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1-50 of 446
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Errol Flynn was born to adventuress Marrelle Young and respected biologist Theodore Flynn. Young Flynn was a rambunctious child who was always sure to find trouble, and he managed to get himself ejected from every school in which he was enrolled. In his late teens he set out to find gold, but instead found only a series of short-lived odd jobs.
Information is sketchy, however the positions of police constable, sanitation engineer, treasure hunter, sheep castrator, ship-master for hire, fisherman, and soldier seem to be among his more reputable career choices. The necessity to stay at least one jump ahead of the law--and jealous husbands--forced Flynn to flee to England, where he took up acting, into which he had previous stumbled when he was asked to play (ironically) Fletcher Christian in a film called In the Wake of the Bounty (1933). Flynn's natural athletic talent and good looks attracted the attention of Warner Brothers and soon he was off to America. His luck held when he replaced Robert Donat in the title role of Captain Blood (1935). He quickly rocketed to stardom as the undisputed king of adventure films, a title inherited from Douglas Fairbanks, though which remains his to this day. Onscreen, he was the freedom loving rebel, a man of action who fought against injustice and won the hearts of damsels in the process. His off-screen passions; drinking, fighting, boating and sex, made his film escapades seem pale. His love life brought him considerable fame, three statutory rape trials, and a lasting memorial in the expression "In like Flynn". Serious roles eluded him, and as his lifestyle eroded his youthful good looks, his career declined. Trouble with lawsuits and the IRS plagued him at this time, eroding what little money he had saved. A few good roles did come his way late in life, however, these were usually that of aging alcoholic, almost mirror images of Flynn. Despite any perceived similarity, he was making a name as a serious actor before his death.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Cory Monteith was born on May 11, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada as Cory Allan Michael Monteith. He was an actor, known for playing the singing jock Finn on the American TV show Glee (2009) and films such as Monte Carlo (2011), and Final Destination 3 (2006). He died on July 13, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Once an overweight comic from Canada, Rick Ducommun slimmed down in the late 1980s and went on to tackle solid co-starring roles in feature films and TV, as well as headline several HBO and other pay-cable specials.
Ducommun grew up on a farm, the son of an entrepreneur father with whom he did not get along. Running away from home at age 14, he hitchhiked around the northern U.S., often living in communes, until returning to Canada at age 17, this time to Vancouver.
On a dare, Ducommun tried to do stand-up comedy at a Vancouver club. He was not only asked back, but bitten by the show business bug. He began playing clubs in Canada, hosted his own children's show, "ZigZag," and was put on TV by Alan Thicke, who was then hosting a talk show out of Vancouver.
When Thicke made his deal to do Thicke of the Night (1983), a late-night talk show from L.A., he brought Ducommun down to be announcer and a performer. When the show flopped, Ducommun began performing at L.A. clubs and acting in sitcoms. He was one of the zany cops on The Last Precinct (1986) -- a short-lived NBC show, and Mahler on Max Headroom (1987). Ducommun also played small parts in films, beginning with No Small Affair (1984) but found himself limited by a frame carrying 426 lb. He slimmed down more than 200 lb., and won the role of Art Weingartner, the dumb lug nosy neighbor to Tom Hanks in The 'Burbs (1989).
Despite good reaction to his work, the film was not a success, and Ducommun found himself mixing live performances in with his occasional film work, including an appearance in Blank Check (1994).
HBO did a special with Ducommun in 1989 called Rick Ducommun: Piece of Mind (1989), which was well received, as was the follow-up, "Hit and Run" in 1992. Ducommun frequently hosted pay and cable programs featuring stand-up comedy and was an regular performer on the Comedy Channel, later renamed, Comedy Central.- Breck was born Joseph Peter Breck, the son of a jazz musician also named Joseph (nicknamed "Jobie"). Over time, his father worked with such legendary greats as Fats Waller, Bix Beiderbecke, Paul Whiteman and Billie Holiday. Nicknamed "Buddy" while young, Peter's parents were on the road for much of his early life and he was sent to live with his grandparents in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a move that provided more stability.
