Sullivan Bluth Studios cast members
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- Actor
- Soundtrack
Years ago, Tallulah Bankhead's credited with having created the dictum, 'never work/appeared with small children or animals', as they have a built-in 'advantage'; the 'awww, look at how cute..'
Though it is true, there's been many young actors who actually had skills to back up that advantage.
One off them - who was part of the mid/late-70's group was a child actor, who worked under the stage name of 'Sparky Marcus'.
Sparky, - who's real name is Marcus Issoglio, was born in Hollywood, CA.
After being a being a familiar face of the late-70's, appearing in everything from Freaky Friday (1976), and Benji (1974), to TV shows like The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and the adult soap/comedy, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976) seemed to disappear.
One thing many child actors can't control is growing up, and aside from a very few, most former child actors will try to push against preconceived ideas, such as they're 'too old', or 'have no acting skills', but even when they do, it can be like trying to swim upstream. No matter how much, nor how hard they try, the entertainment business - which is already a very difficult business for any adult to try and enter, can seem to be much harder for someone who was once the 'go-to' face.
Marcus did continue to work through the mid 80s, segueing into doing voice-overs for animated shows and films.
One of his last on-camera appearances was in The Man with Two Brains (1983), Marcus has since retired from the business.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Scatman Crothers was born Benjamin Sherman Crothers on May 23, 1910 in Terre Haute, Indiana. Songwriter ("Dearest One"), actor, composer, singer, comedian, and guitarist who, after high school, appeared in nightclubs, hotels, and films, and on television. He made many records, including his own compositions. He joined ASCAP in 1959, and his popular-song compositions also include "The Gal Looks Good", "Nobody Knows Why", "I Was There", "A Man's Gotta Eat", and "When, Oh When". Scatman Crothers died at age 76 of pneumonia and lung cancer at his home in Van Nuys, California on November 22, 1986.- Beah Richards left her native Vicksburg, Mississippi, for New York City in 1950. She would not acquire a significant role on stage until 1955,when she appeared in the off-Broadway show "Take a Giant Step" convincingly portraying an 84-year-old grandmother without using theatrical makeup. In 1962 she appeared in writer James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner" directed by noted actor/director/activist Frank Silvera, who told Richards "Don't act, just be." She credited Silvera with helping her further develop the subtlety and quiet dignity that distinguished all of her performances.
A prolific actress, poet and playwright, her first authored play was "All's Well That Ends" that delved into the issues of racial segregation. Always ahead of her time, she defined herself as "Black" when the term "Negro" was the preferred ethnic/racial label of Black Americans. Richards would bring her salutary satisfaction with being "Black" and her immense acting talents to the role of the peacemaking mother in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), a role for which she was nominated for an Oscar. Additionally, she appeared in "Purlie Victorious" by Ossie Davis and "The Little Foxes" by Lillian Hellman.
In 1988, she won an Emmy Award for her performance in Frank's Place (1987). Although stricken with emphysema, she delivered a tour-de-force performance on the ABC legal drama The Practice (1997) in 2000; she received her second Emmy Award for this performance three days before her death in her native Vicksburg. - Georgette Rampone was born on 6 January 1950 in Santa Clara County, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Johnny 316 (1998), DuckTales (1987) and Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979).
- Jerry Harper was born in the Dalles, Oregon in 1930. His parents divorced early in his life and, in 1944, Jerry and his mother moved to Alaska. Eventually Jerry's mother married Zach Loussac, the mayor of Anchorage. As a young man, Jerry pursued his acting career in many venues - working in carnivals and circuses before finding work on stage and in films and television. In 1987, Jerry and his wife Sandy returned to Alaska, where they opened the popular and prestigious Cyrano's Bookstore and Off Center Playhouse, bringing top quality theater to Alaska. A legend in Alaska at the time of his death, Jerry died of cancer on April 8, 2005 at the age of 75.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Ken Sansom was born on 2 April 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for The Long Goodbye (1973), The Sting (1973) and Airport 1975 (1974). He was married to Carla. He died on 8 October 2012 in Holladay, Utah, USA.- Robin Muir is known for Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975), Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) and Little House on the Prairie (1974).
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Preeminent British classical actor of the first post-Olivier generation, Derek Jacobi was knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre, and, in fact, is only the second to enjoy the honor of holding TWO knighthoods, Danish and English (Olivier was the other). Modest and unassuming in nature, Jacobi's firm place in theatre history centers around his fearless display of his characters' more unappealing aspects, their great flaws, eccentricities and, more often than not, their primal torment.
