Michelle Yeoh was born in Malaysia in 1962. She went to London to study ballet when she was a teenager. In 1985 she began making action movies in Hong Kong. She came to international attention in the film “Tomorrow Never Dies” with Pierce Brosnan in 1997. Three years later she starred in “Vrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragons”. She recently starred in “The Lady”.
IMDB entry:
Born as Yang Zi Chong in the mining town of Ipoh in West Malaysia in the lunar year of the Tiger, she spoke English and Malay before Chinese. A ballet dancer since age 4, she moved to London, England to study at the Royal Academy as a teenager. After a brief dance career, she won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title in her native country and the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1980s. Her first on camera work was a 1984 commercial with martial arts star Jackie Chan. In 1985, she began making action movies with D&B Films of Hong Kong. She was first billed as Michelle Khan, then later, Michelle Yeoh. Never a trained martial artist, she relied on her dance discipline and her on-set trainers to prepare for her martial arts action scenes.
She uses many dance moves in her films. She still does most of her own stunts and has been injured many times. Ironically, she still cannot read Chinese and she has to have Chinese script read to her. In 1988, she married wealthy D&B Films executive Dickson Poon and retired from acting. Even though they divorced in 1992, she is close to Poon’s second wife and a godmother to Poon’s daughter. When she returned to acting, she became very popular to Chinese audiences and she became known to western audiences through her co-starring roles in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and in the phenomenally successful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ directed by Ang Lee. She turned down a role in a sequel to The Matrix (1999).
She has her own production company, Mythical Films and has trained with the Shen Yang Acrobatic team for her role in The Touch (2002), an English language film she is both starring in and producing. She hopes to use her company to discover and nurture new filmmaking talent. She also wants to act in roles that combine both action and deeper spiritual themes. – IMDb Mini Biography By: Unknown author
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Chris Robinson was born in 1938 in West Palm Beach in Florida. He has starred for many years in two populsr soap operas, “General Hospital” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” when he finished in 2005. His films include “The Midnight Story” with Tony Curtis and Marisa Pavan in 1957, “Diary of a High School Bride”, “Because They’re Young”, “The Young Savages”, “13 West Street”, “The Hawaiians” and “Rez Bomb” in 2008.
Len Cariou is a legend on Broadway for his magnificent contribution to musical theatre e.g. the 1973 production of “A Little Night Music” with Glynis Johns and the 1979 production of “Sweeney Todd” with Angela Lansbury. He has too been active on film and television. He was born in Winnipeg in 1939 and began his career on the stage in Canada. His film debut was in “One Man” in 1977. He repeated his performance as Frederick Egerman in the film adaptation of “A Little Night Music” with Elizabeth Taylor which was not a success. He was hilarious as Jack Nicholson’s friend in “About Schmidt”. He had a recurring role as Michael Hagarty in the long running “Murder She Wrote” with Angela Lansbury.
TCM Overview:
As a Tony Award-winning performer in the early part of his career, Canadian actor Len Cariou later made a successful transition to the screen to become a recognizable fixture in numerous series and made-for-television movies. Following his Broadway triumphs in “Applause” (1970) and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (1979), Cariou crossed over to films and television with memorable appearances as a spy on “Murder, She Wrote” (CBS, 1984-1996) and as Walt Disney in “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story” (CBS, 1995). Despite his successful move over to the small screen, his Broadway star diminished throughout the 1980s and 1990s. But in 2002, Cariou hit his theatrical stride once again with a noted run in the embattled Broadway play, “Proof.” Though the show itself was short-lived, Cariou enjoyed renewed career vigor and began turning in sharp performances on series television, while earning an Emmy Award nomination for his turn as Franklin D. Roosevelt in “Into the Storm” (BBC, 2008), proving that even in his seventies, he remained a vital performer.
Born on Sept. 30, 1939 in St Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, Cariou was raised in modest surroundings by his father, George, a salesman, and his mother, Molly. Starting his acting career as a youth, Cariou became active in the drama department at Miles Macdonnell Collegiate, a prep school in Winnipeg, where he starred in and directed several plays. He continued performing at St Paul’s College in Manitoba, and after graduating, he began working in local theater. Cariou was the main attraction at the Manitoba Theatre Centre for much of the 1960s, essaying the leads in “King Lear,” “Macbeth” and “Henry V.” In 1968, Cariou made the leap to Broadway, appearing in “The House of Atreus.” The success of that particular show led to many others, including “Applause” (1970), an oddball musical adaptation of “All About Eve” (1950) that earned Cariou his first Tony Award. In 1973, he starred as Frederick Egerman in “A Little Night Music,” which led to his second Tony Award and became his entry into the feature world when he reprised the role for a successful 1977 film adaptation.
Cariou spent the next two decades balancing his career as a leading man on Broadway with his more modest career as a supporting man on television and in film. In 1979, he starred in the Stephen Sondheim musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” for which he won both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as the titular Todd. Though it was his last major success on Broadway for over 20 years, Cariou continued to topline musicals and dramas like “Dance a Little Closer” (1983), “Teddy and Alice” (1988) and “The Speed of Darkness” (1991). Meanwhile, Cariou continued to flesh out his acting resume with a steady stream of acting roles on television series and in the occasional film. Highlights from his journeyman era included the critically acclaimed 1988 ghost movie “Lady in White,” a recurring role as Jessica Fletcher’s spy friend, Michael Haggerty, on the long-running “Murder She Wrote” (CBS, 1984-1996), and a memorable performance as Walt Disney in the made-for-television movie, “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story” (CBS, 1995). Throughout the decade, he also had numerous guest starring roles on episodes of “The Outer Limits” (Sci-Fi/Showtime, 1994-2002), “Star Trek: Voyager” (UPN, 1995-2001) and “The Practice” (ABC, 1997-2004), while enjoying a rare regular series role on the short-lived cop drama, “Swift Justice” (UPN, 1996).
