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1-50 of 296
- Actress
- Producer
Lisa Sheridan was born on December 5, 1974, in Macon, Georgia. She spent her childhood running around in the woods - until she did her first play at the age of 11. Lisa studied in the conservatory program at Carnegie Mellon University, where she graduated with honors and won the Thomas Auclair Memorial Scholarship Award for Most Promising Student Actor. She went on to study in Moscow and performed in fringe theatre in London before relocating to Los Angeles. She is best known for her roles as a series regular in three network series and for her extensive work in network television and independent film. She lived in Los Angeles.
In 1998, she was cast as a series regular in the short-lived UPN's western drama Legacy (1998), alongside Brett Cullen, Melissa Leo and Tony Hale. She was then a series regular in FOX's FreakyLinks (2000) alongside Ethan Embry (her love interest), Eric Balfour, and Erika Christensen. She then continued playing guest roles in Concealing Evidence (2003), The Family Jewels (2004), Bloodlines (2004), Mr. Monk and the Game Show (2004), End Game (2005), and Clinical Risk (2005). Another regular role came in Shaun Cassidy's ABC sci-fi television series Invasion (2005), alongside William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian (who played her fiancé), and Alexis Dziena. Unfortunately that series ended, like "Legacy" and "FreakyLinks", after the first season.
After "Invasion", she continued playing guest roles. In 2007, she had recurring roles on Journeyman (2007) opposite Kevin McKidd and Reed Diamond as Dr. Theresa Sanchez, and on CSI: Miami (2002) as Kathleen Newberry. Other roles include Try the Pie (2007), Out of the Past (2007), One Hit Wonder (2008), Miss Red (2009), Child's Play (2009), and Boom Goes the Dynamite (2013). She also appeared in two episodes of Halt and Catch Fire (2014).
She appeared in movies as well. In the romantic comedy Elsa & Fred (2014) she acted alongside Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine, in A Magic Christmas (2014) alongside Jonathan Silverman and Burt Reynolds, and the lead in Only God Can (2015). She also had a lead in Strange Nature (2018), alongside Stephen Tobolowsky and John Hennigan. Her prior feature film appearances included playing the lead in McCartney's Genes (2008), starring in the short film Pirates (2003) directed by Eric McCormack, in Carolina (2003) alongside Julia Stiles and Shirley MacLaine, and in Beat (2000) alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Courtney Love.- Writer
- Producer
- Actress
Anne Rice began life in New Orleans as Howard Allen O'Brien, named after her father, as the second of four daughters of Howard and Katherine Allen O'Brien. She decided to call herself "Anne" when she enrolled in first grade at the Redemptorist Catholic School. Her mother (who had long suffered from alcoholism) died when Anne was nearly fifteen. Her father remarried and soon relocated the family to Richardson (suburb of Dallas), Texas. She graduated in 1959 and entered Texas Woman's University where she completed two years of school in one. In 1960, Anne moved to San Francisco, where she took a furnished apartment in the Haight-Ashbury district. In 1961, Anne married Stan Rice (whom she had met in High School and who had proposed by telegram from Texas) and, in 1962, they were both living in Haight-Ashbury. They graduated from San Francisco State in 1964, she in political science, he in creative writing. Their daughter, Michele, was born on September 21, 1966. In 1969, they moved to Berkeley. There, she wrote a short story, "Interview With the Vampire". In 1970, Michele was diagnosed with leukemia. In 1972, Anne received her M.A. in creative writing; Michele died August 5. The next year, Anne turned "Interview" into a novel, and, over a year later, Knopf offered her a $12,000 advance for it. Christopher Rice was born on March 11, 1978. In 1980, they moved to San Francisco's Castro District. "The Vampire Lestat" brought a $100,000 advance from Knopf. In 1988, they moved to New Orleans and bought a mansion in the Garden District. Stan (who had chaired the creative writing program at S.F. State) turned to painting. "The Witching Hour" brought a $5 million advance. In 1994, "Interview" was very successfully released as a movie (amid much controversy -- some over content, mostly over casting) and Anne entered into a $17 million contract for three more Vampire Chronicles.- Actor
- Music Department
- Composer
