who had a child, Katie, in 1980) went on to jointly act in and/or produce various film and TV projects, including the TV movies Jimmy B. & André (1980), and Maid in America (1982), and the films Nobody's Perfekt (1981) and Porky's (1981). This culminated in their biggest collaborative effort with the sitcom series Webster (1983) wherein both were unmercifully upstaged by the hopelessly cute antics of its tyke star Emmanuel Lewis. While the series hardly tested the couple's acting mettle and the plot was pretty much a "Diff'rent Strokes" rehash, the show proved quite popular on its own and put Clark and Karras firmly on the TV map between 1983 to 1988. Susan, herself, earned a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series".
Following the sitcom' demise, Susan relinquished the limelight a bit and found contentment on the local Southern California stage. Relishing acting challenges in such wide-ranging plays as "Meetin's on the Porch" (1990) with Patty Duke and Carrie Snodgress, "Afterplay" (1998), "Bicoastal Women" (2003) and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (2004) (as Lady Bracknell), she eventually became a dedicated member of the Rubicon Theater Company in Los Angeles, gracing such plays there as "The Glass Menagerie", "Dancing at Lughnasa", "The Devil's Disciple" and, most recently, "A Delicate Balance."
Featured in the TV movies Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story (1994), Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story (1994) and Toe Tags (1996), she was last seen on camera co-starring in the dramatic TV series Emily of New Moon (1998) as ever-rigid Aunt Elizabeth, who assists in raising her orphaned niece.
Susan has a daughter, Katie, by husband Karras who died of kidney failure in 2012.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Anna Schudt is a German actress known for "The Sniffles Would Have Been Just Fine" for which she received the Best Actress Award at the International Emmy Awards 2018 in New York. With "Aufbruch in die Freiheit"(Departure for Freedom) she also received the Best Actress Award at the Goldene Kamera and Bavarian Television Award. On television she is known very well for her series lead role as chief inspector in Germany's most popular police drama "Tatort".- Actress
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Uma Karuna Thurman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, into a highly unorthodox and internationally-minded family. She is the daughter of Nena Thurman (née Birgitte Caroline von Schlebrügge), a fashion model and socialite who now runs a mountain retreat, and of Robert Thurman (Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman), a professor and academic who is one of the nation's foremost Buddhist scholars. Uma's mother was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to a German father and a Swedish mother (who herself was of Swedish, Danish, and German descent). Uma's father, a New Yorker, has English, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry. Uma grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, where her father worked at Amherst College.
She and her siblings all have names deriving from Buddhist mythology; and Middle American behavior was little understood, much less pursued. And so it was that the young Thurman confronted childhood with an odd name and eccentric home life -- and nature seemingly conspired against her as well. She is six feet tall, and from an early age towered over everyone else in class. Her famously large feet would soon sprout to size 11 -- and even beyond that -- and although they would eventually be lovingly filmed by director Quentin Tarantino, as a child she generally wore the biggest shoes in class, which only provided another subject of ridicule. Even her long nose moved one of her mother's friends to helpfully suggest rhinoplasty -- to the ten-year-old Thurman. To make matters worse yet, the family constantly relocated, making the gangly, socially inept Thurman perpetually the new kid in class. The result was an exceptionally awkward, self-conscious, lonely and alienated childhood.
Unsurprisingly, the young Thurman enjoyed making believe she was someone other than herself, and so thrived at acting in school plays -- her sole successful extracurricular activity. This interest, and her lanky frame, perfect for modeling, led the 15-year-old Thurman to New York City for high school and modeling work (including a layout in Glamour Magazine) as she sought acting roles. The roles soon came, starting with a few formulaic and forgettable Hollywood products, but immediately followed by Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) and Stephen Frears' Dangerous Liaisons (1988), both of which brought much attention to her unorthodox sensuality and performances that intriguingly combined innocence and worldliness. The weird, gangly girl became a sex symbol virtually overnight.
Thurman continued to be offered good roles in Hollywood pictures into the early '90s, the least commercially successful but probably best-known of which was her smoldering, astonishingly-adult performance as June, Henry Miller's wife, in Henry & June (1990), the first movie to actually receive the dreaded NC-17 rating in the USA. After a celebrated start, Thurman's career stalled in the early '90s with movies such as the mediocre Mad Dog and Glory (1993). Worse, her first starring role was in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993), which had endured a tortured journey from cult-favorite book to big-budget movie, and was a critical and financial debacle. Fortunately, Uma bounced back with a brilliant performance as Mia Wallace, that most unorthodox of all gangster's molls, in Tarantino's lauded, hugely successful Pulp Fiction (1994), a role for which Thurman received an Academy Award nomination.
Since then, Thurman has had periods of flirting with roles in arty independents such as A Month by the Lake (1995), and supporting roles in which she has lent some glamorous presence to a mixed batch of movies, such as Beautiful Girls (1996) and The Truth About Cats & Dogs (1996). Thurman returned to smaller films after playing the villainess Poison Ivy in the reviled Joel Schumacher effort Batman & Robin (1997) and Emma Peel in a remake of The Avengers (1998). She worked with Woody Allen and Sean Penn on Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and starred in Richard Linklater's drama Tape (2001) opposite Hawke. Thurman also won a Golden Globe award for her turn in the made-for-television film Hysterical Blindness (2002), directed by Mira Nair.
