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- Actor
- Soundtrack
In many ways the most successful and familiar character actor of American sound films and the only actor to date to win three Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, Walter Brennan attended college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, studying engineering. While in school he became interested in acting and performed in school plays. He worked some in vaudeville and also in various jobs such as clerking in a bank and as a lumberjack. He toured in small musical comedy companies before entering the military in 1917. After his war service he went to Guatemala and raised pineapples, then migrated to Los Angeles, where he speculated in real estate. A few jobs as a film extra came his way beginning in 1923, then some work as a stuntman. He eventually achieved speaking roles, going from bit parts to substantial supporting parts in scores of features and short subjects between 1927 and 1938. In 1936 his role in Come and Get It (1936) won him the very first Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. He would win it twice more in the decade, and be nominated for a fourth. His range was enormous. He could play sophisticated businessmen, con artists, local yokels, cowhands and military officers with apparent equal ease. An accident in 1932 cost him most of his teeth, and he most often was seen in eccentric rural parts, often playing characters much older than his actual age. His career never really declined, and in the 1950s he became an even more endearing and familiar figure in several television series, most famously The Real McCoys (1957). He died in 1974 of emphysema, a beloved figure in movies and TV, the target of countless comic impressionists, and one of the best and most prolific actors of his time.- Born and raised in Massachusetts, Jack received his BFA from The Boston Conservatory. Currently staring in the Toronto production of COME FROM AWAY. He began his career on stage in the national tour of the musical CATS. He made his Broadway debut in the original company of JEROME ROBBINS BROADWAY, played Mark in A CHORUS LINE, and opposite John Lithgow in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS. In addition to his New York stage work, he received the Los Angeles Drama Critics prize and a Drama-Logue Award as Best Actor for his starring role as Alan Strang in the Los Angeles production of EQUUS. He stared as Pip in the Utah Shake's production of GREAT EXPECTATIONS as well as Mr. Charles Bingley, in PRIDE & PREJUDICE.
In January of 2017 he guest stared on "Shades Of Blue" opposite Ray Liotta, and is currently shooting the independent feature "Band Night". Jack played Alan deShields in the Lifetime miniseries "Marilyn". He played Bobby Kennedy in NatGeo's highest rated film, "Killing Kennedy" opposite Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin. He has completed the features"10,000 Miles", "Julia" "Needlestick" and "Tio Papi". He played "Mordred" in CAMELOT opposite Nathan Gunn at The Glimmerglass Festival, and recently shot the web pilot, IN PLAIN VIEW. He received rave reviews as Elliot in "Two Point Oh" Jeff Jackson's new play off Broadway at 59E59th St. in NYC, as well as narrating the Christopher Wheeldon Ballet, "Carnival Of The Animals" for NYCB.
In the motion picture arena, he has worked with Jonathan Mostow five times, most recently in the Bruce Willis action thriller "The Surrogates", as well as, "Breakdown," "U-571," the FOX Network's pilot "Them" and his cameo in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines". Jack's other feature film credits include the independent favorites, "Pretty Ugly People" and "Phat Girlz," as well as, "Undercover Brother," "Poster Boy," "Unconditional Love," "Event Horizon," "The Brady Bunch Movie," "Barb Wire," "Trigger Effect," "Cecil B. DeMented," "Alive" and "Encino Man," his movie debut.
On television: the Hallmark-Hall-Of-Fame western "Aces 'N Eights" "ELVIS" opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers, played Sissy Spacek's son in "A Place For Annie," and Anne Bancroft's obsession in "Mrs. Cage." Other television credits include: "Shades Of Blue" "CSI," "The District," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Crossing Jordan" and "Judging Amy" (four episodes). He also has the distinction of being the series lead on MTV's first scripted series, "Dead At 21."
In March of 2016, Jack produced "Arrabal" at the Bi-Annual Ibero American Theatre Festival in Bogota, Colombia. "Arrabal" begins rehearsals in Cambridge, Ma at American Repertory Theatre on April 3rd, 2017. It opens on May 12th and runs thru June 18th. He previously optioned and produced "Peter & I" by Matte O'Brien and Matt Vinson. Jack created, directed and produced three benefits under the Voices For Change banner at Ars Nova, for John Kerry's presidential campaign. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Ruth Roman was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the youngest of three daughters of Lithuanian-Jewish parents Mary Pauline (Gold) and Abraham Roman. Her father, a carnival barker, died when she was a small child, forcing her mother to support the family by working as a waitress and cleaning woman. Ruth grew up in the poor tenement district of Boston, Massachusetts, where she went to school. However, she left school after just two years to pursue an acting career. Her chosen path proved to be strewn with obstacles: in New York, she obtained a job posing for stills for a crime magazine, but theatrical work eluded her. She then worked as a hat check girl at a night club before calling it quits and returning to Boston. There, she made ends meet as an usherette during the day while at night performing with the New England Repertory Company, her first steady acting job. She also studied drama and eventually graduated from the Bishop-Lee Theatre School.
