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1-50 of 62
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Mickey Jones was born on 10 June 1941 in Houston, Texas, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Total Recall (1990), Starman (1984) and Sling Blade (1996). He was married to Phyllis Jean Starr and Sandra Joel Davis. He died on 7 February 2018 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Stunts
- Actress
Jeannie Epper was born on 27 January 1941 in Glendale, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Romancing the Stone (1984), Quarantine (2008) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004). She was married to Tim Kimack, Lee Sanders, Wes Fuller and Richard Spaethe. She died on 5 May 2024 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Raoul Walsh's 52-year directorial career made him a Hollywood legend. Walsh was also an actor: He appeared in the first version of W. Somerset Maugham's "Rain" renamed Sadie Thompson (1928) opposite Gloria Swanson in the title role. He would have played the Cisco Kid in his own film In Old Arizona (1928) if an errant jackrabbit hadn't cost him his right eye by leaping through the windshield of his automobile. Warner Baxter filled the role and won an Oscar. Before John Ford and Nicholas Ray, it was Raoul Walsh who made the eye-patch almost as synonymous with a Hollywood director as Cecil B. DeMille's jodhpurs.
He interned with the best, serving as assistant director and editor on D.W. Griffith's racist masterpiece, The Clansman, better known as The Birth of a Nation (1915), a blockbuster that may have been the highest-grossing film of all time if accurate box office records had been kept before the sound era. He pulled triple duty on that picture, playing John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater and ranked as the most notorious American actor of all time until Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens).
The year before The Clansman, Walsh was second unit director on The Life of General Villa (1914), also playing the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa as a young man. Walsh got his start in the business as co-director of another Pancho Villa flick, The Life of General Villa (1914), in 1912. The movie featured footage shot of an actually battle between Villa's forces and Mexican federal troops.
In 1915, in addition to helping out the great Griffith, Walsh directed no less than 14 films, including his first feature-length film, The Regeneration (1915), which he also wrote. The movie starred silent cinema superstar Anna Q. Nilsson as a society woman turned social worker who aids the regeneration of a Bowery gang leader. It was a melodrama, but an effective one. In his autobiography, Walsh credited D.W. Griffith with teaching him about the art of filmmaking and about production management techniques. The film is memorable for its shots of New York City, where Walsh had been born 28 years earlier on March 11, 1887.
Raoul Walsh would continue to be a top director for 40 years and would not hang up his director's megaphone (if he still had one at that late in the game) until 1964. As a writer, his last script was made in 1970, meaning his career as a whole spanned seven decades and 58 years.
He introduced the world to John Wayne in The Big Trail (1930) in 70mm wide-screen in 1930. It would take nine more years and John Ford to make the Duke a star. In one three-year period at Warner Bros., he directed The Roaring Twenties (1939), They Drive by Night (1940), High Sierra (1940), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Manpower (1941), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), and Gentleman Jim (1942), among other films in that time frame. He helped consolidate the stardom of Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn while directing the great James Cagney in one of his more delightful films, The Strawberry Blonde (1941). This was the same director that would elicit Cagney's most searing performance since The Public Enemy (1931) in the crime classic White Heat (1949).
Novelist Norman Mailer says that Walsh was dragged off of his death bed to direct the underrated film adaptation of Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1958). The movie is as masculine and unsentimental as the book, an exceedingly harsh look at the power relations between men at war on the same side that includes the attempted murder of prisoners of war and the "fragging" of officers (Sergeant Croft allows his lieutenant to walk into an ambush). Walsh was at his best when directing men in war or action pictures.
Raoul Walsh seemingly recovered from Mailer's phantasmagorical death bed, as he lived another 22 years after The Naked and the Dead (1958). He died on December 31, 1980, in Simi Valley, California, at the age of 93.- Additional Crew
- Director
Patsy Swayze was born on 7 February 1927 in Harris County, Texas, USA. She was a director, known for Hope Floats (1998), Urban Cowboy (1980) and Letters from a Killer (1998). She was married to Jesse Wayne Swayze. She died on 16 September 2013 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Mark Balelo was born on 31 January 1973 in Machico, Madeira Island, Portugal. He died on 11 February 2013 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Script and Continuity Department
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Alvin Greenman was an American actor, dialogue coach and script supervisor whose career in the movie and television business spanned over 50 years.
Born in 1930 in New York City, his last television appearance was in 2001 where he appeared in "Backstory," a documentary series, as himself. He is the only actor to appear in both Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and the remake, Miracle on 34th Street (1994). In the former, he appeared in the uncredited role of the young janitor of Macy's whereas in the latter, he played the doorman. Both characters are named Alfred.
