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Johnny Mack Brown

Biography

An All-American halfback while attending the University of Alabama, Johnny Mack Brown chose the silver screen over the green grass of the football field when he graduated. Signed to a contract with MGM in 1926, Brown debuted in Slide, Kelly, Slide (1927) with William Haines in a film about - baseball. This was followed by The Bugle Call (1927), which starred the fading Jackie Coogan. In 1928 he appeared in the last Norma Shearer silent film, A Lady of Chance (1928). After that, he worked with Greta Garbo, Marion Davies and Mary Pickford. His muscular good looks only carried him so far in films, however, and by 1930 he had yet to find his place. At MGM Clark Gable was taking the roles that Brown was up for, so he went into a western for director King Vidor, Billy the Kid (1930). While Vidor did not want him for the part to begin with, the picture was successful; however, Brown's career at MGM soon ended. By 1933 he was still making westerns, but they were for low-rung studios like Mascot. More westerns at even lower-rung Supreme Pictures followed, as well as serials like Wild West Days (1937) at Universal. In 1943 Brown took his boots over to Monogram Pictures, where he made over 60 westerns. He started off as "Nevada Jack McKenzie" in the Rough Riders series, but the name soon changed to Johnny. As with most of the early cowboy stars, he was a hero to millions of young children and consistently among the top ten money-makers in westerns from 1942-50. The bubble burst, though, just as it did for Allan Lane, in 1953, as the days of the "B" western came to an end.
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Sean Connery

Biography

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer who 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 31 October 2020, it was announced that Connery had died at the age of 90. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Connery, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Roy Webb

Biography

Roy Webb (né Royden Denslow Webb; October 3, 1888 – December 10, 1982) was an American film music composer. Webb has hundreds of film music credits to his name, mainly with RKO Pictures. He is best known for film noir and horror film scores, in particular for the films of Val Lewton. Born in Manhattan, New York, Webb orchestrated and conducted for the Broadway stage, before moving to Hollywood in the late 1920s to work as music director for Radio Pictures, later RKO Pictures. He remained at RKO until 1955, then worked freelance for several years, including scoring several episodes of Wagon Train. Webb is credited as composer or arranger on more than 200 films, and received Academy Award nominations for Quality Street (1937), My Favorite Wife (1940), I Married a Witch (1942), Joan of Paris (1942), The Fallen Sparrow (1943), The Fighting Seabees (1944), and The Enchanted Cottage (1945). His piano concerto from The Enchanted Cottage was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Constantin Bakaleinikoff, in concert at the Hollywood Bowl in 1945. In 1961, a house fire destroyed Webb's manuscripts including film scores and unpublished concert music, after which Webb ceased composing. Webb died in 1982 from a heart attack at the age of 94. An alumnus of Columbia University, Webb wrote the fight song “Roar, Lion, Roar” for his alma mater in 1925. Several cues composed by Webb were used in the newsreel montage of Kane's life in Citizen Kane. Several cues composed by Webb replaced those by Bernard Herrmann in The Magnificent Ambersons after the film was re-edited. Webb also composed several cues (uncredited) for This is Cinerama, the first Cinerama production in 1952. The Christopher Palmer Collection of Roy Webb Scores is held at Syracuse University, New York.
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Tom Wren

Biography

Tom is a graduate of the Victoria College of the Arts (VCA) and has enjoyed a successful career in Australia and internationally. Tom is best known for his role in four successful seasons of Seven Network’s much-loved drama Winners and Losers as ‘Dr. Doug Graham’, garnering a Logie Award nomination for Best New Talent. Tom has also appeared in the chilling US sci-fi drama series Hunters. Other television credits include Screentime’s Fat Tony & Co, Rush, City Homicide, Bed of Roses, The Saddle Club and the US telemovie Paradise Pictures. Tom will soon be seen in the second series of Matchbox Pictures/Universal Media Studios International’s Secret City and The Blake Mysteries telemovie. On the big screen, Tom has been seen in the UK/Australia co-production The Inbetweeners 2. Based on the popular UK television series of the same name, this outrageously funny feature was shot in London and Australia, featuring Tom as ‘Stephen’. He also appeared in the independent feature Drama as ‘John’, one of the leads in this French/UK/Australian co-production shot in Paris. In theatre, Tom performed in the Sydney Theatre Award-winning The Only Child, a The Hayloft Project/B Sharp production directed by Simon Stone, following through a year later with same creative team in The Suicide. Also with The Hayloft Project was 3xSisters. Other productions include A Man for All Seasons (Melbourne Theatre Company), Othello (Bell Shakespeare Company), The Little Dog Laughed (Red Stich Theatre Company), Lovers and Haters (Adelaide Festival) and Harp on the Willow (Martin C. Cook and Associates).
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Charlie Sexton