Born in New Orleans' French Quarter, Louis Prima longed to play jazz. When he was a child, he studied the violin. His older brother Leon took up trumpet while Louis was still quite young, and he soon followed in his brother's footsteps. He played in clubs like "The Famous Door" in the 1930s, and by the time the 1940s rolled around, Prima and his band were becoming well known. Like many other big bands, Prima always had a woman singer, his most famous being Keely Smith, with whom he recorded the classic "That Old Black Magic". She began with him when she was 16 years old, and he eventually married her. They were divorced in 1962, and he married 20-year-old Gia Maione that same year. In 1967 Prima voiced King Louie of the apes in the animated Disney feature The Jungle Book (1967). Prima died in 1978, but his music continues as some of the best jazz and swing music ever recorded.- Actress
- Writer
Shirley Prestia was born on 18 August 1947 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Species (1995), Wag the Dog (1997) and What Women Want (2000). She died on 6 October 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Lee Frost rates highly as one of the best, most talented and versatile filmmakers in the annals of exploitation cinema. Frost was born on August 14, 1935, in Globe, Arizona. He grew up in Glendale, California, and Oahu, Hawaii. He eventually wound up in Hollywood, where he started his career making TV commercials for the studio Telepics. Frost made his film debut with the early 1960s nudie cutie Surftide 77 (1962). He went on to make a slew of films in many different genres: tongue-in-cheek horror comedy (House on Bare Mountain (1962)), mondo shock documentaries (Hollywood's World of Flesh (1963), Mondo Bizarro (1966), Mondo Freudo (1966)), perverse softcore roughies (The Defilers (1965), The Animal (1968)), crime drama (The Pick-Up (1968)), westerns (Hot Spur (1968), The Scavengers (1969)) and even Nazisploitation (Love Camp 7 (1969), which has been widely cited as the prototype for the notorious Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)). A majority of Frost's 1960s features were made for legendary trash flick producer Bob Cresse. Moreover, Lee added sex inserts into such foreign films as London in the Raw (1964), Night Women (1964) and Witchcraft '70 (1969). Frost continued cranking out entertainingly sleazy drive-in items throughout the 1970s; they include the startling psycho sniper outing Zero in and Scream (1971), the passable biker opus Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), the gritty Chain Gang Women (1971), the hilariously campy The Thing with Two Heads (1972), the immensely enjoyable Policewomen (1974), the gnarly blaxploitation winner The Black Gestapo (1975), the rowdy redneck romp Dixie Dynamite (1976) and the jolting roughie porno shocker A Climax of Blue Power (1974). Frost often cast former football player Phil Hoover in his 1970s movies and frequently collaborated with producer/screenwriter Wes Bishop (in addition to their own pictures, Frost and Bishop wrote the script for Jack Starrett's terrific Race with the Devil (1975), which Frost was originally supposed to direct as well). Both Frost and Bishop often appear as actors, usually in small parts, in Frost's films. Lee worked as an editor on industrial movies for a film laboratory throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. His last feature was the straight-to-video Shannon Whirry erotic thriller Private Obsession (1995).
Lee Frost died at age 71 on May 25, 2007.- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Dr. John was born on November 21, 1940, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Malcolm Rebbenack. At 13 he decided to become a musician, and was supported by his family, who themselves were musicians in a small way. "Mac" dropped out of school in the 11th grade in 1956, at the age of 16, to become a blues piano player. He has become known as "Dr. John, The Night Tripper" (or "Dr. John", for short) and a prime example of the "New Orleans Sound" style of blues/jazz. He has received two Grammy Awards, and is in the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame.- Actress
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Carol Sutton was born on 3 December 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Steel Magnolias (1989), Ray (2004) and Monster's Ball (2001). She was married to Archie Sutton . She died on 10 December 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Gia Allemand was born on 20 December 1983 in Howard Beach, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Ghost Trek: The Kinsey Report (2011), Ghost Trek: Goomba Body Snatchers Mortuary Lockdown (2013) and Bachelor Pad (2010). She died on 14 August 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
