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Dolores Costello

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dolores Costello (September 17, 1903 – March 1, 1979) was an American film actress who achieved her greatest success during the era of silent movies. She was nicknamed "The Goddess of the Silent Screen". She was stepmother of John Barrymore's daughter Diana by his second wife Blanche Oelrichs, the mother of John Drew Barrymore and Dolores (Dee Dee) Barrymore, and the grandmother of John Barrymore III, Blyth Dolores Barrymore, Brahma Blyth (Jessica) Barrymore, and Drew Barrymore. Dolores Costello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of actors Maurice Costello and Mae Costello (née Altschuk). She was of Irish and German descent. She had a younger sister, Helene, and the two made their first film appearances in the years 1909–1915 as child actresses for the Vitagraph Film Company. They played supporting roles in several films starring their father, who was a popular matinee idol at the time. The two sisters appeared on Broadway together as chlorines and their success resulted in contracts with Warner Brothers Studios. In 1926, following small parts in feature films, she was selected by John Barrymore to star opposite him in The Sea Beast, a loose adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Warner Bros. soon began starring her in her own vehicles. Meanwhile, she and Barrymore became romantically involved and married in 1928. Within a few years of achieving stardom, the delicately beautiful blonde-haired actress had become a successful and highly regarded film personality in her own right. As a young adult her career developed to the degree that in 1926 she was named a WAMPAS Baby Star, and had acquired the nickname "The Goddess of the Silver Screen". Warners alternated Costello between films with contemporary settings and elaborate costume dramas. In 1927 she was re-teamed with John Barrymore in When a Man Loves, an adaptation of Manon Lescaut. In 1928 she co-starred with George O'Brien in Noah's Ark, a part-talkie epic directed by Michael Curtiz. Costello spoke with a lisp and found it difficult to make the transition to talking pictures, but after two years of voice coaching she was comfortable speaking before a microphone. One of her early sound film appearances was with her sister Helene in Warner Bros.'s all-star extravaganza The Show of Shows (1929). Her acting career became less a priority for her following the birth of her first child, Dolores Ethel Mae "DeeDee" Barrymore, on April 8, 1930, and she retired from the screen in 1931 to devote time to her family. Her second child, John Drew Barrymore, was born on June 4, 1932, but the marriage proved difficult due to her husband's increasing alcoholism, and they divorced in 1935. She resumed her career a year later and achieved some successes, most notably in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). She retired permanently from acting following her appearance in This is the Army (1943), again under the direction of Michael Curtiz. In 1950 Costello divorced Dr. John Vruwink, whom she had married in 1939. She spent the remaining years of her life in semi-seclusion, managing an avocado farm. She died from emphysema in Fallbrook, California in 1979.
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Bayo Akinfemi

Biography

Bayo Akinfemi is an actor, director and college professor. He was born and raised in Ilesa, Osun State in Nigeria. He obtained a B.A. in performing arts from the University of Ilorin in Nigeria where he began his career as an actor and director before immigrating to Canada and then the United States. He studied film and television production at the Toronto Film School and went on to earn an M.A. in cinema and media studies from USC. An avid and accomplished theater director, Akinfemi volunteered and worked as resident director for African Theatre Ensemble in Toronto for almost a decade. He is a two-time Best Actor GEMINI nominee for Human Cargo and The Border. His other television credits include Bob ❤️ Abishola, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Survivor’s Remorse, Newsreaders, Criminal Minds, on the Network, Soul Food and Heartland. Also, he co-starred in MGM's feature film Bulletproof Monk and has extensive experience acting on stage. His directing credits include the short film Rump and the Nollywood feature films Busted Life and Paparazzi: Eye in the Dark, as well as Bob ❤️ Abishola. Bayo Akinfemi is also an adjunct associate professor of theatre practice at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
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Alyson Cambridge

Biography

Alyson Cambridge is an American operatic soprano. In addition to opera, she sings classical song, jazz, and American songbook and popular song. She is also known for her work as a model, actress, and host. In 2003 Cambridge won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, becoming the competition's youngest Grand Prize winner ever. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut the following year in Carmen. She was also awarded First Prize in the 2003 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Voice Competition, First Prize in the 2004 George London Foundation Award, and the Régine Crespin Award at the 2008 Elardo International Opera Competition. In 2010, her debut recording, From the Diary of Sally Hemings, was released, and made its premier at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. In 2016, Cambridge released her second solo album, with the jazz standards and American popular song-based Until Now. Her third album, Sisters in Song, with soprano Nicole Cabell and the Lake Forest Symphony, will be released in September 2018. She has served as brand ambassador for Swiss luxury watch and jewelry designer Chopard, as well as for fashion designers Vivianne Tam and Monika Chiang. In 2018, Cambridge is performing on Broadway, as one of the lead vocalists in Rocktopia, which fuses iconic 20th-century rock with classical masterpieces.
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Bradley Gregg

