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1-50 of 11,783
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Shaw was already an accomplished theater actress when director Jim Sheridan awarded her a role in his film, My Left Foot (1989). The film is a telling of Christy Brown (Daniel Day-Lewis), an Irishman disgruntled with his confinement to a body horribly crippled by cerebral palsy but who found incredible success as an artist and writer. Shaw portrayed Eileen Cole, the doctor largely responsible for Christy's education and physical rehabilitation. Since, Shaw has received several accolades for her film and television performances.- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Actress Tantoo Cardinal is a Member of the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honors. The order recognizes Cardinal for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada.
Arguably the most widely recognized Native Actress of her generation, Cardinal has appeared in numerous plays, television programs, and films, including Legends of the Fall, Dances With Wolves, Black Robe, Loyalties, Luna, Spirit of the Whale, Unnatural & Accidental, Marie-Anne, Sioux City, Silent Tongue, Mothers & Daughters, and Smoke Signals. Recent work includes the films Eden, Maina, Shouting Secrets and From Above.
Her stirring performance in Loyalties earned her a Genie nomination, American Indian Film Festival Best Actress Award, the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, plus Best Actress Awards at International Film Festivals in Zimbabwe and Portugal.
Cardinal was recently honored with the 2015 ACTRA Award of Excellence; other honors include Best Actress - Elizabeth Sterling Award in Theatre for All My Relations, and First Americans in the Arts Totem Award for her portrayal of the character Katrina in Widows at the Forum Stage in Los Angeles. She won the American Indian Film Festival's Best Actress Award as well as the first Rudy Martin Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Native American in Film for Where the Rivers Flow North, a Gemini Award for North of 60, and a Leo Award for Blackstone.
Her television credits include recurring roles on the series: Blackstone, The Killing, Arctic Air, Strange Empire, The Guard, North of 60, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, The Lightening Field, Street Legal, The Campbell's, Gunsmoke, Tom Stone, Myth Quest, Lonesome Dove, and Renegade Press.com. MOW's include Full Flood, The Englishman's Boy, Dreamkeeper and the PBS documentary Nobody's Girls.
For her contributions to the Native Artistic community, Cardinal won the Eagle Spirit Award. She has also been honored with the MacLeans' magazine Honor Roll as Actress of the Year, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Toronto Women in Film and Television, an International Women in Film Award for her lasting contribution to the arts, and induction to the CBC/Playback Hall of Fame.- Actress
- Producer
Best known as "Lacey Underall" in Caddyshack (1980), and "Yori" in Tron (1982), Cindy Morgan was born Cynthia Ann Cichorski on September 29, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, not far from Wrigley Field. The daughter of a Polish factory worker and a German mother, Cindy attended 12 years of Catholic school and was the first in her family to attend college.
While studying communications at Northern Illinois University, Cindy spun records on the radio. A commercial station in town wanted her to report the news for them as well, so a slight deception was needed. She used the name Cindy Morgan, taken from a story she read about Morgan le Fay when she was 12 years old.
After graduation, Cindy gave all the latest meteorological news on a TV station in Rockford, Ill. She also kept her hand in radio by working the graveyard shift at a local rock station. Then she returned to Chicago and deejayed on WSDM (now WLUP). During a labor dispute at the station, she literally quit on the air and walked out with a record still spinning on the turntable.
Cindy found employment at auto shows for Fiat, which took her to both coasts. She moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and became the Irish Spring girl. While she did TV commercials, she studied acting, and was rewarded with her first screen role in "Caddyshack", playing the role of "Lacey Underall", an over-amorous ingénue.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Annie Potts is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles in popular 1980s films such as Ghostbusters (1984) and Pretty in Pink (1986). She made her debut on the big screen in 1978 in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer comedy film Corvette Summer (1978), with Mark Hamill, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 2017 she was cast to portray Meemaw in Young Sheldon (2017), a spin-off of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (2007). Potts also voiced voiced Bo Peep in the animated films Toy Story (1995), Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 4 (2019).
Interested in stage and film at an early age, Annie Potts attended Stephens College in Missouri, enrolling in the theater studies course, followed by graduate work in California. At the age of 20, she married her college sweetheart, Steven Hartley. Only a short time later, she and her husband were in serious automobile accident in Sumner, Washington -- their Volkswagen bus was demolished by two drivers who were drag racing. Steve lost a leg, and Annie had multiple fractures (resulting in a traumatic arthritis that still persists). Early roles were primarily in television, such as Black Market Baby (1977), but her presence moved up with an appearance in the mega-hit Ghostbusters (1984), and then she hit the big time with a seven-year stint as one of the stars of Designing Women (1986). A brief period in Love & War (1992) ended with the cancellation of the show, about which she remains resentful.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Lorraine was voted the "ugliest girl in the 6th grade" at her Long Island grade school. She moved to France in 1974 where she became a fashion superstar for Jean-Paul Gaultier. Her sister is Elizabeth Bracco. Has two daughters, Stella Keitel by ex-boyfriend Harvey Keitel and Margaux Guerard by ex-husband Daniel Guerard.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
An extremely gifted, versatile performer adept at both comedy and drama, actress/singer Katey Sagal became a household name in the late 1980s as the fabulously brazen, undomesticated Peg Bundy on the enduring Fox series Married... with Children (1987). During its lengthy run she received three Golden Globe and two American Comedy Award nominations. As popular and identifiable as her Peg Bundy persona was, Katey assertively moved on after the show went off the air, not only starring in other sitcoms and television movies, but portraying characters that were polar opposites of the outrageous role that first earned her nationwide attention. For example, in 2008 she took on the role of Gemma Teller Morrow, the matriarch of a Hell's- Angels-esque California biker gang, on the series Sons of Anarchy (2008), and in 2011 her portrayal earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in the Television Series--Drama.
Catherine Louise Sagal was born on January 19, 1954, to director and singer Sara Zwilling and noted television and film director Boris Sagal. The Los Angeles native began performing at age 5 and studied voice and acting at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California.
A singing waitress during her "salad" years, she started performing with the band "The Group With No Name," then caught a break after hooking up with Gene Simmons and his 1970s rock band KISS. In the meantime, she gained valuable experience as a backup recording singer for Simmons and other established stars like Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John, Etta James, and Tanya Tucker. She was also dynamic performing live with diva Bette Midler as one of her "Harlettes" in Bette's wildly avant-garde stage shows during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1985, while performing on stage in a musical, she was spotted by talent agents who subsequently cast her as Mary Tyler Moore's feisty co-worker Jo Tucker in Mary (1985), a short-lived comedy series. From that point on she focused on film and television. In 1987 she won the role of voluptuous "housewife" Peg Bundy in the irreverent comedy Married... with Children (1987), and the rest is history.
In addition to her busy on-camera scheduling, Katey has retraced her steps to her first love: singing and songwriting. With the support of her record label Valley Entertainment, she released the album "Room" in 2004 that combined classics like "Feel a Whole Lot Better" and "(For the Love of) Money" with original songs she penned, including "Life Goes Round," "Daddy's Girl," and "Wish I Were a Kid." "Room" is her first CD since her 1994 debut "Well."
In her post-Bundy career, Katey has continued to demonstrate a strong range, playing a much more responsible parent in the popular sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002), co-starring the late John Ritter and valiantly moving to single-household-head after Ritter's sudden passing in 2003 with highly successful results.
She has earned earned equally-fine kudos for her television movies like Chance of a Lifetime (1998), a charming romantic comedy that also co-starred John Ritter, God's New Plan (1999), a tearjerker in which she played a dying mother, and the Disney offerings Smart House (1999) and Mr. Headmistress (1998). The voice of Turanga Leela, the beautiful one-eyed sewer mutant in the animated series Futurama (1999), she has also guested on Ghost Whisperer (2005), Lost (2004), Boston Legal (2004), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), and Eli Stone (2008). Feature films have included Maid to Order (1987), The Good Mother (1988), the Sundance Film Festival favorite Dropping Out (2000), Following Tildy (2002), and the indie I'm Reed Fish (2006).
Playing Jack's mother in a live-action/adventure retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk (2009) that also featured the talents of Christopher Lloyd, James Earl Jones, and Chevy Chase, Katey's more recent efforts include recurring role on TV's Lost (2004), a role in the mini-series The Bastard Executioner (2015) and a regular role in the series Superior Donuts (2017). She would also join the cast of the sitcom The Conners (2018) as a love interest to widower Dan John Goodman.
Following brief marriages to musician Freddie Beckmeier, Fred Lombardo, and former Steppenwolf drummer and "Mighty Ducks" hockey film advisor Jack White, Katey resides in the Los Angeles area with fourth husband writer/producer/director/creator Kurt Sutter, whose acclaimed work includes The Shield (2002) and the offbeat Sons of Anarchy (2008), which Sutter created. She had three children by White: Ruby (died at birth), Sarah, and Jackson; and one daughter by Sutter, Esme Louise.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Jamie Lee Curtis was born on November 22, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of legendary actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. She got her big break at acting in 1978 when she won the role of Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). After that, she became famous for roles in movies like Trading Places (1983), Perfect (1985) and A Fish Called Wanda (1988). She starred in one of the biggest action films ever, True Lies (1994), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance. Curtis also appeared on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), and starred in Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story (1981) as the title role. Her first starring role was opposite Richard Lewis on the ABC situation comedy Anything But Love (1989). In 1998, she starred in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) in which she reprised her role that made her famous back in 1978.
Jamie Lee served as an honorary chairperson for the Building Resilience for Young Children Dealing with Trauma program held at the Shakespeare Theatre - Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. She was an inspiration for the youth that were celebrated. Curtis was also given an award from US Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman for her work on behalf of children through her charities and children's books.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Mary McDonnell is a two-time Oscar®-nominated actress, who is known for her character portrayals in both period and present-day screen roles, as well as a long history of stage and film roles.
Mary Eileen McDonnell was born on April 28, 1952 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Eileen (Mundy) and John McDonnell, a computer consultant, both of Irish descent. Raised in Ithaca, New York, she graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. She later attended drama school and was accepted into the prestigious Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. Two decades later, she landed her breakthrough film role, in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves (1990), playing "Stands with a Fist", a white woman raised by the Sioux Indians. She earned her first Academy Award nomination for the role.
McDonnell's film credits include the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991) and Mumford (1999) (opposite such seasoned performers as Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, and Ben Kingsley); Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); acclaimed art house cult-hit Donnie Darko (2001); and Margin Call (2011) (opposite Kevin Spacey), which earned her the Robert Altman Award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. On the small screen, McDonnell starred in four seasons on the Syfy Network's award-winning series Battlestar Galactica (2004) in her critically praised performance as President Laura Roslin. She garnered an Emmy nomination for her recurring guest role on the television series ER (1994). She stars as Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's hit drama series Major Crimes (2012), the follow-up to The Closer (2005), in which McDonnell originated the role and for which she earned a Primetime Emmy® nomination. She garnered a Best Actress Academy Award® nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of a paraplegic soap opera star in John Sayles's critically acclaimed film, Passion Fish (1992).