In 2002, Cariou joined the cast of the award-winning Broadway play, “Proof,” co-starring Neil Patrick Harris and Anne Heche. The show’s brief, but memorable run returned Cariou to the theater’s spotlight, helping him to land a series of more high-profile television roles, including episodes of “The West Wing” (NBC, 1999-2006), “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS, 2000- ), and “Brotherhood” (HBO, 2006-08). He also appeared in a smattering of films, including “About Schmidt” (2002), the horror-thriller “1408” (2007) and the subversive comedy “The Onion Movie” (2008), based on the popular satirical newspaper. In 2008, the affable Canadian actor enjoyed a measure of greater success. He appeared in a three-episode arc as Captain Allard Bunker in the long-running cop drama “Law and Order” (NBC, 1990- ) and portrayed distinguished American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the BBC-produced historical drama, “Into the Storm” (2008), which focused on Prime Minster Winston Churchill’s life during wartime. In 2009, Len Cariou received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.
The above TCM Overview can also be accessed online here.
Mark Strong is one of the best of film actors currently on the screen. He is also one of the busiest and it is hoped that he would soon be in leading man roles. He was born in 1963 in London to an Italian father and an Austrian mother. He studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He first came to prominence in the third of the “Prime Suspect” series with Helen Mirren. In 1996 he was in the superb TV drama “Our Friends From the North” with Gina McKee, Daniel Craig and Christopher Eccleston. His film roles include “Century” in 1993, “Fever Pitch”, “The Long Firm”, “Low Winter Sun”, “RocknRolla”, “Body of Lies”, “Sherlock Holmes” and “Robin Hood”. He is an actor to watch.
TCM Overview:
Austere yet handsome, Mark Strong’s chameleon-like talents made him a hugely sought-after villain in both big-budget action and independent films after a lengthy career in his native England. He gave good bad guy in Guy Ritchie’s “Revolver” (2005), the dramatic thriller “Syriana” (2005), and Matthew Vaughnâ’s fantasy “Stardust” (2007). Strong played the heavy in the comedy “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” (2008) before reuniting twice with Ritchie to anchor “RocknRolla” (2008) and essay the satanic Lord Blackwood in the Robert Downey, Jr./Jude Law hit adventure, “Sherlock Holmes” (2009).
Continuing to work with a laundry list of great film directors, Strong worked twice under the direction of Ridley Scott as the Jordanian Head of Intelligence in “Body of Lies” (2008), and then wreaked further havoc as Godfrey opposite Russell Crowe in “Robin Hood” (2010). Also that year, Strong scared a younger audience as the mob boss in the kids-turned-superheroes hit “Kick-Ass” (2010). With an admitted penchant for playing his deliciously evil roles to the hilt, Strong counted greats such as Sir Ian McKellen among his many fans. Going bad only ended up being a good thing for this talented actor.
Marco Giuseppe Salussolia was born Aug. 30, 1963 in London, England to a teenage Austrian mother and an Italian father who walked out the family shortly afterwards. Strong’s mother changed his last name to help her son better fit in with his peers. At age five, Strong who spoke both English and German was sent away to a state-funded boarding school in Surrey, as his single mother found it difficult to handle some of his behaviors. Though he desperately missed home, Strong thrived in his new environment and occupied his alone time with much reflection and people-watching. He became adept at solo travel and music, singing lead in a noisy punk bank called Private Party. Strong performed in one play, but found that it held little luster for him.
After he graduated, he headed to Munich to study law, but bailed after a year and returned to London. He happened upon drama courses at Royal Holloway, where he earned a degree, and which led to post-grad work at the Bristol Old Vic Theater School.
Mark Strong
Strong spent the next eight years on stage and carved out a significant career with high-profile parts in productions of “The Iceman Cometh” with Kevin Spacey, David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow” in the West End, and Sam Mendes’s “Twelfth Night,” for which he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.
In 1989, Strong began work on television in a variety of guest-spots, which included an installment of the highly regarded crime-drama series “Prime Suspect 3” (ITV, 1993), as an inspector opposite Helen Mirren’s formidable Jane Tennison.
The actor won more notice on the BAFTA-winning, “Our Friends in the North” (BBC, 1996), as Tosker, whose get-rich-quick schemes invariably fail. Strong brought an earthly strength to his role as Mr. Knightley opposite Kate Beckinsale in the televised adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma” (ITV, 1996), and was the sports-obsessed best friend to Colin Firth in the big screen romantic comedy set against the world of soccer in “Fever Pitch” (1997).
Mark Strong
Strong also became a fixture on television, resuming his character Larry Hall now promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent on “Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness” (ITV, 2003), that he was gifted with a career-changing role on the four-part crime-drama series “The Long Firm” (BBC, 2004). Strong played East End gangster Harry Starks, who had no qualms about silencing enemies with a white-hot poker down the throat. Strong, however, had to convince both the writer and director that he could plumb the darker waters Starks occupied. In doing so, he won the 2005 Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor, and was also nominated for the 2005 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor.