Trying to get into films, Ruth unsuccessfully made the rounds of agents and producers for two years (1940-42), until a bit part as a WAVE came her way in the film Stage Door Canteen (1943). With $200 to her name, she purchased a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where she found shared accommodation with other aspiring starlets, naming it, optimistically, 'the House of the Seven Garbos'. After a screen test with Warner Brothers failed to result in a contract, Ruth had another run of six hard years playing bit parts, many of them uncredited, some ending up on the cutting room floor. A sole speaking part of consequence was in the titular role of Jungle Queen (1945), a Universal serial (after subsequent acting lessons, Ruth was aghast when the serial was rereleased in 1951).
Ruth finally got her big break when producer Dore Schary cast her (against character, as a murderess) in the RKO thriller The Window (1949). That same year, she successfully auditioned for Stanley Kramer's boxing drama Champion (1949) as the dependable wife of the fighter (Kirk Douglas). After this turning point in her life, the shapely, smoky-voiced brunette secured a contract with Warner Brothers. During the next phase of her career, she moved effortlessly from glamorous and seductive to demure and wholesome in films opposite stars like James Stewart, Errol Flynn, and Gary Cooper. Look Magazine billed her as the 'Big Time Movie Personality of 1950', and by the following year she was receiving some 500 fan letters per week.
While many of her leads were in westerns (albeit mostly A-grade ones), Ruth was somewhat more memorable in support of Farley Granger (as his upper-crust lover and the raison d'etre for the planned murder of his wife) in Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951). Another offbeat role was as a gangster's moll in the British-made updated adaptation of Shakespeare's Joe MacBeth (1955). As Lily, she is the power behind angst-ridden Paul Douglas ('Joe'), whom she easily manipulates to do her bidding. In The Bottom of the Bottle (1956), she was at her dependable best as the supportive wife of lawyer Joseph Cotten. Arguably, her last noteworthy performance on the big screen was in Alexander Singer's romance/drama Love Has Many Faces (1965).
By the 1960s, Ruth had made the transition to middle-aged character parts and began to appear mostly on television in shows like The Outer Limits (1963), Mannix (1967), Gunsmoke (1955), and (in a recurring role) in The Long, Hot Summer (1965). She also toured nationally with theatrical productions of "Plaza Suite", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", and "Two for the Seesaw". For the actress, who was said to disdain the trimmings of Hollywood stardom, real-life drama came when she and her son counted among the 760 survivors of the sinking of the luxury cruise liner 'Andrea Doria' in 1956. In September 1967, she jumped from her burning car but still managed to make her scheduled performance in "Beekman Place" at the Ivanhoe Theatre. Ruth died in September 1999 at her home in Laguna Beach, aged 76.- Verna Bloom was born on 7 August 1938 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for High Plains Drifter (1973), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and After Hours (1985). She was married to Jay Cocks and Richard Collier. She died on 9 January 2019 in Bar Harbor, Maine, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Slim, pixie-like, two-time Tony Award winner Tammy Grimes who put on marvelously quirky Cowardesque airs and captivated audiences with her inimitably throaty, raspy voice was actually not British but born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on January 30, 1934, the daughter of Eola Willard (née Niles), a naturalist and spiritualist, and Luther Nichols Grimes, an innkeeper, country-club manager, and farmer. She attended the all-girls Beaver Country Day School in nearby Chestnut Hill and later received entry at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, before relocating to New York for professional acting purposes.
Grimes studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and made her NY debut there in "Jonah and the Whale" in 1955. Broadway offers came shortly after, first as a standby for Kim Stanley as Cherie in "Bus Stop" in June 1955. In 1956, she appeared in the off-Broadway production "The Littlest Revue," performed in a cross-country tour of "The Lark," made an Obie-winning appearance in the off-Broadway play "Clerambard," and in 1959 nabbed the lead role in Noël Coward's play "Look After Lulu!" on Broadway after the renowned playwright discovered her distinctive style of singing at Julius Monk's Downstairs at the Upstairs nightclub in New York. She won a Theatre World Award for that. She later was guest star at the New York City Opera in a revival of "The Cradle will Rock," recreating the role of Moll. On the classical side, Tammy starred with the American Shakespeare Festival at Stratford, Connecticut, as Mistress Quickly in "Henry IV", and Mopsa in 'The Winter's Tale".
Earning the role of the indomitable, rags-to-riches, Titanic-surviving Molly Brown in the 1960 musical comedy "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", Grimes won a Tony Award as "Best Featured Actress in a Musical" (due to below the title rules at the time). She followed this with the 1963 play "Rattle of a Simple Man" in 1963. On TV she appeared twice on the popular series "Route 66" and is fondly remembered for her performance in four TV specials: "Four for Tonight" with Cyril Ritchard, Beatrice Lillie and Tony Randall; "Hollywood Sings" with Eddie Albert; "The Datchet Diamonds" with Rex Harrison, and Archy and Mehitabel (1960) with Eddie Bracken.
Grimes was originally offered the part of Samantha Stevens in the sitcom Bewitched (1964) but was released from her contract when friend Noël Coward asked her to star on Broadway as Elvira in "High Spirits", a musical directed by Coward himself and based on his own comedic play, "Blithe Spirit." The role of Samantha in Bewitched (1964) went to Elizabeth Montgomery and the series was a smash hit.