McDonnell began her career in theatre and has starred in a wide variety of both Broadway and off-Broadway productions. She received an Obie Award for her performance in Emily Mann's Still Life and has starred in off-Broadway productions including the debut production of Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child (off-Broadway), John Patrick Shanley Savage in Limbo, John O'Keefe's All Night Long, Michael Cristofer's Black Angel, Kathleen Tolan's A Weekend Near Madison, Paula Cizmar's Death of a Miner, and Dennis McIntyre's National Anthem. Her Broadway credits include Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, the title role in Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Heidi Chronicles, and Emily Mann's Execution of Justice. She received rave reviews for her performance opposite David Strathairn in Emily Mann's acclaimed adaptation of Chekhov's classic, The Cherry Orchard.
McDonnell lives in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles County, California with her husband, actor Randle Mell, and their children, Olivia and Michael.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Annette Bening was born on May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her family moved to California when she was young, and she grew up there. She graduated from San Francisco State University and began her acting career with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, eventually moving to New York where she acted on the stage (including a Tony-award nomination in 1987 for her work in the Broadway play "Coastal Disturbances") and got her first film roles, in a few TV movies.
As is so often the case, her first big-screen role was in a forgettable movie, this one The Great Outdoors (1988), in which she had little screen time. However, her next work onscreen was in Milos Forman's Valmont (1989), a film adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Unfortunately, de Laclos' story had also just served as the source of a more Hollywoodized and successful movie version, Dangerous Liaisons (1988), which had been released the previous year, and Foreman's treatment went little noticed. Bening's career turned an important corner the following year when she co-starred with Anjelica Huston and John Cusack in Stephen Frears's powerful, entertaining screen adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel The Grifters (1990), and her artful turn as a con artist gained her the first of several Academy award nominations. On the strength of this performance Warren Beatty cast Bening as Virginia Hill, Bugsy Siegel's fiery actress moll, in his Bugsy (1991), the story of Siegel's founding of Las Vegas. Although the movie itself did not fare well, it resulted in a relationship with Beatty which led to Bening's pregnancy and then her marriage to Beatty in 1992 - it was the second marriage for Bening, who had been separated from her first husband since 1986 but did not finalize her divorce until 1991. The couple then collaborated on the extravagant flop Love Affair (1994), though the next year her career rebounded with her turn as Queen Elizabeth in the highly-regarded 1995 production of Richard III (1995). Notable performances have since included an obsessive, pushy real estate agent in American Beauty (1999), and as the eponymous character in István Szabó's screen adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel Being Julia (2004) - both were duly noted by the Academy, with Oscar nominations.
Bening has great poise and screen presence and, at her best, can turn in a very strong performance. Although her resume often features long stretches of mediocre productions before the next good part turns up, when it does, it proves worth the wait. Bening has four children with Beatty.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California to Dick and Donna Pfeiffer. She has an older brother and two younger sisters - Dedee Pfeiffer, and Lori Pfeiffer, who both dabbled in acting and modeling but decided against making it their lives' work. She graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1976, and attended one year at the Golden West College, where she studied to become a court reporter. But it was while working as a supermarket checker at Vons, a large Southern California grocery chain, that she realized her true calling. She was married to actor/director Peter Horton ("Gary" of Thirtysomething (1987)) in 1981. They were later divorced, and she then had a three year relationship with actor Fisher Stevens. When that didn't work out, Pfeiffer decided she didn't want to wait any longer before having her own family, and in March of 1993, she adopted a baby girl, Claudia Rose. On November 13th of the same year, she married lawyer-turned-writer/producer David E. Kelley, creator of Picket Fences (1992), Chicago Hope (1994), The Practice (1997), and Boston Public (2000). On August 5, 1994 their son, John Henry was born.- Actress
- Producer
Donna Consuelos Wilkes was born in Spanish Harlem in New York City to a Spanish and French mother and Irish father. Her father, Wayman Otis Wilkes, was a doctor and her mother was a nightclub singer who divorced when she was 3 months old.
Donna began acting at age four, when her mother enrolled her in the Meglin Kiddies School in New York City. While at the Meglin School, she starred in several productions including "Peter Pan" and the school's version of "Singin' in the Rain," and did her first commercial for Keds tennis shoes at age six. Acting lessons continued, along with lessons in jazz dance, ballet and gymnastics, until age eleven when she stopped everything associated with entertainment to become a "normal student."
At age 12, Donna went to live with her aunt and uncle in the Dominican Republic, where she graduated high school at the Collegio Santo Domingo at age 14. By the time she turned 15, Donna left home for Los Angeles and discovered that there were very few employment opportunities for a girl her age. She convinced two employers that she was 18 years old and married and for the next year, she worked up to 16 hours a day, five days a week as a computer operator for an ambulance service and as a secretary for a large corporation in Culver City.
At age 17, Donna tried acting again. Her first role was a small part in the Universal Pictures release Almost Summer (1978) which got her a SAG card and later led to her role in Universal's Jaws 2 (1978). Other feature films followed, including Schizoid (1980) with Klaus Kinski, Blood Song (1982) with Richard Jaeckel and Frankie Avalon, and Hard Knocks (1979) with Keenan Wynn.
In 1979, Donna was put under contract to Norman Lear's company, resulting in a co-starring role on the NBC series Hello, Larry (1979) with McLean Stevenson. Other television credits include roles on Father Murphy (1981), House Calls (1979), T.J. Hooker (1982), and The Incredible Hulk (1977).
Donna also had a recurring role in the NBC daytime series Days of Our Lives (1965) from 1982-1983 where she played "Pamela," a drug addict. She has had featured roles in The Courage and the Passion (1978) and Born to Be Sold (1981) both movies of the week.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
The actress Wendie Malick was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1950 and attended Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she graduated in 1972. The 5-foot, 10-inch beauty was a Wilhelmina model in the 1970s, giving it up to go to work for Buffalo-area Congressman Jack Kemp. She quickly left Washington, DC, behind to act in the theater.
She appeared as Judith Tupper Stone in the early 1990s on the HBO comedy Dream On (1990) for which she won four CableACE Awards as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Malick has proved a gifted comedienne with great comic timing and reached the height of her career as one of the stars of the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997). Malick was hilarious as the beautiful fashion editor Nina Van Horn, a neurotic and pretentious ex-model struggling with middle age. For her work on the series, Malick won a Golden Globe and two Emmy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
On television, she has also had regular roles in the series Trauma Center (1983) and Good Company (1996) and recurring roles on NYPD Blue (1993), Anything But Love (1989), Baywatch (1989), Kate & Allie (1984), and Frasier (1993). She also starred in several made-for-TV movies, including Paper Dolls (1982), Dynasty: The Reunion (1991) and Perfect Body (1997). She also starred in North Shore Fish (1997) on cable TV, based on a role which she originated on stage. Malick's work has included roles in the movies The American President (1995), Scrooged (1988), and Bugsy (1991). With her distinctive voice, she is in high demand for voice-over work.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Kirstie Louise Alley was an American actress. Her breakout role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987-1993), receiving an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991 for the role. From 1997 to 2000, she starred in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
As a child, Geena dreamed of being an actress. While in high school, she felt left out and had low self-esteem because, at 6 feet, she was the tallest girl in school. After high school graduation, Geena entered New England College in New Hampshire and then transferred the next year to Boston University, where she majored in drama. In 1977, she left BU and moved to New York to start her career. Her career consisted of sales clerk and waitress. She worked at Ann Taylor, where she eventually rose to Saturday window mannequin while trying to get a job with a modeling agency. Eventually signed by the Zoli Agency, she wound up as a model in the Victoria Secret's Catalogue. Ever vigilant, Sydney Pollack was looking for new talent in the catalog when he spotted Geena and cast her in Tootsie (1982). With good reviews, Geena moved to Los Angeles where she was cast as Wendy in the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series Buffalo Bill (1983) with Dabney Coleman. A starter marriage to restaurant manager Richard Emmolo dissolved around this time. Her next appearance on television was in her own series Sara (1985), which was also good, but soon canceled. Geena then returned to the big screen in the below-average Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) followed by the successful Chevy Chase movie Fletch (1985). From there on, she was on a roll with second husband Jeff Goldblum in the horror remake The Fly (1986). More successful were Tim Burton's dark comedy Beetlejuice (1988) and The Accidental Tourist (1988). For the last film, she was the surprise winner of the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. More fun movies followed with the flying-saucer-in-the-pool Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) and everyone-loves-a-clown Quick Change (1990) with Bill Murray. The very successful Thelma & Louise (1991), directed by Ridley Scott, again garnered nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe. A League of Their Own (1992), with Tom Hanks and directed by Penny Marshall, was the turning point as her next film, Hero (1992), was only average. Then she married director Renny Harlin and they set up a production and development company called "The Forge". Their first film was Speechless (1994), which flopped at the box office. Undeterred, Renny decided to film the big-budget Cutthroat Island (1995), starring Geena as pirate leader Morgan, which also flopped. Geena has since starred in the thriller The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) and played Eleanor Little in Stuart Little (1999) and Stuart Little 2 (2002). She's also returned to TV, headlining The Geena Davis Show (2000) and Commander in Chief (2005). Both shows were canceled after one season, but she won a Golden Globe for the latter. In 2008, after being missed from the big screen for some years, Geena ventured to Sydney, Australia, playing the foul-mouthed mother of Harry Cook and Harrison Gilbertson to shoot the dark comedy Accidents Happen (2009).- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Sharon Stone was born and raised in Meadville, a small town in Pennsylvania. Her strict father was a factory worker, and her mother was a homemaker. She was the second of four children. At the age of 15, she studied in Saegertown High School, Pennsylvania, and at that same age, entered Edinboro State University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with a degree in creative writing and fine arts. She was a very smart girl (with an IQ of 154), became a bookworm, and once was told that a suitable job for her (and her brains) was to become a lawyer. However, her first love was still the black-and-white movies, especially those featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. So, the 17-year-old Sharon got herself into the Miss Crawford County and won the beauty contest.
From working part-time as a McDonald's counter girl, she worked her way up to become a successful Ford model, both in TV commercials and print ads. In 1980, she made her acting debut in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980) as "pretty girl in train". Her first speaking part, though, was in Wes Craven's horror movie, Deadly Blessing (1981). She struggled through many parts in B-movies, notably King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Action Jackson (1988). She was also married in 1984 to Michael Greenburg, the producer of MacGyver (1985), but they divorced two years later.