A return to the mainstream spotlight came when Thurman re-teamed with Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), a revenge flick the two had dreamed up on the set of Pulp Fiction (1994). She also turned up in the John Woo cautioner Paycheck (2003) that same year. The renewed attention was not altogether welcome because Thurman was dealing with the break-up of her marriage with Hawke at about this time. Thurman handled the situation with grace, however, and took her surging popularity in stride. She garnered critical acclaim for her work in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) and was hailed as Tarantino's muse. Thurman reunited with Pulp Fiction (1994) dance partner John Travolta for the Get Shorty (1995) sequel Be Cool (2005) and played Ulla in The Producers (2005).
Thurman had been briefly married to Gary Oldman, from 1990 to 1992. In 1998, she married Ethan Hawke, her co-star in the offbeat futuristic thriller Gattaca (1997). The couple had two children, Levon and Maya. Hawke and Thurman filed for divorce in 2004.- Actress
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The daughter of Grateful Dead devotee and first manager Hank Harrison and psychotherapist Linda Caroll, Courtney Love was born Courtney Michelle Harrison in San Francisco, California in 1964. Love spent her early years living in hippie communes in Oregon and at schools in Europe and New Zealand, under the care of her mother and other family members.
By age 16, Love became legally emancipated and traveled throughout Europe, living off of a small trust fund left behind by her grandmother. Love eventually returned to Portland, Oregon, still pursuing music, and then moved around to various locations in the United States before making her break into the industry.
As a musician, she played in early incarnations of Babes In Toyland and Faith No More, as well as acting in bit parts for some Alex Cox films. In 1989, she started her own band, Hole, and in 1992 married Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, giving birth to their daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, that same year. After Cobain's suicide in 1994, and the release of Hole's second album "Live Through This", Love continued to thrill her fans and enrage her detractors with her on- and off-stage antics.
By 1998, Hole had released their third studio album, "Celebrity Skin", and Love had attracted cinematic notoriety for her performance in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), which not only garnered her a Golden Globe nomination, but recognition as a serious performer.
Early into the millennium, Hole broke up, and Love took some supporting roles in films such as Trapped (2002), but her rocky past and propensity toward drug addiction eventually caught up with her, sending her through a whirlwind of numerous health and legal issues.
After unsuccessful stints in and out of drug rehabilitation centers, Love was ordered by the L.A. county court to three months in lock down rehab, which came to an end in 2006. Love soon after released a scrapbook-like diary recounting her life, titled "Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love", and continued writing music, testifying her sobriety to the press and public.
In 2009, after losing custody of daughter Frances Bean Cobain for unrelated reasons, Love re-formed Hole with an entirely new lineup, and soon after released the band's first album in ten years, titled "Nobody's Daughter".- Actress
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Heather Joan Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Joan (Bransfield), a schoolteacher and children's book author, and James Graham, an FBI agent. She and her sister, actress Aimee Graham, were raised by their strictly Catholic parents. They relocated often, as a result of their father's occupation, and Heather became increasingly shy. Surprisingly, she had a passion for acting from an early age and despite being labeled a 'theater geek' by her peers, she was voted Most Talented by her high school senior class. Unfortunately, her love of acting created a tension between Heather and her family although her mother obligingly drove her to auditions in Hollywood throughout her adolescence.
After high school Heather moved to Los Angeles and received small roles in a variety of films including Drugstore Cowboy (1989). When her career did not take off as quickly as was hoped, Heather enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles to get her degree in drama. It was at UCLA that she was noticed by actor James Woods and received a subsequent part in a film Woods starred in, Diggstown (1992). Heather dropped out of UCLA after two years to pursue her acting career on a full time basis. Aside from gaining a modeling contract with Emanuel Ungaro Liberte, Heather has risen to star in such films as Swingers (1996), a role she received after being taken out swing dancing by Jon Favreau, to blockbusters like Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), and Boogie Nights (1997).- Actress
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Amelia Clarkson was born in December 1997 in Hounslow, London, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for Jane Eyre (2011), The Assets (2014) and Oh Rats (2024).- Actress
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Twiggy is a top model of the late 1960s, who made skinny an "inny," along with other famous skinny models such as Jean Shrimpton ("The Shrimp"), Veruschka von Lehndorff, and Penelope Tree ("The Tree"). She was born Leslie Hornby on September 19, 1949, in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, one of three daughters of Nell Hornby (née Nellie Lydia Reeman), a factory worker, and Norman Hornby, a master carpenter and joiner. By blending pop art with fashion, the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped gamine with the angelic puss and boyish crop took the industry by storm at age 17 defining the age of "flower power." She originally was nicknamed "Sticks" because of her reed-thin figure, but then switched it to "Twigs" and, finally, "Twiggy." A model for a scant four years, she had never even walked the runways by the time she exploded onto the scene. Educated at the Kilburn High School for Girls, her look and image was an instant globular sensation. She was even imitated by Mattel when they issued a "Twiggy Barbie" in 1967 and by Milton Bradley who created a board game out of her. Lunch boxes, false eye lashes, tights, sweaters, tote bags and paper dolls -- all these bore her famous moniker. In her prime she graced the covers of Vogue and Tatler, and even had her own American publication "Her Mod, Mod Teen World." The "psychedelic '60s" would not have been the same without her.
In 1970, Twiggy was able to parlay her incredible success into a respectable career in film and TV and on the musical theater stage. It was the iconoclastic director Ken Russell who instilled in her the ambition to move away from modeling and study acting, voice and dance. An extra in his movie The Devils (1971), Russell ushered her front-and-center with the jazz-age musical The Boy Friend (1971), his homage to the Busby Berkeley Hollywood musicals. Taking on the role originated on stage by Julie Andrews, Twiggy was awarded a Golden Globe for her efforts.