His parents eventually divorced and young Peter returned to Rochester to live with his mother and her new husband, Al Weber, who was a sports editor of the Rochester Times-Union. Following his schooling at John Marshall High School in Rochester, Peter served in the United States Navy. He then turned his attention back to education and studied English and drama at the University of Houston in Houston. While performing in college plays, he started to apprentice at Houston's Alley Theatre, where he appeared in such productions as "Stalag 17", among others. He had a talent for singing and performed in several clubs in and around the Houston area.
Breck extended his stage resume at Washington D.C.'s Arena Theatre. While performing there in a 1957 production of George Bernard Shaw's "The Man of Destiny", he was "discovered" by Robert Mitchum, who cast him in an unbilled role in the film Thunder Road (1958), which Mitchum himself produced, co-wrote and starred in. Mitchum invited the young tenderfoot to Los Angeles and helped set him up out there. While Breck struggled trying to establish himself in films (he played a juvenile delinquent in the movie The Beatniks (1958)), it seemed that rugged TV roles came easier to him. He found his first series lead as "Clay Culhane" in the western Black Saddle (1959), the story of a gunfighter (Breck) who switches guns for law books and tries to tame the West through reason. Co-starring Russell Johnson (later the "Professor" on Gilligan's Island (1964)), who plays a suspicious U.S. Marshal, the series was canceled after two seasons.
A Warner Brothers studio contract, however, did come out of this-and a new visibility. Tall, dark and handsome at 6'2", Breck guest-starred on all the top Warner Bros. TV shows of the day: Sugarfoot (1957), Surfside 6 (1960), Bronco (1958), Hawaiian Eye (1959), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), Cheyenne (1955) and played a recurring "Doc Holliday" in the popular series Maverick (1957). He returned to the movies as well, but this time in stronger leads or co-leads. Handed a choice co-starring assignment in Portrait of a Mobster (1961) opposite star Vic Morrow, who played the infamous "Dutch Schultz", Peter also managed to show a rare, gentler side in the outdoor family drama Lad: A Dog (1962).
He left Warners after only a few years but managed to score the leads in two low-budget cult thrillers in its wake: Shock Corridor (1963)_ and The Crawling Hand (1963), along with a very dismal lead in the musical outing Hootenanny Hoot (1963), in which he was given no songs to perform despite his singing capabilities. Again, TV came to the rescue when he won the brotherly co-lead on The Big Valley (1965). Despite a uniformly strong ensemble cast that included oldest brother Richard Long, younger brother Lee Majors and sister Linda Evans, Stanwyck was the only performer on the show who was nominated for an Emmy during its four-season run; she was nominated twice and won once.
Following this TV peak, Breck abruptly left Hollywood and focused on the theater both in the U.S. and Canada throughout the 1970s, appearing in such showcase vehicles as "The Gazebo", "A Thousand Clowns", "The Rainmaker" and "Mister Roberts". Married to former dancer Diana Bourne since 1960, the couple settled in Vancouver, Canada, with their son Christopher, where Breck checked out the film scene. He also set up a full-time acting academy school, The Breck Academy, which ran for ten years. Tragically, it was during this time that their son, Christopher, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and died (two years later).