Jim Garrison is so far the only one to hold a trial in relation to the murder of USA president John F. Kennedy in 1963. Jim Garrison was at the time a very skilled district attorney of New Orleans. Three years later, he has a conversation with a governor, which arose his suspicion of the whole affair, mainly the fact that Lee Harvey Oswald could hardly have been the lone assassin. Links from Oswald lead to offices in New Orleans. Garrison's investigations ended with the trial against Clay Shaw in 1967. Shaw was acquitted, but the evidence against him presented by Jim Garrison trembled USA, and triggered a discussion about the assassin of Kennedy which is still at its peak now, 30 years later. The focus of Garrison's evidence was to prove there was a conspiracy against JFK, and that the investigations conducted by The Warren Commission were totally mistargeted. This Mr. Garrisson did to the extreme. An investigation in 1979 found that "there may well have been more than one assassin". Jim Garrison is now retired. He appears very briefly in the film "JFK" (about his own investigations), as leader of the official investigation team, Earl Warren. Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison in the Oscar Winner.- Stan Rice was an actor, known for Billy Jack (1971). He was married to Anne Rice. He died on 9 December 2002 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Training from a early age at Sylvia Youngs stage school, the Royal Academy of Dancing and the Brit school. Going on to do a post graduate in Acting at DSL (Drama Studio London). Catherine was born in London England. Growing up in Brixton, South London. Born to a American mother and English father. Catherine has been acting and dancing from a young age. She was fortunate to work in film and theatre and numerous commercials. Working with the likes of Trevor Nunn in Les Miserables, and Sam Mendes in Oliver.- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 - October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist and singer-songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New Orleans to a French Creole family, Domino signed to Imperial Records in 1949. His first single "The Fat Man" is cited by some historians as the first rock and roll single and the first to sell more than 1 million copies. Domino continued to work with the song's co-writer Dave Bartholomew, contributing his distinctive rolling piano style to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (1952) and scoring a string of mainstream hits beginning with "Ain't That a Shame" (1955). Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 US pop hits. By 1955, five of his records had sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.- Ylenia Carrisi was born on 29 November 1970 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She was an actress, known for Champagne in paradiso (1984), La ruota della fortuna (1987) and Verstehen Sie Spaß? (1980). She died on 31 December 1993 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Director
J. Michael Riva was born on 28 June 1948 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a production designer and art director, known for Iron Man (2008), The Color Purple (1985) and Django Unchained (2012). He was married to Julia Riva and Wendy Riva. He died on 7 June 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Fred Niblo entered films in 1917 after two decades as a touring actor in vaudeville and one-time manager of 'The Four Cohans' (he married Josephine Cohan, the sister of George M. Cohan). He made his film debut with two early Australian silent films in 1916. He worked for Thomas H. Ince from 1917 as producer-director, many of his films starring his second wife, Australian actress Enid Bennett. Niblo joined Paramount under a three-year contract from 1918-21 and then settled at MGM (1923-31). During this period, his chief claim to fame rests on directing the epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), filmed in Italy (though completed in California) at the (then) staggering cost of $4 million. Niblo was brought in by Louis B. Mayer to replace director Charles Brabin after the production ran into financial difficulties.He not only rescued it but made it into one of the biggest blockbusters of the decade. However, it was second-unit director B. Reeves Eason who deserves credit for the famous chariot race.
