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James Ellison
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
James Ellison (May 4, 1910 - December 23, 1993) was an American actor, born James Ellison Smith in Guthrie Center, Iowa, son of Edward James Smith and Ona Mary Ellis.
Ellison appeared in nearly seventy films between 1932 and 1962.
Ellison worked for a time in a film laboratory and while there was offered a screen test. He developed it himself and when he saw it, decided it was not satisfactory so he would not show it to the director. But he saw it anyway and Ellison got a contract.
Despite his rugged good looks and height of 6 feet 3 inches, Ellison's limited range and somewhat wooden screen presence kept him from the first (or even second) ranks of stardom. He spent much of his career in Westerns, including a stint in the mid-thirties as the sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy in Paramount's successful series. In 1938, he played a charming, romantic character opposite 26 year old Lucille Ball in the comedy, "Next Time I Marry", a film where Ball had her first top billing on screen credits. Before that, in 1936, he played his highest-profile role, as Buffalo Bill in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, which also starred Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.
Despite that film's success, Ellison spent most of the remainder of his career shuttling between cowboy pictures and more varied roles, primarily in B movies with titles like Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case and The Undying Monster. He had a supporting role in 1941's Charley's Aunt (which starred Jack Benny) and played the romantic lead in 1943's The Gang's All Here, a Twentieth Century Fox musical in which he seemed somewhat lost among the vivid antics of Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, and Edward Everett Horton (and was the only principal not to sing a note). He also co-starred with Tom Conway and Frances Dee in Val Lewton's production of I Walked with a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur.
Ellison landed another romantic lead role as 'Jerry Gibson' in the musical film Lady, Let's Dance (1944) which starred ice skating sensation 'Belita'.
In the early 1950s, Ellison moved from acting to real estate. Joining fellow veteran Jackie Coogan, Ellison returned to the screen only once to play Axel 'Longhorn' Gates in a picture called When the Girls Take Over (1962).
James Ellison died at age 83 in Monterey, California after suffering a broken neck as the result of a fall.
Description above from the Wikipedia article James Ellison (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Fern Andra
Biography
From Wikipedia
Fern Andra (November 24, 1893 – February 8, 1974) was an American actress, film director, script writer and producer. Next to Henny Porten and Asta Nielsen she was one of the most popular and best-known actresses in German silent films.
Born as Vernal Edna Andrews in Watseka, Illinois in 1893, the daughter of a circus performer and an opera singer, Andra was already appearing in public in a tightrope act by the age of four. She later trained in song and dance. As early as 1899, in New York, she made her first film, a version of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
She remained however with the circus, with which she embarked on an extensive tour across the United States, Canada and Europe. In Berlin she met Max Reinhardt, who gave her acting lessons. In 1913, aged 19, she appeared in her first German film, Das Ave Maria. Still only moderately well-known, she made her only Austrian film in 1915: Zwei Freunde. From 1916-18 she appeared almost exclusively on camera with Alfred Abel. In 1920 she starred in Robert Wiene's expressionist horror film Genuine.
In the mid-1920s she lost her public appeal in Germany. From 1928 she worked in the UK and the US, later expanding her range to include radio and television. Fern Andra died in Aiken, South Carolina, on February 8, 1974, aged 80.
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Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei
Biography
Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei, sometimes spelled Charlie Young, 楊采妮, is a Chinese film actress and singer. She was first noticed after appearing in a jewellery commercial with Aaron Kwok. Since then she has participated in the music videos of artists such as Hacken Lee, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jacky Cheung and made a number of films, most famously with Tsui Hark (The Lovers, Love in the Time of Twilight, Seven Swords) and Wong Kar-wai (Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels).
She retired at the height of her career in 1997, but has since returned in 2004 in New Police Story.
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Marjorie Lord
Biography
Marjorie Lord (née Wollenberg) was an American television and film actress. She played Kathy "Clancy" O'Hara Williams, opposite Danny Thomas's character on The Danny Thomas Show and later Make Room for Granddaddy.
In 1935, at the age of 16, Lord made her Broadway debut in The Old Maid with Judith Anderson. Her other Broadway appearances came in Signature, Little Brown Jug, and The Girl in the Freudian Slip.
Lord was signed by RKO Radio Pictures in 1935. While appearing in Springtime for Henry with Edward Everett Horton, director Henry Koster approached her and signed her to a contract with Universal Studios. She appeared in six feature films and a film serial The Adventures of Smilin' Jack for Universal. Her film work includes a number of wartime pictures, including the 1943 mystery Sherlock Holmes in Washington, starring Basil Rathbone in the title role. She also appeared in the Western films Masked Raiders, Mexican Manhunt, and Down Laredo Way. In 1966, she played Mrs. Martha Meade, the wife of Bob Hope's character, in the screwball comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
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Allam El-Dib
Biography
Allam El-Dib, a Lebanese Canadian. His lifelong fascination with the power of a camera to capture moments sparked a deep-seated passion for photography. Throughout his formative years, Allam's lens became a conduit for immortalizing cherished memories, particularly those shared with friends. While honing his skills behind the camera, a pivotal moment came during his grade 10 English class when tasked with creating a PSA video. This project not only unveiled a newfound joy in filmmaking but also ignited a desire to leverage the medium for genuine emotional impact. Today, Allam continues to pursue his passion for storytelling through the art of video, driven by the belief that every frame has the potential to resonate and inspire.
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William Marshall
Biography
William Marshall was an American actor, director, and opera singer. He is best known for his title role in Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream as well as his role on Pee-wee's Playhouse.