Jacobi was born in Leytonstone, London, England, the only child of Alfred George Jacobi, a department store manager, and Daisy Gertrude (Masters) Jacobi, a secretary. His paternal great-grandfather was German (from Hoxter, Germany). His interest in drama began while quite young. He made his debut at age six in the local library drama group production of "The Prince and the Swineherd" in which he appeared as both the title characters. In his teens he attended Leyton County High School and eventually joined the school's drama club ("The Players of Leyton").
Derek portrayed Hamlet at the English National Youth Theatre prior to receiving his high school diploma, and earned a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he initially studied history before focusing completely on the stage. A standout role as Edward II at Cambridge led to an invite by the Birmingham Repertory in 1960 following college graduation. He made an immediate impression wherein his Henry VIII (both in 1960) just happened to catch the interest of Olivier himself, who took him the talented actor under his wing. Derek became one of the eight founding members of Olivier's National Theatre Company and gradually rose in stature with performances in "The Royal Hunt of the Sun," "Othello" (as Cassio) and in "Hay Fever", among others. He also made appearances at the Chichester Festival and the Old Vic.
It was Olivier who provided Derek his film debut, recreating his stage role of Cassio in Olivier's acclaimed cinematic version of Othello (1965). Olivier subsequently cast Derek in his own filmed presentation of Chekhov's Three Sisters (1970). On TV Derek was in celebrated company playing Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1967) alongside Maggie Smith and then-husband Robert Stephens; Derek had played the role earlier at the Chichester Festival in 1965. After eight eventful years at the National Theatre, which included such sterling roles as Touchstone in "As You Like It", Jacobi left the company in 1971 in order to attract other mediums. He continued his dominance on stage as Ivanov, Richard III, Pericles and Orestes (in "Electra"), but his huge breakthrough would occur on TV. Coming into his own with quality support work in Man of Straw (1972), The Strauss Family (1972) and especially the series The Pallisers (1974) in which he played the ineffectual Lord Fawn, Derek's magnificence was presented front and center in the epic BBC series I, Claudius (1976). His stammering, weak-minded Emperor Claudius was considered a work of genius and won, among other honors, the BAFTA award.
Although he was accomplished in The Day of the Jackal (1973) and The Odessa File (1974), films would place a distant third throughout his career. Stage and TV, however, would continue to illustrate his classical icon status. Derek took his Hamlet on a successful world tour throughout England, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China; in some of the afore-mentioned countries he was the first actor to perform the role in English. TV audiences relished his performances as Richard II (1978) and, of course Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980).
After making his Broadway bow in "The Suicide" in 1980, Derek suffered from an alarming two-year spell of stage fright. He returned, however, and toured as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1982-1985) with award-winning results. During this period he collected Broadway's Tony Award for his Benedick in "Much Ado about Nothing"; earned the coveted Olivier, Drama League and Helen Hayes awards for his Cyrano de Bergerac; and earned equal acclaim for his Prospero in "The Tempest" and Peer Gynt. In 1986, he finally made his West End debut in "Breaking the Code" for which he won another Helen Hayes trophy; the play was then brought to Broadway.
For the rest of the 80s and 90s, he laid stage claim to such historical figures as Lord Byron, Edmund Kean and Thomas Becket. On TV he found resounding success (and an Emmy nomination) as Adolf Hitler in Inside the Third Reich (1982), and finally took home the coveted Emmy opposite Anthony Hopkins in the WWII drama The Tenth Man (1988). He won a second Emmy in an unlikely fashion by spoofing his classical prowess on an episode of "Frasier" (his first guest performance on American TV), in which he played the unsubtle and resoundingly bad Shakespearean actor Jackson Hedley.
Kenneth Branagh was greatly influenced by mentor Jacobi and their own association would include Branagh's films Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Hamlet (1996), the latter playing Claudius to Branagh's Great Dane. Derek also directed Branagh in the actor's Renaissance Theatre Company's production of "Hamlet". In the 1990s Derek returned to the Chichester Festival, this time as artistic director, and made a fine showing in the title role of Uncle Vanya (1996).