1966-67 were tepid years for the actress. After "Bewitched", Grimes finally received her own ABC television series, The Tammy Grimes Show (1966), playing a wealthy heiress but the show was not well-received and dropped quickly, making it one of the shortest series shown in TV history. That same year she was featured in her first film, Three Bites of the Apple (1967), a diverting comedy starring British actor David McCallum and Italian actress Sylva Koscina. The film helped showcase Grimes's quirky talents, but it made no impression on the public and pretty much put the bite on a leading lady career. Later she was sporadically and sometimes bizarrely featured into such films as Play It As It Lays (1972), Somebody Killed Her Husband (1978), The Runner Stumbles (1979), America (1986), Mr. North (1988), Slaves of New York (1989), A Modern Affair (1995), and High Art (1998).
Grimes became the toast of New York when she appeared in a revival of Noël Coward's "Private Lives" as "Amanda", winning her second Tony Award, this time for "Best Actress". During her career, she also spent several seasons at the Stratford Festival in Canada. In addition to night clubs, she has also recorded several albums of songs, recited poetry, and hosted CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
In 2003, Grimes was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and later that year was invited by The Noel Coward Society (she later became its vice president) to be the first celebrity to lay flowers on the statue of Sir Coward at The Gershwin Theatre in Manhattan to celebrate the playwright's 104th birthday. In 2007, the septuagenarian returned to the cabaret stage in a critically acclaimed one-woman show at the Plush Room, "An Evening with Miss Tammy Grimes."
Grimes was married three times. First to actor Christopher Plummer in August 1956, by whom she had actress Amanda Plummer. The couple were divorced in 1960. Her second husband was actor Jeremy Slate, whose marriage in 1966 lasted but a year. Her 1971 union to Canadian composer Richard Jameson Bell, was a great success and lasted until his death in 2005.
Tammy Grimes died on October 30, 2016, aged 82, in Englewood, New Jersey, from undisclosed causes. She was survived by her brother, Luther Nichols "Nick" Grimes Jr., and her Tony-winning actress/daughter Amanda.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Neil Hamilton's show business career began when he secured a job as a shirt model in magazine ads. He became interested in acting and joined several stock companies. He got his first film role in 1918, but received his big break from D.W. Griffith in The White Rose (1923).
After performing in several more Griffith films, Hamilton was signed by Paramount in the late 1920s and soon became one of that studio's most popular leading men. His rugged good looks and sophisticated demeanor kept him steadily employed, and he worked for just about every studio in Hollywood, from glittering MGM to rock-bottom PRC. Hamilton worked steadily over the years, and grew gracefully into mature supporting parts. He is probably best known to modern-day audiences, however, as Police Commissioner Gordon in the TV series Batman (1966).- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Alex Newell was born on 20 August 1992 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Glee (2009), Geography Club (2013) and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2020).- Actress
- Director
When, at 50, Mabel Albertson was given the supporting role of Mrs. Carter, young actress Aileen Stanley Jr.'s mother in a Warner Bros. Technicolor musical romance, little did she know that she was starting out a movie and TV career in which she would shine as "the ultimate haughty judgmental (often wealthy) mother-in-law (or mother, or stepmother, or auntie)" in an impressive series of films, TV films or TV series episodes. Mabel Albertson's comic gifts helped her to make these generally obnoxious characters hilarious. She is indeed memorable as Jerry Lewis' mother-in-law in Don't Give Up the Ship (1959), as George Hamilton's mother in All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) or the domineering mother-in-law of poor Anthony Franciosa in Period of Adjustment (1962). On television, Tom Ewell, Dick Van Dyke and Dick Sargent, among others, were given the same treatment by their screen mother.
Even at 50 years of age, Mabel Albertson was no newcomer to the business. In fact, she had been a successful vaudeville performer in the 1920s, a radio star in the 1930s and a theater actress and director in the 1940s. She had tried her hand in films twice (in 1928 and 1940) but without much success. Ironically, it was the film business that had previously rejected her which would make her unforgettable from the early 1950s to the late 1970s when Alzheimer's Disease put an and end to a long and fruitful career.- Lesley Stahl was born on 16 December 1941 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021), Eagle Eye (2008) and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023). She was previously married to Aaron Latham and Dr. Jeffrey Gordon.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Biff Elliot was born on 26 July 1923 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for The Enemy Below (1957), I, the Jury (1953) and Planet of the Apes (1974). He was married to Constance Karen Bandy and Elizabeth Alice Dole. He died on 15 August 2012 in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Actor
- Script and Continuity Department
Carpenter began as an actor, having trained at the Old Vic Theatre School. Following repertory work he was first seen on screen playing character roles in television shows like Dixon of Dock Green (1955) as well as being regularly featured in Knight Errant Limited (1959) and The Citadel (1960). However, he became eventually dissatisfied with his acting career. By the end of the decade, he fulfilled a long-standing ambition and turned to writing adventure serials for imaginative young audiences. In addition, he made significant contributions to established series, such as The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972). At the centre of much of his own work are mysticism and English folklore.