She finally got her big break with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall (1990) and also posed nude for Playboy, a daring move for a 32-year-old actress. But it worked; she landed the breakthrough role as a sociopath novelist, "Catherine Tramell", in Basic Instinct (1992). Her interrogation scene has become a classic in film history and her performance captivated everyone, from MTV viewers, who honored her with Most Desirable Female and Best Female Performance Awards, to a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. After she got famous, she didn't want to be typecast, so she played a victim in Sliver (1993), and, in Intersection (1994), she was the aloof, estranged wife of Richard Gere. These movies didn't "work," so she got herself again into more aggressive roles , such as The Specialist (1994) with Sylvester Stallone and The Quick and the Dead (1995) with Gene Hackman.
But it wasn't until she played a beautiful but drug-crazy wife of Robert De Niro in Casino (1995) that she got far more than just fame and fortune--she also received the acknowledgment of the movie industry for her acting ability. She received her first Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. She did a couple of films afterwards, teaming up with Isabelle Adjani in Diabolique (1996), and as a woman waiting for her death penalty in Last Dance (1996). In 1998, she married a newspaper editor,Phil Bronstein but they divorced later in 2004. She received her third Golden Globe nomination for The Mighty (1998), a film that her company, "Chaos", also co-executive produced. The next year, she played the title role in Gloria (1999) and entered her first comedic role in The Muse (1999), which gave her another Golden Globe nomination.
Sharon Stone, a diva who thoroughly enjoys her hard-won stardom, is now a mother of three children: Roan, Laird and Quinn.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Charo was born on 15 January 1951 in Murcia, Spain. She is an actress, known for Thumbelina (1994), The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979) and Tiger by the Tail (1970). She was previously married to Kjell Rasten and Xavier Cugat.- Actress
- Producer
- Music Department
Mary Steenburgen is an Academy Award-winning American actress.
She was born February 8, 1953, in Newport, Arkansas, USA. Her mother, Nellie May (Wall) Steenburgen, was a school-board secretary, and her father, Maurice H. Steenburgen, was a freight-train conductor. Her surname comes from distant Dutch ancestry, and her roots also include English, Scottish, and Welsh.
Young Steenburgen was fond of arts and literature. Mary grew up tap-dancing her way through talent shows and school functions. She was active in her school drama class. After appearing in a number of high school plays, she enrolled at Hendrix College, a highly progressive Southern School located in Conway, Arkansas. Upon the recommendation of her drama professor, she left college in 1972 and moved to New York to study acting professionally. In the past several years, Mary Steenburgen has emerged as one of the most accomplished and sought-after screen actresses. Ever since Jack Nicholson discovered her and cast her as a sassy adventuress in his rollicking western, Goin' South (1978), her career has skyrocketed and she has won acclaim for exceptional performances in each of her diverse film roles. In Nicholas Meyer's Time After Time (1979), Steenburgen was afforded critical praise for her portrayal of a somewhat dippy but liberated young bank clerk in San Francisco who crosses paths, via time machine, with English author H.G. Wells (played by Malcolm McDowell, who later became her husband). In 1980 she shot to fame with her role as Lynda Dummar in Melvin and Howard (1980) for which she won Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Steenburgen again impressed audiences and critics alike with her stunning performance as the strong-willed turn-of-the-century Mother in Ragtime (1981).
Steenburgen is a notable patron of arts. She is also an active supporter of humanitarian causes. She has two children from her previous marriage to actor Malcolm McDowell. Since 1995 she has been married to actor Ted Danson, and the couple is living in Los Angeles area.- Actress
- Director
- Soundtrack
Karen Jane Allen was born in Carrollton, rural southern Illinois, to Patricia (Howell), a teacher, and Carroll Thompson Allen, an FBI agent. She spent her first 10 years traveling around the country with her parents and two sisters. She was always "the new girl in school." Acting did not really cross Allen's mind until she was in her early 20s, when she saw a Jerzy Grotowski theater production that impressed her so much, she instantly decided to give it a shot. She trained as a classical actress and enrolled at the Actors Studio and with Lee Strasberg in New York City. During this period, she made several student films and directed and acted in several plays. In 1976, she made her first film appearance in the award-winning small film The Whidjitmaker (1976).
Her first major film role came as Katy in 1978's National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which became one of the biggest hits of the year, obtained "classic" status, and launched a whole host of young "hot" stars. However, shortly after National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) opened, Allen was struck by a rare and dangerous eyesight condition called keratoconjunctivitis. Luckily, the condition subsided and Allen could continue her dramatic rise to the top. Lead roles in cult favorites like The Wanderers (1979) and the controversial thriller Cruising (1980) followed, as did smaller parts as in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979). However, it was her performance in Rob Cohen's A Small Circle of Friends (1980), as well as her previously mentioned turn in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), that caught the eye of a certain Steven Spielberg. He then cast her as the feisty heroine and co-star of Harrison Ford in his big-budget blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), which became a huge hit in 1981-82 and is regarded by many film buffs as the greatest action-adventure film ever made.
Following the huge success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Allen chose to spend more than two years out of the limelight, concentrating on smaller, more personal projects. She won a major award for her performances on Broadway, won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Abra in the hugely successful ABC production of East of Eden (1981), and had parts in two smaller films: Alan Parker's Shoot the Moon (1982) and Split Image (1982), co-starring James Woods and Peter Fonda. She returned to the mainstream in 1984 with Until September (1984) and Starman (1984), co-starring Jeff Bridges and directed by John Carpenter (of Halloween (1978) fame), but once again decided to leave the limelight for a couple of years to do more stage work and some troubled indie films. While Allen has worked almost constantly since then, giving notable performances in Paul Newman's screen adaptation of The Glass Menagerie (1987), the Christmas hit Scrooged (1988), and Steven Soderbergh's underrated King of the Hill (1993), she has not been able to scale the same dizzy heights as the early 1980s hits. Most of her lead roles in feature films since Starman (1984) have not been that well-received (Animal Behavior (1989), Ghost in the Machine (1993), and The Turning (1992) among them). However, she has been seen to good effect on TV in such films as Challenger (1990), in which she portrayed tragic schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, and All the Winters That Have Been (1997), co-starring Richard Chamberlain.
She has also made special guest star appearances on such shows as Law & Order (1990), Knots Landing (1979), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), and in several TV movies, including Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story (1996) and Secret Weapon (1990). She also played the lead in the CBS series The Road Home (1994). Karen Allen was married to soap star Kale Browne (with whom she co-starred in 'Til There Was You (1997)) in 1988 and they have a son, Nicholas. Apart from acting, Allen is also an accomplished singer, songwriter, and musician. She played in a band with Kathleen Turner, and recorded a duet with Jeff Bridges for the Starman (1984) soundtrack album.
She also writes plays, screenplays, and poetry; owns her own Ashtanga yoga enterprise; and spends time at her Berkshire Mountains farm or Upper West Side Manhattan townhouse. The classically trained actress also has a screenplay called "The Second Coming," which is about to be made into a movie. Most recently she has starred opposite Peter Coyote in The Basket (1999), and appeared in the blockbuster The Perfect Storm (2000), in which she co-starred with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Diane Lane. In addition to these, she is working on Shaka Zulu: The Citadel (2001) and recently made an independent film, In the Bedroom (2001). Karen Allen is undoubtedly one of the most talented, ambitious, and versatile actresses of the last 20 years. In many ways, her own choices to "go back to theater and smaller projects" are the only things that have really stopped her being a major, major star. Allen was voted one of the most beautiful women in the world in 1983, and is a naturally attractive lady - who often plays characters significantly younger than herself. She also often plays unglamorous types - and there is no one better at portraying real, human, and wholly believable people.- Actress
- Producer
Offbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born on April 16, 1954 in the Bronx, New York, to Evelyn (Rozin), a hospital administrator, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Her parents were both from Russian Jewish families. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New York area, she wanted to be an actress as early as her teens and was eventually accepted into Manhattan's High School of the Performing Arts.
Barkin then attended Hunter College and received her degree after double majoring in history and drama. At one point she wanted to teach ancient history, but instead turned her thoughts back to her first love: acting. Barkin then continued her education at New York's Actor's Studio. Fearful of the auditioning process, she studied acting for seven years before finally landing her first audition. While continuing her studies, she worked as a waitress at the avant-garde Ocean Club. Performing off-Broadway in such plays "Shout Across the River" (1979), "Extremities" (1983), "Fool for Love" (1984) and "Eden Court" (1985), she was applauded across the board for her first film lead in Diner (1982) opposite Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern, and pursued sexy tough-cookie status thereafter with such quirky roles in The Big Easy (1986) starring Dennis Quaid and Siesta (1987) with Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, whom she married in 1987 and separated from in 1993 after producing a son and daughter. She and Byrne divorced in 1999.
With trademark squinting eyes and slightly off-kilter facial features, Barkin continued the fascination of her seamy/steamy girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks status most notably opposite Al Pacino in the thriller Sea of Love (1989). In addition, she was well cast as Robert De Niro's abused wife in This Boy's Life (1993), and portrayed "Calamity Jane" in Wild Bill (1995) with earnest. Other impressionable offbeat projects included roles in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and Mercy (2000). On TV, she was well-cast in the mini-movie Blood Money (1988) and won an Emmy award for her gripping performance in Before Women Had Wings (1997) opposite Oprah Winfrey as another abused wife who, in this case, turns her violent anger on her own daughters.
In 2000, Barkin married billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, eleven years her senior and chairman of the Revlon company, and put her career relatively on hold, appearing sporadically in edgy films like She Hate Me (2004) and Palindromes (2004). Barkin and Perelman went through an acrimonious divorce in 2006.
Just prior to her divorce in late 2005, Barkin ventured into independent film production with Applehead Pictures, a company she set up with her brother George Barkin, who is a scriptwriter and former editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times, and former Independent Film Channel executive Caroline Kaplan. In her first major acting appearance since her divorce from Perelman, Barkin co-starred in Ocean's Thirteen (2007) with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and former co-star Pacino. She followed up Ocean's with a supporting role in Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest (2009), Happy Tears (2009) with Parker Posey and Demi Moore, and Twelve (2010).
Barkin has produced features over time, including Letters to Juliet (2010) and Another Happy Day (2011) (she also starred in the latter project). On the small screen, she appeared in an episode of Modern Family (2009) and her new NBC show, The New Normal (2012), got a sneak peek during the Olympics.
More recent sightings have included the films The Chameleon (2010), Very Good Girls (2013), The Cobbler (2014), Hands of Stone (2016) and Active Adults (2017). She has had regular roles on the TV series The New Normal (2012) and Animal Kingdom (2016).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jenny Agutter was born on December 20, 1952, in Taunton, Somerset, England, UK. The daughter of an army officer, she spent her childhood traveling and living in different countries. Her film career began at the age of 12 in East of Sudan (1964), which was quickly followed by Ballerina: Part 1 (1966) and Ballerina: Part 2 (1966), and A Man Could Get Killed (1966). Other films and television appearances in her early career include Gates to Paradise (1968), Long After Summer (1967), Star! (1968), I Start Counting (1970), The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (1970), and The Wild Duck (1971).