More heralded work of late include profound portrayals of the anguished titular painter in Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), the role of Gracchus in the popular, Oscar-winning film Gladiator (2000), and sterling performances in such films as Two Men Went to War (2002), Bye Bye Blackbird (2005), The Riddle (2007), Endgame (2009), The King's Speech (2010), Jail Caesar (2012), and as the King in Cinderella (2015). Continuing to mesmerize on the stage, he has turned in superb performances in "Uncle Vanya" (2000), Friedrich Schiller's "Don Carlos" (2005), _A Voyage 'Round My Father (2006), "Twelfth Night" (2009) and the title role in "King Lear" (2010). On the British TV series front, he has commanded more recent attention in the title role of a crusading monk in the mystery series Mystery!: Cadfael (1994), as Lord Pirrie in Titanic: Blood and Steel (2012), as Alan in Last Tango in Halifax (2012), and as Stuart Bixby in Vicious (2013).
He and his life-time companion of three decades, Richard Clifford, filed as domestic partners in England in 2006. Clifford, a fine classical actor and producer in his own right, has shared movie time with Jacobi in Little Dorrit (1987), Henry V (1989), and the TV version of Cyrano de Bergerac (1985).- Actress
- Writer
A slender, striking, red-haired, freckle-faced American leading lady, Mary Elizabeth Hartman was born in Boardman, Ohio on December 23, 1943, as the middle of three children born to building contractor Bill C. Hartman (May 7, 1914, Ohio - October 26, 1964, Youngstown, Ohio) and housewife Claire Mullaly (October 13, 1918, Youngstown, Ohio - October 28, 1997, Youngstown, Ohio). Hartman had an older sister named Janet and a younger brother named William. Hartman grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and appeared in the play "A Clearing in the Woods" in the Youngstown Playhouse.
After graduating from Boardman High School in 1959, Hartman took a job at a Brooks Brothers store in Cleveland, and then attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh in 1961, where she met her future husband Gill Dennis two years later. While in summer school in 1963, Hartman participated in "Bus Stop" with Ann B. Davis, who suggested that Hartman try Broadway. In 1964, Hartman left for New York, where she starred in the play "Everybody Out, the Castle is Sinking". While in New York, she landed the role of Selina D'Arcy, a blind, abused, uneducated white girl who falls in love with a compassionate black man played by Sidney Poitier in the racially charged drama "A Patch of Blue (1965)". For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Golden Globe award. A week after she finished that film, Hartman began six months on location in New York as an upperclass collegiate in "The Group (1966)". Hartman married Dennis in 1968.
Other roles followed, such as a go-go dancer in Francis Ford Coppola's film "You're a Big Boy Now (1966)", a lonely, unmarried, handicapped woman in "The Fixer (1968)", a nurse who tends to Clint Eastwood in "The Beguiled (1971), "Intermission (1973)" and Pauline Pusser, the wife of sheriff Buford Pusser in "Walking Tall (1973)". Hartman also appeared in a television pilot of "Willow B: Women in Prison (1980)" (aka "Cages" ) and made numerous television appearances. She appeared in more plays, such as "Our Town" in 1969, also appearing in "The Glass Menagerie", "The Madwoman of Chaillot", "Bus Stop" and "Beckett". She also completed a road tour of the play, "Morning's at Seven".
Hartman's life was plagued by acute depression and insecurity; Hartman spent a year at the Institute of Living in Hartford in 1978. After her role as Mrs. Brisby in "The Secret of NIMH (1982)", Hartman retired from acting, and divorced her husband in 1984. Hartman was also frequently a patient at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, where her sister Janet took care of her.
On June 10, 1987, Hartman called her doctor and told him that she had been feeling despondent. Just before noon that same day, Hartman committed suicide by throwing herself out of her fifth-floor studio flat window at the King Edward Apartments in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Oakland. She was 43 years old.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Arthur Malet was born on 24 September 1927 in Lee-on-Solent, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Mary Poppins (1964), Halloween (1978) and The Secret of NIMH (1982). He died on 18 May 2013 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
As might be said for the late and great comedians Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn, it seems that Mel Brooks was the only director on the planet who knew how to best utilize this funnyman's talents on film. Brooks once remarked that, whenever he cast Dom in one of his films he'd add an extra two days to the shooting schedule because of delays between takes due to the constant laughter from cast and crew at Dom's improvisations.
The lovable, butterball comedian was a mainstay on 1960s and '70s TV variety as a "second banana," or comic-relief player. While his harsher critics believed his schtick would be better served in smaller doses, Dom nevertheless went on to find some range in a few moving, more restrained projects. Those few glimpses behind all the mirth and merriment revealed a dramatic actor waiting to be unleashed. As they say, behind every clown's smile, one finds tears.