Deciding to focus on film over television, Strong perfected his menace with Guy Ritchie’s crime thriller “Revolver” (2005), where he was the steely sharp assassin Sorter, and then inhabited the Lebanese-Muslim Mussawi in the thrill-ride look at international corruption within the oil industry in “Syriana” (2005), opposite George Clooney. In the Ridley and Tony Scott-produced medieval romantic legend “Tristan & Isolde” (2006),
Strong was the murderous, power seeking Lord Wictred, and in the action fantasy “Stardust” (2007) directed by Matthew Vaughn, the actor played a cruel prince in pursuit of both the throne and immortality. In “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” (2008), Strong was a controlling 1930s nightclub owner addicted to cocaine, and in “RocknRolla” (2008), he played a gangster.
He was nominated for the 2009 British Supporting Actor of the Year by the London Critics Circle Film Awards for the dramatic thriller “Body of Lies” (2008). Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Russell Crowe, the spy film featured Strong as Hani Salaam, the deceptive head of Jordanian General Intelligence Department.
Buoyed by successful, versatile portrayals, the demand for Strong in bigger and meatier fare saw the actor as both ambitious and malicious as Sir John Conroy, advisor to the Queen in the highly touted historical drama “Young Victoria” (2009).
Mark Strong
Strong was a standout in his third pairing with Ritchie in the action-mystery “Sherlock Holmes” (2009), based on the tale of the famous detective. Opposite Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, Strong played the main antagonist, the aristocratic Satanist and serial killer, Lord Blackwood, and was universally praised as a convincing and creepy villain that gave the film its only dark edge.
Mark Strong
Strong kept with the sinister, but moved to a new genre with the kid-powered yet surprisingly violent action-comedy “Kick-Ass” (2010), based on the comic book of the same name. The critically and commercially successful film a re-team with director Vaughn featured Strong as the main heavy, Frank D’Amico, a Mafioso, whose facade of respectability was crushed by an adult and two children dressed like superheroes intent on justice.
Mark Strong
With “Sherlock” under his belt, Strong tackled another English legend this time, “Robin Hood” (2010), as directed by Ridley Scott and embodied by Russell Crowe, with Cate Blanchett onboard as Maid Marian. This retelling of the myth of Sherwood Forest featured Strong once again as the antagonist, Anglo-French double agent, Sir Godfrey, henchman to the ruthless King John (Kevin Durand).
Mark Strong
This was followed by key roles in the well-received espionage story “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2011) and Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama bin Laden story “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012). Unfortunately, Strong also co-starred in the notorious science fiction flop “John Carter” (2012) during this time. In 2013, Strong landed his first major role in American television, playing Detroit policeman Frank Agnew in the corruption drama “Low Winter Sun” (AMC 2013- )
By J.F. Pryor
The above TCM Overview can also be accessed online here.
Low Winter Sun 1 Sheet – Low Winter Sun _ Season 1 _ Keyart – Courtesy of AMC
Original Cinema Quad Poster; Movie Poster; Film PosterBOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE, US poster art, from left: Elliott Gould, Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Dyan Cannon, 1969
“For Elliott Gould in 1970, the time had come. Audiences immediately recognised him as the sort of man they knew, had met at parties but had not yet encountered in Hollywood movies. In “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” he is a corporation lawyer in a three-piece suit – but that suit was all he had in common with movie executives of the past (it was not a surprise to find him in later films with a hippie haircut and an unkempt appearance). He had the authority and confidence of the old-time star,but most importantly he had the hang-ups of his generation – in this film, several neuroses about adultery, group sex and kindred matters. he had large startled eyes and a drooping jaw, but he was funny with a self-deprecatory wit. He was not pretty. He was real, kinetic and shaggy. With omen, he came on rather like a bear. ‘Audiences’ said Time magazine see in Gould’ all their tensions, frusterations and insecurities personified and turned into nervous comedy that both tickles and stings with the shock of recognition’. It seemed that every newspaper in the world examined him in such terms. He became the representative of his generation as Brando had been of his. – David Shipman in “The Great Movie Stars – The International Years”. (1972).
Elliot Gould was one of the key actors in American film in the 1970’s. He was born in 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career on the stage in New York and had a critical hit in 1962 in the musical “I Can It It For You Wholesale”. His movie breakthrough came in 1969 with “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice”. He went on to make sone of the major U.S. movies of the next ten years including “Mash”, “The Long Goodbye”, “California Split” and “Capricorn One”. More recent successes include “American History X” and “Puckoon”.
His IMDB entry:
Elliott Gould is an American actor known for his roles in MASH (1970), his Oscar-nominated performance in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), and more recently, his portrayal of old-time con artist Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Ocean’s Twelve(2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007). Born August 29, 1938 in Brooklyn, NY, Gould’s father was a textiles buyer and his mother sold artificial flowers.
Gould ‘s portrayal of Trapper John in Robert Altman‘s MASH (1970) marked the beginning of perhaps the most prolific period of his career, highlighted by such roles as Philip Marlowe in Altman’s The Long Goodbye (1973) and Robert Caulfield in Capricorn One(1977).
On television Gould has the distinction of having hosted Saturday Night Live (1975) six times and helmed E/R (1984), a situation comedy set in Chicago about a divorced physician working in an emergency room, which aired for one season. He also co-starred in the series Together We Stand (1986) about a couple raising an adopted Chinese boy.