Among his prolific output for ITV and BBC, he is perhaps best known for Catweazle (1970) (the story of an 11th Century wizard transported in time to the 20th Century where he is aided by a small boy), The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976), Dick Turpin (1979) and Robin Hood (1984). 'Robin' was one of the most popular programs on British television, capturing a nationwide audience of 12-13 million viewers per episode. It still has a huge fan base to this day. From the mid 1980s, Carpenter alternated writing scripts for comedy (Out of Sight (1996)) with period adventure (The Baker Street Boys (1983), based on premises set forth in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999)). Carpenter won Writer's Guild of Great Britain Awards for both 'Catweazle' and 'Out of Sight'. His published works include novelisations of many of his most popular shows.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Norm Crosby was born on 15 September 1927 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Grown Ups 2 (2013), Cougar Club (2007) and Alright Already (1997). He was married to Joan Crane Foley. He died on 7 November 2020 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Buxom, beautiful and charismatic brunette stunner Corinne Alphen was born on September 27, 1954 in Lynn, Massachusetts. She's the oldest of five children. Her father William was a Deputy Chief of Police in Lynn, Massachusetts, and her mother Marjorie worked as a secretary in the Commonwealth's Registry of Motor Vehicles. Alphen attended the parochial educational institutions St. John the Evangelist grammar school and Ste. Chrétienne Academy in Salem (she was the president of the drama club in this latter all-girls high school). Corrine moved to Los Angeles, California at age seventeen and studied acting at Santa Monica City College. She made her television debut as a contestant on the local Boston, Massachusetts game-show "Race to Riches." Alphen first gained major public recognition as a Pet of the Month in the June 1978 issue of Penthouse Magazine. Corrine did a follow-up nude pictorial in the August 1981 issue of Penthouse. Alphen was subsequently named the Pet of the Year in 1982; she both graced the cover of and did a nude pictorial in the November 1982 issue of Penthouse Magazine. Corinne went on to act in a handful of movies and TV shows. She gave an especially radiant and delightful performance as fiery rock singer Joan in the amusingly lowbrow teen sex comedy romp Spring Break (1983). Alphen was likewise lively and impressive as the feisty Karen in the cruddy post-nuke sci-fi/action clinker Equalizer 2000 (1987). She made guest appearances on the TV shows The New Mike Hammer (1984), The A-Team (1983), Booker (1989), Mancuso, FBI (1989), and Night Court (1984). Outside of her work in films and TV series, Corrine not only has acted in both TV commercials and in a few stage plays (said plays include portraying Flora in a New York City theater production of Tennessee Williams' "Baby Doll"), but also has worked as a model in numerous magazine print ads. She was married to actor Ken Wahl for several years and had one son Raymond (born 1984) with Wahl prior to their divorce in 1991. Corinne Alphen now works as a certified professional Tarot card reader.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ernie Anderson was born Ernest Earle Anderson on November 12, 1923 in Lynn, Massachusetts. He began working in radio at Burlington, Vermont's WSKI-AM in 1946. He met Tim Conway at WHK-AM in Cleveland and began writing with him. They were hired by Cleveland's WJW-TV in 1961 where they created "Ernie's Place", a daytime show of movies and comedy sketches. He created the beatnik character Ghoulardi for himself, wearing a lab coat, fright wig, fake goatee beard and mustache and became popular introducing WJW-TV's Friday night horror movie show Shock Theater (1963). Rose Marie, best known as Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), recommended him to Steve Allen who recruited him for his own show.
Ernie had many run-ins with his management in Cleveland and moved to California full time in 1966. He appeared in two episodes of Conway's television series Rango (1967) and then formed a comedy act with his old friend. He was hired as "the voice of ABC" in the late 1970s where he continued to work well into the 1980s. He also did the voiceover for the previews of current episodes during the first three seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). Ernie Anderson died at age 73 of cancer in Los Angeles, California on February 6, 1997.- Actor
- Writer
Before WWII Sam Gilman was a graduate of Pratt Institute majoring in Fine Art with a minor in Theater. He worked as an Artist, Inker, and Penciller during the Comics Golden Age. He was a Penciller for the premiere issue of Marvel Comics #1. Other titles he worked were: Amazing Man, Masked Marvel, Super Spy, Vapo Man, and Iron Skull. He set aside his art career to fight in the European theatre during WWII as an army staff sergeant in the camouflage core, Northern France Campaign. After returning from the war he returned to start his acting career in NY theater where he met Marlon Brando and Wally Cox. Sam was the elder more established actor when they met and became fast friends for life. Marlon convinced Sam to move to Hollywood, before Wally, and had a non-credited role in The Men.- Ruth Wells Brennan was born on 8 December 1897 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was married to Walter Brennan. She died on 12 January 1997 in Ventura County, California, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Roger Meddows Taylor (born 26 July 1949) is an English musician who performs as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band Queen, but has also served as songwriter and occasional lead vocalist.
As a songwriter, Taylor contributed songs to Queen's albums from the very beginning, composing at least one track on every album, and often singing lead vocals on his own compositions. He wrote or co-wrote three UK number 1s ("These Are the Days of Our Lives", "Innuendo" and "Under Pressure") and contributed a further major hits ("Radio Ga Ga", "A Kind of Magic","One Vision", "Heaven for Everyone", "Breakthru", and "The Invisible Man"). In addition to his drum work, Taylor routinely played keyboards, guitars and bass on his own songs. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band known as The Cross, in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Taylor is also well-known for his falsetto vocal range.