Her second feature, the thriller W (1974) cast her with future husband Michael Witney, who was nearly two decades her senior. They married in 1977 and later appeared together in There Goes the Bride (1980). She also cameoed in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Following Witney's untimely death in 1983, she appeared in The Doctor and the Devils (1985) and the comedy Club Paradise (1986) with Robin Williams before meeting her second husband, actor Leigh Lawson, while filming Madame Sousatzka (1988) in which she played a singer.
Though Twiggy has worked from time to time on TV, her exposure has been somewhat limited. She hosted a couple of self-titled shows in England and co-starred in the very short-lived sitcom Princesses (1991) here in America, but not too much else. The singing stage is a different story. She made her West End debut as "Cinderella" in 1974 and played Eliza Doolittle in a legit performance of "Pygmalion" in 1981. In 1983 she reunited with her "Boy Friend" co-star Tommy Tune and together dazzled Broadway audiences as a tapping twosome with "My One and Only," a warm, nostalgic revamping of the Gershwin classic "Funny Face." The charming waif went on to appear in a 1997 London revival of Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit," then played star Gertrude Lawrence alongside Harry Groener's Coward in the song-and-sketch musical "Noel and Gertie" (later retitled "If Love Were All"), which focused on the close "blendship" between the two icons all to the accompaniment of 20 Coward songs.
Back to her modeling ways, Twiggy came out of retirement to be photographed by the likes of John Fwanel and Annie Liebovitz in the 90s and has recently joined the professional elite of judges led by Tyra Banks on the reality show America's Next Top Model (2003), her warmer, more unassuming demeanor filling in for the aggressive, vitriolic Janice Dickinson.- Actress
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Lynn Goldsmith is known for Will Powers: Smile (1983), Will Powers: Adventures in Success (1983) and Will Powers: Kissing with Confidence (1983).- Music Department
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Carole Bayer Sager was born on 8 March 1944 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a composer, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Arthur (1981) and Junior (1994). She has been married to Robert A. Daly since 8 June 1996. She was previously married to Burt Bacharach and Andrew Sager.- Actress
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Beautiful, auburn-haired Virginia Gayle Hunnicutt was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the daughter of Sam Lloyd Hunnicutt, an army colonel, and his wife Mary (née Dickerson). Already in her teens, Gayle was determined to become a serious actress. She attended Texas Christian University in her home town and then won a scholarship to study theatre arts at the University of California. One of her visiting lecturers was the noted French film director Jean Renoir who further encouraged her acting ambitions. Gayle made her first appearances on the stage in college productions and at the Cahuenga Playhouse while supporting her studies financially, working at an advertising agency. Also at the same time, she began to shed her Texan drawl by attending a speech clinic.
Having been 'discovered' by a Warner Brothers talent scout, Gayle was offered a small part in an episode of the TV navy comedy Mister Roberts (1965) and then had a minor role in the Roger Corman-produced and directed outlaw biker counterculture classic The Wild Angels (1966). After that, she attracted attention as a featured guest star on The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) (as a con artist) and in Get Smart (1965) (as Octavia, an alluring KAOS agent). The actor George Peppard was sufficiently impressed by her to persuade director John Guillermin to co-star her as the femme fatale in his private eye thriller P.J. (1967). Another glamour part was to follow as leading lady to James Garner in the neo film noir Marlowe (1969), in which Gayle played a TV star involved with a mob boss.
In 1968, she married the English actor and producer David Hemmings after a whirlwind romance. They appeared together in Fragment of Fear (1970) and he subsequently directed her in Running Scared (1972). Her turbulent union with Hemmings ended in divorce after seven years. Gayle, nonetheless, remained based in London. Having lost all trace of her Texas accent, she could effectively pass for being British. She appeared on the stage in several noted productions, including in the title role of Hedda Gabler at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury and as Peter Pan at the Shaftesbury. On the big screen, she co-starred as the wife of a physicist (Roddy McDowall) investigating The Legend of Hell House (1973). Her most significant impact, however, was to be on British television with her strongest showing as Charlotte Stant in The Golden Bowl (1972) (adapted from the 1904 novel by Henry James) and as the Tsarina Alexandra in the excellent miniseries Fall of Eagles (1974). In the French miniseries Fantômas (1980), she featured as the exotic mistress of the eponymous master criminal (portrayed in this version by Austrian actor Helmut Berger). In similar vein, she essayed Irene Adler -- nemesis of the great detective -- in the premier episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) and took on the mantle of femme fatale once more opposite Powers Boothe in an episode of Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983).
Gayle's second husband (from 1978) was the author, political journalist and BBC broadcaster Simon Jenkins. This union, like her first, produced one son. She divorced Jenkins in 2009. By then, Gayle had already been retired from screen acting for ten years. In 2004, she published a selection of letters her father wrote to her mother while stationed with the 112th Cavalry in the South Pacific, entitled 'Dearest Virginia'. Gayle Hunnicutt passed away on 31 August 2023, aged 80.- Actress
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Born in Britain to Australian parents, Caroline Goodall is internationally known as a leading actress who has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 90's, including Schindler's List (1993), Hook (1991), Cliffhanger (1993), Disclosure (1994), White Squall (1996) and The Princess Diaries (2001).
She is a graduate of Bristol University where she gained a BA Hons. in Drama and English, and studied alongside other notable screenwriters such as Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown). As a writer, in addition to "The Bay of Silence" for Radiant Pictures, credits include screen adaptations of Rupert Thomson's "Dreams Of Leaving" for HKM Films.