Breck decided to lay back following this traumatic period, but still manages to perform in films and TV from time to time. As he grew older, he joined the cast of some very offbeat "B" films: Terminal City Ricochet (1990) and and Highway 61 (1991). His more recent "B" movies included Decoy (1995), Enemy Action (1999) and Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004). He also wrote a western column and showed up occasionally at nostalgia conventions until he was diagnosed with dementia. He made his last film with a small role in the Martin Short vehicle Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004). Breck died on February 6, 2012, in Vancouver, Canada. - Actor
- Writer
Chris Gauthier was born on 27 January 1976 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Watchmen (2009) and 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002). He was married to Erin Gauthier. He died on 23 February 2024 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Actor, author, and musician Chief Dan George was born in present-day North Vancouver as Geswanouth Slahoot (later anglicized as 'Dan Slaholt'), the son of a tribal chief on Burrard Indian Reserve Nº. 3. He is the only Aboriginal actor in Canadian history to date with the right to use the title "Chief", serving as leader of the Squamish First Nation of Burrard Inlet from 1951-63, and retained the honorary title after his term ended. His last name was changed to George when at age 5 he entered a mission boarding school where the use of his native language was discouraged, if not forbidden.
Until 1959, he had worked as a longshoreman, logger, bus driver, and itinerant musician. After spending much of his early life as a longshoreman, a construction worker, and a school-bus driver, Chief Dan George auditioned for the role of Ol' Antoine on Cariboo Country (1960), a CBC series, and won the part. He made his screen debut at age 65. On the strength of his performance in the series, and after playing the same part in Smith! (1969), a Disney adaptation of one of the show's episodes based on "Breaking Smith's Quarterhorse", a novella by Paul St. Pierre, and starring Glenn Ford, he was asked to play "Old Lodge Skins" in Little Big Man (1970). This role led to an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1970. He continued to appear in films and became an accomplished stage actor. He died in 1981 on the same Indian reserve where he was born in North Vancouver at age 82.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Kirby Morrow trained in theatre at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout his career, he also trained in Vancouver, Paris, Dublin, Toronto and Los Angeles. Reaching a successful stature in both on camera and animation voice-overs, he was a highly sought-after guest at animation, science fiction and Comicon conventions around the world.
Kirby Morrow died at the age of 47 on November 18, 2020, just eight days after the death of his father. No cause of death was given but Morrow's brother, Casey Morrow, wrote on Facebook that his brother's body "could not keep up" after a long history of substance abuse.- Actor
- Director
- Editor
Andrew Koenig was born on 17 August 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for InAlienable (2007), Batman: Dead End (2003) and Growing Pains (1985). He died on 14 February 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actor
- Producer
Christopher Lawford is the first child of Peter and Pat Kennedy Lawford, born on March 29, 1955. Lawford attended Tufts and Georgetown Universities, and went to Boston College Law School, graduating in 1983. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a drug problem put Lawford in a clinic for a time, but he was able to straighten out his life and continue with his education. While living in the Boston area, he set up a clinic to treat opiate dependency. He has also served as a lecturer in psychiatry for Harvard Medical School.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Janet Wright was born in 1945 in England and grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was raised in a family of theatre actors. Her siblings are: Anne Wright, John Wright and Susan Wright. Janet had the chance to work with her two sisters, Susan and Anne, in the theater play "Les Belles Soeurs". Besides from her work on television and cinema, Janet has also been involved in several theater projects like: Memoir, The Club, Miss Margarida's Way, Hedda Gabler, The Seahorse, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Lie of the Mind, Not Wanted on the Voyage, Uncle Vanya, Shirley Valentine, King John, In the Ring, Hamlet, The Bacchae, Glengarry Glen Ross, Mabel Leaves Forever and Fool For Love, Dancing at Lughnasa and Wrong for Each Other among others.