By the time Queen's album 'News of the World' was released in 1977, Taylor had met his future girlfriend, Dominique Beyrand, who was working for Richard Branson at the time, who was at the helm of Queen's free concert at Hyde Park. They lived together from 1980 to 1987, raising their two children: actor Felix Taylor and doctor Rory Eleanor Taylor. They decided to get married for reasons relating to his estate, to protect his children's interests in the future. At the time, Taylor was seeing another girl, model/actress Deborah Leng, the Cadbury's Flake girl also seen in Queen's "Breakthru" video; he moved in with her a month after his marriage of convenience to Beyrand. Before Freddie Mercury's death, Taylor and Leng had their first child, drummer Rufus Taylor, who was born in March 1991. He ended up having two more children with Leng: models Tigerlily Taylor (1994) and Lola Leng-Taylor (2000). In late 2002, they decided to break up.
Taylor remarried on 26 August 2010, to Sarina Taylor. He resides in Guildford, Surrey, but also has a home in Helford, Cornwall. Her younger half-sister is fashion model Genevieve Potgieter.- Jim Jones was born during the Great Depression. He was the only son of James Thurman Warren Jones Sr. (1887-1951) and Lynetta Putnam (1902-1977). His father was an alcoholic Klansman and he claimed his mother was part Cherokee Indian. He spent most of his formative years in conservative rural Indiana. His father struggled to earn a living as a mystic fortune teller. His parents separated in 1948 and he went to live with his mother in Richmond, Indiana. Jones also worked as an orderly at a local hospital. He got married young, to a nurse 4 years his senior, and adopted 3 children of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Jones began working as a Methodist minister in Indianapolis in the early 1950 decade. In 1954, when he claimed he had met God on a train ride near Philadelphia, he was defrocked. The charismatic leader then founded his own gathering - the Community National Unity Church. By 1955 he had renamed it the People's Temple Full Gospel Church. He set up a soup kitchen, gave away groceries and clothes to the poor, and established two nursing homes, while preaching messages of apostolic socialism and racial equality. Secretly, he also joined the Communist party on the side. He was appointed director of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission in 1961. Jones began a dubious path as a "spiritual healer" by planting actors among his believers and miraculously 'healing' them. Jones was getting richer and more popular.
In the early 1960s, during the height of the Cold War, Jones had a vision of apocalyptic destruction. Jones took the vision seriously and decided to move his congregation to Ukiah, California, in the Redwood Valley region north of San Francisco. This area was believed to be one of 9 places on earth that would be safe during a global nuclear war. He then moved to San Francisco's Fillmore district in 1965. Over the next 10 years, his 'flock' of believers reached a peak of 3,000. Jones could be heard on regular radio broadcasts over KFAX radio in California. However, there were occasional bizarre behaviors as well: in April of 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, Jones staged a fake attempt on his own life.
Jones received several humanitarian awards in Northern California for his work with the poor. In 1976, he was appointed to the San Francisco Housing Authority by the Mayor George Moscone for his commitment to social activism. However Jones was becoming more and more of a dictator. He demanded sexual favors from some young women, was the only person who could decide if a couple in his congregation could get married, and often separated children from their parents. In 1973, eight close aides defected from his camp and revealed these details to the press, including allegations of misuse of church money. Very soon after, Jones had begun making plans to move his congregation to the socialist nation of Guyana in South America. By 1974, fifteen of Jones' followers had negotiated a lease for 27,000 acres on Guyana's western border with Venezuela, and began clearing the jungle for what would become the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, or "Jonestown." Jones eventually relocated to Guyana in July 1977. In December 1977, his mother Lynetta Jones died at Jonestown.
In 1978, a group of ex-members calling themselves the Committee of Concerned Relatives published literature that likened Jonestown to a concentration camp, complete with torture. Jones began teaching his followers about mass suicide and held practice drills to test his members' loyalty for the "White Night". In November 1978, U.S. House Representative Leo J. Ryan visited the compound and sought to bring back several defectors, including an ex-member's child. Leo's entourage, along with fifteen defectors, were ambushed and killed by Jones' people on the airstrip as they attempted to leave. The next day, the entire community of 914 'followers' (including 276 children) drank a deadly potion of Fla-Vor Aid laced with cyanide poison. Jones' wife was among them. After the mass suicide of his followers, Jones and a close aide shot themselves. - Actress
- Producer
Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Susan grew up in Missouri, started winning beauty contests as a teenager in Kansas City where her modeling career began. Susan moved to California and enjoyed success in co-starring roles in major television series and a couple of motion pictures. Susan is best known as the original hostess on "Wheel of Fortune" from 1975 - 1982. She is the first woman ever nominated for an Emmy on a game show, the first woman to get a microphone and first woman to make her own clothing deal on a game show. After a trip to India working with Mother Teresa's nuns, Susan was compelled to do more with her life than "turn letters". She left the show and worked for a year as a chaplain intern at a cancer research hospital in Houston and co-hosted documentaries about leprosy with former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Merlin Olsen. Susan earned a B.A. in Nutrition and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She has a degree in Theology from Logos International. Susan served on the Emergency Response Team with "Media Fellowship International" following the school shootings at both Columbine and Virginia Tech, counseling with survivors, family members and the television crews. Susan worked with "Friends of the United Nations" and received the World Unity Award for Humanitarian Service along with Edward James Olmos and Martin Luther King III. She started the Susan Stafford Foundation to deal with patient advocacy, human trafficking and ecology issues. Quite remarkable for someone who most people remember wearing beautiful gowns and clapping for contestants on Wheel of Fortune (1975) where people said they felt her love through the TV screen.- Brian Wolfe (born March 20, 1959) has over 33 years of experience as a top private investigator. As a young man growing up in Massachusetts, Wolfe participated in every sport available to him, playing quarterback for his high school and college football teams all the way to professional baseball.