He was born Dominick DeLuise on August 1, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents John, a sanitation engineer, and Vicenza (DeStefano) DeLuise, both Italian immigrants. A natural school-class clown, his irrepressible sense of humor helped Dom fit in at school, and he started drawing belly laughs fairly young in his very first school play that had him portraying an inert copper penny! He later attended New York's High School of Performing Arts, but when it came to college, he decided to major in biology at Tufts University, outside Boston. That decision failed to expunge the idea of being a comedian from his head and heart, however, and that determination finally prevailed.
Dom's formative years as an actor were spent apprenticing at the Cleveland Playhouse, where which he gamely played roles in everything from contemporary shows like "Guys and Dolls" and "Stalag 17" to classics like "The School for Scandal" and even "Hamlet." He earned his first professional paycheck playing the titular Bernie the dog in "Bernie's Last Wish." Dom also got a taste of what it was like in front of the camera in Cleveland, appearing on the local TV kiddie's show "Tip Top Clubhouse."
Back in NYC, he took over the lead role of Tinker the toymaker in another children's local program, Tinker's Workshop (1954), for one season in 1958. He also started making noise on the off-Broadway scene. Appearing in the plays "The Jackass" and "All in Love," he became part of the featured ensemble of the 1961 musical revue "An Evening with Harry Stoones," which included 19-year-old Barbra Streisand. More outlandish musical roles came his way in the early 1960s with "Little Mary Sunshine" (as Corporal Billy Jester) and "The Student Gypsy, or the Prince of Liederkrantz" (his Broadway debut as Muffin T. Raggamuffin). While appearing in the lighthearted summer stock spoof "Summer & Smirk" in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Dom met fellow performer Carol Arthur (née Carol Arata). They married on November 23, 1965. Their three sons, Peter DeLuise, Michael DeLuise and David DeLuise all eventually found their way into show business. In 1971, Dom returned successfully to Broadway in a perfectly-suited Neil Simon vehicle, "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers."
Dom was first noticed on the smaller screen, creating the sketch character of Dominick the Great, a magician who tries in vain to mask his inept prestidigitations with feigned dignity on Garry Moore's popular show. The comedian truly thrived in this TV variety atmosphere and soon began popping up seemingly everywhere: (The Hollywood Palace (1964), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967), The Jackie Gleason Show (1966)). Balding, blushing, dimpled and moon-faced (comparisons to a ripe tomato were not wide of the mark), he was readily equipped with a high-wattage, Cheshire Cat smile that became his trademark. At his best, looking embarrassed or agitated, the laughs usually came at his own expense, whether playing a panic-stricken klutz or squirming nervous-Nelly type. Dom took his magician character to the ensemble comedy show The Entertainers (1964), which also showcased Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart, and found more regular employment as a bumbling private eye in puppeteer Shari Lewis' daytime children's program, and as a foil for Dean Martin on the entertainer's regular and summer replacement shows. Dom again repeated his Dominick the Great character on Martin's show and received great reception. He later found himself part of Martin's "in-crowd" of comedians on his "celebrity roasts."
Dom's obvious comic genius was more readily evident, and succeeded better, in tandem with other performers than it was on its own. Hosting duties for his very first comedy/variety program The Dom DeLuise Show (1968), which featured wife Carol as part of the regular roster, lasted only one summer. The sitcom Lotsa Luck! (1973), which showcased Dom as bachelor Stanley Belmont having to contend with a live-in mother (a harping Kathleen Freeman) and sister (an ungainly Beverly Sanders), was canceled after its first season. He gave it a rest for awhile before trying once again with the sketch-like sitcom The Dom DeLuise Show (1987), but it, too, quickly faded. Another brief stint was as host of a revamped Candid Camera (1991).
While Dom made an unlikely film debut as a high-strung Air Force technician in the gripping nuclear drama Fail Safe (1964) starring Henry Fonda, it was in zany, irreverent comedy that he found his true calling. Appearing in support of others such as Sid Caesar and Mary Tyler Moore, respectively, in the so-so comedies The Busy Body (1967) and What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), he proved a delight as an inept, dim-witted spy in the Doris Day caper The Glass Bottom Boat (1966).
Mel Brooks first cast Dom as the miserly Russian Orthodox priest, Father Fyodor, in his film The Twelve Chairs (1970), and found plenty of room for the comedian after that -- as campy director Buddy Bizarre in Blazing Saddles (1974), the silly-ass director's assistant in Silent Movie (1976), Emperor Nero in History of the World: Part I (1981), the voice of the cheese-oozing Pizza the Hutt in the "Star Wars" parody Spaceballs (1987), and as Sherwood Forest's very own puffy-cheeked Godfather, Don Giovanni, in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).
