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1-50 of 397
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Patton Oswalt has been headlining at comedy clubs all over the United States since 1996, as well as appearing in his own standup specials on Comedy Central and HBO. He was chosen as Entertainment Weekly's "It" comedian in 2002. He is a regular on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993). His other television credits include appearances on Seinfeld (1989) and NewsRadio (1995).
As a writer, Oswalt spent two seasons on Mad TV (1995) and has also written for the MTV Music Video Awards. He is currently writing screenplays and has appeared in the feature films Starsky & Hutch (2004), Man on the Moon (1999) and Magnolia (1999).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
William Russ was born on 20 October 1950 in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. He is an actor and director, known for Boy Meets World (1993), Wiseguy (1987) and Cruising (1980). He is married to Clare Wren. They have two children.- Actor
- Writer
George Costigan is an English actor. Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Costigan grew up in Salford, Lancashire. After attending St Augustine's C of E Primary School on Bolton Road in Pendlebury, he went to Wardley Grammar School on Mardale Avenue in Wardley near Swinton.
Costigan has been on television since 1978. He starred in the 1982 series of The Barchester Chronicles, an adaption of the novels by Anthony Trollope, in which he played the part of Tom Towers. In 1984 he appeared as Philip the Bastard in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of The Life and Death of King John (alongside Leonard Rossiter in the title role).
He rose to fame in 1986 as adulterous businessman Bob in the comedy film Rita, Sue and Bob Too. He has since starred or featured in many television productions, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (providing mellifluous Peter Lorre-type villainy) Kavanagh QC, Coogan's Run, Connie, A Touch of Frost, Inspector Morse, Murder Most Horrid, So Haunt Me, London's Burning, The Bill, Holby City, The Long Firm, Vera, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, The Beiderbecke Connection, New Tricks and Casualty. His film work includes Calendar Girls and Shirley Valentine.
His partner is the writer Julia North, with whom he wrote a 1990 episode of Birds of a Feather (1989). They have three sons - Niall (who is also an actor), and two others.
In the theatre, he created the role of Mickey Johnstone in Willy Russell's musical Blood Brothers, originally at the Liverpool Playhouse, and later at the Lyric Theatre, London. He later played the role of Estragon in Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot at the Manchester Library Theatre for three weeks from 16 February to 8 March 2008, and played Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman at York Theatre Royal in November 2008. In December 2009, it was announced that he is to join Emmerdale as a friend of Rodney Blackstock. He made his debut in the soap in March 2010 and his last appearance was shown on 23 July 2010. On 4/5 April 2010, he starred as Alan, the ex-husband of Christine, Inspector Frost's new love interest in A Touch of Frost. In 2014, he appeared in Happy Valley. He resumed the role, Nevison Gallagher, in the 2016 series. He also starred in the hit TV series Line of Duty as Patrick Fairbank.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Wanda Sykes has been called one of the funniest stand-up comics by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly's 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand-up has sent her career in many different areas.
She was previously seen in Comedy Central's Wanda Does It (2004), where she tried various non-showbiz jobs. Her first book, "Yeah I Said It," published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004, which is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family, and current events.
In 2003, she was seen on Fox's Wanda at Large (2003), in which she wrote, produced, and starred. She also has a one-hour Comedy Central special called Wanda Sykes: Tongue Untied (2003). In addition, she can be seen on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) or heard on Comedy Central's Crank Yankers (2002) as the voice of Gladys Murphy.
Wanda was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Maryland, the daughter of Marion Louise (Peoples), a banker, and Harry Ellsworth Sykes, a US Army colonel. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Hampton University. Her stand-up career began at a Coors Light Super talent Showcase in Washington, DC, where she performed for the first time in front of a live audience.
She spent 5 years as part of the HBO's critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show (1997). As a performer and writer on the show, she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and in 1999 won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Special. In 2001, she won the American Comedy Award for Outstanding Female Stand-Up Comic. She won a second Emmy in 2002 for her work on Inside the NFL (1977). In 2003, Wanda earned a Comedy Central Commie Award for Funniest TV Actress. Other writing credits include the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards (1999), The MTV Movie Awards, The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002), The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show (1997), and Wanda at Large (2003).