A former member of The Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain, Caroline appeared extensively on stage before being chosen by Steven Spielberg to star in Hook (1991) in 1991. Since then, she has worked on film and TV projects in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, striking a balance between Independent and Studio films, as well as maintaining a TV presence in Britain and Australia. She was nominated for Best Actress by the Australian Film Institute in 1990 for Cassidy (1989) and again in 1995 for Hotel Sorrento (1995). There followed a Logie nomination for Best Actress for A Difficult Woman (1998) which also won best TV mini series at the New York Festival in 1998.
She is married to Nicola Pecorini and has two children, Gemma and Leone. She is sister to producer Victoria Goodall, who is married to actor/director Dallas Campbell.- Actress
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Julie Delpy was born in Paris, France, in 1969 to Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, both actors.
She was first featured in Jean-Luc Godard's Detective (1985) at the age of fourteen. She has starred in many American and European productions since then, including Disney's The Three Musketeers (1993), Killing Zoe (1993), Three Colors: White (1994), and the "Before" series, alongside Ethan Hawke: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013).
She graduated from NYU's film school, and wrote and directed the short film Blah Blah Blah (1995), which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. She is a resident of Los Angeles.- Patricia Pawlicki was born on 22 October 1965 in Vienna, Austria.
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Illeana Douglas is an actress, writer, and producer. Born with show business in her blood, she is the granddaughter of screen legend Melvyn Douglas. Illeana began studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. While working in New York as a stand-up comedian and sketch comedy artist, she got a job "screaming" for Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). This led to a long working relationship in the films, New York Stories (1989), Goodfellas (1990) and Cape Fear (1991). She received critical acclaim as the suspicious sister of Matt Dillon in To Die For (1995), as "Denise Waverly" in Grace of My Heart (1996) and "Roberta Allsworth" in Ghost World (2001). On television, she has appeared on Entourage (2004), Ugly Betty (2006), and received an Emmy nomination as "Angela" on Six Feet Under (2001).- Actress
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Joan Collins is an English actress from Paddington, London. She is most famous for playing the role of vengeful schemer Alexis Carrington Colby in the soap opera "Dynasty" (1981-1989). In 1997, She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama. In 2015, She was promoted to the rank of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to charity.
She was the daughter of talent agent Joseph William Collins (1902-1988) and his wife, dance teacher Elsa Bessant, (1906-1962). Joseph was born in South Africa, and of Jewish descent. As a talent agent, his most famous clients were Shirley Bassey, the Beatles, and Tom Jones. Elsa was born in the United Kingdom to an Anglican family.
Collins was educated at Francis Holland School in London, an independent day school for girls. She made her theatrical debut c. 1942, as a child actress. She had a role in a performance of the play "A Doll's House" (1879) by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). In 1949, She started training as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. In 1950, she signed a contract with a British film studio, the Rank Organisation of businessman Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (1888-1972).
Collins made her film debut in the short film "Facts and Fancies" (1951), and her feature film debut in "Lady Godiva Rides Again" (1951), where she played an unnamed Beauty Queen Contestant. She had supporting roles as the Greek maid Marina in "The Woman's Angle" (1952) and gangster's moll Lil Carter in "Judgment Deferred" (1952).
Collins had her big break when cast as juvenile delinquent Norma Hart in prison drama "I Believe in You" (1952). She was hailed as Britain's new "bad girl" and started being offered high-profile roles in British films. The next stage in her career started when cast as Princess Nellifer of Egypt in the historical epic "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955), an international production . While the film was not successful at the box office, it became a cult classic and Nellifer was one of her most recognizable roles. Studio executive Darryl Francis Zanuck (1902-1979) was sufficiently impressed to offer her a 7-year-long contract with American studio 20th Century Fox. She took the offer.
Collins' first American film was the historical drama "The Virgin Queen" (1955), where she shared the top-billing with established stars Bette Davis and Richard Todd. She then played the leading role of actress Evelyn Nesbit (1884/1885-1967) in the biographical film "The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing" (1955). The role was intended for established actress Marilyn Monroe, but she replaced Monroe based on a studio decision.
Collins was placed on loan to studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for her next role, that of gold digger Crystal in "The Opposite Sex" (1956). She received the top billing in the refugee-themed film "Sea Wife" (1956), and enjoyed box-office success with the interracial-love themed drama "Island in the Sun" (1957). In the drama film "The Wayward Bus" (1957), she received top-billing over her co-star Jayne Mansfield. Her next films included the spy thriller "Stopover Tokyo" (1957), the Western "The Bravados" (1958), the comedy "Rally Round the Flag, Boys" (1959), the caper film "Seven Thieves" (1960), and the biblical epic Esther and the King (1960).
By 1960, Collins was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest stars, but she demanded a release from her studio contract. She had campaigned for the title role in the upcoming production of "Cleopatra", but the studio chose to cast Elizabeth Taylor in the role. Collins felt slighted. As a freelance actress for most of the 1960s, she had few film roles. Among her most notable roles was playing the leading lady in "The Road to Hong Kong" (1962), the last film in the long-running "Road to ..." series. The male leads for the entire series were Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, but their usual leading lady Dorothy Lamour was considered too old for the role. Collins replaced Lamour.
Collins started appearing frequently on television guest star roles. Among her most notable television roles was the villainous Siren in "Batman", and pacifist spokeswoman Edith Keeler in "Star Trek: The Original Series". "Road to ..." played in only one episode of Star Trek, the time-travel episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" (1967). However the episode is regarded among the best episodes in the entire Star Trek franchise, with Collins considered one of the most memorable guest stars in the original series.