After becoming a family man, Wolfe opted to go into private investigative work and executive security. Since moving to Los Angeles and obtaining his CA Private Investigation License, he has worked as a field investigator for individual clients and with the largest investigative firms in Southern California. In addition to domestic cases and workers compensation assignments, Wolfe has also worked as an investigator on multiple homicide cases.
Wolfe has made multiple television appearances and currently stars in "Cry Wolfe", the Investigation Discovery Channel's new hit series based on his own experiences and real-life cases. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Steve Bean was born on 27 April 1960 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Mousehunt (1997), Blast from the Past (1999) and Shakes the Clown (1991). He was married to Caroline Carrigan. He died on 21 January 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Bobb Hopkins was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA as Robert J. Hopkins. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BS in Math. He eventually moved to Hollywood, started out as an aspiring actor, studied with renowned teacher, Lee Strasberg, and went on to perform in many TV shows, movies, and commercials. He is also a producer/director/writer with numerous credits, including Rail Kings (2002), 3 Below (2005), and The 13th Alley (2008). Previous to his entertainment career, he was an All-Conference Quarterback and Team Captain at UNH. Upon graduation, he signed free-agent contracts with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, but his NFL career was cut short by an injury. Additionally, after producing a documentary for PBS-TV, The Great American Hobo (1980), he founded the National Hobo Association in 1987 to benefit hoboes nationwide and preserve the time honored traditions and contributions of the iconic freight hopping hobo since the Civil War. In 1996, he produced a sequel and more informative documentary, The American Hobo: The Railriding Worker, which was narrated by Academy Award Winner Ernest Borgnine and featured interviews with Pulitzer Prize Winner James A. Michener and Country Music Legend Merle Haggard. He and his production company, Super Chief Films, are developing a fantasy-fiction TV series set on St. Lucia Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea- Actor
- Composer
- Writer
Michael James Ness was born April 3rd, 1962 in Lynn, Massachusetts. His family moved to Fullerton, California when he was young and he grew up in a broken home. He started Social Distortion as a teen in 1978, and was promptly arrested at their first show for spitting in a cop's face. Social D's first album, "Mommy's Little Monster" brought them fame around L.A., as did their first tour with Youth Brigade as documented in the 1983 movie, Another State of Mind (1984). After that, Ness went on a downward spiral of drugs and depravity. After arrests for burglary and hospital stays for overdoses, he cleaned up, reformed Social Distortion and released "Prison Bound" in 1987. Their next self-titled album (1990) brought them their first hits, with a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and the songs "Story of My Life" and "Ball and Chain". After the release of 1992's "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell", Social D laid low for a while but came back with new drummer, Chuck Biscuits, and the album "White Light White Heat White Trash" in 1996, bringing with them their biggest hit, "I Was Wrong." Social Distortion released a live album in 1997 and toured extensively through this time. Ness released two solo albums, "Cheating At Solitaire" and "Under the Influences" in 1999. He was dealt a huge blow in 2000 when his best friend and fellow band member Dennis Danell died from a brain aneurysm while moving into a new house in Orange County. He, as well as LA groups X, the Offspring and TSOL, played a benefit called 'When THe Angels Sing' in honor of Danell. Ness continues to play solo and with Social Distortion and is the father of a young boy, Julian.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Rocker Freddy Cannon was born in the Boston suburb of Swampscott, Massachusetts. His father, a truck driver, was also a semi-professional musician, getting gigs in the Boston area with local bands playing his trumpet and singing. Freddy taught himself to play guitar, and after graduating high school in 1955 got a job playing guitar on a record by a local group called the Spindrifts, "Cha-Cha-Do". The record became a regional hit, and Freddy began getting more studio work, including playing the lead guitar on The G-Clefs' record "Ka-Ding Dong", which went to #24 on the Billboard national charts. Although he took a full-time job as a truck driver to support his family--he had married and had children--he didn't give up his musical career, and eventually formed a group called Freddy Karmon and the Hurrcanes, which began to make a name for itself in the Boston area. His appearances on a Boston dance show led to his signing a management contract with a Boston DJ, and soon Freddy cut a demo record--written by his mother--called "Rock and Roll Baby". His manager took the demo to the well-respected producing team of Frank Slay and Bob Crewe (later of The Four Seasons fame). The pair saw possibilities in it, and after some tweaking they sent Freddy back into the studio to re-record the song, now called "Tallahassee Lassie". Philadelphia TV personality and record producer Dick Clark heard the song and, after suggesting some further tweaks to it, had Freddy re-record it and distributed the record on Swan Records, of which he was part-owner. The song's driving guitar solo, pounding bass drums and Cannon's shouts and cries of "Whoo!" made the song a major hit, hitting the #6 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.