In 1926 Niblo replaced Swedish director Mauritz Stiller who had a disagreement with producer Irving Thalberg, on Greta Garbo's The Temptress (1926). This, alongside Camille (1926) and The Mysterious Lady (1928), were his last successes. His career failed to survive the transition to sound and even a stint in England could not resuscitate it. After a few small parts as an actor, Niblo slipped quietly into relative obscurity in 1943.- Actor
- Music Department
- Director
Shannon Hoon was born on 26 September 1967 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Without a Paddle (2004), Private Parts (1997) and Remember the Daze (2007). He was married to Lisa Crouse. He died on 21 October 1995 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Music Department
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Al Hirt was born on 7 November 1922 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), 21 Jump Street (2012) and The Green Hornet (1966). He was married to Beverly Essel , Zide Bowers Jahncke and Mary Patureau. He died on 27 April 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Location Management
Trained for the theater at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point (BA) and the University of New Orleans (MFA). He studied at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Royal Shakespeare Company in England, UK. He studied Juggling and Clown Makeup at Ringlilng Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus. He owned The Rose Dinner Theater in Gretna, LA. Taught Screenwriting at Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. The son of Freida Bridgeman, a faculty member in the Theater Department at UW-Stevens Point.- Actor
- Casting Department
Stocker Fontelieu was born on 5 May 1923 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Angel Heart (1987), Big Momma's House 2 (2006) and Glory Road (2006). He died on 14 December 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Helen Miller was born on 30 April 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), JFK (1991) and The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). She was married to Matt Miller. She died on 18 May 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Sidney Noel Rideau was born in New Orleans on 25 December 1929. Sid graduated from Alcee Fortier High School. During the Korean War, he served 8 years, honorably, in the U.S. Navy Reserve. From the 1950s, Sid's professional name is fondly remembered as Sid Noel, the host of WWL radio's morning Dawnbusters program, which replaced the original Dawnbusters live studio orchestra, hosted by Henry Dupre. Earlier, while attending Loyola University in communications studies, Sid's creative faculty was already on display. As master of ceremonies of the music department's Campus Capers, he led the college's charity entertainment group that visited hospitals and nursing homes throughout the region. In 1957, Loyola University acquired the license for Channel 4 Television station (WWL-TV). In January, 1959, with his identity kept secret, Sid created and became the mad but hilarious scientist Dr. Momus Alexander Morgus the Magnificent, whose quixotic, scientific experiments caused a sensation as host of WWL-TV's Saturday night movies. The character's popularity was overwhelming, and continued on and off various television stations, countrywide, for over half a century. Throughout the years, Sid generously used the popularity of the Morgus character to raise funds for local charities, civic causes, and WYES-TV auctions. In between, he had other projects that kept him busy in New York, Detroit and New Orleans. He wrote, produced and hosted over 500 television programs, 180 in syndication. Beyond radio and television, Sid was a storyteller. He patented and manufactured what may be the first "fable-telling" attraction called The Story Castle. From telephones attached, children listened to The Castle's audio stories that spread joy and bits of moral education in shopping malls throughout the United States, and in Canada. Privately, Sid enjoyed being home with family and restoring various houses throughout the years. In the early 1990s, Sid turned his interest toward the growing violence and disciplinary problems in schools throughout the country and at a time, character education became an initiative with educators. As S. Noel Rideau, he authored and published a K-5 reading program titled Uncle Noel's Fun Fables, which got parents involved in reading with their children. The program was featured on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Sid also made school visits with his live presentation Storytelling for Character. In 1993, he was invited into the newly organized Character Education Partnership, Inc. in Washington, D.C. In addition, he was a lifetime member of The Storytelling Network. At the beginning of the 21st century, he began developing, on the Internet, a K-12, "ethics for kids" reading program as a free supplementary resource for schools. The 52 original stories titled "Fables to Grow On" were incorporated into what became the Internet Story Club of America, Inc. Co-founded and hosted by The New Orleans Public Library, it became an independent, 501c(3) non-profit charity. Sadly, he passed away on 27 August 2020.
- Actor
- Casting Department
- Location Management
