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Ken Curtis

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Ken Curtis (born Curtis Wain Gates; July 2, 1916 – April 28, 1991) was an American actor and singer best known for his role as Festus Haggen on the Western television series Gunsmoke. Early years Born on July 2, 1916 as the youngest of three boys in Lamar in Prowers County in southeastern Colorado, Curtis lived his first 10 years on a ranch on Muddy Creek in eastern Bent County. In 1926, the family moved to Las Animas, the county seat of Bent County, so that his father, Dan Sullivan Gates, could run for sheriff. The campaign was successful, and Gates served from 1926 to 1931 as Bent County sheriff. Curtis was the quarterback of his Bent County High School football team and played clarinet in the school band. He graduated in 1935. During World War II, Curtis served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. He attended Colorado College to study medicine, but left after a short time to pursue his musical career. Film Columbia Pictures signed Curtis to a contract in 1945. He starred in a series of musical Westerns with the Hoosier Hot Shots, playing singing cowboy romantic leads. By virtue of his second marriage, Curtis was a son-in-law of film director John Ford. Curtis teamed with Ford and John Wayne in Rio Grande. He was a singer in the movie's fictional band, The Regimental Singers, who actually consisted of the Sons of the Pioneers; Curtis is not listed as a member of the principal cast. Possibly, he played a bit part, but Curtis is best remembered as Charlie McCorry in The Searchers, and for his appearances in The Quiet Man, The Wings of Eagles, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo, and How the West Was Won. Curtis also joined Ford, along with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon, in the comedy Navy classic Mister Roberts. He was featured in all three of the only films produced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney's C. V. Whitney Pictures: The Searchers (1956); The Missouri Traveler (1958) with Brandon deWilde and Lee Marvin; and The Young Land (1959) with Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper. In 5 Steps to Danger (1957 film), he is uncredited as FBI Agent Jim Anderson. Curtis remains best known for his role as Festus Haggen, the scruffy, cantankerous, and illiterate deputy in Gunsmoke. He first appeared in 1962 and joined the regular Gunsmoke cast in 1964, replacing Chester Goode, played by Dennis Weaver. While Marshal Matt Dillon had a total of five deputies over two decades, Festus held the role the longest (11 years), in 304 episodes. Festus was patterned after "Cedar Jack" (Frederick Munden), a man from Curtis' Las Animas childhood. Cedar Jack, who lived 15 miles south of town, made a living cutting cedar fence posts. Curtis observed many times that Jack came to Las Animas, where he would often end up drunk and in Curtis' father's jail. Festus' character was known, in part, for the nasally, twangy, rural accent which Curtis developed for the role, but which did not reflect Curtis' actual voice. Curtis married Torrie Connelly in 1966. They were married until his death in 1991 and he had two step-children. Death Curtis died on April 28, 1991, in his sleep in Fresno, California, after suffering a heart attack. He was 74. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Colorado flatlands. CLR From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Cliff Osmond

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cliff Osmond (born February 26, 1937) is an American character actor and television screenwriter most famous for the supporting role of "Barney," Ray Walston's dimwitted songwriting partner, in Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid (the comedic song lyrics were actually written by Ira Gershwin). Osmond made more than 86 appearances in TV shows or movies between 1962 and 1996. Description above from the Wikipedia article Cliff Osmond, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Jonathan Hale

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley, March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor. Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Corps. Hale is most well known as Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Fernack in various The Saint films by RKO Pictures. In 1950 he made two appearances in The Cisco Kid as Barry Owens. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman: "The Evil Three", in which he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer at the Metropolis Observatory, actually a California observatory. Among the relatively few television programs on which Hale appeared are the religion anthology series Crossroads, The Loretta Young Show, Brave Eagle, Schlitz Playhouse, The Joey Bishop Show, and Walt Disney Presents: "A Tribute to Joel Chandler Harris". Hale committed suicide on February 28, 1966. He was found dead that evening in his room at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Hale had taken his own life with a .38 caliber pistol, which was found near his body. He was 74. Hale was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. Sadly, Hale's grave went unmarked for more than four decades, until a proper headstone was erected by donations from the "Dearly Departed" fan-based group in 2013; he is now honored with the inscription, "We Remembered You".
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Sean Connery

Biography

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000). Connery was polled in a 2004 The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot" and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure". He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999. He received a lifetime achievement award in the United States with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama. On October 31, 2020, Connery died at the age of 90.
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Karen Carpenter

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer who was part of the duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. She was praised for her contralto vocals, and her drumming abilities were viewed positively by other musicians and critics. Her struggles with eating disorders would later raise awareness of anorexia and body dysmorphia. Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California, in 1963 with her family. She began to study the drums in high school and joined the Long Beach State choir after graduating. After several years of touring and recording, the Carpenters were signed to A&M Records in 1969, achieving commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s. Initially, Carpenter was the band's full-time drummer, but gradually took the role of frontwoman as drumming was reduced to a handful of live showcases or tracks on albums. While the Carpenters were on hiatus in the late 1970s, she recorded a solo album, which was released years after her death. Carpenter had the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which was little-known at the time, and was briefly married in the early 1980s. She died at age 32 from heart failure caused by complications related to her illness. Her death led to increased visibility and awareness of eating disorders. Her work continues to attract praise, including being listed among Rolling Stone's 100 greatest singers of all time.
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William Martinez