Biography

Bradley Gregg is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. Gregg's first film was the 1985 movie Explorers, but his big role came in 1986 in the hit drama film Stand by Me as Eyeball Chambers, the older brother of River Phoenix's character (Gregg and Phoenix had both appeared previously in Explorers). In 1987, Gregg starred in the hit horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors as Phillip Anderson. In 1989, Bradley appeared in the hit movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (another film with River Phoenix). He also appeared in the critically acclaimed TV mini-series Lonesome Dove as an Irish immigrant named Sean O'Brien who joins the cattle crew. His character's death was the climatic scene that ended one of the episodes and began the story in the next. He also had the lead role in the 1990 action/science-fiction movie Class of 1999. His most recent film was Whiplash (2002). He starred on the short-lived TV series The Marshall Chronicles and starred in the 1992 TV movie O Pioneers! with Jessica Lange. Bradley made his directorial debut with the movie 14 Days in America for which he was also producer and editor. He took some years off from acting, following Phoenix's death. Bradley had been living in the desert of Arizona directing, editing, and writing films with his production company. Bradley and his wife produced the documentary "Journey to Jemima", A visual journal documenting the process of international adoption, an American couple's journey and month long stay in the country of Kazakhstan. He recently moved his family back to Los Angeles to resume his acting career and work on his film and television projects. Bradley Gregg has made some guest appearances on TV shows such as My Two Dads, Valerie, The Twilight Zone, The Pretender, ER, and The Bronx Zoo. He has been married to his wife, Dawn, since 1991. They have 5 children: Zion, Mcabe, Braverijah, Galilee, and Jemima. Gregg recently returned with his family to Los Angeles. - IMDb Mini Biography
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Linda Darnell

Biography

Linda Darnell  (October 16, 1923 – April 10, 1965) was an American film actress. Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s. She rose to fame with co-starring roles opposite Tyrone Power in adventure films and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947). Furthermore, she won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949). Notorious for her unstable personal life, Darnell was incapable of dealing with Hollywood, and landed in a downward spiral of alcoholism, unsuccessful marriages and highly publicized or scandalous affairs. She failed to receive recognition from the industry and its critics, and disappeared from the screen in the 1950s. Darnell died from burns sustained in a house fire. Description above from the Wikipedia article Linda Darnell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Roger Newman

Biography

Roger Newman (31 August 1940 – 4 March 2010) was a British born-American soap opera actor and writer. He was born in London, and died in New York City. Newman began his career as a child in radio. He moved with his family to Montréal after World War II, and he eventually settled in the United States. He served in the US Army and attended Columbia University. His credits included Guiding Light, where he met his wife, the actor and writer Frances Myers. He also had a short role as Joe on The Edge of Night. He was a member of a team of writers who received an Emmy Award in 1993 for "The Guiding Light."
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Stacey Dooley

Biography

Stacey Dooley is an English TV presenter, documentary filmmaker and journalist who rose to fame in 2008 after appearing in BBC3's Blood, Sweat and T Shirts which highlighted child labour issues in developing countries. In 2009 she began hosting Stacey Dooley Investigates, an ongoing series of documentary films exploring issues such as drugs, sex trafficking, domestic violence, binge drinking, tourism, institutionalised sexism and terrorism in various corners of the globe. In December 2018 she won Strictly Come Dancing alongside professional dance partner, Kevin Clifton.
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Shawn Drover

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Shawn Drover (born May 5, 1966 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian drummer, best-known for his work with the heavy metal band Megadeth. He began playing the drums at the age of 13. In 1993 he founded the Canadian based power metal band, Eidolon, with his brother Glen. He uses Sabian cymbals and ddrum drums mounted on a drum rack reminiscent of the Greg Voelker Rack System. Description above from the Wikipedia article Shawn Drover, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Andrew Martin

Biography

Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin was a European-Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, professional wrestler, football player, hockey player, lacrosse player and actor. Under the ring name Test, Martin wrestled for WWE from 1998–2004, and 2006–2007. He last worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name "The Punisher" Andrew Martin. Martin won six championships in WWE. He found his greatest success as a singles competitor, winning the Intercontinental and European Championships once each, and the Hardcore Championship twice. Martin was also successful in the tag team division, twice becoming a world tag team champion with Booker T by winning the WWE and WCW World Tag Team Championships once each. Following these defeats, Test would seemingly disappear from WWE television. On February 18, WWE commentator Jim Ross, confirmed that Test had been suspended for 30 days for violating the WWE "Wellness Program" on his blog. A week after Ross made the announcement, it was reported that Test was officially released from his WWE contract. Martin released a statement through his MySpace saying that the release was mutual and he had requested it. After his departure, Martin debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a face under his real name on the August 2, 2007 episode of TNA Impact!. He allied himself with Abyss and Sting and helped them defeat A.J. Styles and Christian Cage in a tag team ladder match. At Hard Justice, Martin wrestled his first and only match for TNA, as he teamed with Sting and Abyss to defeat Christian's Coalition in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match, after Styles was slammed into a pile of broken glass and pinned by Abyss. On December 19, 2007, Martin announced his retirement from professional wrestling, and that he would do one final tour of Britain, Ireland and France in February and March 2008 before retiring permanently. Martin finished his retirement tour in France, losing to Rene Dupree in a series of matches. However, Martin did wrestle one final match nearly a year later in February 2009, defeating Mitsuya Nagai, only a month prior to his death. On September 14, 2007 and April 5, 2008, Martin was arrested for driving under the influence in Hillsborough County and Pasco County.He was booked into jail both times, but was released the following day after posting bail. Martin was found dead in his Tampa, Florida condominium on March 13, 2009, four days prior to his 34th birthday.Police were called after a neighbor reportedly saw Martin had been motionless for some time, seeing him through a window outside Martin's condo. Police retrieved his body after scaling the apartment balcony and discovering that he was indeed dead. He is believed to have died the previous day.His death was ruled an accidental overdose of oxycodone. It was later determined by forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu that Martin had severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by repeated concussions and subconcussive head injuries He was cremated and his remains were flown to his family at his hometown of Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
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Fred Willard

Biography

Frederick Charles Willard (born September 18, 1933 - May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian and voice over actor known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as television series D.C. Follies. He is an alumnus of The Second City comedy troupe. He received three Emmy nominations for his recurring role on the TV series Everybody Loves Raymond as Robert Barone's father-in-law, Hank MacDougall.
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