She also appeared in the feature films Pootie Tang (2001), Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Down to Earth (2001), and Monster-in-Law (2005).- Bryony Hannah was born in 1984 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Jupiter Ascending (2015), The Last Duel (2021) and Call the Midwife (2012).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jean Kasem was born on 21 May 1954 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. She is an actress, known for Ghostbusters (1984), Cheers (1982) and Good vs Evil (1999). She was previously married to Casey Kasem.- Actress
Kirsty Dillon was born in 1976 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. She is an actress, known for Locke (2013), Midsomer Murders (1997), as well as her voice acting work on the adventure game Clock Tower 3 (2002).
Kirsty Dillon is a graduate of Goldsmiths, University of London. She has also collaborated with the White Ribbon and is an ambassador for the project.
She has worked in a wide range of production, ranging from stage and television to theatre and performance art. Amongst other things, Kirsty Dillon has collaborated with art-house director Peter Greenaway on the 'Spellbound' exhibition.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Dustin Demri-Burns was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Slow Horses (2022), Am I Being Unreasonable? (2022) and Cardinal Burns (2012).- Classically-trained veteran actor David Calder was born on 1 August 1946 in Portsmouth, England. His impressive career in acting began as early as 1968 around the age of 22. Easily known to British audiences for his work in film and television, Calder perhaps is better known to American audiences with his appearances in high profile movies such as the James Bond spy-action film The World Is Not Enough (1999) as Sir Robert King, the on-screen father of French actress Sophie Marceau. He also appeared in Rob Cohen's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), the third installment to the Stephen Sommers-directed Mummy films starring Brendan Fraser. During the 2010s, Calder has appeared in further A-list films and television series, including the Ron Howard-directed car-racing film drama Rush (2013), starring Chris Hemsworth. His continued work in British television includes appearances on The Wrong Mans (2013) and Casualty (1986). Calder appeared in the 2016 miniseries The Moonstone (2016) and guest-starred in Emerald City (2016).
- Actor
- Producer
Melvin Gregg is an American actor and comedian known for his roles as DeMarcus Tillman in Netflix's mockumentary series American Vandal, Erick Scott in Steven Soderbergh's sports drama film High Flying Bird, Drew 'Manboy' Miller on FX's crime drama Snowfall, and Ben Chandler in the upcoming Hulu miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
John Madden was born on 8 April 1949 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Shakespeare in Love (1998), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) and Proof (2005).- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Marc Wootton was born on 8 February 1975 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009), Arthur Christmas (2011) and La La Land (2010).- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Executive
Alison Owen was born on 18 February 1961 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. She is a producer and executive, known for Elizabeth (1998), Saving Mr. Banks (2013) and The Giver (2014). She was previously married to Keith Allen.- Actor
- Soundtrack
The British character actor Michael Ripper was born in 1913 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His father was a speech therapist and encouraged him to participate in diction and public speaking competitions. From this, the young Michael gained an interest in acting and got his first taste of the stage through his father's amateur dramatics company. At age 16, Ripper won a scholarship to drama school and began to appear in theater professionally. His stage career continued until 1952, when an operation for a thyroid condition left him unable to project his voice sufficiently for the stage, after which he concentrated on his film career. Ripper started his film career in numerous quota quickies, debuting in Twice Branded (1936). At one point in his early career, he also worked as an assistant director for a production company at Walton Studios. In the late 1940s, Ripper began a long association with Hammer Film Productions, which resulted in his face becoming well known not only in Britain, but also worldwide. During this 25-year association, which began with a role in There Is No Escape (1948) and ended with That's Your Funeral (1972), Ripper made a total of 35 appearances in Hammer films, playing an assortment of innkeepers, coachmen, gravediggers, poachers, and, occasionally, authority figures, usually with a comic twist. Although he made few films after his stint with Hammer, he continued his career with memorable television appearances, such as the chauffeur in Butterflies (1978) and Drones Porter in Jeeves and Wooster (1990), until his retirement in the early 1990s.- Director
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Bonerz was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquette University High School. Here, performing with the Prep Players, he gained his first theatrical experience. At Marquette University, he participated in the Marquette University Players. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1960, he decided to seek a career in theater, starting in New York City in improve with a troupe called The Premise. After compulsory service as a draftee in the United States Army, he worked with an improve troupe in San Francisco known as The Committee, whose members included Rob Reiner, David Ogden Stiers, Howard Hesseman and Hamilton Camp.- He was one of those delightful, typically British actors with a penchant for playing eccentrics. Early in his career, Jeremy Brett once quaintly introduced Aubrey Morris to Noël Coward as "the finest small-part player in London". Born Aubrey Steinberg of Jewish-Ukrainian ancestry, he was one of several siblings with artistic inclinations (his brother Wolfe Morris was also a noted character player). Aubrey studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London on a scholarship and made his stage debut in 1944. During the 1950s, he acted regularly on the West End stage, at the Old Vic, and on Broadway.