Peter Dassinger was born on 5 May 1931 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Sixteen (1972), J.D.'s Revenge (1976) and The Savage Bees (1976). He died on 5 January 1998 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Special Recognition... Highly Recommended, Times-Picayune: An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Nominee, Best Supporting Actor, 48Hr Film Festival: Vikasita Critics Choice, Chicago Reader: Pattern Recognition, Smokers, Verbatim Verboten Highly Recommended, Chicago Reader: Hinckley on Foster: The Hearing, Krapp's Last Tape Highly Recommended; Times-Picayune, WYES, Ambush: The Bachelor in New Orleans Big Easy Award & Marquee Award nominees, Lead Actor Drama: A Christmas Carol for George Wallace Ambie Awards nominee, Lead Actor Play: Finding the Enemy Highly Recommended; Ambush: The Third Degrees of J.O. Breeze Highly Recommended; Times-Picayune, St Bernard Voice: Happy Days Highly Recommended; NOLA Defender, WYES' Steppin Out: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Storer Boone nominee, Lead Actor Drama: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Big Easy Award & Marquee Award winners, Lead Actor Drama: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Best of the Year 2013, Lead Actor Drama, Times-Picayune: Long Day's Journey into Night
Selected Critic Remarks... Ever daring, however, actor and director Michael Martin turns this month to the very edge of the abyss with (take a deep breath)"An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening." A retelling of the legend of Faust, that long-winded title is belied by playwright Mickle Maher's blending of comedy and tragedy, as well as the swift intensity that Martin brings in the title role.... Giving a bravura performance, Martin reveals Faustus to be a tortured narcissist who must set the record straight for an unknown posterity. The"apology" of the title of the play is not brought about to seek forgiveness or as an act of redemptive repentance. Instead, it is an apologetic for his own life, an ultimate act of egoism. [Theodore Mahne, Times-Picayune, 2Jul18]
Michael Martin's intentionally digressive, train-wreck fascinating performance piece Martin on Hinckley on Foster: The Home Visit, in which the artist imagines himself in conversation with would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley[is] an exercise that yields sometimes facile, sometimes profound meditations on pop America. [Tony Adler, Chicago Reader, 2/1/07]
Watching Martin and Pauley together, two of the finest actors in town, is a veritable master class in character development. The characterizations may appear so natural as to be simple, but there is not a single move, nuance, gesture or vocal inflection that is not carefully chosen. --- A number of performances stood out this year, but Michael Martin's handling of the whiskey-ravaged old actor James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night rises to the top. In a role that could too easily be tossed off as a drunken villain, Martin coherently revealed, layer by careful layer, who James Tyrone is. And as easy as he might have made it look, there wasn't a move or inflection that wasn't carefully and specifically chosen. It was a genuine pleasure to see such a master of his craft at work. [Theodore Mahne, Times-Picayune, 2013]
[W]hat Hal Holbrook might be like playing Mark Twain while drinking Sazeracs. Dressed in foppish finery, declaiming ornamental language from another era, he's an aristocratic barfly, a John Barrymore in his later years, when his self-mocking, crazily courageous comic performances would rise above his circumstances. [H]is performance...has become heightened, funnier, and much more assured. ...It's a bravura turn that requires the guts of a burglar. A 90-minute monologue is tough enough to put across on the stage. Performing in a bar, interacting with customers who can be unpredictable, requires a special set of skills. Think matador and bull. ...A performance of extremes. A quiet, well-mannered politesse can turn into a Shakespearean roar; Lear against the elements. Martin wages this battle with garrulous good humor and quicksilver mood changes, adapting his approach to a constantly changing human landscape. It is this that gives the piece and his performance a certain stature. He is on the high wire and could fall at any moment, but somehow manages to keep his balance. [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 2008]
Martin gives an energetic performance in this demanding hourling laugh fest. He convincingly portrays le charme malefique. [Dalt Wonk, Gambit Weekly, 2/19/08]
[He] makes Vanya a haggard, kindly, eccentric, outrageous romantic. The quirky characterization, which he manages to hold throughout the long play, works wonderfully. Martin is Vanya for every moment he is on stage, and it is impossible not to attend to his every erratic movement. His clear voice is effective, always swelling with grievance and frustration. He throws himself around in a manner just short of slapstick, so that we feel sad for him, but we don't take him quite seriously: this is as Chekhov intended it. Great performance! [Christina Vella, St Bernard Voice, 2008]
...[H]is mane of gray hair as disheveled as his ill-fitting black trousers and vest, his incongruous white shoes polished to a Sunday-school gleam, he'd mastered this heartbreaking buffoon. Shuffling stiffly to an enormous desk covered with an ancient reel-to-reel tape deck and a dozen battered boxes of tape spools, he lowered himself into a chair with arthritic care, placed his hands neatly before him, and let out a tiny sigh, which left him as limp as a deflated balloon. ...Krapp rummages around in his desk, eats a banana (slipping on the peel, of course), fumbles with his tapes, exits to take swigs from his bottle backstage (the audience hears only a dainty pop as he uncorks it), and finally listens to his former self rambling on about seemingly nothing-though it gradually becomes evident that the tape may recount how he blew his one chance at true love. ...Martin plays the scene as a very funny grumbling clown routine. Each tiny accomplishment-finding the right tape spool or feeding it into the player-brings a fleeting moment of joy even as the accumulated weight of a squandered life squashes the rail-thin Krapp farther down in his chair. As Martin sits motionless listening to the tape, his expression by turns contemptuous, sly, forlorn, defeated, childlike, and empty, he creates a pitiful and absurd old man, someone who sees that his effort to create a brilliant chronicle of his life has fallen tragicomically flat. [Justin Hayford, Chicago Reader, 2006]