Biography

Charlie Wayne Sexton was born 11 August 1968, in San Antonio, Texas, to Kay and Mike Sexton. He was what many considered a musically gifted child. He signed his first record deal at MCA Records at the age of 16 and recorded his first album, "Pictures For Pleasures", when he met Bob Dylan. "Pictures For Pleasures" was released in 1985, along with a music video, "Hold Me", which aired on MTV in 1985. This was the first time the world outside of Austin was introduced to a man named Charlie Sexton. In 1987 Charlie toured with David Bowie  on the Glass Spider Tour and the following year played backup on his brother Will's debut album, "Will & The Kill". In 1989 Charlie made his second album titled "Charlie Sexton". Charlie has appeared on soundtracks for such movies as Le flic de Beverly Hills 2 (1987), Air America (1990) and Thelma & Louise (1991). He toured with Dylan for two years as his guitarist. He joined the band Arc Angels in the early 1990s, and while with them released an album entitled "Arc Angels" in 1992. In 1994 he went on to have small role in the movie F.T.W. (1994), playing a cowboy named Slim. After the breakup of Arc Angels he formed Charlie Sexton & Sextet in 1995 and the group released the album "Under the Wishing Tree". When Charlie left the band in 2002 he went on to produce other artists' albums. In 2003 he joined Dylan once again, this time for a movie project, Masked and Anonymous(2003). Charlie produced and also played guitar and other instruments on 'Edie Brickell"s "Volcano" album (2003). He has stayed in the music business since he first started, with all the ups and downs that come with a music career, and has never given up on what he loves - the music. Both Charlie & Will Sexton still have as many fans all over the world as they did the day they started.
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June Mathis

Biography

June Mathis (born June Beulah Hughes, January 30, 1887 – July 26, 1927) was an American screenwriter. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted the third most influential woman in Hollywood, behind Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge. Mathis is best remembered for discovering Rudolph Valentino and writing such films as The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), and Blood and Sand (1922). [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]
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Peter Polaco

Biography

Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with WWE under the ring name Aldo Montoya. In WWF/WWE, he was an eight-time WWF/E Hardcore Champion. In ECW, he was a one-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a two-time ECW World Tag Team Champion with Lance Storm as the Impact Players. Polaco returned to the independent circuit in 2007 using the name "Justin Time". He wrestled for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate promotion, along with fellow original ECW wrestlers Sabu, Danny Doring and Julio Dinero, as well as making appearances for the Insane Clown Posse owned Juggalo Championship Wrestling. On March 29, 2009 he became the Big Time Wrestling Champion, defeating "Hurricane" John Walters with Ric Flair as special guest referee, but Credible was stripped of the title in August of the same year. Justin is also the topic of an upcoming documentary The Price of Fame which also includes Ted DiBiase and Sean Waltman. He was inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame on July 12, 2009. On August 8, 2010, Polaco returned to TNA to take part in the ECW-themed pay-per-view Hardcore Justice where he performed as P.J. Polaco due to the WWE owning the rights to the Justin Credible name; Polaco was defeated by Stevie Richards. Afterwards, he was assaulted by former rival The Sandman with a Singapore cane. On January 14, 2012, Credible returned to the former ECW Arena, when he was defeated by Sabu at an Evolve event in the venue's final professional wrestling match. On April 28, 2012, Polaco was scheduled to wrestle on Shane Douglas' Extreme Reunion show, but was removed from the card, as well as the building after being found "slumped over, passed out asleep" in a chair. While he begged management to be let back on the show, they denied his request and kicked him out a second time. On August 8, 2012, Chikara announced that Polaco, returning to his Aldo Montoya character, would be making his debut for the promotion in the following month's 2012 King of Trios tournament, where he would team with the 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka as "Team WWF". In their first round match on September 14, Team WWF was defeated by The Extreme Trio (Jerry Lynn, Tommy Dreamer and Too Cold Scorpio). Polaco retired on November 20, 2015, after facing long-time rival Tommy Dreamer at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event. Credible faced Matt Tremont in a winning effort at CZW show in August 2016. In March 2017, he returned to wrestling, and teamed with The Sandman & New Jack in a winning effort at ECPW show. Polaco is of Portuguese ancestry. His parents emigrated to the United States from Portugal three years before he was born. He speaks Portuguese fluently. Peter and his wife Jill Marie Polaco née Jurecki were married on June 4, 1997. They have a son Nicholas (born April 2000).
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Otto Preminger

Biography

Otto Ludwig Preminger (5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian theatre and film director. After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945). In the 1950s and 1960s, he directed a number of high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with topics which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drug addiction (The Man with the Golden Arm, 1955), rape (Anatomy of a Murder, 1959), and homosexuality (Advise & Consent, 1962). He was twice nominated for the Best Director Academy Award. He also had a few acting roles.
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Tom Brown

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thomas Edward Brown was an American child model, and later a film and television actor. Brown was born Thomas Edward Brown, the son of William Harold (Harry) Brown and his wife, Marie Francis Brown, in New York City. As a child model from the age of two years, Brown posed as Buster Brown, the Arrow Collar Boy and the Buick boy. Brown was educated at the New York Professional Children's School. He was carried on stage in his mother's arms when he was only six months old. As an actor, he is probably best remembered for playing the title role in The Adventures of Smilin' Jack and as Gilbert Blythe in the 1934 version of Anne of Green Gables. Later he appeared on the television shows Gunsmoke, General Hospital and Days of Our Lives. He also had a recurring role as Lt. Rovacs in Mr. Lucky. He enlisted in the United States Army in World War II where in three years he rose from private to lieutenant serving in France as a paratrooper where he was awarded a French Croix de Guerre and a Bronze Star Medal. He was promoted to captain with the 40th Infantry Division. He served during the Korean War with the 40th Infantry Division where he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. Brown died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, aged 77. For his contributions to the film industry, Brown was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, with a motion pictures star located at 1648 Vine Street.
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Sarah Bernhardt

Biography

Sarah Bernhardt (born Henriette-Rosine Bernard, 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand called her "the queen of the pose and the princess of the gesture", while Victor Hugo praised her "golden voice". Bernhardt made several theatrical tours around the world, and was one of the first prominent actresses to make sound recordings and to act in motion pictures. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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