While most of his work involved script supervision and dialogue coaching, Greenman continued to take on minor television and film roles throughout his career. As as dialogue coach and script supervisor, he worked on such films as The Longest Yard, the Karate Kid and Uncommon Valor as well as successful television series and miniseries including Doogie Howser, Hill Street Blues, and Roots.
However, by far, as an actor Greeman is best known for his good-natured portrayal of Alfred in Miracle on 34th Street (1994). Although a minor character, it was a memorable one with memorable lines such as: "There is a lot of bad ism's floating around this world and one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it's the same -- don't care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck."- Milton Kibbee was born on 27 January 1896 in Roswell, New Mexico, USA. He was an actor, known for The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942), Junior Prom (1946) and Vacation Days (1947). He was married to Lois H. Wilson. He died on 17 April 1970 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Producer
Maury Dexter first entered the business as a teenage actor in The Three Stooges short, Uncivil War Birds (1946). After a few additional movie roles, he busied himself with stage and TV work until the Korean War and military service intervened; following his discharge, he landed an acting job on TV's The Hank McCune Show (1949) and was soon working there behind the scenes as well. A clerical job at Robert L. Lippert's Regal Films eventually led to producing and directing gigs at that independent production company, where many of the movies were shot in seven days on $100,000 budgets. He directed over 20 features there, at American International Pictures and abroad before he became, for the first time in his career, an assistant director, working mostly for Michael Landon on his TV series Little House on the Prairie (1974) and Highway to Heaven (1984). Landon's 1991 death prompted Dexter to retire.- Marilyn O'Connor was born on 21 March 1924 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress, known for Thunder Run (1985), The Gene Generation (2007) and American Horror Story (2011). She was married to Charles Davis. She died on 13 November 2011 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Madison Lloyd was born on 22 August 1991 in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. She died on 16 July 2018 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Brandon Chase was born on 17 March 1929 in Bronx, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Girl in Trouble (1963), Alligator (1980) and Threesome (1970). He died on 15 January 2020 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Actor
- Production Designer
- Art Director
Richard Jamison was born on 1 June 1943 in Sabetha, Kansas, USA. He was an actor and production designer, known for Every Which Way But Loose (1978), MacGyver (1985) and Over the Edge (1979). He was married to Ellen Smith Jamison. He died on 19 March 2017 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Joseph M. Newman worked his way up from office boy and clerk to writer and assistant director under George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch and others. In 1937 he was briefly assigned to MGM's British section as a second unit director, but returned home within the year to direct short features. His occasional involvement in bigger productions included shooting the famous "Donkey Serenade" from The Firefly (1937), for which he did not receive screen credit. Indeed, he received two Oscar nominations as assistant director (a short-lived category in the awards). After directing his first full-length motion picture, Northwest Rangers (1942), Newman served in the war, rising to the rank of major, making documentaries and newsreels for the Signal Corps. The sense of realism and attention to detail he gained during this time served him in later years.
Many of his films, almost all second features and shot on modest budgets, use character actors rather than stars for the lead roles. They have a gritty, semi-documentary look, particularly his two best offerings: the film noir 711 Ocean Drive (1950) and the outdoor drama Red Skies of Montana (1952). Many also share an overriding preoccupation with technology, as in "711 Ocean Drive", in which an electronically-minded telephone repairman (Edmond O'Brien) becomes entangled with a shady bookmaking syndicate. Newman's most famous film would have to be the cult sci-fi This Island Earth (1955)--in which the main stars, it must be said, were the special effects--which features clever matte paintings and lush three-strip Technicolor photography. Newman's contribution to the film is somewhat diminished, however, by the fact that nearly half of it (set on the planet Metaluna) was re-shot by director Jack Arnold because the studio was unhappy with the initial result. Arnold, in the end, shot some of the most famous scenes, including the mutant attack and the escape through the tunnels.