Martin's one-man piece is a tour de force of desperate, Dostoyevskian fury...a minor masterpiece in the grand tradition of the overliterate madman, concealing layers of truth beneath its ravings, swinging assuredly between persuasive and preposterous. ...But what really sells the piece is his wryly self-deprecating performance as the angry but resigned Hinckley, whose pretense of recovery is gradually broken down by invisible tormentors. Memorizing this drifting, looping, hour-plus monologue alone is a feat, and Martin was virtually flawless the night I attended, navigating the emotional ebb and flow of the slowly splintering Hinckley with unassuming genius. Since Martin is moving to New Orleans in the spring, this may be the last chance to see his amazing work for some time. [Brian Nemtusak, Reader, 2002]
Martin proves again that he is one of our best character actors as Mr. Cohen, whose"horse doesn't circle the whole track." He is funny, sincere... [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 2/2/07]
Martin played the crippled troll creature with controlled agility and a well-conceived idea of this strange role...an athletically demanding character who bounced from desktop to chair to stage floor with kinetic intensity. In the scenes just sitting on his desk in the glow of a red light, wearing a frayed clown collar and ghastly makeup, he established a remarkable and theatrically effective stage presence. ...When one considers how he managed to keep his legs folded against himself when he hopped around, one cannot help but appreciate his awesome stagecraft. [Patrick Shannon, Ambush, 7/17-30/07]
One galvanizing performance can alter an entire show,[lay] waste to any misgivings an audience might have. Martin's stunner of a turn arrests the viewer with its meticulous build, lifts the acting of his co-star, and, as of this writing, is the male performance of the year. ...Martin's George is a revelation. Shuffling, mumbling under his breath, and infused with defeated resignation, the actor devises a slow burn of a character. He walks into the play a man who simply wants to have a quiet drink before going to bed. It is the cleanest, least pretentious objective I have seen an actor offer this year... His sighs become despairing beat shifts that indicate a trope of continual refortification in the face of his wife's withering assaults. Every time Martha lands a blow, Martin's George straightens his shoulders, shrugs off the pain, and fixes a pained smile before reentering the arena. And he does it while delivering his lines. I cannot emphasize that last point enough, because along with delving into the emotional darkness of broken man with a flicker of light left in him, Martin never forgets we have a long road to travel. ...[H]e drives the play with a steady beat of purpose. He also avoids playing a moment of it for laughs. His only audience is his wife and his guests, and that approach insures that patrons will be howling and roaring with every head feint, quick jab, and haymaker he executes. ...The three hours dissipate in the face of his triumph. Anyone who cares about acting in New Orleans needs to make the time to attend. [James Fitzmorris, NOLA Defender, 2011]
One of our most influential performers...a talent with an original edge and a furious urge to succeed. [Al Shea, WYES Steppin Out, 2008]
What a remarkable, courageous, eccentric, flaky actor Martin is; what a valiant performance he gave both nights. He's like a magician, explaining when a trick hasn't worked, but also explaining when it has. [David Cuthbert, Times-Picayune, 1/16/09] - Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Born in Queens, NY, Thunders is best known as the lead guitarist for the New York Dolls in the early 1970s and unintentionally helped inspire the Punk movements in New York City and London. He later formed The Heartbreakers and went on to a solo career. His career was often interrupted by issues related to drug addiction, and he died under suspicious circumstances in a New Orleans, LA, hotel room at 38 years old.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Jack Teagarden played trombone with a relaxed style and a unique technique that still inspires awe even today. He was also a great jazz singer, charming and warm, with influences from the African American blues singers he listened to while growing up in Texas. Born on Aug. 29, 1905, Teagarden learned trombone by the age of 10. While still in his teens, he was touring with such groups as Peck Kelly's Bad Boys. He recorded with his own small groups and played notably as a sideman with Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Red Nichols and Eddie Condon. He performed in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in the 1930s, then performed with his own band. From 1947 to 1951 he toured with the Louis Armstrong's "All-Stars", and Louis Armstrong considered him to be his equal. After leaving Armstrong in 1951, Teagarden worked with his own small band for the most of his career. After years of hard touring and drinking, he died of a heart attack in New Orleans in 1964.- Michael was born in Cincinnati Ohio to William and Rosemary Showers. He married twice before marrying Heather Knight with whom he had two sons, Nathaniel Evan Showers (5/13/93) and Nicholas Gracian Showers (7/29/96). His granddaughter, Evelyn Lorraine Showers (6/6/2010) shares the first name of his mother's sister, Evelyn Plain. Michael studied pyschology at University of Cincinnati, served in the US Air Force and was a licensed optician in addition to being a talented actor. His son Nicholas, was named for his favorite philosopher: Baltazaar Gracian.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
He was the lead singer for the Memphis, Tennesse bands The Box Tops and Big Star.
