Trending
Popular people
Zirui Xu
Biography
Xu Zirui, who goes by the English alias "Jerry", born October 14, 1994 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, is a Chinese mainland film and television actor and graduate from the Beijing Film Academy. In his early years, Xu was highly interested in the arts; singing, performing, and even playing piano. In 2008, his interests won him an award at the Chongqing Talent Art Competition. He first entered the entertainment industry by participating in the TV series "True Mother and Son", but had been in contact with the TV media industry since 2010. He participated in the recording of TV programs and performances of dramas as a guest in the early days, and became a regular guest on four TV stations. He continued to participate in the shooting of multiple advertisements and eventually had his break-through in 2015 as part of a Tomahawk F1 advertisement as well as work in the 2016 TV Series "Burnt Land". He used his advertisements as a launching point and in late 2016, participated as a trainee for Tianyu Media and won the top 20 in the Hunan competition area. As a result, he was invited to record and perform in the Sichuan Satellite TV drama "Secret Files", and later also became included in series such as "Thunderstorm", "Poppy Beauty", "River City Story: Mask", and "White-Haired Girl". Interested in his talent, Xu was invited regularly by Sichuan TV station as a guest to record "City of Beautiful Dreams", "Dialect Master", "Extraordinary Topics", "Marriage Academy", and "Number One Scholar's Unique Skills".
He later went on to film many more series and films, winning Best Actor in the Internet Film and Television Industry Nova Program for his work in "Story of Jiangcheng" in 2018 as well as Best Actor Award at the China Film and Television Entertainment Year-end Ceremony.
He is now employed as an actor for Beijing Ciwen Film and Television Production Co., Ltd.
Read more
Frankie Thomas
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Marion Thomas Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006), credited as Frankie Thomas, was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was best known for his starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.
He was only 11 when he accompanied his mother to a casting office, where he stood in the background while his mother asked about possible openings in new Broadway shows. The agent replied, "I have nothing that suits you, Mona, but I can use the boy." Thomas wound up in a small part in Carry Nation (1932), where Jimmy Stewart was cast as a constable. Thomas appeared in six other Broadway plays between 1932 and 1936, including Little Ol' Boy with Burgess Meredith, Thunder on the Left, Wednesday's Child, The First Legion, Remember the Day, in which he appeared with his father, and Seen But Not Heard.
In Wednesday's Child he played the role of Bobby Phillips, the longest stage part ever written for a child performer. Thomas also developed a lifelong fascination with the character of Sherlock Holmes during this period, when he saw William Gillette perform the part during his farewell tour.
Thomas's last "A" film was Boys' Town (1938) with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Thomas was Freddy Fuller, Boys' Town's mayor, and was not asked to appear in the sequel, Men of Boys' Town (1941). He then appeared in a string of "B" films such as Little Tough Guys in Society and Nancy Drew... Detective (both 1938), Nancy Drew... Reporter, Code of the Streets, Nancy Drew… Trouble Shooter, The Angels Wash Their Faces, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, On Dress Parade and Invisible Stripes (all 1939).
In 1941 Thomas had small parts in Flying Cadets and One Foot in Heaven. His last film roles were small roles in Always in My Heart and The Major and the Minor (1942), where he played a military school cadet who flirted with Ginger Rogers' character. After World War II, Thomas moved into television. In the fall of 1950 he became the idol of millions of children when he played the starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, beginning on CBS and transferring to ABC in January 1951. Thomas had beaten out Jack Lemmon for the part.
Read more
Robert Crumb
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Robert Dennis Crumb (born August 30, 1943)—known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.
Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded as its most prominent figure. Though one of the most celebrated of comic book artists, Crumb's entire career has unfolded outside the mainstream comic book publishing industry. One of his most recognized works is the "Keep on Truckin'" comic, which became a widely distributed fixture of pop culture in the 1970s. Others are the characters Devil Girl, Fritz the Cat, and Mr. Natural.
He was inducted into the comic book industry's Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1991.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Crumb, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Read more
Mulatu Astatke
Biography
Ethiopian musician (piano, organ, vibraphone, and percussion), composer, and arranger Mulatu Astatke (the name is spelled Astatqé on his French releases) is a household name in his native country, where he is known as the father of Ethio-jazz, a unique blend of pop, modern jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, Latin rhythms, Caribbean reggae, and Afro-funk. After developing his sound in the U.S. with a pair of highly influential mid-'60s releases, he spent much of the '70s expanding the boundaries of Ethiopian music by collaborating both home and abroad with artists like Mahmoud Ahmed and Duke Ellington and releasing critically acclaimed music on Amha Eshete's Amha Records. His popularity enjoyed a renaissance in Western culture in the mid-2000s after his music was used in Jim Jarmusch's film Broken Flowers. Mulatu continued to evolve creatively well into the 2010s, and has maintained long-term collaborations with a number of acts, including Boston's Either/Orchestra, London band the Heliocentrics, and Australia's Black Jesus Experience.
Mulatu's work brought a renewed focus on instrumentation and rhythm to Ethiopian pop music, shepherding in a golden age in that country's pop and jazz circles from 1968 to 1974. He went on to found a music school and open his own club, while staying active as an arranger, advisor, and DJ. In 2004 he met the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra and formed a long-running collaboration with the band. The inclusion of his songs on the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers introduced Mulatu to a whole new audience, and his increasing influence on Western music could be heard in hip-hop acts like Quantic, Nas, Madlib, and Kanye West, who have all sampled his music.
- by Steve Leggett
Read more
Elisabet Reinsalu
Biography
Elisabet Reinsalu (until 2012, Elisabet Tamm; born April 21, 1976) is an Estonian stage, television, voice, and film actress.