A very close friend of action star Burt Reynolds, Dom romped through a number of Reynolds' freewheeling films as well, including Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). One of his finest scene-stealing film roles, in fact, was as Reynolds' schizo pal in The End (1978). Dom went on to direct a number of stage productions for his close friend at the Burt Reynolds Theatre in Jupiter, Florida -- among them "Butterflies Are Free," "Same Time, Next Year" (starring Burt and Carol Burnett), "Brighton Beach Memoirs" (starring son Peter), and the musical "Jump" (featuring wife Carol). Still another comic buddy, Gene Wilder, handed Dom the roles of the indulgent opera star in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) and harassed movie mogul Adolf Zitz in The World's Greatest Lover (1977). Dom later joined Wilder once again, along with Wilder's wife Gilda Radner, in the leaden comedy Haunted Honeymoon (1986), a clumsy haunted-house spoof that even Dom, in full drag, could not salvage.
Change-of-pace roles were few and far between. One that did come Dom's way was the compulsive-eating protagonist in Fatso (1980). Directed by and co-starring Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft, Dom managed to mix comedy with pathos. Obesity was also a chronic, real-life problem for the comedian and, at one point in 1999, it was reported that he had tipped the scales at 325 lbs. On a positive note, this passion for food actually fed into a more lucrative sideline -- as a respected chef and culinary author ("Eat This" and "Eat This Too") in which he appeared all over the tube cooking and demonstrating his favorite recipes. He also found time to write children's books on the side.
Dom tackled broad comedy films with great abandon -- a wallflower he was not -- but they were hit-or-miss. Some of his biggest misses were the Mae West disaster Sextette (1977), the Dudley Moore showcase Wholly Moses! (1980) (although Dom was arguably the best thing in it), Loose Cannons (1990), in which he appeared as portly pornographer Harry "The Hippo" Gutterman, Driving Me Crazy (1991), which filmed far away in Germany, and The Silence of the Hams (1994), a parody on the horror genre in which he played Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza.
Films could also be a family affair. True to life, Dom played a sympathetic kiddie show host in the moving TV-movie Happy (1983). Also the executive producer, he was joined by wife Carol and all three sons in the cast. In addition, Dom offered a cameo in Between the Sheets (2003), a film written by Peter, directed, edited and executive-produced by Michael, and featuring roles for the rest of the family.
Dom's voiceover skills did not go untapped, either, in films including the animated features The Secret of NIMH (1982), An American Tail (1986) and All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989), plus all of their offshoots. The heavily-bearded DeLuise even displayed scene-stealing antics on the operatic scene, once playing the speaking part of Frosch the Jailer in Johann Srauss II's operetta "Die ," at the Metropolitan Opera.
Suffering from various physical ailments in later years, some of which were exacerbated by his chronic obesity and diabetes, Dom's health declined, and he died in 2009 at age 75. His wife and three children survive him, as do three grandchildren.- Actress
- Soundtrack
A brash character actress who specialized in cinema, television, and theater, Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley was born on November 13, 1906 in Broseley, Shropshire. She was the youngest of four sisters - including Angela Baddeley, also an actress - and her half-brother, Very Rev William Baddeley, was a Church of England Minister.
Not much is known about Baddeley's early life. She made her stage debut in 1918, and became popular in London stage comedies and revues prior to World War II, known for her dancing talent and natural comic ability. She memorably performed several times with Hermione Gingold. Baddeley made her film debut in 1927, with a role in the extremely obscure silent comedy A Daughter in Revolt (1927), but didn't come to attention until twenty years later, when she portrayed the affable but blowzy Ida in the film noir Brighton Rock (1948).
Known for her memorable character roles, Baddeley dabbled in such movies as Passport to Pimlico (1949), A Christmas Carol (1951), Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951), The Pickwick Papers (1952), The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), Mary Poppins (1964), and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her acid-tongued performance in Room at the Top (1958). At two minutes and thirty-two seconds, it is the shortest performance to ever be nominated for the award.
Baddeley became a household favorite for her role as irritable cockney housekeeper Mrs. Naugatuck on the '70s comedy series Maude (1972). She landed guest spots on multiple other shows, including but not limited to Hancock's Half Hour (1956), The Patty Duke Show (1963), Bewitched (1964), Night Gallery (1969), The Bionic Woman (1976), The Love Boat (1977), Charlie's Angels (1976), Wonder Woman (1975), Fantasy Island (1977), and Magnum, P.I. (1980).