In 1970, Collins returned to her native United Kingdom. She started appearing frequently in British thriller and horror films of the decade. Among her films was revenge-themed drama "Revenge" (1971),science fiction film "Quest for Love" (1972), horror anthology "Tales from the Crypt" (1972), psychological horror "Fear in the Night" (1972), thriller "Dark Places", horror anthology "Tales That Witness Madness" (1973), and horror film "I Don't Want to Be Born" (1975).
Collins appeared in a few comedies in-between horror films, but none was particularly successful. She returned to the United States in order to play a role in the giant monster film "Empire of the Ants" (1977). She then returned to mostly appearing in thriller roles. She was catapulted back to stardom with the lead role of nymphomaniac Fontaine Khaled in the erotic drama "The Stud" (1978), an adaptation of a novel written by her younger sister Jackie Collins. The film was a surprise box office hit, earning 20 million dollars at the worldwide box office. "Road to ..." returned to the role of Fontaine in the sequel film ''The Bitch'' (1979), which was also a hit.
Collins found herself in high demand in both stage and film. But she gained more notoriety with the television role of Alexis Carington in "Dynasty". She started appearing in the role in the second season of the soap opera. Her performance is credited with the subsequent rise of the show's Nielsen's ratings. She became a household name, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983.
By 1985, "Dynasty" was the number-one show in the United States, beating out rival soap opera "Dallas". Collins was nominated six times for a Golden Globe Award for her role, winning once in 1983. She was also once nominated for an Emmy as Best Actress in a Drama Series. Collins was viewed as a sex symbol at the time, and in 1983 appeared in a 12-page photo layout for Playboy magazine. She was 50-years-old, unusually old for a Playboy model.
Collins appeared in a total of 195 episodes of "Dynasty". The series was canceled with the last episode of its 9th season, due to falling ratings. New ABC entertainment president Bob Iger (1951-) is credited with ending the series as soon as possible. The show had a cliffhanger ending, and several of its subplots were not resolved. Collins returned to the role of Alexis in the sequel mini-series "Dynasty: The Reunion" (1991). The miniseries only lasted for 2 episodes, but resolved several subplots and was a ratings hit.
Throughout the 1990s., Collins returned to guest star roles in television. She appeared in (among others) "Roseanne", "Egoli: Place of Gold", and "The Nanny", She had the recurring role of Christina Hobson in the short-lived soap opera "Pacific Palisades" (1997). She appeared in 7 of its 13 episodes. Her next notable soap opera role was that of so-called "rich bitch" Alexandra Spaulding in 2002 episodes of the long-running series "Guiding Light". Collins was the third actress to play this role. following Beverlee McKinsey and Marj Dusay.
In film, Collins played Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma Flintstone's mother, in "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000). It was the second live-action film based on the popular animated series "The Flintstones". In 2006, she toured the United Kingdom with "An Evening with Joan Collins", an one-woman show where she narrated the highs and lows of her career and life. She later toured the word with both this show and its sequel "Joan Collins Unscripted".
Collins had a notable guest star-role as Ruth Van Rydock in the television film "Agatha Christie's Marple: They Do It with Mirrors" (2009). The film was an adaptation of the 1952 novel by Agatha Christie, where Ruth is an old school friend of Jane Marple, who assigned Jane to investigate a home for juvenile delinquents.
Collins played herself in three episodes of the sitcom "Happily Divorced" (2011-2013). She had the recurring role of Crystal Hennessy-Vass in the sitcom "Benidorm" (2007-2018). She had another recurring role as Alexandra, Grand Duchess of Oxford in the soap opera "The Royals" (2015-2018).
Collins had two different roles in the horror anthology series "American Horror Story". She played wealthy grandmother Evie Gallant, and witch Bubbles McGee. She appeared in a total of four episodes in 2018.
By 2024, Collins was 90-years-old. She has never retired from acting, and she continues to appear in new roles.- Actress
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Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins) is an American actress and model. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy 10 (1979). Her first husband John Derek directed her in Fantasies; Tarzan, the Ape Man (both 1981); Bolero (1984) and Ghosts Can't Do It (1989), all of which received negative reviews. Widowed in 1998, she married actor John Corbett in 2020. Now semi-retired, she makes occasional film, television, and documentary appearances.- Actress
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Actress Linda Evans has personified beauty and grace to American television viewers for over five decades, from her role as Audra Barkley, a daughter of the Old West on The Big Valley (1965) (1965-1969 on ABC) to the glamorous Krystle Carrington on Dynasty (1981) (1981-1989 on ABC) to Hell's Kitchen (2004), the British competitive cooking reality show she won in 2009.
Linda became one of the most celebrated female television stars of the 1980s. For her role as Krystle, wife of an oil multimillionaire played by John Forsythe and good girl counterpart to Joan Collins' evil Alexis, Linda was nominated five times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Drama series (every year from 1982 to 1986). She won in 1982, sharing the honor with Barbara Bel Geddes of rival primetime television soap opera Dallas (1978). Linda won five People's Choice Awards as Favorite Actress in a Drama Series in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead actress in a Drama Series in 1983. For her contribution to the television industry, Linda has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Blvd.
Linda was born on November 18, 1942, as Linda Evenstad in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of three daughters to parents who were professional dancers. When Linda was six months old, her family moved to Hollywood.
At age 14, Linda was encouraged to take drama classes to overcome her shyness. At 15, she joined a friend who was auditioning for a television commercial. Linda got the part.