Janet Wright was married to Brian Richmond and had a son with him named Jacob Richmond who is a playwright, She has a daughter named Celine Richmond. She was later married to Bruce Davis. In 29 December 1991, her 44-year-old sister Susan and her parents, Jack and Ruth, died in a house fire.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Michael Kopsa was a Canadian actor and voice artist. He was known for playing Ned Cecil from Fantastic Four, Paul Klein from Watchmen and voiced Beast from X-Men: Evolution, Commander Volcott O'Huey from Galaxy Angel and Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam. He died in October 2022, aged 66, from a brain tumor.- Julie Patzwald was born on 11 March 1980 in British Columbia, Canada. She was an actress, known for Disturbing Behavior (1998), The Guard (2008) and John Tucker Must Die (2006). She died in April 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Lorena Gale was born on 9 May 1958 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She was an actress, known for Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Halloween: Resurrection (2002) and The Butterfly Effect (2004). She was married to John Cooper. She died on 21 June 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Winston Rekert was born on 10 June 1949 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor and director, known for Neon Rider (1989), Adderly (1986) and Cold Squad (1998). He was married to Lidija. He died on 14 September 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Michael James Cuccione was born in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada on January 5th, 1985, to Domenic and Gloria Cuccione. In 1994, when he was only 9 years old, he was diagnosed with 2A Hodgkin's Disease. He recovered from two bouts of the cancer, but was left with permanent damage to and around his heart and lungs due to the massive doses of treatment he received.
He then began to go on radio, television, and made many in-person appearances at schools, hospitals and other fund raising events, to tell people who were, or had suffered with cancer and to spread the knowledge of the deadly cancer. But more importantly, to inspire other people not to give up and to remain strong. Michael even met the Prime Minister of Canada.
He later co-wrote a book with his grandmother, "There Are Survivors." He also wrote his own music and later released 5 songs on his first CD, "Making a difference". In 1999 Michael tried out for the role of 'Jason "QT" McKnight.' Michael and 4 other guys (Noah, Even, Chris and Alex) were found and formed into the boy band spoof, '2gether.' A lot of debate went back and forth about whether all of the 5 group members were the ones that were really singing. But later it was proved to the world that all 5 guys could sing and were the ones in fact singing.
The movie 2gether (2000) was released in February 2000 and the soundtrack to the made-for-TV movie also made Billboard's Top 100 Album Charts. In August 2000 the movie became a weekly series, airing on Mondays at 10:00pm ET, on MTV. '2gether' also released another album titled "2gether Again". A soundtrack of the 2gether: The Series (2000) show series was released in August 2000. The album, "2gether Again", also made it to Billboard's Top 100 Albums Charts.
The boy band spoof, had made such a hit with fans that other famous singers and artists began to take notice of the group, and in the fall of 2000, 2gether went on tour with Britney Spears and was her opening act. During this time the group was also filming the 2nd season of "2gether, The Series".
Michael began to suffer from breathing problems and had to have an oxygen tank on the '2gether' set. His breathing problems increased and he was forced to miss tapings of the show and group appearances. On December 4th, 2000, he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. He spent a month in the hospital, celebrating what turned out to be his last Christmas, New Years and birthday there with his family. On January 13th, 2001, his lungs collapsed and he died in Vancouver, with his family by his side, just 8 days after his 16th birthday.- Clothier enlisted in the Canadian army at age 18, and was injured in a plane crash south of Vancouver just as the war was ending. Shortly afterward, Clothier studied Architecture at the University of British Columbia, and then moved to England where he studied theatre. He was a sculptor and prominent Canadian stage and television actor, best known for his role as "Relic" in the long running TV series "The Beachcombers" (1971).
- Myles Ferguson was born on 3 January 1981 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor, known for Highlander (1992), Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996) and The Outer Limits (1995). He died on 29 September 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Born and raised in Vancouver, Stevenson first discovered his love for acting at the tender age of five and by ten was avidly filming and making family movies. He studied at Shawnigan Lake School on Vancouver Island, while landing roles in local theater productions. Upon graduating from high school Stevenson found himself in the UK training with renowned acting coach Andy Johnson. He garnered a scholarship to the American Musical Dramatic Academy (AMDA) and went on to train with the acclaimed Ivana Chubbuck Studio in Los Angeles. Stevenson launched his career by garnering the attention of Kenny Ortega ("High School Musical") while working as a production assistant for the Disney Channel Original Movie "Descendants 2." Stevenson landed a cameo role in the film and went on to also appear in the third installment. He has been working steadily ever since. Houston currently divides his time between Vancouver and Los Angeles and is a dual citizen.