Baddeley's two marriages failed, and she had a daughter, Pauline Tennant, from her first. She was in a long-term relationship with actor Laurence Harvey until he left her for Margaret Leighton, and died on August 19, 1986 at the age of 79 following a series of strokes.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Shannen Doherty was born in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, on April 12, 1971, to Rosa Doherty (Wright) and Tom Doherty. Her father worked in a bank, while her mother owned a beauty parlor. She has an older brother, Sean B. Doherty. Her ancestry includes Irish, English, Scottish, and French. In 1978, at the tender age of seven, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, where her father started a West Coast branch of the family transportation business. She knew she wanted to pursue an acting career when she made her acting debut at age ten, with a role on the series Father Murphy (1981).
Shannen was a confident student, involving herself in school performances and working hard in school, making sure she always had exceptional grades. Despite her confidence she isolated herself from large crowds and preferred to few close friends. She made a name for herself as a child actress at just 11-years-old, starring in Little House on the Prairie (1974) as Jenny Wilder. It was Michael Landon who noticed her performance in an episode of Father Murphy (1981) that he decided to cast her. She then went on to appear in Our House (1986) with Deidre Hall and Wilford Brimley. She also starred alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt in Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) and then in Heathers (1988), a teen comedy also starring Winona Ryder.
Her real success came in 1990, at the age of 19, when she was cast in Aaron Spelling's long-running hit series, Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) as Brenda Walsh, the twin sister of Brandon Walsh, played by Jason Priestley. She attracted media attention from the press and eventually made her a household name. The success of the popular teen drama appealed to young teenage girls who could relate to her character. After four years she left the show in 1994. Afterward, she continued her work in movies, starring in the thriller Almost Dead (1994) and the comedy Mallrats (1995).
During the fall of 1998, she reunited with long-time producer Aaron Spelling, when she was cast as Prue Halliwell on Charmed (1998), a show about three ordinary women who happen to be witches. She starred alongside Alyssa Milano and Holly Marie Combs. After three years she left the show to find work in movies. Before her departure from the show she directed three of the last episodes in which she starred. She continued her work in movies by starring in Another Day (2001), The Rendering (2002), Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay (2002), and View of Terror (2003). In 2003, she hosted season one of Scare Tactics (2003) as well as season two with only 8 episodes and then left to pursue other endeavors.
In the fall of 2004, Shannen made her return to television on Fox's drama series North Shore (2004), where she played Alexandra Hudson, the long-lost sister of Nicole Booth, played by Brooke Burns. The show was canceled after one season. Then in 2005 she landed the role of Denise Johnson on the UPN series Love, Inc. (2005); however, after the pilot episode she was dropped from the sitcom. From there she has ventured into new projects and in 2006 she starred in her own reality series, Breaking Up with Shannen Doherty (2006).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Wil Wheaton was born Richard William Wheaton III on July 29, 1972 in Burbank, California. He first gained international attention by starring in the Rob Reiner comedy-drama film Stand by Me (1986). He then played Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) for three and one-quarter seasons. Wheaton left the Hollywood scene for 18 months to pursue personal video production. He did return to "Star Trek" every now and then for an occasional episode, however. He then returned to Los Angeles, California, attended acting school for five years and now works on many projects. He lives in Arcadia, California with his wife Anne and her two sons.- Ina Fried was born on 17 December 1974 in Akron, Ohio, USA. She is an actress, known for Rocky III (1982), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and St. Elsewhere (1982).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Carradine, the son of a reporter/artist and a surgeon, grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York. He attended Christ Church School and Graphic Art School, studying sculpture, and afterward roamed the South selling sketches. He made his acting debut in "Camille" in a New Orleans theatre in 1925. Arriving in Los Angeles in 1927, he worked in local theatre. He applied for a job as as scenic designer to Cecil B. DeMille, who rejected his designs but gave him voice work in several films. His on-screen debut was in Tol'able David (1930), billed as Peter Richmond. A protégé and close friend of John Barrymore, Carradine was an extremely prolific film character actor while simultaneously maintaining a stage career in classic leading roles such as Hamlet and Malvolio. In his later years he was typed as a horror star, putting in appearances in many low- and ultra-low-budget horror films. He was a member of the group of actors often used by director John Ford that became known as "The John Ford Stock Company". John Carradine died at age 82 of natural causes on November 27, 1988.- Actor
- Producer
Peter Strauss has focused on theater for the last few years. He recently performed the role of Leonardo da Vinci in "Divine Rivalry" at Hartford Stage, Ben Bradlee in "Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers" for the New York Theater Workshop, Sigmund Freud in "Sabina" for Primary Stages and in "The Outgoing Tide" as an Alzheimer's patient for the Delaware Theater and Primary Stages in NY. Recent film roles are Warner Brothers' feature "License to Wed" with Robin Williams and as the U.S. President in Columbia's "XXX: State of the Union," and two independent films "Drawing Home" and "Sugar Baby." He completed the English voiceover for Albert Lamorisse's 1953 French film "White Mane" and as the narrator for Tracey Ullman's "State of the Union" series for Showtime.