In addition to making excellent use of his Shakespearean-trained voice, his diminutive stature and beaming, toothy countenance proved a significant asset to a remarkable versatility on screen. Morris was adept at conveying unctuousness, cunning, duplicity, civility, or obsession with equal ease and in a wide variety of roles and genres. His many memorable performances include: the Freud-fixated writer Mr. Mybug in Cold Comfort Farm (1968); the sleazy probation officer Mr. Deltoid in A Clockwork Orange (1971); a sinister gravedigger in The Wicker Man (1973); the oily manservant Grosvenor, asking Michael Palin for the use of the 'naughty books', in "The Curse of the Claw" episode of Ripping Yarns (1976); the jolly captain of the 'B-Ark' (filled with such folk as telephone sanitizers), spending years luxuriating in his bubble-bath in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981); and last, but not least, the ancient thespian Chesterton, shuffling off this mortal coil while being read quotes from King Lear in HBO's Deadwood (2004).
Residing in the U.S. since the mid-1980s, Aubrey Morris continued to ply his trade right up until his death at the venerable age of 89. - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Location Management
Sunny, dynamic and beautiful slender blonde actress Jillian Kesner was born on August 9, 1949 in Portsmouth, Virginia and grew up primarily in Denver, Colorado. Her father was a Navy officer. Jillian received a B.A. in business from a Colorado university in 1967. In 1969 Kesner moved to Los Angeles, California and worked as a model prior to embarking on an acting career in both movies and television. Jillian made her impressive film debut as fiery juvenile delinquent Carrie in the fun drive-in exploitation romp "The Student Body." (She met her future husband and noted cinematographer Gary Graver while acting in this particular picture.) Other memorable movie roles include the sweetly kooky, yet intelligent Angel in the amusing "Starhops," tough, but sexy karate instructor Susanne Carter in the hugely enjoyable "Firecracker," feisty martial arts expert Cookie Winchell in the gloriously tasteless "Raw Force," and alluring vampiress Claudia in the lowbrow hoot "Beverly Hills Vamp." Kesner was a regular cast member of the short-lived sitcom "Co-ed Fever." Perhaps best known to the general public as Fonzie's girlfriend Lorraine on "Happy Days," Jillian made guest appearances on such TV shows as "S.W.A.T.," "The Blue Knight," "The Rockford Files," "Three's Company," "Mork & Mindy," and "T.J. Hooker." Outside of her acting credits, Jillian also handled production coordinator chores on a handful of low-budget straight-to-video movies that were directed by Graver. In addition, both Kesner and Graver tried to complete Orson Welles's unfinished film "The Other Side of the Wind." Following Graver's death in 2006, Jillian continued her efforts to preserve Welles's cinematic legacy. Jillian Kesner died at age 58 from a staph infection on December 5, 2007 in Irvine, California.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ilene Woods was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of a backstage mom who was responsible for Ilene getting her show biz start on the stage at 2. At 14, she received an offer to top-line her own radio show once she became available at the end of that school year during a vacation in New York City. The Ilene Woods Show soon started its run on the Blue Network as a 3-nights-a-week, 15-minute musical series. She then did radio work in Chicago before moving to California, where she landed her first & only on-screen movie role (On Stage Everybody (1945)) as well as a stint on the Jack Carson-starring radio series Sealtest Village Store. Her songwriter-friends Mack David & Jerry Livingston asked her to record 2 of their newest songs, not telling her that they were for the upcoming Disney film Cinderella (1950). When Walt Disney heard her voice on the recordings, he chose her to voice that film's title role.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Stephen became an actor in 1984 after three years of training at Arts Educational Schools in London. He left college and immediately his film career began with his first film role as Moose in the cult film "My Beautiful Laundrette".