Elisabet Reinsalu was born Elisabet Tamm in Tallinn to Tõnu Tamm and Mari Lill, both actors. She has an older sister named Katariina. Her maternal uncle is glass artist Ivo Lill.
Reinsalu graduated from secondary school in 1994 from Tallinn Õismäe Humanitarian Gymnasium. She spent three years studying advertising and media at Tallinn Pedagogical University (now, Tallinn University) before entering the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre's Drama School, graduating in 2002. Among her graduating classmates were Priit Võigemast, Ott Aardam, Hele Kõrve, Karin Rask, Mart Toome, Evelin Võigemast, Maria Soomets, and Argo Aadli.
She made her film debut at age 15 in 1991 as Rita in the Roman Baskin directed drama Rahu tänav for Tallinnfilm, starring Mikk Mikiver and Jüri Järvet. Following this role, she returned to her studies and didn't appear in another film until receiving a small roll in the 2002 Elmo Nüganen directed historical drama Nimed marmortahvlil, adapted from the 1936 Albert Kivikas novel of the same name about the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence. In 2006, she played the role of Ottilie in the Roman Baskin directed Vana daami visiit; based on 1956 tragicomic play The Visit by Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt, and starring Ita Ever and Aarne Üksküla.
Other small film roles include, the Marko Raat directed Agent Sinikael in 2002; the Mart Arjukese directed film short Viimane öö in 2003; as a voice actress in the Hardi Volmer directed animated film short Barbarid in 2003; in the 2005 Leeni Linna directed dramatic short film Personal Space; and the Sander Allikmäe directed dramatic short film Kastis in 2012.
In addition to film roles, she has also had a career as a voice actress; often dubbing foreign animated film characters into Estonian. She has voiced the characters Colette Tatou in Pixar's 2007 American computer-animated comedy film Ratatouille; Vanellope von Schweetz in the American 3D computer-animated fantasy-comedy film Wreck-It Ralph, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios; and Maggie in the 2013 3D Belgian-French computer-animated fantasy-comedy film The House of Magic, among others.
Tamm's first prominent television role as an actress was as Rita Leidpalu in the 2006–2007 ETV crime drama serial Ohtlik lend. In 2008, she appeared in the role of Helmi Reiman in the ETV twelve-part television historical mini-series Tuulepealne maa, which focused on the pre-World War II history of Estonia, its birth as a country, the Estonian War of Independence, post-war life throughout 1920 up to 1941 and World War II.
Since 2010, she has appeared as Mari Murakas in the popular Kanal 2 drama series Pilvede all. In 2013, she played a central character named Vivian in the TV3 drama series Kartulid ja apelsinid.
Read more
Sean Connery
Biography
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000).
Connery was polled in a 2004 The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot" and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure". He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999. He received a lifetime achievement award in the United States with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama.
On October 31, 2020, Connery died at the age of 90.
Read more
Adan Canto
Biography
Joseph Adan Canto (December 5, 1981 - January 8, 2024) was a Mexican actor. He was known for his role as Sunspot in the 2014 superhero film X-Men: Days of Future Past. On television, Canto played Paul Torres on the Fox drama series The Following, and in 2015 starred as AJ Menendez in the ABC prime-time series Blood & Oil. Canto played real-life politician Rodrigo Lara Bonilla in acclaimed Netflix drama series Narcos. He was also well known for his role as Aaron Shore in the Netflix political drama Designated Survivor starring alongside Kiefer Sutherland. Canto wrote and directed his first short film Before Tomorrow in 2014. Canto died of appendiceal cancer at aged 42 and is survived by his wife and two children.
Read more
Ben Aldridge
Biography
Benjamin Aldridge (born November 12, 1985) is an English actor, born in Devon. After years with the National Youth Theatre, Ben graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art with a bursary from the Genesis Foundation for young actors. He left early to begin filming his television debut alongside Ray Winstone and Parminder Nagra in Compulsion. He is notable for his role as Harry Fanshawe, husband of the title character in the 2008'Channel 4's critically acclaimed Civil War epic The Devil's Whore. He was selected by Screen International's 2008 "Stars of Tomorrow". As well as roles in First Light, Lewis, Toast and Vera, Ben also appeared as Daniel Parish in the BBC's period drama Lark Rise to Candleford. In 2011 the American network The CW cast Ben as the lead in their Pilot "Heavenly". Later on he spent time in Belgrade shooting the partially improvised love story "In the night" for director Ivana Bobic and award winning cinematographer Rain Li, alongside supermodel Daniela Dimitrovska. In September 2014, he joined BBC Original British Drama Our Girl as Captain Charles James. Ben is a co-founder of "In the Corner Productions".
Read more
John Denver
Biography
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer.
After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s.
Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed, with total sales of over 33 million records worldwide. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his disdain for city life, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials.
Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", "Calypso", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".
Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s.
He continued to record in the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues by lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress in protest against censorship in music.
He lived in Aspen, Colorado for much of his life and was known for his love of Colorado, which he sang about numerous times. In 1974 Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007.
Denver was an avid pilot who died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while flying his experimental Rutan Long-EZ canard aircraft.
Read more
Kayla Wallace
Biography
Kayla Wallace is a Canadian actor, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her work on The Magicians (2020), ABC's The Good Doctor (2017), and her role of 'Fiona Miller' on Hallmark Channel's When Calls The Heart (2019- 2021). Wallace was born in Victoria, British Columbia where she later attended The Canadian College of Performing Arts upon completing high school. She was heavily involved in theatre, dance, singing and piano throughout her childhood and developed a strong passion for film & television.
Read more