The Box Tops charted with 10 Hot 100 singles between 1967-70.
Those songs were: "The Letter" (#1), "Neon Rainbow" (#24), "Cry Like A Baby" (#2), "Choo Choo Train" (#26), "I Met Her In Church" (#37), "Sweet Cream Ladies, Foward March" (#28), "I Shall Be Released" (#67), "Soul Deep" (#18), "Turn On A Dream" (#58), "You Keep Tightening Up On Me" (#92).
Big Star was originally called Rock City and then Ice Water.
The original Big Star line-up was Christopher Bell (vocals & guitar), Alex Chilton (vocals & guitar), Andy Hummel (vocals & bass) and Jody Stephens (vocals & drums).
Big Star's records (No. 1 Record (1972), Radio City (1973) and Sister Lovers (1978)) were all critically acclaimed but suffered from very poor distribution. As a result, very few heard the band at the time of the albums original releases. The original pressings of these records are now sought-after collector's items.
Big Star's music has proved very influential on other bands and musicians such as R.E.M., The Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies and Matthew Sweet.
Moved from Memphis to New York in 1977 and played with future db's members Chris Stamey and Will Rigby in the band Alex Chilton And The Cossacks. That band recorded one single ("Bangkok" b/w "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" 1978).
Has resided in New Orleans, L.A. since 1982.
Has recorded several solo albums including Like Flies On Sherbert (1979), Bach's Bottom (1981), Feudalist Tarts (1985), High Preist (1987), Black List (1989), Cliches (1994), A Man Called Destruction (1995) and Set (2000).
He released two live albums Live In London (1982) and Live In Anvers (2004).
Big Star reformed for a one-off show at Missouri University on April 25th 1993. The new reformed line-up consists of Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens with Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies (replacing Christopher Bell who died in an December 1978 automobile accident and Andy Hummel who now works for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas.). The performance resulted in a live album (Columbia: Live At Missouri University 4/25/93).
They performed sporadically since and released an album of all new material entitled In Space on Rykodisk Records in September 2005.
Was one of the many people affected by Hurricane Katrina and moved back to Memphis.- Don Brady was born on 20 May 1933 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Lolita (1997), A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013). He died on 23 February 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Art Neville was born on 17 December 1937 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for RED (2010), Shazam! (2019) and Hancock (2008). He was married to Doris Neville and Lorraine. He died on 22 July 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Daniel F. Galouye was born on 11 February 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a writer, known for The Thirteenth Floor (1999) and World on a Wire (1973). He was married to Carmel Barbara Jordan. He died on 7 September 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Producer
- Writer
- Additional Crew
David Mills was born on 20 November 1961 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for NYPD Blue (1993), The Corner (2000) and The Wire (2002). He died on 30 March 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Juanita Brooks was born on 17 August 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for In the Heat of the Night (1988). She died on 10 September 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Tony Molina Jr. was born on 17 March 1971. He was an actor, known for True Detective (2014), In the Electric Mist (2009) and The Oval Portrait (1997). He died on 1 April 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
R&B singer/piano player Clarence "Frogman" Henry was born in Algiers, LA--a suburb of New Orleans--in 1937. He grew up in the New Orleans blues/R&B scene, and in his late teens moved to New Orleans to get into the music business. He got work as a musician and singer, and eventually joined up with the Bobby Mitchell Band. He stayed with them for a short period, then left and began his own group. In 1956 he was signed by Argo Records, a subsidiary of the legendary Chess Records, and soon hit it big with the single "Ain't Got No Home", which landed in the R&B and pop Top-10 charts. Now a hit singer, he parlayed that over the next four years into a constant stream of touring with R&B and rock shows, and making the rounds of New Orleans-area nightclubs. In 1961 he had another hit with "You Always Hurt the One You Love" and yet another with "I Don't Know Why (But I Do)", both on Argo. He was soon touring the country again and making appearances on a string of TV variety and dance shows. When The Beatles made their US tour in 1964, he was their opening act, and performed the same function in 1965 for The Rolling Stones' US tour.