Biography

William Pineda Martinez (born May 31, 1966) is a Filipino actor who belongs to the first batch of Regal babies whose movie career was launched in the early 1980s. He initially starred in drama films, Manila by Night (1980), Bilibid Boys (1981), Tambay sa Disco (1980) until his studio paired him with Maricel Soriano in Oh My Mama (1981) and the result was a box-office success. Their tandem spawned many hits for Regal Films, mostly comedy movies that defined and cemented their Taray and Kulit loveteam. In 1984, William was given a title role in the 10th Metro Manila Film Festival with the thriller, Alapaap as a drug-crazed writer. He got best actor nominations from award-giving bodies the following year.
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Marguerite Marsh

Biography

From Wikipedia Marguerite Marsh (April 18, 1888 – December 8, 1925) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 73 films between 1911 and 1923. Marsh was the eldest child of S. Charles Marsh and May T. Warne born in Lawrence, Kansas, and she died in New York City from complications of bronchial pneumonia. She was the sister of actress Mae Marsh and cinematographer Oliver T. Marsh. According to the 1910 Census for Los Angeles, California, Margeurite Marsh was living with her mother, May, and stepfather, William Hall, and she was listed as being married to Donald Loveridge with a daughter Leslie Loveridge. Her daughter appeared in one film called The Battle of Elderbush Gulch (1913) with her aunt Mae Marsh.
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Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Biography

Alejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican filmmaker. He is primarily known for making modern psychological drama films about the human condition. His projects have garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including five Academy Awards,  Special Achievement Awards, Golden Globe Awards,  BAFTA Awards, and  Directors Guild of America Awards. His most notable films include Amores Perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006), Biutiful (2010), Birdman (2014), The Revenant (2015), and Bardo (2022). Amores Perros (2000), and Biutiful (2010) each received nominations for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He earned critical and commercial success for his films 21 Grams(2003) and Babel (2006). For Birdman (2014), he won three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. The following year, he was awarded Best Director for The Revenant (2015), making him the third director to win back-to-back after John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Iñárritu was later awarded a Special Achievement Academy Award for his virtual reality installation Carne y Arena (2017). Iñárritu became the first Mexican filmmaker to be nominated as director or producer in the Academy Awards' history and the first to win for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. He was the first Mexican filmmaker to receive the Best Director Award at Cannes, and the first to win a DGA Award for Outstanding Directing. In 2019, Iñárritu became the first Latin American to serve as jury president for the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. Iñárritu and Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro are known in the film industry as "The Three Amigos." Description above from the Wikipedia article Alejandro González Iñárritu, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Malin Åkerman

Biography

Malin Maria Akerman (born May 12, 1978) is a Swedish actress, producer and model. In the early 2000s, she had several small television and film parts in both Canadian and American productions, including The Utopian Society (2003) and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004). Following a supporting role on the HBO mockumentary sitcom The Comeback (2005), she gained her first co-starring roles in the romantic comedy films The Heartbreak Kid (2007) uncredited in The Invasion (2007) 27 Dresses (2008). She played the female lead in Watchmen (2009) as Silk Spectre II, a role for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2009, she had supporting and starring roles in the romantic comedies The Proposal and Couples Retreat. From 2010 to 2016, she starred on the Adult Swim comedy series Childrens Hospital. In 2012, she co-starred in the comedy Wanderlust and the musical film Rock of Ages. She had her first lead television role with the short-lived ABC comedy series Trophy Wife (2013–2014). She later co-starred in the film I'll See You in My Dreams (2015) and the action film Rampage (2018). Since 2016, she has had a main role on the Showtime drama series Billions as Lara Axelrod. Apart from acting and modelling, she had a brief music career as the lead vocalist for alternative rock band The Petalstones in the early 2000s, but eventually left to focus on her acting career. She has been married twice, first from 2007 to 2014 to Petalstones drummer Roberto Zincone, with whom she has a son, and, since 2018, to English actor Jack Donnelly.
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Mark Sawicki

Biography

Mark Sawicki began as an actor and clay animator in Michigan. He came to Los Angeles in 1976 and became involved in visual effects during the "Star Wars" era. One of his first positions was working for 'Roger Corman"s New World Studios working on low budget sci-fi pictures as a cameraman. From there, he went on to shooting effects and creating animation for commercials and many rock videos. In 1986, he became the matte photographer for Illusion Arts working under visual effects masters Albert Whitlock, Syd Dutton, and Bill Taylor. During this period, Mark began his work on mainstream films and became an instructor for Kodak's Cineon system (a landmark digital film compositing system). After a 10-year stint of compositing matte paintings at Illusion Arts, Mark went on to become a co supervisor for Area 51 on Tom Hanks' From the Earth to the Moon (1998). Currently, Mark is the head effects camera supervisor and digital colorist for Custom Film Effects. He has authored three DVDs on the art of clay animation and a documentary "Twilight Cameraman" on the craft of optical printing available from firstlightvideo.com. He is also author of the book "Filming the Fantastic: Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography" published by Focal Press. Mark frequently performs as an actor in independent films. While he no longer does clay animation, Mark continues to create whimsical clay cartoon characters for the fine art market.
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