Marshall made his Broadway debut in 1944 in Carmen Jones. In 1950, he understudied Boris Karloff as Captain Hook in the Broadway production of Peter Pan. He played the leading role of De Lawd in the 1951 revival of The Green Pastures, a role he repeated in 1958 in a BBC telecast of the play. He performed in several Shakespearean plays on the stage in the U. S. and Europe, including the title role in at least six productions of Othello. Harold Hobson of the London Sunday Times praised Marshall’s portrayal as "the best Othello of our time."
In 1968, Marshall joined the Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles to play Othello in a jazz musical version, Catch My Soul, with Jerry Lee Lewis as Iago. Marshall portrayed Paul Robeson and Frederick Douglass on stage. He researched Douglass' life extensively, and in 1983 produced and played the lead role in Frederick Douglass: Slave and Statesman.
Marshall's career on screen began in the 1952 film Lydia Bailey as a Haitian leader. He followed that with a prominent role as Glycon, comrade and fellow gladiator to Victor Mature in the 1954 film Demetrius and the Gladiators. His demeanor, voice and stature gave him a wide range, though he was ill-suited for the subservient roles that many black actors of his generation were most frequently offered. He was a leader of the Mau-Mau uprising in Something of Value, and Attorney General Edward Brooke in The Boston Strangler. He probably received the most notice for his role in the vampire film Blacula and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream. In later years, Marshall played the King of Cartoons on Pee-wee's Playhouse.
Despite blacklisting because of his supposed communist connections, Marshall managed to continue appearing in both television and films. He appeared on the British spy series Danger Man in episodes titled "Deadline" and "The Galloping Major". He also won two local Emmys for producing and performing in a PBS production, As Adam Early in the Morning, a theatre piece originally performed on stage. He also was featured in an episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour titled, "The Jar", with actors Pat Buttram and George Lindsey.
In addition to acting and producing, Marshall taught acting at various universities including the University of California, Irvine, and the Mufandi Institute, an African-American arts and music institution in the Watts section of Los Angeles. He did similar work at Chicago's ETA Creative Arts Foundation, which in 1992 named Marshall one of its Epic Men of the 20th century. Marshall died June 11, 2003, from complications arising from Alzheimer's disease and diabetes.
Marshall was considered by many to be a much underrated actor and one who never got his due. Some have remarked that Marshall should have had a much more successful and larger screen career, even saying that Marshall would have been a perfect choice for the role of Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.
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Ramesh Pisharody
Biography
Ramesh Pisharody is a stand-up comedian, mimicry artist, television host and film actor in Malayalam. He appeared in the TV shows Cinemala and Comic Cola and gained huge popularity after his TV show Bluff Masters aside his creative partner and friend Dharmajan Bolgatty. He debuted as an actor in the film Positive (2008). Though he first acted in the film Positive, his first released movie was Nasrani. He has acted in several Malayalam films, mostly in supporting roles like To Noora with Love (2014), which include comedy as well as negative roles. He had a lead role in the film Kappal Muthalaali (2009).His other notable films are Celluloid, Left Right Left, and Immanuel. He is currently hosting the TV show Badai Bunglow (2014) which is inspired by Comedy Nights with Kapil.
Pisharody was the youngest son in the family. He had his primary education from Kendriya Vidyalaya Newsprint Nagar, Karikkode Govt High School and pre degree from Devaswom Board College, Thalayolaparambu. He worked as a mimicry artist in Salim Kumar's mimicry troupe Cochin Stallions before entering movies. Ramesh is married to Soumya and the couple has a daughter.
He has been a co-host of the Asianet Film Awards.
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Eamonn Walker
Biography
Eamonn Roderique Walker is an English film, television, and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Saïd in the HBO television series OZ, for which he won a CableACE Award, and Chief Wallace Boden on NBC's Chicago Fire.
He also starred as Rev. Ephram Samuels on Kings and as Terence 'Edge' Edgecomb on The Whole Truth. He's appeared in films including Unbreakable, Tears of the Sun, Lord of War, Cadillac Records, and The Company Men.
In England, he starred as PC Malcolm Haynes in The Bill and as Winston on the sitcom In Sickness and In Health.
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Katherine Helmond
Biography
Katherine Marie Helmond (July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019) was an American film, theater, and television actress, and director.
Over her five decades of television acting, she was known for her starring role as ditzy matriarch Jessica Tate on the ABC prime time soap opera sitcom Soap (1977–1981) and her co-starring role as feisty mother Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss? (1984–1992). She also played Doris Sherman on Coach and Lois Whelan, the mother of Debra Barone, on Everybody Loves Raymond. She guest starred on a number of TV shows including True Blood, Strong Medicine, Providence, The Love Boat, The Bionic Woman (1976), The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bob New hart Show, Mannix, and Gunsmoke.
She had supporting roles in films such as Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976), Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985), and Overboard (1987). She also voiced Lizzie in the Cars trilogy by Disney/Pixar.
Some info from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Susie Allanson
Biography
Susie Allanson is an American country music singer and actress. Susie was raised in Burbank and lived in Las Vegas from 1963-71. Before beginning her singing career in the mid-1970s, she toured as part of Jesus Christ Superstar and appeared in the film of the same name. As a singer, she released five studio albums and charted several singles on the Billboard and Cashbox country charts, including the No. 2 hit "We Belong Together". She also had top ten chart success with a cover of Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" and "Words" by the Bee Gees. Her early albums were produced by Ray Ruff, her then husband. The couple subsequently divorced. According to a fan web site, "Susie does not embrace her past life as a pop/country singer....She is a born again Christian and her days now revolve around that." She later married musician Steve Williams. She now lives in California with her two children, Daniel and Amanda, and her husband.
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