After a few years working in theater, commercials, and supporting roles on TV, he joined the cast of fledgling comedy "Birds of a Feather" as Dave, the lover of Sharon (Pauline Quirke).
One lazy, sunny afternoon in in the garden of actress, novelist, and fashion icon Sarah Stockbridge, Stephen met up with Peter Richardson, who asked him if he was available to do a day's work on "The Glam Metal Detectives" for the Comic Strip". One day became three months and he played literally hundreds of characters, and in 2012, he was asked back by Peter to be in the 30-year anniversary Comic Strip show "5 go to Rehab".
TV commercials introduced him to director Peter Chelsom, who cast him right away as Gordon in "Hear my Song" opposite Ned Beatty. Then there were a couple of years getting great roles on British TV in the likes of "The Hot Dog Wars", "Dangerfield", "Kavanagh QC", and "Our Friends in the North" opposite Malcolm McDowell and Daniel Craig.
His movie career was moving alongside this at quite a pace, with roles opposite Timothy Dalton in "The Beautician and the Beast", Robert Englund in "The Killer Tongue", and Richard Harris in "Savage Hearts".
In 1996, his agent set up a meeting on a small low-budget movie with an unknown director named Guy Ritchie; Guy offered him the role of Nick the Greek in his movie "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels". Three years later, the film was released and became the biggest British movie in the last 25 years and launched the careers of Vinnie Jones, Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham, and Mathew Vaughn.
"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" led to Hollywood knocking on the door. Alan Parker had him do a small role in "Angela's Ashes", and Philip Kaufman asked him to play Bouchon in "Quills" alongside Kate Winslett, Michael Caine, Joaquin Phoenix and Geoffrey Rush. Richard Eyre called on him twice, for "Iris" opposite Judy Dench and in "Stage Beauty" with Claire Danes. This was followed by the role of Ted Ray in "The Greatest Game Ever Played", directed by Bill Paxton. Paxton had seen his work and, after speaking to his agent, called Stephen from his car phone (very Hollywood) and offered him the part. Stephen has had the pleasure of doing two films with the Wachowski Brothers and Jeff McTeague - "Speed Racer" and "Ninja Assassin".
Alongside a very successful movie career, he did several TV series for the USA, Canada, and the UK. In "Starhunter 2300", he played Rudolpho De Luna; he played the co-lead in the BBC series "Cavegirl". He played Banjo and Broadman in the adaptations of Terry Prachett's "Hogfather" and "The Colour of Magic" for Sky TV, plus the two 20th-anniversary episodes of "Casualty" and regular roles on "Kingdom" (with Stephen Fry) and "Lark Rise to Candleford".
2013 and 2014 saw Stephen on the West End stage in the musical "The Bodyguard" (based on the film with Whitney Huston and using her music) playing Tony Schibelli. It also saw the release of "It's a Lot", "The Smoke", "AB Negative" and "Fast and Furious 6".
Since then, he's done several films in different genres: horror - "The Rizen" 1&2, gangster - "The London Firm", "AB Negative" and "Welcome To Curiosity", and comedy - "Sanctuary" and "Fanged Up" (comedy/horror).His latest cinematic release is "Walk Like a Panther", a comedy about old wrestlers making a comeback.
Stephen is also an author and has written a book about the making of the British crime caper "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels".
He lives in LA with the most beautiful woman in the world, his wife Sarah. They have two small dogs, Fry and Ronnie. Both have passed now but are very much still in my heart.- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Bolten was born on 27 July 1991 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA. He is an actor and cinematographer, known for Flipped (2010), Miss Behave (2010) and Dark Light (2019).- Composer
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Murray Gold has been nominated for a BAFTA six times in the category Best Original Television Music, for Vanity Fair (1999), Queer as Folk (2000), Casanova (2006), Doctor Who (2008) and A Very English Scandal (2019). His score for the BAFTA winning film Kiss of Life was awarded the Mozart Prize of the 7th Art by a French jury at Aubagne in 2003. He has also been nominated five times by the Royal Television Society in categories relating to music for television, winning twice.