Strauss is well known for his long list of starring roles in motion pictures-for-television, including "The Jericho Mile" for which he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Special. Strauss has also received Emmy Award nominations for his roles in the mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man" and "Masada" as well as five Golden Globe Nominations.
Strauss was born in New York City and grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where he was introduced to the theatre via the Croton Shakespeare Festival. His summers were spent with stock companies including the Pocono Playhouse in Pennsylvania and Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine. He attended the Hackley School for Boys in Tarrytown, New York and graduated from Northwestern University in 1969, committed to an acting career.
He made his Broadway debut in Tom Griffin's "Einstein and the Polar Bear" in 1981. His other theatrical credits include the plays "The Dance Next Door", "The Mind with the Dirty Man" and "The Trial of the Catonsville Nine" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and "A Cry of Players" at Baltimore's Center Stage.
His feature film credits include Soldier Blue (1970), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972), The Last Tycoon (1976), The Secret of NIMH (1982), Flight of Black Angel (1991) and Nick of Time (1995).
Strauss' many television credits include starring in the TV films Young Joe, the Forgotten Kennedy (1977), Angel on My Shoulder (1980), A Whale for the Killing (1981), Heart of Steel (1983), Under Siege (1986), _ Penalty Phase (1986) (TV), Proud Men (1987), 83 Hours 'Til Dawn (1990), Fugitive Among Us (1992), Men Don't Tell (1993), Thicker Than Blood (1994), Reunion (1980), The Yearling (1994), In the Lake of the Woods (1996), My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story (1998), A Father's Choice (2000) and Murder on the Orient Express (2001), as well as the miniseries Tender Is the Night (1985), Kane & Abel (1985), Brotherhood of the Rose (1989), Trial: The Price of Passion (1992) and Texas Justice (1995). His latest mini-series appearances were Seasons of Love (1999), with Rachel Ward and Hume Cronyn, (which he executive-produced) and as La Hire in the CBS four-hour mini-series Joan of Arc (2005).
Strauss starred for one season in the CBS drama series Moloney (1996) and the PAX drama series Body & Soul (2002).
Strauss is married to actress Rachel Ticotin and lives in Ojai, California, where he also operates a commercial citrus enterprise that produces 440 tons of citrus per year.- Attractive, dark-featured character actor with a voice like thunder, and eyes like a wolf, who was featured in less than sympathetic roles throughout his career. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Albert Paul Shenar attended the University of Wisconsin. Soon after graduation, he relocated to New York City, where he quickly landed roles on the stage. These experiences led to a Broadway debut in 'Tiny Alice' as 'Brother Julian.' After a few satiating years on and off Broadway, Paul found himself again relocating, this time to Philadelphia. It was here where he made a considerable contribution to the arts. Along with fellow actors Rene Auberjonois and Bill Ball, to name a few, he co-founded the American Conservatory Theater, where he was not only a regular performer until the day he died, but a teacher and advisor as well. From there, roles on television, and the big screen followed. Shenar made a splash, portraying Orson Welles in The Night That Panicked America (1975). He received some of the best reviews of his career for this famous television film. Soon after he received more for his portrayal of another famous celebrity, as Florenz Ziegfeld in Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women (1978). He continued working steadily on television, even appearing in shot-for-television replacement footage for the disaster film, Two-Minute Warning (1976). And then feature films came calling. Shenar turned in credible and memorable performances in film, such as the diabolical Bolivian drug lord Alejandro Sosa, in Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983) (1983), and most notably, voicing the evil conspiring rat, "Jenner", in Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH (1982). Other roles of note include Dr. Lawrence in Luc Besson's The Big Blue (1988), Joshua Adams in Deadly Force (1983), Paulo Rocca in the action packed Arnold Schwarzenegger film, Raw Deal (1986), and Ben Gardner, the father of a troubled Kristy McNichol, in Alan J. Pakula's Dream Lover (1986), respectively. Though not a household name in his time, his candor, energy, and aesthetic performances have left a long lasting impression, that only gets better with age, and will not soon be forgotten.
