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Dinner for Five is a television program in which actor/filmmaker Jon Favreau and a revolving guest list of celebrities eat, drink and talk about life on and off the set and swap stories about projects past and present. The program seats screen legends next to a variety of personalities from film, television, music and comedy, resulting in an unpredictable free-for-all. The program aired on the Independent Film Channel with Favreau the co-Executive Producer with Peter Billingsley. The show format is a spontaneous, open forum for people in the entertainment community. The idea, originally conceived by Favreau, originated from a time when he went out to dinner with colleagues on a film location and exchanged filming anecdotes. Favreau said, "I thought it would be interesting to show people that side of the business". He did not want to present them in a "sensationalized way [that] they're presented in the press, but as normal people". The format featured Favreau and four guests from the entertainment industry in a restaurant with no other diners. They ordered actual food from real menus and were served by authentic waiters. There were no cue cards or previous research on the participants that would have allowed him to orchestrate the conversation and the guests were allowed to talk about whatever they wanted. The show used five cameras with the operators using long lenses so that they could be at least ten feet away from the table and not intrude on the conversation or make the guests self-conscious. The conversations lasted until the film ran out. A 25-minutes episode would be edited from the two-hour dinner.

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Dinner for Five
2001

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Sally Menke

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Stefania Rocca

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Stefania Rocca was born on April 24, 1971 in Turin. She is best known for her roles in the films Nirvana (1997), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Dracula (2002). Rocca also was the lead in Dario Argento's The Card Player. Among her most recent appearances, she was in Alessandro D'Alatri's comedy film Commediasexi where she played the main character, Pia Roncaldi. She starred as Hannah in the 1997 film Solomon. Rocca was born on 24 April 1971 in Turin, the daughter of a Fiat chief of security and a stylist. Beginning in her adolescence Rocca studied piano, singing, and dancing at the Teatro Stabile di Torino. In the late 1980s she moved to Milan where she started working as a model; in Milan, she enrolled in a series of acting courses. In 1993, thanks to a scholarship, she joined the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. She also studied at the Actors Studio in New York City. Rocca is married to her long-time partner Carlo Capasa, whom she wed in a highly secretive ceremony in 2013. The couple has been together since 2005, and has two sons. Rocca made her acting debut with a secondary role in Giulio Base's Policemen but her breakout role was the blue-haired Naima in the Gabriele Salvatores' cyberpunk film Nirvana (1997). After enrolling a course at the Actors Studio in New York, in 1998, Rocca had her first main role in the controversial erotic thriller Viol@, and for her performance she was nominated to the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress. One year later, Rocca appeared in Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley as Jude Law's lover, then she appeared in other international productions, including Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost, Mike Figgis' experimental Hotel and Tom Tykwer's Heaven. In 2003, Rocca had her main commercial success in Italy, with Alessandro D'Alatri's comedy Casomai, which also gave her a nomination for Best Actress at the Nastro d'Argento and David di Donatello Awards. In 2005, she played a blind lesbian in the Academy Award-nominated drama The Beast in the Heart, and for her performance, she was nominated for the David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actress. Since the mid-2000s, Rocca has mainly appeared on television. She is also active on stage.
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John M. Jackson

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John Murice Jackson (born June 1, 1950 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American actor, best known for playing Rear Admiral A. J. Chegwidden on the CBS series JAG. John was forced to use his middle initial "M." for his professional name because there was already a "John Jackson" registered with the Screen Actors Guild when he joined the union. SAG rules prohibit two or more members from using the same name. (Another actor by the name of John E. Jackson is sometimes confused with John M. Jackson; both use middle initials for the same reason.)
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Juliette Lake Lewis (born June 21, 1973) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayals of offbeat characters, often in films with dark themes. Lewis became an "it girl" of American cinema in the early 1990s, appearing in various independent and arthouse films. Her accolades include a Pasinetti Award, one Academy Award nomination, one Golden Globe nomination, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. The daughter of character actor Geoffrey Lewis, Lewis began her career in television at age 14 before being cast in her first major film role as Audrey Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). She garnered international notice for her role in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear (1991), which saw Lewis nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the Golden Globe in the same category. Following the success of Cape Fear, Lewis had a supporting role in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992), followed by the thriller Kalifornia (1993) in which she portrayed a childlike woman whose boyfriend is a serial killer. She appeared in the drama What's Eating Gilbert Grape (also 1993), playing a young drifter. Lewis gained further notice for her lead role as Mallory Knox in Oliver Stone's controversial satirical crime film Natural Born Killers (1994), which earned her the Pasinetti Award for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. She subsequently starred in Kathryn Bigelow's science fiction film Strange Days (1995), and Robert Rodriguez's vampire film From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). In 1999, Lewis had a leading role in the drama The Other Sister as a woman with mental disabilities. The 2000s saw Lewis appearing in a series of supporting roles in independent features and studio films, and in 2003 she earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role in Hysterical Blindness (2002). She went on to appear in supporting parts in such comedies as Old School (2003) and Starsky & Hutch (2004), and embarked on a musical career in 2003, forming the rock band Juliette and the Licks; in 2009, Lewis began releasing material as a solo artist. Subsequent film roles include the sports comedy Whip It (2009), the biographical crime film Conviction (2010), an American romantic comedy The Switch (2010) and the drama August: Osage County (2013). Starting in the later 2010s, Lewis worked more frequently in television, appearing in lead roles on the series The Firm (2012), Wayward Pines (2015), Secrets and Lies (2015–2016), The Act (2019), and Yellowjackets (2021).
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Bill Brochtrup