In 1970, she appeared in what was her real big break as a child star: The Railway Children (1970), as "Bobbie". The next year, Hollywood called and she spent several years there, appearing in such works as The Cherry Orchard (1971), Walkabout (1971), and The Snow Goose (1971) with Richard Harris, for which she received an Emmy Award. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed A War of Children (1972) and Shelley (1972).
In 1976, Jenny really came to the attention of US film audiences with her starring role in the science-fiction classic Logan's Run (1976) with Michael York. Though not a critical favorite, it was a huge box-office success and spawned a television series. She also starred alongside Richard Chamberlain in a well-received made-for-TV version of the famous Dumas tale The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) and turned in a solid performance in the WW II thriller The Eagle Has Landed (1976) with Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland. The next year, she starred in Peter Shaffer's weighty Equus (1977) as "Jill Mason", alongside Richard Burton. Among her other TV and film work during the 1970s were Dominique (1979), School Play (1979), and The Riddle of the Sands (1979).
In 1981, she played "Desdemona" opposite William Marshall in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (1981). Other Shakespeare performances include "King Lear", Love's Labour's Lost (1985) as "Rosaline" for the BBC and Romeo & Juliet (1993) as "Lady Capulet". During this time, she was in numerous films and television series, including Sweet William (1980), Beulah Land (1980), The Survivor (1981), Amy (1981), and one of the films for which she is most fondly remembered, An American Werewolf in London (1981). She also appeared in This Office Life (1984), Secret Places (1984), Silas Marner (1985), Dark Tower (1987), Miss Right (1982), and King of the Wind (1990).
In the 1990s, she concentrated mainly on television, with roles in TECX (1990); Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1990); Red Dwarf (1988); The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1994); The Buccaneers (1995); And the Beat Goes On (1996); September (1996) with Edward Fox, Michael York, Virginia McKenna, and Jacqueline Bisset; A Respectable Trade (1998) with Warren Clarke, Anna Massey, and Richard Briers. Her theatrical films during this period included Darkman (1990) with Liam Neeson; and Blue Juice (1995) with Sean Pertwee, Ewan McGregor, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. She also appeared as "Mrs. Bruce" in two feature-length episodes of the popular ITV series Bramwell (1995) in which she starred with Jemma Redgrave. She has also made several guest appearances in TV shows such as The Red Dwarf (1998); Boon (1986); The Equalizer (1985) with Edward Woodward; The Twilight Zone (1985); Magnum, P.I. (1980) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974).
Jenny married to Johan Tham in August 1990. They have one son Jonathan, born in December 1990 and live in Cornwall, England, UK. Her particular love is charity work for The Diabetic Association and NCH Action for Children - a charity which provides home and other help for homeless children - with which she has been involved for many years.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Actress J. Smith-Cameron was born Jean Isabel Smith in Louisville, Kentucky, and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, the daughter of an architect. She was known simply as J. Smith by her fellow students at Florida State University School of Theatre program in the mid-1970s. Despite her age, she made for a completely believable teenage Anne Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank", was a touching and memorable Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker", was wonderfully bizarre as Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and demonstrated great skill and versatility in an all-female version of "The Taming of the Shrew". Smith's older sister, actress Jo Ann Smith (who later became a teacher), also attended FSU at the same time and performed in a production of the classic Iranian allegory, "The Butterfly" ("Shaparak Khanoom") by Bijan Mofid and directed by his actor/brother, Ardavan Mofid.
She made her film debut while studying at FSU, starring in the acclaimed low-budget production of Gal Young Un (1979), directed by Victor Nunez, who later directed Ulee's Gold (1997). The film, shot in Florida, starred and featured several fellow FSU alumni, including David Peck, Marc H. Glick, Tim McCormack, Gil Lazier (FSU acting teacher), and Randy Ser (who later won an Emmy as production designer for the Whitney Houston version of Cinderella (1997)). The film was not released until 1979, several years after her college graduation. Following college, she added the hyphenated Cameron to her moniker as both a tribute to her great-grandmother and to avoid confusion once she joined Actors' Equity.
As "J. Smith-Cameron", she made her Broadway debut as the crazy, suicidal "Babe" in Beth Henley's "Crimes of the Heart" (as a replacement). She went on to make an award-worthy New York impression with a Tony nomination for "Our Country's Good" (1991), winning an Outer Critics Circle award for "Lend Me a Tenor" (1989), and an Obie for her no-holds-barred performance in "As Bees in Honey Drown" (1997). Other stage successes have included "Wild Honey", "The Memory of Water", "Night Must Fall", "Tartuffe", and "After the Night and the Music".
Her TV and film work has become stronger and more frequent with each decade. She has shown that, even in the smallest role, she can draw attention to herself, as evinced by her hysterically funny bit as a sexual compulsive in the gay film Jeffrey (1995). She has played various wife and/or mother parts, some more stable than others, in such films as Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Harriet the Spy (1996) and The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999). She also had strong roles in TV guest spots on such shows as The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987), in a recurring role, plus such East Coast-based television series as "The Equalizer", "Homicide: Life on the Street", "Spin City", and "Law & Order".
She met and married playwright/film writer Kenneth Lonergan. They have a daughter, Nellie, who was featured as Mabel, the secretary, in Lonergan's Oscar-nominated breakthrough play-turned-film You Can Count on Me (2000), which made film stars out of Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and was particularly effective in Margaret (2011). Other film projects have included The First Wives Club (1996), In & Out (1997), Bittersweet Place (2005), Man on a Ledge (2012), Like Sunday, Like Rain (2014), and, most recently, True Blood (2008) (as a shape-shifter), as a tormented mother in Rectify (2013), and as "Gerri" in the social drama Succession (2018).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Imelda Staunton is an English actress and singer from Archway, London. Her ancestry is primarily Irish. She has worked extensively in theater, and has won 4 Laurence Olivier Awards; 3 for leading roles and one for a supporting role. Her best known role in films has been the recurring villain Dolores Umbridge in the fantasy films "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" (2010). Her character was depicted as an authoritarian bureaucrat from the Ministry of Magic who was appointed as the new professor of "Defence Against the Dark Arts". The character was driven by both her political agendas and her own prejudice. In television, Staunton's best-known role was portraying Queen Elizabeth II in the 5th season of the historical drama series "The Crown" (2016-). The season fictionalized the events of Elizabeth's reign from 1991 to 1997.
In 1956, Staunton was born in Archway, an area in the London Borough of Islington. Archway has had a large Irish community since the 1830s, when Irish workers from this area were employed in the construction of railways and roads. Staunton's parents were the laborer Joseph Staunton and his wife, the hairdresser and musician Bridie McNicholas. Both parents were first-generation immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland. Bridie played both the accordion and the fiddle in Irish show-bands.
Staunton received her secondary education at the La Sainte Union Catholic School, a girls' school operated by the Holy Union Sisters. She was trained in drama and elocution, and practiced her new skills by starring in school plays. Encouraged by one of her teachers, Staunton applied to several drama schools. In 1974, Staunton was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). She was reportedly rejected by both the "Central School of Speech and Drama" and the "Guildhall School of Music and Drama", so her options were rather limited.
Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976. For the next 6 years, Staunton primarily acted in English repertory theater. She portrayed the French military leader Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431) in a 1979 revival of the play "Saint Joan" (1923) by George Bernard Shaw. In 1982, she started acting for the Royal National Theatre in London. In her first year there, Staunton was nominated for both the "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical" and the "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play". Staunton lost the Best Actress Award to Julia McKenzie, and the Newcomer Award to Kenneth Branagh.
Staunton made her film debut in the historical drama "Comrades" (1986). The film dramatized the lives of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of British labor activists who were convicted in 1834 under an obscure act and sentenced to penal transportation to Australia. The group members were pardoned in 1836 after mass protests in their favor, and they became heroes for the early union and workers' rights movements.
Among Staunton's most notable theatrical roles in the 1980s was portraying Dorothy Gale in a British version of the musical "The Wizard of Oz" (1987) by John Kane. It was a theatrical adaptation of the novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) by L. Frank Baum. The theatrical production was by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Staunton was nominated for the 1988 "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical" for this role, but lost to Patricia Routledge.
Staunton had a co-staring role in the comedy film "Peter's Friends" (1992), her first film role since 1986. In the film, Peter (played by Stephen Fry) is the new owner of his family's country house, and invites the former members of his student comedy troupe to a reunion there. Each of the members has had a dysfunctional life, but Peter eventually informs them that he has a worse fate than his friends. He reveals that he is HIV-positive, and that the real reasons for the reunion were the fears for his mortality. The film was nominated for the 1993 "Goya Award for Best European Film", but lost to "Three Colors: Blue".
Staunton portrayed the waiting gentlewoman Margaret in thee romantic comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993), a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. In the film, Margaret is mistaken for her charge, Hero (played by Kate Beckinsale). Staunton had her first notable animated roles in the fantasy film "The Snow Queen" (1995), an adaptation of the 1844 fairy tale Hans Christian Andersen. She portrayed both the sentient bird Ivy and Angorra, the self-centered daughter of the Robber King.
Staunton portrayed the witty servant Maria in the romantic comedy "Twelfth Night" (1996), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. Maria was one of several characters who humiliated the pompous steward Malvolio (played by Nigel Hawthorne), and orchestrated his downfall. Staunton had two new roles in the sequel animated film "The Snow Queen's Revenge" (1996). She voiced both the optimistic servant Elsbeth and the ambitious bounty hunter Rowena.
Staunton voiced the group cynic Bunty in the stop-motion animated comedy film "Chicken Run" (2000). It was the first feature-length film by the animation studio Aardman Animations, and grossed about 224.8 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The film broke a record as the highest-grossing stop-motion film in film history. It has retained this record into the 2020s. This was one of Staunton's most commercially successful films.
Staunton portrayed the malevolent wife Conchita Flynn in the comedy film "Rat" (2000), loosely based on the novella "The Metamorphosis" (1915) by Franz Kafka. In the film, a normal working-class man inexplicably shape-shifts into a rat. His family both turns against him, and tries to profit from his condition. Staunton portrayed the supporting character of police superintendent Janine in the romantic comedy film "Crush" (2001). In the film, middle-aged schoolmistress Kate Scales (played by Andie MacDowell) starts dating a man in his twenties, who was once her student. Janine and another of Kate's friends try to figure out whether the man genuinely loves Kate, or is simply manipulating her. When the man is killed in a traffic accident, the two friends try to help a pregnant Kate with some serious life decisions.
Staunton portrayed the main character Vera Drake in the period drama "Vera Drake" (2004). In the film, Vera is a middle-aged house cleaner who provides illegal abortions for young women during the early 1950s. She provides her services free of charge, and is unaware that her partner is getting payments for arranging meetings with Vera. When Vera is arrested following the near-death of one of her patients, people who previously depended on her kindness are left distraught. Staunton won the "BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role" for this role, and was nominated for the "Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama". The film was met with general critical praise, despite some criticism for its inaccurate portrayal of real-life abortion methods.