Murray has worked extensively with writer/director Russell T Davies on projects such as A Very English Scandal (starring Hugh Grant), Casanova (starring David Tennant), The Second Coming (starring Christopher Eccleston), Cucumber and Queer as Folk, series 1 and 2. He has also scored the C4 period drama The Devil's Whore, the BBC series The Musketeers, BBC Natural History series Life Story, the crime drama Scott & Bailey and wrote the theme tune for the Channel 4 hit series Shameless. More recently Murray scored Lookout Point's upcoming 8-part drama Gentleman Jack for BBC One and HBO.
Between 2005 and 2018, Murray served as musical director for the wildly successful re-imagining of the BBC's Doctor Who. In this capacity, he created a new arrangement of the show's theme (originally composed by Ron Grainer) and composed the score for 10 entire series. Murray also created, arranged and orchestrated three special live concerts for the music from Doctor Who. The first, Doctor Who: A Celebration, was played at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff in 2006; the second, the 2008 Doctor Who Prom, was part of the BBC Proms on 24 July 2008 at the Royal Albert Hall in London; the third, the 2010 Doctor Who Prom, was part of the BBC Proms hold in 2010 at the Royal Albert Hall again. In March 2010, Murray's Doctor Who soundtrack entered UK radio station Classic FM's Hall of Fame as that year's second highest new entry.
Gold has scored a number of British and American films, including Death at a Funeral directed by Frank Oz and Mischief Night, directed by Penny Woolcock. Other projects include 2006's film Alien Autopsy and the 2009 drama feature Veronika Decides to Die.
In 2001, his radio play Electricity was given the Imison Award - named after former BBC radio drama script editor Richard Imison - for best new. It subsequently transferred to the West Yorkshire Playhouse and was performed with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role. Others of his plays include 50 Revolutions performed by the Oxford Stage Company at the Whitehall Theatre, London in 2000 and Resolution at Battersea Arts Centre in 1994. Gold also wrote the radio play Kafka: The Musical, broadcast on Easter Sunday 2011 on BBC Radio 3, starring David Tennant. It won the 2013 Tinniswood Award for the Best Original Radio Drama.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Paul Andrew Williams was born in 1973 in Portsmouth, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for London to Brighton (2006), Unfinished Song (2012) and The Cottage (2008).- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Charles Dickens' father was a clerk at the Naval Pay Office, and because of this the family had to move from place to place: Plymouth, London, Chatham. It was a large family and despite hard work, his father couldn't earn enough money. In 1823 he was arrested for debt and Charles had to start working in a factory, labeling bottles for six shillings a week. The economy eventually improved and Charles was able to go back to school. After leaving school, he started to work in a solicitor's office. He learned shorthand and started as a reporter working for the Morning Chronicle in courts of law and the House of Commons. In 1836 his first novel was published, "The Pickwick Papers". It was a success and was followed by more novels: "Oliver Twist" (1837), "Nicholas Nickleby" (1838-39) and "Barnaby Rudge" (1841). He traveled to America later that year and aroused the hostility of the American press by supporting the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement. In 1858 he divorced his wife Catherine, who had borne him ten children. During the 1840s his social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage: novels like "David Copperfield" (1849-50), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1959) and "Great Expectations" (1860-61) only increased his fame and respect. His last novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", was never completed and was later published posthumously.- Vanda Godsell was born on 17 November 1922 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), I Promised to Pay (1961) and A Shot in the Dark (1964). She was married to Alan J Orchard and George Selway. She died on 2 April 1990 in London, England, UK.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Cinematographer
Deedee Magno was born on 2 April 1975 in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. She is an actress and cinematographer, known for Steven Universe (2013), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) and Steven Universe: Attack the Light! (2015). She has been married to Cliffton Hall since 27 April 2003. They have two children.