After "This Island Earth", Newman's work was competent, if routine: a few westerns, a minor swashbuckler and a couple of crime pictures. Sci-fi fans will remember his four entries into The Twilight Zone (1959), though none were among the most compelling of the series.- Lincoln Demyan was born on 12 February 1925 in West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for The Big Valley (1965), Star Trek (1966) and The Invaders (1967). He died on 6 October 1991 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Shirley Tegge was born on 6 August 1927 in Iron River, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Half Way to Hell (1960), Racket Squad (1950) and I Love Lucy (1951). She died on 12 June 2010 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Animation Department
- Art Director
- Director
Founder of the experimental-animation program at CalArts in 1970 (where he taught for over thirty years), and a founder of the UPA animation studio, Jules Engel choreographed the famous hippopotamus/alligator dance, the bottle-dancing Cossack thistles and the mushroom ballet within "Fantasia" (1940). His students would go on to animate such features as "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Finding Nemo", "The Lion King" and "Toy Story".- Weldon Bleiler was born on 14 July 1939 in Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Murder, She Wrote (1984), Equal Justice (1990) and Hunter (1984). He died on 17 August 2007 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Russ Klein was born on 23 June 1917 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. He was married to Lois Lamont. He died on 10 February 1996 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Writer
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Dennis Snee was born on 11 April 1951 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Back to School (1986), Empty Nest (1988) and Family Matters (1989). He died on 1 July 2019 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- She was born Mary Louise Welch, pert, blonde and blue-eyed, with singing, dancing and acting experience from the age of four. Unfortunately, her eventual sojourn in Hollywood did not lead to any substantial acting parts and her career fizzled out after a mere seven years.
Leslye (or Leslie, as she was sometimes billed) started out performing in junior plays at Glendale High School and went on to become a cheerleader. Aged 19, she was signed to a 5-year contract by Universal, though she was loaned out to Columbia for her first three pictures. Her roles were almost entirely confined to second features, particularly B-grade westerns, as the perfunctory ornamental female lead or second lead opposite sage brush heroes like Charles Starrett or Tex Williams. Her one standout role was in RKO's His Kind of Woman (1951), a superior gangster film with a big cast headed by Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell and Raymond Burr.
By 1952, Leslye's film roles had dried up and she spent a few more years acting in early anthology dramas on TV. With her career effectively over, Leslye devoted herself to family life. She had married her first husband, Jane Russell's brother Wally Russell, in 1949. They had three children. A second marriage (to school teacher Keith E. Rogers) produced another seven! Leslye resided for many years in the Simi Valley. There, as Mary Lou Rogers, she returned to acting on the stage with the local community theatre, the Horizon Players. She passed away -- very much off radar -- on July 22 2014 at the age of 83. - Transportation Department
Albert C. Rusk was born on 15 May 1958. He is known for Dante's Peak (1997), The Limey (1999) and Erin Brockovich (2000). He died on 19 September 2008 in Simi Valley, California, USA.- Roger E. Fanter was born on 3 October 1934 in Hamilton, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Adaptation. (2002), Seabiscuit (2003) and Dead Air (2009). He died on 24 September 2017 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Herbert Wiere was born in Vienna in 1909 into a family having a long tradition in show business. In 1922, he and his brothers, Harry Wiere and Sylvester Wiere, formed The Wiere Brothers comedy act and began performing in theatres and on stages. They came to America for the first time in 1935 and remained in 1937. The Wiere Bros. were an exceptionally talented comedy team having the ability to play numerous instruments, sing, dance and perform acrobatics, while being extremely funny in the process. Their act was a headliner on the theatre and night club circuit and, in films, they are very funny, but unfortunately were not used very frequently. Their first film appearance was in Vogues of 1938 (1937). Two of their film appearances in 1943, Swing Shift Maisie (1943) and Hands Across the Border (1944), both claim to "introduce the Wiere Brothers" to American audiences. Their dancing and music routine is probably best captured on film in Road to Rio (1947), starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Their last film appearance was in Double Trouble (1967), starring Elvis Presley. In 1960, CBS commissioned thirteen episodes of a television series starring The Wiere Brothers. The series, Oh! Those Bells (1962), was initially directed by former "Three Stooges" director Jules White. The show aired in the Summer of 1962 and was not renewed after its first season. The Wiere Brothers continued to appear in night clubs and regularly on television throughout the fifties, sixties and until 1970, when Sylvester Wiere died. After Sylvester's death, Harry and Herbert went into semi-retirement, but continued to work occasionally in television and on stage. In January of 1992, Harry Wiere died. As of 1996, Herbert Wiere semi-retired and died three years later.- Bill Reese was born on 23 February 1927 in New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hellcats (1968). He was married to Maxine Lucille Fischer. He died on 7 June 2006 in Simi Valley, California, USA.
- Actress
- Location Management
Dee Anne Helsel was born in Altoona, PA and moved to Los Angeles in 1970 to start her professional career in acting. She is the author of How Acting Works: The Official Reference Book for The Mechanics of Believability originated by her mentor and coach, Lieux Dressler, of over 40 years. She was an award-winning actress in film, television and stage as well as a director and screenwriter, and conducted seminars for actors, directors and platform speakers.