Staunton portrayed Ambassador Cochran in the thriller film "Shadow Man" (2006), one of the few genuine allies of the protagonist Jack Foster (played by Steven Seagal). In the film, Jack is a retired CIA agent. Following the disappearance and suspected death of his father-in-law, Jack is mistakenly thought to have the formula for a biological weapon which his father-in-law had stolen. Jack finds himself targeted by multiple intelligent agents and organizations, including several of his former friends and allies. The film was set entirely in Bucharest, Romania, though it was based on a script intended for a period film about post-World War II Japan.
Staunton next portrayed Dolores Umbridge in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007). Staunton's performance was praised by critics, and she was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Dolores as a character has been praised as one of the better villains from the "Harry Potter" series, because her brand of "authoritarian evil" was reportedly more relatable than Lord Voldemort and his abstract plans. Staunton herself claimed that her performance as Dolores was inspired primarily by her views on the behavior of the controversial Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013, term 1979-1990).
Staunton portrayed motel owner Sonia Teichberg in the comedy-drama film "Taking Woodstock" (2009). In the film, the motel of the Teichberg family is about to be foreclosed by their bank, and their young son is desperate to raise enough money to save the family business. Following a series of the son's money-making schemes, he learns that Sonia had hid nearly 100,000 dollars in her closet and could single-handedly save the motel if she was willing to spend it. Motivating him to strike out on his own. The film was an adaptation of the memoir "Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life" (2007) by Elliot Tiber, one of the people involved in organizing the Woodstock music festival (1969).
Staunton portrayed the housekeeper Maud Hill in the supernatural drama "The Awakening". In the film, a skeptic writer investigates ghost sightings at a boarding school in Cumbria during the early 1920s. She realized belatedly that the boarding house's building used to be her family's residence during her childhood, that the ghost in question was her murdered half-brother, and that Maud used to be her father's mistress. Maud had invited her there in order to kill her and to turn her into the building's newest ghost. The film was praised by critics as an atmospheric, ghost story, though its resolution was thought to be predictable.
Staunton voiced Margaret Claus in the Christmas animated film "Arthur Christmas" (2011). In the film, a family has used the hereditary title of "Santa Claus" for many generations, and the current Santa (Malcolm) is the 20th one. When a child's present is accidentally lost, Malcolm is indifferent to the situation, and Steven (his cynical eldest son and business-manager) considers this to be an acceptable error. But his idealistic younger son Arthur sets out to personally deliver the present, using an outdated wooden sleigh that had been out of use for nearly a century. As the inexperienced gift-bringer tries to complete his mission, Malcolm tries to hide the situation from his wife Margaret while starting to realize that he was never suited for a leadership position. The film earned 147,4 million at the worldwide box office. It was nominated for an Annie Award for the Best Animated Feature.
Staunton voiced Queen Victoria in the animated swashbuckler film "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" (2012). In the film, the new queen regnant is in conflict with a group of unorthodox pirates, while trying to secure ownership of the last-living dodo bird. Assisting Victoria in her efforts is the young scientist Charles Darwin (voiced by David Tennant). The film earned about 123,1 million dollars at the worldwide box office. It was nominated for an "Academy Award for Best Animated Feature", but lost to the fantasy film "Brave".
Staunton portrayed the Welsh activist Hefina Headon (1930-2013) in the period film "Pride" (2014). The film dramatized the UK miners' strike (1984-1985) and the formation of the activist organization "Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners". The activists organized fund-raising efforts to help the impoverished miners and their families. Staunton was nominated for the "BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role" for this role, but lost to Patricia Arquette.
Staunton portrayed the protective pixie Knotgrass in the fantasy film "Maleficent" (2014). Her character was based on the fairy Flora from the animated film "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), but Knotgrass was intentionally depicted as an inept counterpart to the original character. Knotgrass is one of the legal guardians of the human girl Aurora (played by Elle Fanning), but turns out to be a neglectful parent figure. The film grossed over 758 million dollars at the worldwide box-office, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2014. It was also one of the highest-grossing film's in Staunton's career.
Staunton voiced Aunt Lucy in the comedy film "Paddington" (2014). Her character was portrayed as the aunt and surrogate mother of Paddington Bear. After being widowed in an earthquake, Lucy encourages Paddington to migrate to London, where her only human friend once lived. The film earned 282.8 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was nominated for a "Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film".
Staunton portrayed the leading role of the aristocrat Sandra Abbott, Lady Abbott in the romantic comedy film "Finding Your Feet" (2017). In the film, Sandra finds out that her husband is cheating on her, and then decides to move in with her estranged, free-spirited older sister Bif (played by Celia Imrie). They bond for a while, just before Bif dies from lung cancer. When Sandra's husband tries to reconcile with her, Sandra is no longer interested in leading a conventional life by his side. The film won the won the "Audience Award for Best Film" at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Staunton portrayed the aristocrat Lady Maud Bagshaw in the historical drama "Downton Abbey" (2019). Her character was depicted as a lady-in-waiting to Mary of Teck, Queen consort of the United Kingdom (1867-1953, term 1910-1936). Maud was portrayed as an estranged cousin to Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville). Maud schemed to allow her property to be inherited by her own illegitimate daughter, rather than by her cousin and his heirs. The Crawley family starts scheming an advantageous marriage of their widowed son-in-law Tom Branson to Maud's heiress. The film was a continuation of the historical drama series "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015), which followed the lives of an aristocratic family of Yorkshire and their efforts to maintain or to increase their wealth. The film earned 194.7 million at the worldwide box office.
Staunton returned to the role of Lady Maud Bagshaw in the sequel film "Downton Abbey: A New Era" (2022). The film opens with Maud marrying her illegitimate daughter Lucy Smith to Tom Branson. The film subsequently deals with the last days in the life of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (played by Maggie Smith), and with her son's increasing doubts about his own paternity. The film earned 92.3 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The film was nominated for the "Golden Rooster Award for Best Foreign Language Film" in China.
By 2022, Staunton was 66-years-old. She is no longer the up-and-coming stage star of the 1980s. She is considered a respected veteran of the theater and the film industry. She maintains a cult following among fans of fantasy films, animated films, and period films set primarily in the 19th century or the 20th century. She has had an ever-increasing number of well-received roles in films of these types, and she seems likely to continue her film career.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Christine Baranski is an American actress from Buffalo, New York. She has had a relatively lengthy career in both film and television. She has been nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, winning once. One of her most popular roles was that of neuroscientist Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom " The Big Bang Theory ". She played this role from 2009 to 2019.
Baranski was born to a Polish-American family. Her parents were newspaper editor Lucien Baranski and his wife Virginia Mazurowska. Her grandparents were reportedly Polish theatrical actors. She was raised in the town of Cheektowaga, a suburb of Buffalo. Polish Americans have long been the dominant ethnicity in Cheektowaga.
Baranski received her secondary education at the Villa Maria Academy, a Catholic high school operated by the Felician Sisters. In 1970, she enrolled in the Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory located in New York City. She studied drama for four years. She graduated in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
In 1980, Baranski made both her Off-Broadway debut and her Broadway debut. She later received critical acclaim for the leading role of Charlotte in the play "The Real Thing" (1982) by Tom Stoppard. For this role, Baranski won the 1984 "Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play".
In 1986, Baranski had a supporting role in the BDSM-themed erotic film "9½ Weeks", loosely based on the novel "Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair" (1978) by Ingeborg Day (1940-2011). The film earned 100 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became a cult favorite. It was the first popular film in Baranski's career.
In 1990, Baranski had a role in the courtroom drama "Reversal of Fortune". The film was based on the trial of lawyer Claus von Bülow (1926-2019) for the attempted murder of his wife. The film under-performed at the box office, but was nominated for several awards.
In 1993, Baranski played the tyrannical camp counselor Becky Martin-Granger in the black comedy film "Addams Family Values". The film was loosely based on the comic strip "The Addams Family" by Charles Addams (1912-1988). Becky was one of the film's main antagonists, and an opponent for Wednesday Addams (played by Christina Ricci). The film earned about 49 million dollars at the domestic box office, and was well-received critically.
In 1995, Baranski gained a major television role in the sitcom "Cybill" (1995-1998). She played Maryann Thorpe, a wealthy and sharp-tonged woman. Maryann suffered from long-term ennui, motivating her to become more involved in the personal life of her best friend Cybill Sheridan (played by Cybill Shepherd). The series lasted for 4 seasons and a total of 87 episodes. Baranski won critical acclaim for this role. She won the 1995"Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series".
In 1996, Baranski played the supporting role of Katharine Archer in the comedy film "The Birdcage". In the film, Katharine is a former lover of the openly gay Armand Goldman (played by Robin Williams) and the mother of his son Val Goldman (played by Dan Futterman). She agrees to pretend to be Armand's wife in a meeting with Val's prospective in-laws. The film earned about 185 million dollars at the worldwide box office, one of the greatest box office hits in Baranski's career.
In 2000, Baranski played Martha May Whovier in the Christmas film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The film was based on the 1957 children's story of the same name by Dr. Seuss (1904-1991). In this adaptation, the Grinch (played by Jim Carrey) has a life-long romantic interest in Martha May, but has trouble expressing his feelings to her. The film earned about 363 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became the sixth highest-grossing film of 2000.
Also in 2000, Baranki was cast in the major role of producer Marsha Bickner in the short-lived sitcom "Welcome to New York" (2000-2001). The sitcom depicted the inner workings of morning news show. It lasted a single season and a total of 16 episodes. The series was canceled due to low ratings.
In 2002, Baranski was cast as the baker Mrs. Lovett in a revival of the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (1979) by Stephen Sondheim (1930-) and Hugh Wheeler (1912 - 1987). The play features Lovett as the accomplice of the serial killer Sweeney Todd. It is a loose adaptation of the penny dreadful "The String of Pearls" (1846-1847). For this role, Baranski won the 2003 "Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical".
Also in 2002, Baranski played sensationalist reporter Mary Sunshine in the black comedy film "Chicago". The film earned about 307 million dollars at the worldwide box office. At the time t held the record as the highest grossing live-action musical in film history.
In 2003, Baranski was cast in the main role of Annie Brennan in the sitcom "Happy Family" (2003-2004). The sitcom depicted the problems of aging patents who have to deal with the eccentricities of their grown-up children. The series lasted a single season and a total of 22 episodes. Due to low ratings, there were no plans for a second season.
In 2008, Baranski played Tanya Chesham-Leigh in the romantic comedy "Mamma Mia! (film)". It was based on the theatrical musical "Mamma Mia!" (1999) by Catherine Johnson (1957-), and used hit songs by the Swedish pop group ABBA. In the film, Tanya is an old friend of the main character Donna Sheridan-Carmichael (played by Meryl Streep). The film earned about 616 million dollars at the worldwide box office, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008. Baranski returned to her role in the sequel "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" (2018), which was also a box office hit.