With his name now changed to Freddy Cannon--at the suggestion of the record company's president--and dubbed "Boom Boom" because of his unrestrained, boisterous style of singing, he finally achieved his dream of becoming a singing star. He had numerous appearances on Clark's American Bandstand (1952) show, and altogether he had 22 songs place on the Billboard Top 100 list over the years. His follow-up song, "Okeefeenokee", did disappointing business, only reaching #43, but his next song, "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", was one of his biggest hits, going gold and shooting to #3. He toured the US and Britain. He continued to have chart hits, although no blockbusters, until 1962, when he came out with his best-known song and his biggest hit, the Chuck Barris-written "Palisades Park", about a famous New Jersey amusement park.
He continued to tour and record but his career faded somewhat until 1965, when he recorded the song "Action", which was the theme song for the Dick Clark-produced TV series Where the Action Is (1965). He also appeared in a few movies, in such teen-themed vehicles as Just for Fun (1963) and Village of the Giants (1965).
He left Swan Records and signed with Warner Bros. Records, and after leaving them in 1967 he recorded for various labels. In the 1970s he was working for Buddah Records, both as a performer and promotions man. He kept busy with recording and touring in rock-n-roll revival shows, and in 1982 made an appearance in the H.B. Halicki film The Junkman (1982).
He lives in Tarzana, California (where he is honorary fire chief) and continues to tour.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Tom Cochrane was born on 14 May 1953 in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, Canada. He is an actor and composer, known for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and Cars (2006). He is married to Kathy Cochrane. They have two children.- Ex-Formula One racing driver; who drove for Tyrrell (1984-86), Zakspeed (1987), Williams (1988 - 1 GP), Brabham (1989, 1991) Benetton (1992), Ligier (1993, 1995), McLaren (1994), and Jordan (1996). He was the World Sportscar champion of 1988 and won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1990.
In 1997, Brundle became a Formula One co-commentator on ITV - Formula One (1997) for British television alongside Murray Walker, and remained there for the programme's entire run, winning the RTS Television Sports Award for best Sports Pundit four times: in 1998, 1999, 2005 and 2006.
In 2009, Brundle co-commentated for the BBC's Formula One coverage, later becoming the lead commentator alongside his friend David Coulthard for the 2011 season. In 2012, he moved over to Sky's Formula One coverage.
Brundle can be considered one of the best modern day Formula One drivers to have not won a Grand Prix, scoring multiple podium and points finishes in sub-standard cars. - George William Russell is a British racing driver competes in Formula One for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. He was the 2018 FIA Formula 2 champion and the 2017 GP3 Series champion, driving for ART in both campaigns. Following his Formula 2 championship win, Russell signed for Williams in 2019, making his debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, although he stood in for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Russell achieved his first F1 podium with Williams at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. In 2022, Russell departed Williams to race for the Mercedes team, having been a member of the Mercedes Junior Driver Programme since 2017.
- Michael Wetherbee is an actor, known for playing the nerdy superhero in the viral music video for Diplo's "Earthquake", and for the title role in "Zombie in a Penguin Suit", which received critical praise from Huffington Post, USA Today, and Film School Rejects (Top Films of the Year).
He had lead and supporting roles in films that have premiered at Berlin, New York, Cannes, and Tribeca Film Festivals, most recently as Thomas in Dan Sallitt's "Fourteen", which won the Gotham Film Award.
He is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA. He graduated from Triton Regional High School, Byfield, MA. - Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Paula Apsell was born on 4 July 1947 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Nova (1974), Nova ScienceNow (2005) and A Walk to Beautiful (2007).- Kevin Trudeau was born on 6 February 1963 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor, known for Tranced (2010), Kevin Trudeau: The Movie 'They' Don't Want You to Know About and Debt Cures (2007).
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Michael was born just outside of Boston to Ned and Gloria Peluso, both Italian Americans. His father was a firefighter and painter and his mother was a homemaker. He has two older sisters; each with two children.
At the age of 34, Michael enrolled in the BFA Theater Arts program at Salem State College. While there, he was in 2 shows and was nominated both times as an alternate for the Irene Ryan Acting Award.
Before acting, he was a Ski Representative and traveled extensively throughout the Northeastern U.S. It was then that a mentor encouraged him to pursue acting stating, "you're in the wrong business".