Gould appeared regularly on television and in film throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, including cameos in The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). His most prominent recent television role was a recurring part on Friends (1994), on which he played Monica and Ross Geller’s father Jack. More recently he voiced the character of Mr. Stoppable on the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible (2002). In film Gould received critical acclaim for his portrayal of an older mobster in Warren Beatty‘s Bugsy (1991), and make a noteworthy appearance in American History X (1998). His next major TV role will be in Showtime’s drama Ray Donovan (2013) starring Liev Schreiber.
The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.
TCM overview:
A tall and charming Brooklyn boy at heart, actor Elliott Gould carved a path into Hollywood with hulking, dark-haired looks that veered away from the traditional matinee archetype. His career began on Broadway, but Gould went on to briefly became the embodiment of a disenchanted youth culture in antiestablishment films such as “Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice” (1969) and “M*A*S*H” (1971). His strong synergy with ’70s audiences went adrift in the 1980s, however, before NBC’s popular 1990s sitcom “Friends” (1994-2004) managed to up the consistently working actor’s visibility. Coming full circle, Gould came face to face with the reverence of talents whose clout set the stage for his return to onscreen rebellion in 2001’s heist comedy “Ocean’s Eleven” and its two subsequent sequels.
Gould’s parents had emigrated from Eastern Europe and settled in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, NY, where Gould was born Elliot Goldstein on Aug. 29, 1938. His father worked in the garment business, while his mother kept the household in order. As a student at P.S. 247, Gould’s younger years were clouded by the pressure to succeed and enormous parental expectations that would always stay with him. At the age of eight, his parents put him into dance classes to help cure him of a shy personality – an outlet that worked. Moving on to Manhattan’s Professional Children’s School across the East River, Gould found a quick fascination with tap dancing, which he continued to hone while enjoying summer stints working upstate in Catskills comedy clubs.
Gould finished school in 1955 and two years, at age 18, made it to Broadway with a stage debut in the musical “Rumple.” By 1962, he was the star of another Broadway musical, “I Can Get It for You Wholesale.” The project helped vault Gould’s co-star, actress-singer Barbara Streisand, into the mainstream. Love blossomed between the two as “Wholesale” wound down, resulting in Gould moving into Streisand’s apartment. In 1963, the couple married. Gould was a rising star, taking the lead onstage that year in “On the Town” in London, but as the decade progressed, he struggled to get even small onscreen parts within long, lean periods. Often supported by Streisand while working in theater, the couple had a son, Jason, in 1966, and Gould returned to Broadway with a strong turn as the nervous boyfriend Alfred Chamberlain of Jules Feiffer’s “Little Murders.” With the burden of Streisand’s massive fame and their careers growing further apart, the couple separated in 1969, divorcing two years later.
As his marriage disintegrated, it seemed Gould’s time had come, professionally. Having moved to Los Angeles, his ascent into film CAME swiftly with his debut role as the burlesque club owner Billy Minsky in “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” (1968). On the momentum of that project, he jumped into bed with “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” – Paul Mazursky’s look at the shifting of sexual “enlightenment” as experienced by two divergent Los Angeles couples. Gould’s unconventional looks, coupled with his onscreen sense of swinging ambivalence, struck a chord with a culture similarly making sense of the changes in political and sexual attitudes. He was on a roll, and director Robert Altman – himself, a keen gauge of American culture – sensed it, casting Gould as the maverick surgeon “Trapper John” McIntyre in the Korean War satire “M*A*S*H” (1970). Gould, in his third at bat in movies, won an Oscar nomination in 1971 for his supporting role in the comedy classic which would inspire an equally brilliant television series.
As “M*A*S*H” was taking off in theaters, Gould was solidifying his unique leading man image, putting his range to use in comedies and dramas – including his role of the Vietnam veteran-turned-teacher of “Getting Straight” (1970), the sexually unfulfilled doctor of “I Love My Wife” (1970), and the reprisal of Alfred Chamberlain in Alan Arkin’s adaptation of “Little Murders” (1971). Gould had an extraordinary and contentious working relationship with Ingmar Bergman on Bergman’s infidelity drama “Beröringen” (1971), but capped off his impressive run with Altman’s imagining of Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled “The Long Kiss Goodbye” (1973), with Gould playing the cool, fast-quipping L.A. detective Philip Marlowe made famous years earlier by Humphrey Bogart.
Throughout the 1970s, Gould was working steadily, but the projects began to fit less snugly, as America veered away from the counterculture. He found love again with his second wife Jennifer Bogart, whom he married in 1973 after the couple had two children, Molly and Sam. Gould went back to working, thriving under Altman once again with the gambling drama “California Split” (1974), and later, as the Colonel Robert Stout of Richard Attenborough’s war epic “A Bridge Too Far” (1977). He and Bogart divorced in 1976, but later remarried in 1978 after the end of Gould’s serious relationship with actress Jennifer O’Neill. He was moving into bigger budget genre confections such as the cult thriller “Capricorn One” (1978), in which his sleuthing journalist followed a series of NASA murders, but he always maintained his credibility with the counterculture comics of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 1975- ) – enough to host the show six times between 1975 and 1980.