- Production Manager
- Location Management
- Actor
Paul Lukaitis was born on 10 July 1959 in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. He was a production manager and actor, known for In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007), Alone in the Dark (2005) and 50/50 (2011). He was married to Margaret Yaworski. He died on 26 October 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Campbell Lane was born on 15 July 1935 in Montreal, Québec, Canada. He was an actor, known for Dreamcatcher (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006) and Needful Things (1993). He was married to Diane Lane. He died on 30 January 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Actor
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
As an actor and writer, Robert Biheller was a 60 year veteran of Hollywood films and television. Born on May 28, 1938 in Los Angeles, California, Bob, began his career in 1955 at the age of 17, with a role in the long running television series Gunsmoke. Dozens of acting roles followed in some of Hollywood's most iconic television series, including; Bonanza, The Fugitive, Combat!, 12 O'Clock High, Batman, Route 66 and The Twilight Zone.
In 1968, he landed the recurring role of "Corky" in the popular series Here Come the Brides, with Robert Brown, David Soul, Bobby Sherman, Mark Leonard, Bridget Hanley and Joan Blondell.
Bob also worked in feature films landing roles in such notables as; The Last Innocent Man with Ed Harris, Fire in The Sky, Young Fury, and Madigan with Richard Widmark, and Henry Fonda.
While enjoying his acting career, Bob's first love was writing. For television Bob, penned scripts for CHiPs, Charlie's Angles, Bonanza (story), and The Astronaut (1972), a TV movie starring Jackie Cooper, Monte Markham, Robert Lansing and Richard Anderson.
In 1984, Bob relocated to Vancouver, WA to escape the hectic lifestyle of Hollywood, where he met and eventually partnered with Michael Williams, a northwest filmmaker. With Michael, Bob formed the commercial/industrial production company, ScreenWrights in 1985. With ScreenWrights, Bob, wrote and produced projects for O'ryan Industries, Morihara International Education Films (a feature length educational series for the Japanese market), Izzy's Pizza and C-Tran, Vancouver's public transportation system, among a long list of others. The International Association of Business Communicators and the American Public Transportation Association have recognized the creative film work of the team.
In 1986, Bob met novelist Phillip Margolin, bestselling author of legal thrillers, while filming one of Phil's novels, The Last Innocent Man in Portland, Oregon. The two hit it off and eventually began work adapting one of Phil's early novels, Heartstone (an Edgar award nominee), along with Michael Williams.
Regrettably, this talented, energetic man, departed the scene on Sunday March 8, 2015 in Vancouver, Washington at the age of 76.
= REMEMBRANCE =.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
John Mann was born on 18 September 1962 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was an actor, known for Underworld: Evolution (2006), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Pathfinder (2007). He was married to Jill Daum. He died on 20 November 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Babz Chula grew up in a working-class Jewish neighborhood in Jamaica, N.Y. Her father Larry was a mechanic and stock-car driver who was killed in a race when he was just 27, leaving his wife, Abby, a 24-year-old widow, to raise Babz and her brother. Abby was a booking agent for Leonard Berstein. The family settled in Los Angeles where Babz won a scholarship to the California Institute of the Arts. Later, she headed for New York to be a folk singer until returning to the West Coast counterculture, eventually moving to the Kootenays, in British Columbia, Canada. In the early 1980's, Babz relocated to Vancouver where she resumed her acting and singing career.- Make-Up Department
- Director
- Writer
Ryan Nicholson was born in 1971 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was a director and writer, known for The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), Andromeda (2000) and Dreamcatcher (2003). He was married to Megan Nicholson. He died on 8 October 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Adrien Dorval was born on 22 March 1963 in Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor, known for Shanghai Noon (2000), The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) and The Chronicles of Riddick (2004). He was married to Angela Cruikshank. He died on 5 January 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.