In 2009, Baranski was cast in the recurring role of Dr. Beverly Hofstadter in the sitcom "The Big Bang Theory". The character is depicted as a brilliant but self-centered scientist, who has a problematic relationship with her son Leonard Hofstadter (played by Johnny Galecki). Baranski appeared in 16 episodes of the series, and her character was popular. For this role, Baranski was nominated four times for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series".
Also in 2009, Baranski was cast in the role of Diane Lockhart in the legal drama "The Good Wife" (2009-2016). Diane was depicted as a senior partner in a law firm, and the mentor of protagonist Alicia Florrick (played by Julianna Margulies). She was one of the series' main characters, and appeared in 156 episodes. The role was critically acclaimed, and Baranski was nominated 6 times for the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series".
In 2014, Baranski played Cinderella's Stepmother in the fairy-tale-themed fantasy film "Into the Woods". The film earned about 213 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was praised by critics. The film reunited Baranski with her colleague Meryl Streep.
In 2017, Baranski returned to the role of Diane Lockhart in the legal drama "The Good Fight" (2017-), a sequel series "The Good Wife". This time Diane is the main character. In the initial episodes, she has lost her savings and is forced to resume her legal career to earn a living. As of 2021, four seasons of the series have been completed and a fifth one is about to begin.
In 2018, Baranski was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Eligible inductees for this hall of fame include theatrical actors, playwrights and other theater practitioners who have had an American theatrical career for at least 25 years, and have at least five credits on major Broadway productions.
As of 2021, Baranski is 69-years-old. She has never retired from acting, and she remains highly popular with both critics and audiences.- Actress
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Kathryn Hunter was born on 9 April 1957 in New York, USA. She is an actress, known for The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Poor Things (2023) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). She was previously married to Marcello Magni.- Actress
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Dame Harriet Mary Walter DBE is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama.- Actress
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Megan is an only child born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Martha, was a model, and her father, Carter Mullally Jr., was a contract player for Paramount. Megan first entered Northwestern University intending to study acting, but switched to English literature. However, she still ended up starring in several campus musicals, which gained attention from producers and prompted her to drop out of school. In 1985, she moved to Los Angeles with no particular success. But, in 1994, she co-starred in "Grease" on Broadway with Rosie O'Donnell and, in 1995, in "How To Succeed In Business" with Matthew Broderick. Her star has been rising ever since. Her band Nancy and Beth have recorded two albums and tour extensively. She has directed four music videos for Nancy and Beth, which can be found at nancyandbeth.com.- Actress
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Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, to Opal Marguerite (Catledge), a homemaker, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a part-time sporting goods company representative and farmer with a 250 acre farm. She is the youngest of seven children. Her parents encouraged her talent at an early age, and her first acting part was as Helen Keller in a fifth-grade play. In 1976 she went to Pittsburgh to pursue a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 1980, she went to New York City, where she met playwright Beth Henley in a stalled elevator. Hunter went on to get roles in a number of Henley's southern gothic plays, including Crimes of the Heart and The Miss Firecracker Contest. In 1982 the actress went to Los Angeles. She landed her first starring role in the movies in the Coen brothers' Raising Arizona (1987), a part that is said to have been written with her in mind. She gained stardom in 1987 when she played the driven TV news producer Jane Craig in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News (1987). In 1993 she earned an Academy Award and worldwide acclaim with her performance as a mute bride to a New Zealand planter in The Piano (1993).- Actress
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Kim Basinger was born December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia, the third of five children. Both her parents had been in entertainment, her dad had played big-band jazz, and her mother had performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies. Kim was introspective, from her father's side. As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age. By the time she reached sweet sixteen, the once-shy Kim entered the Athens Junior Miss contest. From there, she went on to win the Junior Miss Georgia title, and traveled to New York to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant. Kim, who had blossomed to a 5' 7" beauty, was offered a contract on the spot with the Ford Modeling Agency. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine covers and in hundreds of ads, most notably as the Breck girl. Kim took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse, performed in various Greenwich Village clubs, and she sang under the stage name Chelsea. Kim moved to Los Angeles in 1976, ready to conquer Hollywood. Kim broke into television doing episodes of such hit series as Charlie's Angels (1976). In 1980, she married Ron Snyder (they divorced in 1989). In movies, she had roles like being a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983) and playing a small-town Texan beauty in Nadine (1987). Her breakout role was as photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit Batman (1989). There was no long-orchestrated campaign on her part to snag this plum role, Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took her to a career high.
With perhaps too much disposable income, Kim headed up an investment group that purchased the entire town of Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million (she would later have to sell it). In 1993, Kim married Alec Baldwin, and in 1995 they had a daughter, Ireland Eliesse. Kim took some time off to stay at home with her child. Kim, who loves animals and is a strict vegetarian, devoted energy to animal rights issues, and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), even posing for some ads. In 1997, Kim gave an Oscar-winning performance in the film noir classic L.A. Confidential (1997). Kim's salary for I Dreamed of Africa (2000) was $5,000,000, putting her firmly in the category of big-name movie star. And no doubt there are still many great things ahead, in the career of cover girl turned Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger.- Actress
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Frances Louise McDormand was born on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. She was adopted by Canadian-born parents Noreen Eloise (Nickleson), a nurse from Ontario, and Rev. Vernon Weir McDormand, a Disciples of Christ minister from Nova Scotia, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. She earned a BA in theater from Bethany College in 1979 and an MFA from Yale University in 1982. Her career after graduation began onstage, and she has retained her association with the theater throughout her career. She soon obtained prominent roles in movies as well, first starring in Blood Simple (1984), in which she worked with filmmaker Joel Coen, whom she married that year. She frequently collaborated with Coen and his brother, Ethan Coen, in their films.
McDormand's skilled and versatile acting has been recognized by both the critics and the Academy, and in addition to many critics' awards, she has been nominated for an Academy Award six times - Supporting in Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005), and Lead in Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Nomadland (2020), winning the Oscar for the latter three. She also won a Best Picture Oscar as co-producer of "Nomadland." Keenly intelligent and possessed of a sharp wit, McDormand is the antithesis of the Hollywood starlet - rather than making every role about Frances McDormand, she dissolves into the characters she plays. Accordingly, she has expressed some reservations about the iconic recognition she has gained from her touching and amusing portrayal of Police Chief Marge Gunderson, the quintessential Minnesota Scandinavian, in Fargo (1996).
McDormand and Coen adopted a son, Pedro McDormand Coen, who was born in Paraguay, in 1994. They live in New York.- Actress
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Lindsay Duncan was born on 7 November 1950 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She is an actress, known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), About Time (2013) and Gifted (2017). She is married to Hilton McRae. They have one child.- Actress
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Tall (5'10"), lovely, statuesque Seattle native Jean Elizabeth Smart was born on September 13, 1951. The second of four children born to a teacher and his wife, she developed an early interest in acting and attended the University of Washington following her graduation from Seattle's Ballard High School. She attained a BA degree in fine arts there.
Jean's first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she went on to perform in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," among others. During the late 1970's she built up a strong resume in regional theater with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre ("Equus," "Fallen Angels"), ACT ("A Christmas Carol"), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (as Lady Macbeth), Alaska Repertory Theatre ("Terra Nova"), and Alliance Theatre ("A History of the American Film"). Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast.
Jean made a highly auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf" starring Jane Lapotaire, and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show, Piaf (1984), that brought about major Hollywood interest. A regular on the short-lived sitcoms Teachers Only (1982), Reggie (1983) and Maximum Security (1984), Jean hit pure gold in her fourth attempt as the delightfully ditzy Charlene Frazier on Designing Women (1986). The show was an instant hit and it was here that she would meet future husband Richard Gilliland, who played the recurring role of co-player Annie Potts' boyfriend J.D. for several seasons.
Feeling confined and fearing typecasting, Jean left the show in 1991 to find more challenging work. She drew major acclaim, giving a chilling portrayal of a true-to-life serial killer in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), long before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her equally chilling cinematic version. In other TV movies, Jean earned strong applause for her roles as a mentally challenged woman in The Yarn Princess (1994); as a concerned rural mother in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic The Yearling (1994); as an attorney involved in a high-profile murder case in Undue Influence (1996); as a wife who discovers her longtime husband is gay in A Change of Heart (1998); co-starring with real-life husband Richard Gilliland in Audrey's Rain (2003) as new parents after her sister commits suicide; and as an FBI profiler in Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong (2003).
On stage, Jean she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman classic comedy farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane. The Broadway show was later made as a TV movie, The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), with both Lane and Smart.
Having made her debut with a small role in the crimer Hoodlums (1980), films would never be as strong a venue for Jean as the stage or TV. She did, however, show off her versatility in both comedy and drama with secondary roles with such films as Flashpoint (1984), the Goldie Hawn vehicle Protocol (1984), Fire with Fire (1986), Project X (1987), Mistress (1992), Edie & Pen (1996) and The Odd Couple II (1998). Jean topped the decade off well with two independent films -- earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as Sarah Polley's ill-natured mother in Guinevere (1999), and first-billed in the mother/daughter road trip dramedy Forever Fabulous (1999) co-starring Jennifer Elise Cox.
Remaining extremely busy into the millennium, Jean went on to win bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier (1993) and earned two more Emmy nominations for her potent perms in the crime drama 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. She also graced a host of other series with regular/recurring roles on the romantic comedy In-Laws (2002); the crimer The District (2000); the family comedy Center of the Universe (2004) (co-starring John Goodman); the animated program Kim Possible (2002) (as the voice of Dr. Ann Possible); the mystery comedy Samantha Who? (2007) starring Christina Applegate; the revamped crimer Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (as the governor); the crime dramedy Harry's Law (2011); the dark thriller Fargo (2014); the action sci-fi drama Legion (2017); and the detective series Mare of Easttown (2021).
More recent films include Youth in Revolt (2009), Barry Munday (2010), Hope Springs (2012), Waking (2013), Warren (2014), Miss Meadows (2014), The Accountant (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Brampton's Own (2018).
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She has two children with her late husband Richard, son Connor and adopted son (from China) Forrest.- Actress
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Captivating, gifted, and sensational, Angela Bassett's presence has been felt in theaters and on stages and television screens throughout the world. Angela Evelyn Bassett was born on August 16, 1958 in New York City, to Betty Jane (Gilbert), a social worker, and Daniel Benjamin Bassett, a preacher's son. Bassett and her sister D'nette grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida with their mother. As a single mother, Betty stressed the importance of education for her children. With the assistance of an academic scholarship, Bassett matriculated into Yale University. In 1980, she received her B.A. in African-American studies from Yale University. In 1983, she earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Yale School of Drama. It was at Yale that Bassett met her husband, Courtney B. Vance, a 1986 graduate of the Drama School.