- Tom Hatten was born on 14 November 1926 in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Spies Like Us (1985), The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Get Smart (1965). He died on 16 March 2019 in California, USA.
- Actress
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- Soundtrack
Lucille Bliss was an American voice actress from New York City who was known for voicing Smurfette from The Smurfs, Anastasia from Cinderella and Ms. Bitters from Invader Zim. She voiced in other animated projects and video games including Robots and The Secret of NIMH. She passed away in November 8th, 2012.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Aldo DaRe was born in the borough of Pen Argyl, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania on 25 September 1926. He attended the University of California at Berkeley, served as a US Navy frogman during WWII and saw action on Iwo Jima.
While constable of Crockett, California, he drove his brother Guido to an audition for the film Saturday's Hero (1951). Director David Miller hired him for a small role as a cynical football player. Ray's husky frame, thick neck and raspy voice made him perfect for playing tough sexy roles. He was the star of George Cukor's The Marrying Kind (1952) and starred opposite Rita Hayworth in Miss Sadie Thompson (1953). Ray was the none-too-bright boxer in Cukor's Pat and Mike (1952) and an escaped convict in 'Michael Curtiz''s We're No Angels (1955). His career started downhill in the 1970s, with him appearing in a string of low-budget films as a character actor. His last film was Shock 'Em Dead (1991).
Ray was married three times, with one daughter Claire born in 1951 to his first wife Shirley Green whom he married on on 20 June 1947. Ray was then briefly married to actress Jeff Donnell and then had two sons and a daughter with his third wife, Johanna Ray, one of whom is the actor Eric DaRe. Aldo Ray died of throat cancer on 27 March 1991.- Actress
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- Music Department
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, McClurg began her performing career at age five with the Kansas City Rhythm Kids. She retired when the dance teacher was arrested on a morals charge for "dating" the tall and lissome, yet underage, star dancer in the troupe. That girl's big number culminated with a back-bend where Edie drank a soda upside down (of course).
She earned a Bachelor's degree in Speech Education and a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University and taught radio at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for eight years. There she re-entered the entertainment field as a DJ, newswoman and producer for the NPR affiliate KCUR-FM. Her proudest moment was portraying John Ehrlichman in Conversation 26 of the NPR national broadcast of the Nixon Tape Transcripts. Her career-long devotion to satirical improvisation included an impressive tenure with The Groundlings.
She went on to create original characters, performed on the short-lived talk show The David Letterman Show (1980): Mrs. Marv Mendenhall, Dot Duncan, Whirly June Pickens, Officer Jeanelle Archer, 105-year-old Edie, etc. Television has been a home to many of McClurg's characters -- on The Richard Pryor Show (1977); as Lucille Tarlek, wife of brash advertising salesman Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978); and Mrs. Poole, the ever-cheery and almost omnipresent next-door neighbor on Valerie (1986). Her movie career growth paralleled her ten years with The Groundlings. Her first film was Brian De Palma's teen horror classic Carrie (1976). She did several John Hughes films, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), She's Having a Baby (1988) and Curly Sue (1991). Offbeat cult favorites are Eating Raoul (1982), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988), HBO's The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981), and Martin Mull's The History of White People in America (1985).
In more mainstream films, she received a National Media Award for her portrayal of a mentally disabled woman in Bill: On His Own (1983) (which starred Mickey Rooney). She worked with Robert Redford (in A River Runs Through It (1992)), for Oliver Stone (in Natural Born Killers (1994)), for Diane Keaton (in Hanging Up (2000)), and was named Best Actress of the Chicago Alternative Film Festival for her portrayal of the mother of Ted Kaczynski ("The Unabomber").
More recent roles include the nosy lady on Fat Actress (2005), David Spade's nasty neighbor in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), Dana Carvey's mother in Sony Pictures' The Master of Disguise (2002), Jane Kaczmarek's friend on Malcolm in the Middle (2000), and guest-starring on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Providence (1999), 7th Heaven (1996), and Caroline in the City (1995). She had voice roles in such television series and feature films as The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rugrats Movie (1998), A Bug's Life (1998), and Cars (2006).- Joshua Lawrence is known for The Secret of NIMH (1982) and Cannery Row (1982).