Gould’s career shifted into less edgy territory in the 1980s, softening his appeal and rendering him less relevant to a newer generation of audiences. He appeared in a pair of family-oriented Disney comedies, “The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark” (1980), and opposite Bill Cosby as a soul destined for the fiery below in “The Devil and Max Devlin” (1981), which did little to help his career. In 1984, Gould summoned a strong performance in the homegrown New York drama “Over the Brooklyn Bridge,” finding an equal measure of comedy and heart as a Jewish Brooklyn deli owner trying to start a Manhattan business while reconciling with his love for a Catholic model. That year, Gould also scrubbed in for a sitcom, starring as a divorced, Chicago surgeon on “E/R” (CBS, 1984-85), but the series petered out by the first season’s end.
Capping out the decade, Gould’s film and television resume seemed to have a longer trail of filler than he had expected, occasionally displaying some of the old magic, as he did as the probing police lieutenant of the murder mystery “Vanishing Act” (CBS, 1986). In 1989, he and wife Bogart finally divorced for good, and Gould entered the 1990s a single man facing mature career prospects. He made a triumphant return to form with a memorable appearance as the seedy Harry Greenberg of Warren Beatty’s gangster epic “Bugsy” (1991), but it was the NBC series “Friends” a few years later that put Gould back on the cultural radar in a big way. As Jack Gellar, the good-natured, but fussy father of the Greenwich village-dwelling Gellar kids, Monica and Ross, Gould spent nine years recurring in the role across 10 seasons – often to hilarious results. Though he had always made guest spots and had multi-episode arcs on television, “Friends” became his career’s most stable gig.
With his highest visibility in years, Gould was eager to stretch into a range of roles yet again. He appeared as a family man with a hidden sexual appetite for men in the indie film “Johns” (1996), then toured across U.S. stages as the scheming playwright Sidney Bruhl of “Deathtrap” – a role which forced him to bow out of Woody Allen’s comedy “Deconstructing Harry” (1997). Gould then took to television screens again, tending to the oversight of a creepy estate in ABC’s Stephen King miniseries, “The Shining”(1997). In 1998, Gould then had some small choice parts in a pair of divergent studio films – first as the sobriety-challenged Morton Shulman of the hitman comedy “The Big Hit” followed by the role of a Jewish schoolteacher at odds with a young skinhead in the gripping “American History X.”
Gould’s cached contributions to Hollywood were not lost on modern Hollywood heavyweights. His evolution into an elder statesman made him the right choice to play Reuben Tishkoff, the outrageous Las Vegas mogul helping to guide the crew of the new “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), for which George Clooney recruited his own team of safecrackers into a casino robbery. Gould and the highly attractive cast that included Brad Pitt and Matt Damon were nominated for an MTV Movie Award in 2002. A year later, the adoration of Clooney and “Ocean’s” director Steven Soderbergh landed the actor on several episodes of their HBO political drama “K Street” (2003), with Gould playing the lobbyist firm owner Bergstrom Lowell. In this pair of collaborators, he had seemingly found his strongest champions since working with Robert Altman. He happily returned for another “Ocean’s” frolic in “Ocean’s Twelve” (2004), later followed by a third installment “Ocean’s Thirteen” (2007), in which Tishkoff’s hospitalization returned the franchise to the familiar Vegas setting and its most ambitious heist to date.
The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.
Cuba Gooding Jnr was born in 1968 in the Bronx, New York. He is perhaps best known for his Academy Award winning performance in “Jerry Maguire” in 1996. His other films include “As Good as it Gets” and “Men of Honor”.
TCM Overview:
An energetic performer who inexplicably countered critically acclaimed dramatic performances with buffoonish comedies, Cuba Gooding, Jr. experienced both serious highs and embarrassing lows in his uneven career. After starting his career as a backup break dancer for Lionel Ritchie at the 1984 Olympic Games, Gooding forged ahead with an acting career with several brief film and television appearances before showing early talent with his subtle portrayal of a bright youth being led down a dangerous path in “Boyz N the Hood” (1991). The role earned him serious consideration from Hollywood, though he failed to take advantage of his newfound clout. For the next few years, he languished in forgettable movies like “Lightning Jack” (1994) and “Outbreak” (1995) before finally striking Oscar gold with his highly infectious performance as an arrogant football star in the winning “Jerry Maguire” (1996). But like “Boyz,” Gooding failed to seize the moment, choosing instead to star in “Snow Dogs” (2002), “Boat Trip” (2002) and “Daddy Day Camp” (2007). Though he received strong critical attention for his performances in “As Good As It Gets” (1998), “Radio” (2003) and “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” (TNT, 2009), Gooding still had work to do in living up to his early promise.