Bassett first appeared in small roles on The Cosby Show (1984) and Spenser: For Hire (1985), but it was not until 1990 that a spate of television roles brought her notice. Her breakthrough role, though, was playing Tina Turner, whom she had never seen perform before taking the role, in What's Love Got to Do with It (1993). Bassett's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination and a Golded Globe Award for Best Actress.- Actress
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Shohreh Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar on May 11, 1952 in Tehran, Iran. In the 1970s at age 20, she achieved nationwide stardom in her homeland of Iran, starring in some prominent pictures such as The Report (1977) directed by the renowned Abbas Kiarostami, which won critics awards at the Moscow Film Festival. In 1978, she won wider acclaim and established herself as one of Iran's leading ladies with Desiderium (1978) directed by the late Ali Hatami. During the 1978 Islamic revolution, Aghdashloo left Iran for England, to complete her education. Her interest in politics and her concern for social injustice in the world would lead her to receive a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
She continued to pursue her acting career, which eventually brought her to Los Angeles, California in 1987. She went on to marry actor/playwright Houshang Touzie, performing in a number of his plays, successfully taking them to national and international stages. However, this was not easy getting work in Hollywood as a Middle Eastern actress with an accent; she had roles in some decent, though not great, films, including Twenty Bucks (1993), Surviving Paradise (2000) and Maryam (2002). She received good reviews for her 12 episodes on the fourth season of the Fox television series 24 (2001) as Dina Araz, a terrorist undercover as a well-to-do housewife and mother in Los Angeles. She had to wait quite some time to receive her break in Hollywood.
And finally, years after having read the acclaimed novel "House of Sand and Fog", DreamWorks were in the process of bringing the story to the silver screen. After having cast Ben Kingsley (as Massoud Amir Behrani) and Jennifer Connelly in the lead roles, they were looking for a relatively unknown Iranian actress to play Kingsley's wife, Nadi. Shohreh Aghdashloo was duly cast. She stole the limelight and earned herself an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress amongst many other prestigious awards, including the Independent Spirit Sward as best supporting actress in a feature film, the New York and Los Angeles film critics award and others.- Actress
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Andie MacDowell was born Rosalie Anderson MacDowell on April 21, 1958 in Gaffney, South Carolina, to Pauline Johnston (Oswald), a music teacher, and Marion St. Pierre MacDowell, a lumber executive. She was enrolled at Winthrop College located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Initially discovered by a rep from Wilhelmina Models while on a trip to Los Angeles. Later signed on with Elite Model Management in New York City in 1978. Made debut film appearance in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). Went on to study method acting at the Actors Studio. Had commercial success with performances in Harold Ramis's Groundhog Day (1993) and Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).- Actress
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Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is the daughter of Sydney Anne, an artist, and Lee Paul Neuwirth, a mathematician. Born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, she started out as a dancer. Her New York career started out in "A Chorus Line". She won a Tony Award for her part in "Sweet Charity" and two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Lilith Sternin Crane of Cheers (1982).- Actress
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Frances Fisher began by apprenticing at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She spent 14 years based in New York City, playing leads in over 30 productions of plays by such noted writers as John Arden, Noël Coward, Emily Mann, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard, William Shakespeare, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams. She won a Drama Logue Award - Best Ensemble for the American Premier of Caryl Churchill's "Three More Sleepless Nights", played in the American premier of Judith Thompson's "The Crackwalker" and originated roles in Elia Kazan's "The Chain" and Arthur Miller's last play "Finishing the Picture". Besides working with Kazan and Miller, some of Ms. Fisher's more interesting theater experiences were creating roles from two great works of literature: George Orwell's "1984" and Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Ms. Fisher worked at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles alongside Annette Bening and Alfred Molina in Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". Fisher starred in "Sexy Laundry" with Paul Ben-Victor at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. She studied with Stella Adler and became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio by actually "walking up the stairs" and auditioning for legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Ms. Fisher recently completed The Host (2013), Love on the Run (2016), Red Wing (2013) and will work with Catherine Hardwicke in her new film Plush (2013) in August 2012. Ms. Fisher was honored for a Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 in her old hometown of the Pacific Palisades, California.- Writer
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Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher was born on September 30, 1957 in Queens, New York City, New York to Sylvia Drescher, a bridal consultant & Mort Drescher, a naval systems analyst. Fran attended Hillcrest High School in New York with another now-famous name, Ray Romano. She was a studious girl and was quite popular. In fact, at age fifteen, she'd met the man she thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. That man was Peter Marc Jacobson. Her first break was in the unforgettable movie, Saturday Night Fever (1977) with John Travolta. She continued to play small roles in movies, until she came up with the idea for The Nanny (1993). She was visiting a friend in England and came up with the plot line. The Nanny (1993) became an instant success, and so did Fran. Since then, she has been in films such as The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (which she also produced) and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) co-starring Woody Allen. Fran has since divorced her husband Jacobson. She is a cancer survivor and an inspiration to women everywhere.- Actress
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Canadian actress, writer, and comedian, Catherine O'Hara gained recognition as one of the original cast members on the Canadian television sketch comedy show SCTV (1976). On the series, she impersonated the likes of Lucille Ball, Tammy Faye Bakker, Gilda Radner, Katharine Hepburn, and Brooke Shields. O'Hara stayed with the show for its entirety (1976-1984). She went on to devote her talents to several films directed by Tim Burton, including Beetlejuice (1988), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and later, Frankenweenie (2012). O'Hara also frequently collaborated with director and writer, Christopher Guest, appearing in his mockumentary films, three of which earned her awards and nominations; Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). Recently, O'Hara can be seen on the Canadian television comedy series Schitt's Creek (2015). Her work in the series earned two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Lead Actress (2016 and 2017).- Actress
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Lesley Manville was born on March 12, 1956 in Brighton, East Sussex, England. She is a multi award-winning actress of theatre, film, and television, and has worked extensively with director Mike Leigh. She is known for Another Year (2010), All or Nothing (2002), Topsy-Turvy (1999) and Secrets & Lies (1996), and her performance in Phantom Thread (2017), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also had a supporting role in the Disney fantasy Maleficent (2014). Manville's extensive stage career includes roles in "As You Like It", "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and "The Alchemist". Her film debut was in Dance with a Stranger (1985). She was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire at the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to drama. She was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2021 Queen's New Years Honours for her services to drama and to charity.- Actress
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Kelly Ann McGillis was born in Newport Beach, California, to Virginia Joan (Snell), a homemaker, and Donald Manson McGillis, a general practitioner of medicine. She has English, Welsh, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry. McGillis dropped out of high school to pursue a career as an actress, and attended Juilliard in Manhattan and Pacific Conservatory of Performing Art in Santa Monica, CA.
She held a variety of jobs while pursuing her career, such as waitressing, and snagged a few stage roles before landing a supporting part in the Academy Award-nominated Reuben, Reuben (1983). This led to a lot of TV work and a lead role opposite Harrison Ford in the highly acclaimed thriller Witness (1985). This box office hit, directed by Peter Weir, got her noticed around Hollywood and producers took note of her. One of them was Jerry Bruckheimer, who cast her as Charlie Blackwood in the mega-hit Top Gun (1986) which became the highest-grossing film of the year and gave her some major name recognition.
Ironically, that breakthrough role didn't help her career in terms of high-profile work. She played prosecutor Kathryn Murphy in The Accused (1988) with Jodie Foster who won an Academy Award for her role, but unfortunately for McGillis she was overlooked for any major nomination. Never interested in being box-office gold, she remained loyal to the theater, even after being established as a major star during the mid to late 1980s, taking such various stage roles in such William Shakespeare plays as "The Merchant of Venice", "Don Juan", "Twelfth Night", "The Merry Wives of Windsor", "Mourning Becomes Electra" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". In 1994 she scored the title role in the Broadway production of "Hedda Gabler" but unfortunately it only played for 33 performances before closing.
She had two daughters in the early 1990s, and worked more sporadically on TV and film so she could spend time with her family and owned her business, a restaurant in Florida. She worked on Winter People (1989), Cat Chaser (1989), The Babe (1992), North (1994), At First Sight (1999) and The Monkey's Mask (2000) as well as a string of made-for-TV films.
She has completed a national stage tour of "The Graduate", playing the infamous Mrs. Robinson, and continues to act as she begins study on Addiction Studies and raising her children in Pennsylvania.- Swedish-born Lena Olin already had a successful career as an actress before she came to Hollywood. She acted at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm and was directed by Ingmar Bergman. She was born in Stockholm, to actors Britta Holmberg and Stig Olin, who appeared in six of Bergman's films. Lena also belongs to the Bergman "family". As a young actress, she played in the great classics of William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg. She made her international debut as a movie actress in After the Rehearsal (1984) (aka "After the Rehearsal"), directed by Bergman. In western Europe, she became well-known in the political movie The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) as "Sabina", in a story about the Prague spring (1968). After coming to the US, she played mostly distinguished, exotic temptresses, intelligent women and crude vamps. Bergman had developed Lena's artistic gift to play different human emotions and express them in a subtle way. Sydney Pollack, director of Out of Africa (1985), rewrote the screenplay for Havana (1990) especially for her. This explains why this film recalls associations with the classic Casablanca (1942), starring Ingrid Bergman, also from Sweden. Olin received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Enemies, A Love Story (1989). She went on to have a choice role in Chocolat (2000), which received a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. She made a move to the smaller screen and played the role for one season as the deliciously evil "Irina Derevko", the mother to Jennifer Garner's "Sydney Bristow" in the series Alias (2001). Olin received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
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It's fair to say that after 20 years and over 50 film appearances, Mimi Rogers should be praised for her variety of roles and acting capabilities, not for a brief marriage to a Hollywood star. In the early 1980s she began to carve a niche for herself in Hollywood, appearing on television and in films. It was her role in Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) that got her noticed and was her springboard to stardom. Cemented by a marriage to Tom Cruise, an already established young actor, Mimi went on to appear in Hider in the House (1989), Desperate Hours (1990), and The Doors (1991). She appeared in a controversial movie analyzing religion in America, The Rapture (1991), which proved a hit and delighted audiences, creating many a debate over the film's subject material. She played a bored telephone exchange operator who swaps a sinful life of sex and swinging with other couples for a devout religious one, ending unexpectedly in disaster. Despite her successes, few meaty, interesting roles came her way in the '90s. Shooting Elizabeth (1992), opposite Jeff Goldblum, the family movie Monkey Trouble (1994), Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog (1995), and Full Body Massage (1995) were just a few of the films that she appeared in. Working consistently, she rejuvenated her career in the unexpected hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), playing Miss Kensington, an attractive female agent of 1960s London and the mother of Elizabeth Hurley's character. Next, Mimi was seen in the big-screen remake of the '60s sci-fi TV series Lost in Space (1998) and several guest appearances on the hugely popular television series The X-Files (1993), playing a scheming FBI agent. A role in the Canadian indie-horror Ginger Snaps (2000) did her career no harm. Soon, she was opposite Geena Davis in The Geena Davis Show (2000) from 2000-01 and playing an extremely rich Manhattan socialite in the direct-to-video Cruel Intentions 2 (2000).