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bill Brochtrup (born March 7, 1963) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He is known for playing "PAA John Irvin", the gay administrative aide, on NYPD Blue. Brochtrup was born in Inglewood, California and raised in Tacoma, Washington, attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. His theatre credits include David Marshall Grant's Snakebit (Off-Broadway at the Century Center and in Los Angeles at the Coast Playhouse), South Coast Repertory (Noises Off, Taking Steps, The Real Thing), The Antaeus Company (Cousin Bette, Tonight at 8:30, Sinan Unel's Pera Palas), Black Dahlia Theatre (Jonathan Tolins' Secrets of the Trade, Richard Kramer's Theater District, both directed by Matt Shakman), The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble (Bach at Leipzig, Small Tragedy), L.A. Theatre Works (The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), and Pasadena Playhouse (If Memory Serves). He can be seen in the feature films Life as We Know It, He's Just Not That Into You, Duck, Ravenous, Man of the Year, and Space Marines. He has appeared on television shows as varied as Dexter, Without a Trace, The Wild Thornberrys (as the voice of a dolphin), and Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. Brochtrup is a frequent guest host of the PBS newsmagazine In The Life, and has been a series regular on three Steven Bochco shows, CBS sitcom Public Morals, ABC drama Total Security, and seven seasons on NYPD Blue. He has written for Out magazine and the best-selling book of essays I Love You, Mom!, told his original stories at Un-Cabaret and numerous Spoken Word events, hosted AIDS Walks across the country, supports animal rescue organizations like the SPCA and has traveled the Persian Gulf, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Germany, Japan, Bosnia and Kosovo meeting servicemen and women during Handshake Tours for the USO and Armed Forces Entertainment. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill Brochtrup, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Dolores Gray

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Dolores Gray (June 7, 1924 – June 26, 2002) was an American stage and film actress. During her successful music career, she sang Marilyn Monroe's part on the Decca records soundtrack album of There's No Business Like Show Business (1954). Born as Dolores Stein to Barbara Gray and Henry Stein in Chicago, Dolores Gray was briefly signed with MGM, appearing in Kismet (1955) and It's Always Fair Weather(1955). Among her many stage roles, she appeared in Two on the Aisle (1951), Carnival In Flanders (1953); Destry Rides Again (1959); Sherry! (1967); and 42nd Street (1986). She also performed the lead role in Annie Get Your Gun in London (1947). Gray earned the Tony Award for her role in Carnival in Flanders even though this Broadway musical, with a script by Preston Sturges, ran for only six performances. She therefore holds a record that is unlikely to be broken: briefest run in a performance which still earned a Tony. She was best-known for her theatre roles. She recalled once "What a gift that would be to have more of a permanent record. A stage performance is just that, then it's lost. When I see movies on TV, I think, 'How great to have that.' But why look back? The decisions I made, I made. I can't change that." On September 24, 1966, Dolores Gray married Andrew J. Crevolin, a California businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner who won the 1954 Kentucky Derby. Despite erroneous reports in the media that they divorced, they remained married until his passing in 1992. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dolores Gray, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Hugh O'Brian

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961) and the NBC action television series Search (1972–1973), as well as films including the Agatha Christie adaptation Ten Little Indians (1965); he also had a notable supporting role in John Wayne's last film, The Shootist (1976). He was highly regarded for creating the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, a non-profit youth leadership development program, founded in 1958, for high school scholars.
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