Born on Jan. 2, 1968 in the Bronx, NY, Gooding was raised by his father, Cuba Sr., the lead singer for the R&B group, The Main Ingredient, best known for their 1972 hit “Everybody Plays the Fool,” and his mother, Shirley, a backup singer who toured with Jackie Wilson’s Sweathearts during the 1960s. Gooding moved to Los Angeles during the height of his father’s success, only to see Cuba Sr. abandon the family, forcing his mom to raise three boys while moving from one hotel to another. In fact, he moved around so much that he attended four different high schools in Southern California – North Hollywood High School, Apple Valley High School, Tustin High School and John F. Kennedy High School – and became class president at all but one of them. During this time, Gooding became interested in acting, which he began at the Drama Teachers’ Association of Southern California drama festival competition in the early 1980s. In 1984, he had his first professional gig as a break dancer on stage with Lionel Ritchie, who performed at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
That same year, Gooding landed his first onscreen role, playing a thug on an episode of “Hill Street Blues” (NBC, 1981-87), which he followed by stealing some hubcaps in a guest starring role on “Jake and the Fatman” (CBS, 1987-1992). Following his first named role in CBS Schoolbreak Special, “No Means No” (1988), he made his feature debut with a walk-on part as a barber shop customer in the Eddie Murphy vehicle, “Coming to America” (1988). Following a more significant role in the little-seen teen drama “Sing” (1989), Gooding had his big break with a starring role in John Singleton’s celebrated directorial debut, “Boyz N the Hood” (1991). Gooding played Tre Styles, a troubled, but promising youth sent to live with his disciplinarian father (Lawrence Fishburne) in South Central Los Angeles, where he finds the strength to rise above the self-destructive violence all around him. Sensitively conveying the pressures and contradictions attendant upon young black men growing up in the ‘hood, Gooding emerged from the independent drama a bona fide star. A sudden media darling, Gooding found himself fielding offers that came flooding in, though most were variations on “Boyz N the Hood.” The actor steadfastly refused to cover the same ground and went on the hunt for more challenging material.
After landing in the high-powered supporting cast of the blockbuster court-martial drama “A Few Good Men” (1992), Gooding stumbled as the star of that year’s “Rocky” wannabe “Gladiator” (1992), which he followed with a supporting turn in the forgettable thriller, “Judgment Night” (1993) and played the mute sidekick of an Australian outlaw (Paul Hogan) in “Lightning Jack” (1994). While struggling to build upon the success he had with “Boyz,” Gooding kept his career on life support with small roles in “Losing Isaiah” (1995), “Outbreak” (1995) and “The Tuskegee Airmen” (HBO, 1995). Five years after his “Boyz” breakthrough, the actor finally landed the role of a lifetime after Damon Wayans left the producers of “Jerry Maguire” (1996) scrambling for a last-minute replacement. Gooding took on the role of Rod Tidwell, a headstrong NFL wide receiver whose potential for stardom is hampered by his overwhelming arrogance, only to be put in check by his doggedly loyal sports agent (Tom Cruise). An undeniable force from beginning to end, Gooding delivered a high-caliber performance that turned him into a star, thanks in part to his catchphrase, “Show me the money!” Most importantly, however, Gooding earned recognition at the highest levels when he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he received at the Oscar ceremony by telling everyone involved in the film that he loved them before jumping around the stage with wild and hilarious abandon.
Having finally delivered on the promise he displayed in “Boyz,” Gooding landed high profile supporting roles, playing Greg Kinnear’s gay art dealer in “As Good As It Gets” (1997) and Robin Williams’ tour guide through the afterlife in “What Dreams May Come” (1998). To raise his profile further, he appeared in a series of Pepsi One commercials which showcased his high energy and neon-bright smile. Some critics faulted him for doing the pesky ads, though the spots certainly did increased his exposure, helping with the all-important name recognition that powers Hollywood clout. In his first leading role since his Oscar win, Gooding broke out of the rut of outgoing, flamboyant characters with a much more cerebral turn as an ambitious psychiatrist trying to draw out Anthony Hopkins’ psychotic killer – equal parts Hannibal Lecter and King Lear – in the psychological thriller, “Instinct” (1999). Thrilled by the color-blind casting, Gooding earned positive reviews, though the film itself left little else to recommend it. That year, he also portrayed a small-town guy trying to prevent a chemical weapon from detonating in “Chill Factor” (1999), while he took his first crack at producing with “A Murder of Crows” (1999), an independent thriller broadcast on Cinemax.
A further sign of his growing prowess came when Gooding was cast opposite Robert De Niro in “Men of Honor” (2000), the biopic of the U.S. Navy’s first black salvage-and-retrieval expert. Staying in uniform, Gooding played the real-life naval petty officer whose valiant heroics helped defend the U.S.S. Arizona from the Japanese attack air raid on “Pearl Harbor” (2001), the flag-waving, explosion-fest courtesy of Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer. The actor followed with a modest, albeit hard to fathom success for Disney in the goofy, forgettable comedy “Snow Dogs” (2002), in which he played a Miami dentist who inherits a sled dog team and finds himself racing across the frozen Alaskan tundra. Gooding next reached arguably the lowest point of his career with the limp comedy, “Boat Trip” (2002), playing a heterosexual man who inadvertently embarks on a gay singles cruise with his dim-witted pal (Horatio Sanz). Unfortunately, the eager, infectious enthusiasm that permeated Gooding’s early roles had grown tiresome, while his performances were typically overloaded with mugging and grandstanding that failed to enhance the already dubious quality of the material.
His next venture, “The Fighting Temptations” (2003), was well-received at the box office for its winning gospel and soul music. But Gooding, who played a morally impaired advertising executive who returns to his Southern home to collect an inheritance and finds himself struggling to build a competitive church choir from a gang of misfits, took it on the chin with a critically panned performance permeated by onscreen desperation. His next role, however, proved that Gooding still had power left in his punch. He took on the title role in the drama feature “Radio” (2003), playing a mentally-challenged South Carolinian who is allowed to help out with a high school football team despite objections from the locals, thanks to the trust and friendship of the head coach (Ed Harris). After voicing the karate-kicking stallion Buck in the middling animated feature “Home on the Range” (2004), Gooding starred opposite Helen Mirren as a romantically entwined pair of hired killers looking for one last chance at redemption in the low-budget thriller, “Shadowboxer” (2005).