More recently Mimi has appeared on cable television, including leading roles in Charms for the Easy Life (2002) (which she also executive produced) and Cave In (2003) (a true-life disaster drama in which she played the Chief Superintendent of a mine). In 2004, she gave a revealing performance in The Door in the Floor (2004), a critical success. The Loop (2006), a Chicago-based sitcom, will soon be airing in America, featuring Mimi as a flirtatious office worker. Also in 2006, Mimi will be appearing in an original horror film, Penny Dreadful (2006), playing a psychiatrist in peril. In 2003, she married her longtime boyfriend Chris Ciaffa, with whom she has a son and a daughter. A poker novice, Mimi also travels around competing in tournaments, some televised.- Actress
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Annette O'Toole grew up in the Houston dance studio run by her mother. She made her television debut at the age of two, as a kid on The Don Mahoney Kiddie Trooper Show. When she was 13, with ten years of singing and dancing lessons behind her, she and her mother went to L.A. for a year to see if she could have a career in show business. Within two months, she got her first professional job: dancing with Danny Kaye on The Danny Kaye Show. "I've used my singing and dancing training in so many ways," she says. "The discipline you get from that is wonderful for an actor."
O'Toole's first acting role was in My Three Sons, followed by appearances in Gunsmoke, The Partridge Family, The Mod Squad, and Hawaii Five-O. Over the decades she has appeared in more than 40 series (among them Law & Order, Nash Bridges, and The Outer Limits), mini-series (Lonesome Dove, Dead by Sunset, Jewels) and TV movies, most notably playing (and singing as) Tammy Wynette in Stand By Your Man and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy in The Kennedys of Massachusetts, for which she received an Emmy nomination.
Playing Beverly Marsh in Stephen King's It is one of her fondest memories. (O'Toole judges her favorites based on the filming experience.) In this century, she played a bounty hunter on The Huntress, Clark Kent's adoptive mom on Smallville (where she and John Glover became lifelong friends) and Jim Carrey's mom on Kidding. She is currently a regular on the Netflix series Virgin River, renewed for a fifth season.
Her film career began in 1975, playing a Young American Miss contestant in Michael Ritchie's Smile. She has since appeared in such iconic films as 48 Hrs., Cat People, and Superman III as Lana Lang. (She has played Superman's adoptive mother and, here, his girlfriend.) Her favorite - out of all the TV and films - is the 1987 movie Cross My Heart, in which she co-starred with Martin Short as a couple on their third date, both of whom are trying to figure out how to share their biggest secrets.
For all her success in film and television, O'Toole's deepest love is the theater. When her six-year run on Smallville ended, she decided to focus on theater, which she has been doing for the past decade. She went to New York and her first audition led to her being cast in The Sea Gull. She has appeared in several off-Broadway productions, among them Adam Rapp's Kindness, Tracy Letts' Man from Nebraska, and Tennessee Williams' A Lovely Sunday For Creve Couer. (Performing on Broadway is still her goal.) She has also appeared in many regional productions, including Wendy Wasserstein's Third, Regina Taylor's Magnolia, and Jane Anderson's The Quality of Life.
Her most rewarding theatrical role was in Southern Comfort at the Public Theater in 2016. She played transgender male Robert Eads, for which she received the Lucille Lortel Award. ("Today they'd hire a transgender male," she says. "As they should.")
O'Toole's most fortuitous casting was co-starring with Michael McKean in the Lifetime movie Final Justice. Having known each other casually, they became good friends as they filmed in Portland. Back in L.A., their first date was the 1997 UCLA concert with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Van Morrison. Soon after that they were married, each bringing along two children from previous marriages. Prolific songwriters - they co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" for the Christopher Guest film A Mighty Wind, which McKean starred in - they took their repertoire on the road in 2005, performing all around Los Angeles and at Feinstein's at the Regency in New York. They are currently working on a new musical called Harold and Lillian, based on a documentary of the same name.
"I'm really lucky because I found something that I love early on," O'Toole says, "and I love it even more now than I did then."- Actress
- Soundtrack
Linda Fiorentino born March 9, 1958 is an American actress. She has starred in the films Vision Quest (1985), Gotcha! (1985), After Hours (1985), Jade (1995), Men in Black (1997) and Dogma (1999). For her performance in The Last Seduction (1994), she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.- Actress
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Kim Victoria Cattrall was born on August 21, 1956 in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England to Gladys Shane (Baugh), a secretary, and Dennis Cattrall, a construction engineer. At the age of three months, her family immigrated to Canada, where a large number of her films have been made. At age 11, she returned to her native country and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). She returned to Vancouver and, at age 16, graduated from high school and won a scholarship to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City. During her final year at the Academy, she won a role in Otto Preminger's action thriller Rosebud (1975). Following her film debut, Kim returned to the theatre, first in Vancouver and then in repertory in Toronto before winning a contract at Universal Pictures in Los Angeles, California.
Kim continued to work steadily through the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including roles in 1980s cult classics such as Police Academy (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and Mannequin (1987), and as Mr. Spock's protegee Lieutenant Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). However, it was her portrayal of sexually liberated public relations executive Samantha Jones on the HBO sitcom Sex and the City (1998) and its two feature film follow-ups that brought her worldwide attention, and gained her five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations including winning the 2002 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.- Actress
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Laurie Metcalf was born June 16, 1955 in Carbondale, Illinois, the oldest of three children of Libby (Mars), a librarian, and James Metcalf, a budget director. She was raised in Edwardsville, Illinois. Laurie attended Illinois State University, where she obtained her bachelor of arts in theater in 1977. In her class were the immeasurable talents of John Malkovich, Glenne Headly, and Joan Allen. Laurie began acting at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Her acting career in film and television began with a minor and uncredited role in Robert Altman's A Wedding (1978). In 1988, Laurie found her most memorable and successful role to date, Jacqueline "Jackie" Harris in the television series Roseanne (1988). For her performance in the series, she was nominated for two Golden Globes and won three Primetime Emmy awards.- Actress
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Born in Salisbury, Maryland, USA, following high school Linda studied for two years at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, before moving on to acting studies in New York. In New York she attended acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg. Her first parts were small parts in TV series, with her biggest break coming with her role in The Terminator (1984). Most known to public at large from her part in the TV series Beauty and the Beast (1987) (before Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), at least).- Actress
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Maria Conchita Alonso was born Maria Concepcion Alonso Bustillo on June 29, 1957 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, but raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She was crowned Miss Teenager World in 1971 and later as Miss Distrito Federal became the first runner up in the Miss Venezuela 1975 competition placing later that year in the top seven of the Miss World 1975. She became a popular actress in Latin America, working in ten telenovelas (soap operas) and starred in a quartet of Venezuelan films. She was also a popular singer, and has three Grammy Award nominations.
In 1982, she emigrated to the United States, and made her Hollywood film debut in Paul Mazursky's Moscow on the Hudson (1984), opposite Robin Williams. She also starred in movies such as Touch and Go (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), The Running Man (1987), Colors (1988), Vampire's Kiss (1988), Predator 2 (1990) and The House of the Spirits (1993). In 1995, she was playing Aurora/Spider Woman in a Broadway production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman", making her the first South American woman to star on the Great White Way.- Actress
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An actress who always attracts audiences' attention, Jennifer Tilly is by turns funny, sexy, compassionate, compelling and often all at once. She has been playing unforgettable characters ever since she started her career as an actress.
Jennifer Tilly was born Jennifer Ellen Chan in Harbor City, Los Angeles, to Harry Chan, a used car salesman, who was of Chinese origin, and Patricia (née Tilly), a schoolteacher and stage actress. Her sister is actress Meg Tilly. They were raised on rural Texada Island, British Columbia, by her mother and stepfather, John Ward.
Jennifer successfully cultivated another fan base with the revitalization of the "Child's Play" horror comedy franchise. For Ronny Yu's Bride of Chucky (1998), the filmmakers turned to Jennifer to create the character who would spark the series in a new direction. She met the challenge and established a new horror icon in Tiffany. In Rogue Pictures' Seed of Chucky (2004), written and directed by series creator Don Mancini, Jennifer again took the popular series to the next level; starring as Tiffany and as herself, the deadly doll's favorite actress, who soon becomes an unwitting hostess in more ways than one.
Jennifer's pitch-perfect voiceover work as Tiffany is not the only instance of her being able to incarnate a character from the vocal chords out. Families know her distinctive cadences from the Disney hits Home on the Range (2004), directed by Will Finn and John Sanford; The Haunted Mansion (2003) (in which Jennifer acted from the neck up only), directed by Rob Minkoff; and the Pixar blockbuster Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voicing Mike's love interest Celia), directed by Pete Docter, David Silverman and Lee Unkrich. She began her acting career as a teenager, putting herself through the theater program at Stephens College in Missouri by winning writing competitions. She then headed to Los Angeles, California. While she continued to act on the stage (earning a Dramalogue Award for her performance in "Vanities"), movies and television immediately came calling for the actress with the unique voice and visage.
In 2001, she starred in the Broadway revival of "The Women" with Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Johnson, which was later taped for, and broadcast on, PBS. In 2008, she appeared with Miranda Richardson in the critically acclaimed production of Wallace Shawn's play "Grasses of a Thousand Colors" at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Other plays include "Tartuffe" (LAAT) "Boy's Life" (LAAT) "Baby with the Bathwater" (LAPT) and others too numerous to mention. In 2005, Jennifer met her boyfriend, professional poker player Phil Laak (also known as the Unabomber). That summer at the World Series of Poker, she bested a field of 601 to take down the Ladies Event and win a coveted gold bracelet. She followed this up by winning the WPT Ladies Invitational, making her one of a small but elite group holding both a WSOP bracelet, and a WPT title. In summer 2010, she also won the Bellagio Cup 5k tournament.- Actress
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Jane Seymour was born as Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in 1951 in Middlesex, England, to a nurse mother and gynaecologist/obstetrician father. She is of Polish Jewish (father) and Dutch (mother) descent. She adopted the acting name of "Jane Seymour" when she entered show business as it was easier for people to remember (and the name of one of King Henry VIII's wives). She attracted the attention of the James Bond film producers when they saw her on British television. She was cast as the main Bond girl, "Solitaire", in Live and Let Die (1973). The role gained her international recognition but she was in danger of losing it all like the previous Bond girls, so she came to the U.S.
A casting director advised her to lose her English accent and acquire an American accent to land roles on American television. She did and started getting roles, earning five Emmy nominations, resulting in one win for Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988) for playing Maria Callas. She won Golden Globe awards for both East of Eden (1981) and the American television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993), where she played the title role for 5 years. She occasionally appeared in feature films, memorably in Somewhere in Time (1980) and in Wedding Crashers (2005).
Married and divorced four times, she gave birth to four children and is a stepmother to two. They have children of their own, making her a grandmother. As of 2018, she has been acting in television movies and making guest-appearances.