A short time later, Linda earned her first guest-starring role on a major television series, Bachelor Father (1957), starring John Forsythe, whose career would become eternally tied to Linda when they portrayed the powerful Carringtons on Dynasty. She went on to guest-star on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Wagon Train (1957), My Favorite Martian (1963) and other staples of the 1960s before landing the role of Audra, daughter of Big Valley matriarch Victoria Barkley, played by Barbara Stanwyck.
Between her Audra years and her portrayal of Krystle, Linda was rarely off the airwaves, guest starring on shows that ranged from McCloud (1970) to The Rockford Files (1974), from the miniseries North & South: Book 2, Love & War (1986) to the primetime drama Hunter (1976), co-starring Linda as secret agent Marty Shaw.
After Dynasty, Linda decided there was something more to life than Hollywood and moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she began an extraordinary journey of self-discovery.
But she returned to performing frequently, starring in the stage play, Legends, and winning the Hell's Kitchen competition while working under Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White.
Linda's often lavish and luxurious life has rivaled Krystle Carrington's. She has dined with queens and presidents, been romanced by the rich and famous, and today, what Linda treasures most is the wisdom she has gained along the way.- Actress
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Grace Slick was born on 30 October 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for American Hustle (2013), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Brooklyn's Finest (2009). She was previously married to Skip Johnson and Jerry Slick.- Music Artist
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The beat goes on ... and on ... and as strong as ever for this superstar entertainer who has well surpassed the half-century mark while improbably transforming herself from an artificial, glossy "flashionplate" singer into a serious, Oscar-worthy, dramatic actress ... and back again! With more ups and downs than the 2008 Dow Jones Industrial Average, Cher managed to rise like a phoenix from the ashes each time she was down, somehow re-inventing herself with every decade and finding herself on top all over again. As a singer Cher is the only performer to have earned "top 10" hit singles in four consecutive decades; as an actress, she and Barbra Streisand are the only two Best Actress Oscar winners to have a #1 hit song on the Billboard charts. At age 77, Cher has yet to decide to get completely off her fabulous roller coaster ride, although she has threatened to on occasion.
The daughter of Arkansas-born Georgia Holt (the former Jackie Jean Crouch) and truck driver John Sarkisian, Cher was born in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. She has a half-sister, Georganne LaPiere. Cher is of Armenian heritage on her father's side, and of English and German, with more distant Irish, Dutch, and French, heritage on her mother's side. Cher's parents divorced when she was an infant and her mother went on to marry six more times. Her mother, who aspired to be an actress and model, paid for Cher's acting classes. Cher had undiagnosed dyslexia, which acutely affected her studies; frustrated, she quit high school at 16 to pursue her dream. At that time, she had a brief relationship with actor Warren Beatty.
Meeting the quite older (by 11 years) Sonny Bono in November 1962 changed the 16-year-old's life forever. Bono was working for record producer Phil Spectorat Gold Star Studios in Hollywood at the time and managed to persuade Spector to hire Cher as a session singer. As such, she went on to record backup on such Spector classics as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "Be My Baby". The couple's relationship eventually shifted from soulmates to lovers and she and Sonny married on October 27, 1964.
At first Cher sang solo with Sonny behind the scenes writing, arranging and producing her songs. When the records went nowhere, Sonny decided they needed to perform as a team so they put out two songs in 1964 under the recording names of Caesar and Cleo ("The Letter" and "Baby Don't Go"). Again, no success. The changing of their names, however, made a difference and in 1965, they officially took on the music world as Sonny & Cher and earned instant rewards.
The now 19-year-old Cher and 30-year-old Sonny became huge hits following the release of their first album, "Look at Us" (summer, 1965), which contained the hit single "I Got You Babe". With the song catapulting to #1, they decided to re-release their earlier single "Baby Don't Go", and it also raced up the charts to #8. An assembly line of mild hits dotted the airwaves over the next year or two, culminating in the huge smash hit "The Beat Goes On" (#6, 1967). Between 1965 and 1972 Sonny & Cher charted a total of six "Top 10" hits.
The kooky couple became icons of the mid-'60s "flower power" scene, wearing garish garb and outlandish hairdos and makeup. However, they found a way to make it trendy and were embraced around the world. TV musical variety and teen pop showcases relished their contrasting styles -- the short, excitable, mustachioed, nasal-toned simpleton and the taller, exotic, unflappable fashion maven. They found a successful formula with their repartee, which became a central factor in their live concert shows, even more than their singing. With all this going on, Sonny still endeavored to promote Cher as a solo success. Other than such hits with "All I Really Want to Do" (#16) and "Bang, Bang" (#2), she struggled to find a separate identity. Sonny even arranged film projects for her but Good Times (1967), an offbeat fantasy starring the couple and directed by future powerhouse William Friedkin, and Cher's serious solo effort Chastity (1969) both flickered out and died a quick death.
By the end of the 1960s, Sonny & Cher's career had stumbled as they witnessed the American pop culture experience a drastic evolutionary change. The couple maintained their stage act and all the while Sonny continued to polish it up in a shrewd gamble for TV acceptance. While Sonny on stage played the ineffectual object of Cher's stinging barbs on stage, he was actually the highly motivated mastermind off stage and, amazingly enough, his foresight and chutzpah really paid off. Although the couple had lost favor with the new 70s generation, Sonny encouraged TV talent scouts to catch their live act.