In another low-budget turn, Gooding was a corrupt cop dragged into an Internal Affairs investigation in the noir thriller “Dirty” (2005), which he followed by playing a Secret Service agent who teams up with a hot-shot reporter (Angie Harmon) to find the assassins of the President of the United States in “End Game” (2006). Back in a studio feature, Gooding played second fiddle to the many incarnations of Eddie Murphy in “Norbit” (2007), a painfully unfunny comedy about a hapless man (Murphy) forced into marrying a large, mean and junk food-addicted woman (Murphy) just when his childhood sweetheart (Thandie Newton) moves back to town. In “American Gangster” (2007), he played a small-time dealer rivaling a Harlem drug kingpin (Denzel Washington), while he did an about-face for “Daddy Day Camp” (2007) in taking over for Eddie Murphy as the put-upon Charlie Hinton, who decides to expand his daycare business by refurbishing a dilapidated camp. One of the worst movies of his uneven career, “Daddy Day Care” surely would have marked the end of a less-determined actor’s career. After phoning it in for two more duds – “What Love Is” (2007) and “Harold” (2008) – Gooding returned to top form with a mature dramatic performance in “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story” (TNT, 2009). He played the titular Carson, who rose from a poor inner-city youth to become one of the world’s most accomplished neurosurgeons, thanks to the love of his single mother (Kimberly Elise) and his faith in God. Gooding earned high marks from critics, as well as a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for Best Actor in a TV Movie.
The above TCM overviewcan also be accessed online here.
Brian Kerwin was born in 1949 in Chicago. His films include “Murphy’s Romance” with james Garner and Sally Field in 1985, “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Debating Robert Lee”.
Gary Brumburgh’s entry:
Lanky, blue-eyed blond American lead and second lead from Chicago whose fresh-scrubbed Ivy League good looks were first noticed on TV soaps and a couple of rugged series. His sensitive, innocent-eyed charm sometimes belied a less-than-honorable nature, as was the case when he played Sally Field‘s ne’er-do-well ex-husband in the filmMurphy’s Romance (1985). The attention he merited here led to the staunch lead in the film King Kong Lives (1986) and the promise of big-screen stardom, but things didn’t quite jell. For the most part, however, he has kept a pleasant visibility on the small screen and especially in the theater. He was singled out for his performance in the stage version of “Torch Song Trilogy” and was later asked to co-star in the movie adaptation by the show’s star/writer Harvey Fierstein.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
One Sheet; Movie Poster; Film Poster; Cinema Poster;
John Shea was born in 1949 in New Hampshire. He made his film debut in 1980 in the British film “Hussy” opposite Helen Mirren. He starred in “Missing” with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, “Windy City” and “A New Life” with Alan Alda and Ann-Margret. He starred as Lex Lutor in the television series “Lois and Clark”.
Gary Brumburgh’s entry:
Primarily known to TV audiences for his recurring role as the evil Lex Luthor in the early 90s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993) TV series, handsome, slim-faced, curly-haired actor John Shea was born in New Hampshire in 1949, but raised in Massachusetts. He received his BA from Bates College, which he achieved on debating and football scholarships. He then attended Yale University and earned an MFA in directing from its School of Drama.
Following New York stage work, including his portrayal of Paris in a production of “Romeo and Juliet” (1977), initial on-camera notice came on TV with his reverential portrayal of Joseph in the mini-movie The Nativity (1978). A few years later on film he appeared in the small but memorable role of the impassioned, ill-fated American idealist who becomes a casualty to Chilean war-torn politics in Costa-Gavras‘ Academy Award-winning thriller Missing (1982). Although Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, who respectively played his despairing father and wife, were nominated for Oscars for their starring performances, John’s role was central to the heart of the film and he made quite an impact. The actor was later honored by Amnesty International for his political work following the film’s release.
Critical kudos, as well as awards, have come in John’s direction over the years on stage, film and TV. In the film Windy City (1984) opposite Kate Capshaw, he earned the Best Actor Award at the Montreal Film Festival. On stage, he received a Drama Desk Award for “American Days”, an Obie Award for “The Dining Room” and a 1976 Theatre World Award for his portrayal of the Jewish student “Avigdor” in “Yentl”. The role was later portrayed by Mandy Patinkin in Barbra Streisand‘s 1983 film adaptation. On television, John was awarded the coveted Emmy for his depiction of the distressed husband and father wannabe who touches off a legal landmark case in the miniseries, Baby M (1988).
In a career pocked with remarkable versatility, interesting choices and challenging parts, John has played everything from a young Nazi in the miniseries Hitler’s S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985) to ‘Robert F. Kennedy’ in the epic-styled Kennedy (1983). He has kept his face alive in guest parts over the years on such well-received series as Sex and the City(1998), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Deadly Nightmares (1983), Law & Order (1990) andMedium (2005). A budding Irish-American filmmaker, John co-wrote, directed and appeared in the low-budget film Southie (1998), a drama set in the Irish-American section of Boston. The film won the Jury Award for Best Independent Film at the 1998 Seattle International Film Festival.
Into the millennium, John found popularity on the Mutant X (2001) sci-fi series playing the role of “Adam Kane”. Based on Marvel Comic’s “X-Men”, he received a nomination for Canada’s prestigious Gemini Award as Best Actor. He also appears in a recurring role onGossip Girl (2007). More recent filming includes a spat of thrillers including The Insurgents (2006) with Mary Stuart Masterson; the British Framed (2008) and the Indian drama Achchamundu! Achchamundu! (2009), plus the Jessica Alba drama, An Invisible Sign (2010), and the horror opus 51 (2011).