While shooting Title to Murder in 1999, he was signed by Maggie Models Inc., one of Boston's oldest and most respected agencies.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Simon Edwards was born on 10 September 1981 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. He is a producer and writer, known for Six Hot Chicks in a Warehouse (2017), Lion (2014) and Beneath a Neon Tide (2014).- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Graham Easton was born on 26 June 1946 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. He is an assistant director and production manager, known for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), The Constant Gardener (2005) and Secrets & Lies (1996). He has been married to Sandra Waterman since 1972.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Born in 1947, son of a dentist in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Divorced from former TV anchor Adrienne Meltzer; the two had met co-hosting a WCBS-TV magazine-style show in New York. Graduate of Trinity College, Connecticut who succeeded quickly after graduation to a role in a Broadway comedy. Spent much of early TV career as reporter in Baltimore, becoming acquainted with then-up-and-coming TV reporter Oprah Winfrey. Much respected in New York in 1970s and '80s for writing, and reporting original, offbeat human-interest stories on local TV stations. Also produced numerous documentaries for and with Winfrey's production company.- James Thurman Jones was born on 21 October 1887 in Lynn, Indiana, USA. He was married to Lynetta Putnam. He died on 29 May 1951 in Lynn, Indiana, USA.
- First major role was that of Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate in 1981 as a seventh grader at the famed Tower School, Marblehead, MA. Allegedly at the time, the director was overheard to say to the musical director, "Well, he read the lines well but he can't sing worth a lick."
Following this fortunate mishap, Michael abandoned any fleeting dreams of being a power forward for the Celtics or a star pitcher for the Red Sox and forged onward to a path of art.
Michael is presently based in Los Angeles, CA and avidly pursues film, television and theater, along with perfecting his ever-evolving guacamole recipes. - Visual Effects
- Editorial Department
- Editor
Among his many accomplishments over two decades, Ron Rauch has been an Editor, VFX Editor and Assistant Editor for a variety of television and film projects.
He got his start working as an accountant for the world-famous Universal Studios back-lot tour, then became a production assistant on "Universal Soldier" and soon after began his career in editing, working for such companies as NBC, ABC, Fox, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Telepictures and Bunim-Murray Productions. As an Assistant Editor, he worked on the Emmy-winning SYFY series "The Triangle" and "The Lost Room" as well as TNT's "Leverage," CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" NBC's "Medium" and HBO's "Luck" and "True Blood." He also worked on "Temptation Island" for FOX's and season 1 of "The Bachelor" on ABC which broke barriers and established solid workflows for non-scripted television.
When he moved into his specialty in visual effects, he worked as a cutting edge VFX editor on NBC's "Grimm" and "The Blacklist" as well as Freeform's "Shadowhunters" and "Siren." He just completed working on Amazon's "Solos," an anthology series from "Hunters" creator David Weil and starring a number of A-list talent including Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Helen Mirren and Constance Wu. He is now working on "Righteous Gemstones" for HBO.
Additionally, he is the co-founder of Boutique VFX studios Blackbrush and creator of software company Red Pen Tools where the he has developed cutting-edge software which is available on the Mac App Store.
A graduate of UC Irvine with degrees in Film Studies and Psychology, he lives in the greater Los Angeles area with his family. He is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Visual Effects Society, and the Television Academy. He can sometimes be found guest speaking at USC Film School, or a Shadowhunters Convention (coming May 2022)- Betty Tanner was born on 5 February 1916 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for All-American Co-Ed (1941), In the Groove (1941) and We're Off to See the Munchkins (1993). She died on 8 November 1994 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Zari Elmassian was born on 12 October 1906 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for Anoush (1945). She died on 6 February 1990 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Brian Worth was born on 11 May 1972 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA.
- Actor
- Editor
- Director
Tim Walton was born on 25 February 1982 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. He is an actor and editor, known for Awake (2003), Reflections (2008) and The Parson's Pirates (2004).- Celia Hewitt was born in 1933 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Whitehall Worrier (1967), Comedy Playhouse (1961) and Great Expectations (1974). She was previously married to Adrian Mitchell.
- Carleton Varney was born on 23 January 1937 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Il conte Max (1957), The Last Old Master and Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002). He was married to Suzanne Lickdyke. He died on 14 July 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
- Raymond Rollett was born on 9 March 1907 in Kings Lynn, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Fighting Pimpernel (1949), Great Expectations (1959) and Treasure Island (1957). He died on 19 December 1961 in London, England, UK.
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Laurence E. Mascott was born on 19 May 1921 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. Laurence E. was a writer and producer, known for The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles (1965), ABC Stage 67 (1966) and Look in Any Window (1961). Laurence E. died on 29 July 2000 in Andover, Massachusetts, USA.- Producer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
George Wein was born on 3 October 1925 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. He was a producer, known for Good Evening Ev'rybody: In Celebration of Louis Armstrong (2008), Playboy Jazz Festival: Volume 1 (1984) and Playboy Jazz Festival: Volume II (1984). He was married to Joyce Alexander. He died on 13 September 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.- Additional Crew
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Rachel Montgomery was born on 14 May 1987 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She is an assistant director and producer, known for Bad Santa 2 (2016), Naked Zombie Girl (2014) and The Mandela Effect (2019).- Actor
- Music Department
Gerry Conway was born on 11 September 1947 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Final Option (1982), Beat-Club (1965) and In Concert (1972).- Ethyle Cooke was born on 4 August 1880 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA. She was an actress, known for The Merchant of Venice (1912), Inspiration (1915) and Patsy (1917). She was married to Harry Benham. She died on 20 April 1949 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Mike Willoughby was born on 15 December 1971 in Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for True Test (2012), Colosseum and Hive.