The network powers-that-be saw potential in the duo as they made a number of guest TV appearances in specials and on variety and talk shows and in what was essentially "auditioning" for their own TV vehicle. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971) was given the green light as a summer replacement series and was an instant sensation when it earned its own time spot that fall season. The show received numerous Emmy Award nominations during its run and the couple became stars all over again. Their lively, off-the-wall comedy sketch routines, her outré Bob Mackie fashions and their harmless, edgy banter were the highlights of the hour-long program. Audiences took strongly to the couple who appeared to have a deep-down sturdy relationship. Their daughter Chaz Bono occasionally added to the couple's loving glow on the show. Cher's TV success also generated renewed interest in her as a solo recording artist and she came up with three #1 hits during this time ("Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," "Half-Breed" and "Dark Lady").
Behind the scenes, though, it was a different story. A now-confident Cher yearned to be free of husband Sonny's Svengali-like control over her life and career. The marriage split at the seams in 1974 and they publicly announced their separation. The show, which had earned Cher a Golden Globe Award, took a fast tumble as the separation and divorce grew more acrimonious. Eventually they both tried to launch their own solo variety shows, but both failed to even come close to their success as a duo. Audiences weren't interested in Cher without Sonny, and vice versa.
In late June of 1975, only four days after the couple's divorce, Cher married rock musician Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band. That marriage imploded rather quickly amid reports of out-of-control drug use on his part. They were divorced by 1979 with only one bright outcome -- son Elijah Allman.
In 1976 Sonny and Cher attempted to "make up" again, this time to the tune of a second The Sonny and Cher Show (1976). Audiences, however, did not accept the "friendly" divorced couple after so much tabloid nastiness. After the initial curiosity factor wore off, the show was canceled amid poor ratings. Moreover, the musical variety show format was on its way out as well. Once again, another decade was looking to end badly for Cher.
Cher found a mild success with the "top 10" disco hit "Take Me Home" in 1979, but not much else. Not one to be counted out, however, the ever resourceful singer decided to lay back and focus on acting instead. At age 36, Cher made her Broadway debut in 1982 in what was essentially her first live acting role with "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean". Centering around a reunion of girlfriends from an old James Dean fan club, her performance was critically lauded. This earned her the right to transfer her stage triumph to film alongside Karen Black and Sandy Dennis. Cher earned critical raves for Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982), her first film role since 1969.
With film #2 came a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for her portrayal of a lesbian toiling in a nuclear parts factory in Silkwood (1983), starring Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell. This in turn was followed by her star turn in Mask (1985) as the blunt, footloose mother of a son afflicted with a rare disease (played beautifully by Eric Stoltz). Once again Cher received high praise and copped a win from the Cannes Film Festival for her poignant performance.
Fully accepted by this time as an actress of high-caliber, she integrated well into the Hollywood community. Proving that she could hold up a film outright, she was handed three hit vehicles to star in: The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Suspect (1987), and Moonstruck (1987), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Along with all this newfound Hollywood celebrity came interest in her as a singer and recording artist again. "If I Could Turn Back Time (#3) and the Peter Cetera duet "After All" (#6) placed her back on the Billboard charts.
During the 1990s Cher continued to veer back and forth among films, TV specials and expensively mounted concerts. In January of 1998, tragedy struck when Cher's ex-husband Sonny Bono, who had forsaken an entertainment career for California politics and became a popular Republican congressman in the process, was killed in a freak skiing accident. That same year the duo received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for their contribution to television. In the meantime an astounding career adrenaline rush came in the form of a monstrous, disco-flavored hit single ("Believe"). The song became a #1 hit and the same-titled album the biggest hit of her career. "Believe" reached #1 in 23 different countries.
Having little to prove anymore to anyone, Cher decided to embark on a "Farewell Tour" in the early part of the millennium and, after much stretching, her show finally closed in 2005 in Los Angeles. It didn't take long, however, for Cher to return from this self-imposed exile. In 2008, she finalized a deal with Las Vegas' Caesars Palace for the next three years to play the Colosseum, and has since returned live on numerous "farewell" tour extravaganzas. Never say never. Cher returned films with her co-starring role opposite Christina Aguilera in Burlesque (2010), but has since only provided a glitzy cameo in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018). After keeping a low romantic profile for some time, she nearly out-cougared Madonna by embarking on a romance with four-decades-younger Def Jam executive Alexander "A.E." Edwards, father of rapper Amber Rose's second son. The couple celebrated their one-year anniversary in 2023, right before the release of Cher's first holiday album, simply titled Christmas.