A screenwriter and audio book performer in addition to all his other talents, John lives with his second wife, the painter Melissa MacLeod, and his family are based in New York and on Nantucket Island where he was a founding member of the Nantucket Film Festival and is currently Artistic Director of the Nantucket Theatre Workshop. He has one son, Jake, from his first marriage, and two children, Miranda and Caiden, by wife Melissa.
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
Barry Bostwick was born in 1945 in San Mateo, California. He is perhaps best known for his role as Brad in the cult film classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in 1975. He originated the role of Danny in the 1972 Broadway production of “Grease”. His films include “Road Movie” and “Jennifer on My Mind”. His television successes include “Scruples” and “Spin City”.
Gary Brumburgh’s entry:
Tall (6′ 4″), agile, energetic, and ever-so-confident as both actor and singer, especially on the award-winning Broadway stage, Barry Bostwick possesses that certain narcissistic poise, charm and élan that reminds one instantly (and humorously) of a Kevin Kline — both were quite brilliant in their respective interpretations of The Pirate King in “The Pirates of Penzance”. Yet, for all his diverse talents (he is a Golden Globe winner and was nominated for the Tony Award three times, winning once), Barry is indelibly caught in a time warp. Even today, 35 years after the fact, he is indelibly associated with the role of nerdy hero Brad Majors in the midnight movie phenomena The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). While it is extremely flattering to be a part of such a cult institution, Barry’s acting legacy deserves much more than this.
He was born Barry Knapp Bostwick on February 24, 1945, in San Mateo, California, one of two sons born to Henry “Bud” Bostwick, a city planner, and his wife Betty. A student at San Mateo High School, he and his elder brother Peter use to put on musicals and puppet shows for the neighborhood kids. Barry attended San Diego’s United States International University’s School for the Performing Arts in 1967, and switched from music to drama during the course of his studies. He also worked occasionally as a circus performer, which would come in handy on the musical stage down the line. He subsequently moved to New York and attended the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University.
Making his stage debut at age 22 in a production of “Take Her, She’s Mine,” Barry performed in a number of non-musical roles in such productions of “War and Peace” (1968) and “The Misanthrope (1968). Making his 1969 Broadway debut in “Cock-a-Doodle Dandy”, which ran in tandem with “Hamlet” in which he was featured as Osric, it was his portrayal of the swaggering, leather jacket-wearing 50s “bad boy” Danny Zuko in the 1972 Broadway high-school musical smash “Grease” that put Barry’s name prominently and permanently on the marquee signs. Originating the role, he was nominated for a Tony but lost out that year to the older generation (Phil Silvers for “A Funny Thing Happened…”).
In the midst of all this star-making hoopla, Barry was also breaking into films with a minor role in Jennifer on My Mind (1971) and leading parts in the comedy spoofs Road Movie (1974) and The Wrong Damn Film (1975). It all paled after winning the role asSusan Sarandon‘s simp of a boyfriend in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), which featured a delicious Tim Curry camping it up as a transvestite monster-maker. The movie, based on the macabre 1973 British stage musical “The Rocky Horror Show,” packed the midnight movie houses with costumed fans replicating every move and, word and offering puns and props aplenty in recapturing the insanity of the show.
While the “Rocky” association hit like a tornado, Barry ventured on and tried to distance himself. He created sparks again on Broadway, garnering a second Tony nomination for the comedy revival “They Knew What They Wanted” in 1976. He finally took home the trophy the following year for the musical “The Robber Bridegroom” (1977), which relied again on his patented bluff and bravado as a Robin Hood-like hero. Following top roles in the musicals “She Loves Me” and “The Pirates of Penzance”, Barry turned rewardingly to film and TV.
The two-part feature Movie Movie (1978), which played like an old-style double feature, was a great success, performing alongside esteemed actor George C. Scott. Barry excelled in both features, but especially the musical parody. He fared just as well on the smaller screen in TV movies, playing everything from historical icons (George Washington) to preening matinée idols (John Gilbert), and winning a Golden Globe for his role as a military officer in the epic miniseries War and Remembrance (1988). A variety of interesting roles followed in glossy, soap-styled fare, farcical comedies and period drama.
A welcomed return to Broadway musicals in the form of “Nick & Nora” (he as sleuth Nick “The Thin Man” Charles) was marred when the glitzy production folded after only nine perfs. Instead, the prematurely grey-haired actor found steadier success in sitcoms as a smug comedy foil to Michael J. Fox playing Mayor Randall Winston for six seasons in Spin City (1996). He later enjoyed a recurring role as a dauntless attorney on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). Then again, Barry could be spotted pitching items in commercials or hamming it up in family-oriented Disneyesque entertainment in the “Parent Trap” and “101 Dalmatian” mold.
In 1997, Bostwick was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 10 days later had his prostate removed. The operation was successful and in 2004, he won the Gilda Radner Courage Award from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Just a year earlier he appeared on an episode of “Scrubs” as a patient also having prostate cancer. Barry married somewhat late in life. For a brief time he was wed to actress Stacey Nelkin (1987-1991), but has since become a father of two, Brian and Chelsea, with second wife Sherri Jensen, an actress who appeared with Barry in the TV movie Praying Mantis (1993).
– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