In other facets of her life, Cher has been involved with many humanitarian groups and charity efforts over the years, particularly her work as National Chairperson and Honorary Spokesperson of the Children's Craniofacial Association, which was inspired by her work in Mask (1985).- Music Artist
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The remarkable, hyper-ambitious Material Girl who never stops re-inventing herself, Madonna has sold over three hundred million records and CDs to adoring fans worldwide. Her film career, however, is another story. Her performances have consistently drawn scathing or laughable reviews from film critics, and the films have usually had tepid, if any, success at the box office. Born Madonna Louise Ciccone in August 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York in 1978 and studied with renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey, joined up with the Patrick Hernandez Revue, formed a pop/dance band called Breakfast Club and began working with then-boyfriend Stephen Bray on recording several disco-oriented songs. New York producer/D.J. Mark Kamins passed her demo tapes to Sire Records in early 1982 and the rest is history. The 1980s was Madonna's boom decade, and she dominated the music charts with a succession of multimillion-selling albums, and her musical and fashion influence on young women was felt around the globe. Madonna first appeared on screen in two low-budget films marketed to an adolescent audience: A Certain Sacrifice (1979) and Vision Quest (1985). However, she scored a minor cult hit with Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) starring alongside spunky Rosanna Arquette. Madonna's next effort with then husband Sean Penn, Shanghai Surprise (1986), was savaged by critics, although the resilient star managed to somewhat improve her standing with her next two films, the offbeat Who's That Girl (1987) (although she did receive decidedly mixed reviews, they weren't as negative as those of her previous effort) and the quirky Damon Runyon-inspired Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989). The big-budget and star-filled Dick Tracy (1990) had her playing bad girl "Breathless Mahoney" flirting with Warren Beatty, but the epic failed to catch fire at the box office. Taking an earthier role, Madonna was much more entertaining alongside Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in A League of Their Own (1992), a story about female baseball players during W.W.II. However, she again drew the wrath of critics with the sexy whodunit Body of Evidence (1992). Several other minor screen roles followed, then Madonna starred as Eva Perón in Evita (1996), a fairly well received screen adaptation of the hugely successful Broadway musical, for which she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress. The Material Girl stayed away from the movie cameras for several years, returning to co-star in the lukewarm romantic comedy The Next Best Thing (2000), followed by the painful Swept Away (2002). If those films weren't bad enough, she was woefully miscast as a vampish fencing instructor in the James Bond adventure Die Another Day (2002). After finally admitting that her acting days were over, Madonna began a directing career in 2008 with the barely remembered Filth and Wisdom (2008) and a year later she reunited with Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991) director Alek Keshishian to develop a script about the relationship between the Duke of Windsor and the Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication in 1936: the result, a movie named W.E. (2011), starring James D'Arcy and Andrea Riseborough as the infernal but still royal couple, was released in 2011 to lukewarm critics but it gathered one Oscar nomination for costumes and won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song for "Masterpiece".- Soundtrack
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Laura Branigan was born on 3 July 1952 in Mount Kisco, New York, USA. She was an actress and composer, known for Flashdance (1983), Ghostbusters (1984) and I, Tonya (2017). She was married to Laurence Ross Kruteck. She died on 26 August 2004 in East Quogue, New York, USA.- Writer
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Peta Credlin was born on 23 March 1971 in Wycheproof, Victoria, Australia. She is a writer and producer, known for Abbott & Credlin (2023), Credlin (2017) and Jones & Co (2016). She has been married to Brian Loughnane since 21 December 2002.- Actress
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Deborah Shelton was born on 21 November 1948 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Body Double (1984), Sins of the Night (1993) and Silk Degrees (1994).- Actress
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Leggy, brunette-maned pin-up actress Caroline Munro was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England, and lived in Rottingdean near Brighton where she attended a Roman Catholic convent school. By chance, her mother and a photographer entered her picture in a "Face of the Year" competition for the British newspaper The Evening News and won. This led to modeling chores, her first job being for Vogue Magazine at age 17. She moved to London to pursue top modeling jobs and became a major cover girl for fashion and television commercials while there.
Decorative bit parts came her way in such films as Casino Royale (1967) and Where's Jack? (1969). One of her many gorgeous photo ads earned her a screen test and a one-year contract at Paramount where she won the role of Richard Widmark's daughter in the comedy/western A Talent for Loving (1973). She first met husband/actor Judd Hamilton filming this movie but they later divorced. Also in 1969, she became the commercial poster girl for "Lamb's Navy Rum", a gig that lasted ten years. She had no lines as Vincent Price's dead wife in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) which, in turn, led to a Hammer Studios contract and such low-budget spine-tinglers as Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974). More noticeable roles came outside the studio as the slave girl/love interest in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), the princess in At the Earth's Core (1976), and a lethal Bond girl in the top-notch The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Her voluptuous looks sustained her for a bit longer but the quality of her roles did not improve with higher visibility. Later 70's and 80's roles included the lowergrade Starcrash (1978), Maniac (1980) and Slaughter High (1986), the last-mentioned written and directed by second husband George Dugdale, whom she married in 1990. He died in 2020.
Following her marriage, she was less seen. The septuagenarian continued to perform sporadically on camera, primarily in England and often in the horror genre. Subsequent lead and supporting movie roles have included Heaven's a Drag (1994), Domestic Strangers (1996), Flesh for the Beast (2003), Vampyres (2015), Cute Little Buggers (2017) and House of the Gorgon (2019) which also featured her daughter, actress Georgina Dugdale.- Music Department
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The lovely Mandy Smith was born in England and was discovered by the Hit Factory-producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who wrote her first singles "I Just Can't Wait" and "Positive Reaction" back in 1987. Some of her other hits were "Victim of Pleasure" (1988), "Boys & Girls" (1988) and "Don't You Want Me Baby" (1989).- Rosalind Miles was born on 15 January 1940 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. She was an actress, known for The Manhandlers (1974), Friday Foster (1975) and The Turning Point of Jim Malloy (1975). She was married to Todd Davis, Robert L. Miles and James W. Powell. She died on 8 February 2022 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Carol Dilworth was born on 1 December 1947 in Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Trygon Factor (1966), Horror House (1969) and My Partner the Ghost (1969). She has been married to Len Hawkes since 19 October 1969. They have three children.
- Sandra Smith was born on 27 June 1938 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress, known for Star Trek (1966), The Interns (1970) and Mannix (1967). She was previously married to Billy James and Steve Reeves.
- Leanne Suter was born on 7 November 1967 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She is an actress, known for Skyscraper (2018), The Throwaways (2015) and Made for Love (2021).
- Robin McGraw was born on 28 December 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), The Insider (2004) and Christmas in Washington (2008). She has been married to Phil McGraw since 14 August 1976. They have two children.