By late 1965, however, R&B music began to fade from popularity. Henry kept his hand in the business by touring with "oldies" shows alongside other rock and R&B bands from the '50s and '60s which, as of this writing, he's still doing.- Harry Connick Sr. was born on 27 March 1926 in Mobile, Alabama, USA. He was married to Londa Jean Matherne, Barbara Bossett, Anita Frances Levy and Jean Maria daRoza. He died on 25 January 2024 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Kenneth Spencer was born on 25 April 1911 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Unser Haus in Kamerun (1961), Cabin in the Sky (1943) and Armchair Theatre (1956). He died on 25 February 1964 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Bobby Sheehan was born on 12 June 1968 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Nightclub (2008) and Blues Traveler: Live - Thinnest of Air (2003). He died on 20 August 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," Leyah "Leah" Lange Chase has fed Quincy Jones, Jesse Jackson, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall, James Baldwin, Ray Charles, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and countless others as Executive Chef of Dooky Chase's Restaurant - one of the best-known and most culturally significant restaurants in New Orleans. Leah Chase has more recently served as the inspiration for Princess Tiana in Disney's Princess and the Frog.
Born on January 6, 1923 in New Orleans, Chase was one of 14 children. She was raised in nearby Madisonville, LA. At the time, there were no catholic high schools for black girls in Madisonville, so after sixth grade, Chase moved to New Orleans to live with an aunt so that she could attend school. After high school, her favorite job was waiting tables in the French Quarter. It was here that she developed her love for food and feeding others.
In 1945, she met local musician Edgar "Dooky" Chase Jr., whose father had opened a street corner stand selling lottery tickets and his wife's homemade po'boy sandwiches. The couple married in 1946 and eventually took over the business, which had become a sit-down restaurant and a favorite local gathering place.
In a town deeply divided by segregation, the Dooky Chase Restaurant was one of the only public places in New Orleans where mixed race groups could meet to discuss strategy for the local Civil Rights Movement. Such gatherings were illegal through most of the 1960s, but Dooky Chase's was so popular it would have caused a public uproar if local law enforcement had interrupted the meetings. Black voter registration campaign organizers, the NAACP, backdoor political meetings and countless others often found a home at Dooky Chase's, and Leah cooked for them all.
Chase is also a patron of art and her collection - displayed on the walls of her restaurant - was at one time considered New Orleans' best collection of African American art. She served on the board of the New Orleans Museum of Fine Arts until her death, and she has even testified before Congress to lobby for greater funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. She has participated in countless political campaigns and has used her culinary talents and celebrity status to raise money for a myriad of charities and services. Her cookbooks, including The Dooky Chase Cookbook, And Still I Cook, and Leah Chase: Listen, I Say Like This, are popular and have received great praise among her most famous colleagues.
Chase has received many awards, including multiple awards from the NAACP, the New Orleans Times-Picayune 1997 Loving Cup Award, the Weiss Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Outstanding Woman Award from the National Council of Negro Women. Chase was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. She was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2000. Chase received honorary degrees from Tulane University, Dillard University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Madonna College, Loyola University New Orleans, and Johnson & Wales University. She is also the recipient of the Francis Anthony Drexel Medal, the highest award presented to an individual by Xavier University of Louisiana. The medal is not presented annually. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana named a permanent gallery in Chase's honor in 2009. She also serves on many boards, including the Arts Council of New Orleans, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Urban League. She is member of the Women of The Storm and the International Women's Forum. She has four children, sixteen grandchildren and twenty-two great-grandchildren.
Many were attracted to her warmth and mastery of culinary arts, that to this day still excite the minds of those she served. Ray Charles sang about her, and National and International Presidents have sought her out, but in all her ability to excite the palates of Leaders she has remained steadfast in her ministry to all. - Clay Shaw was born on 17 March 1913 in Kentwood, Louisiana, USA. He died on 15 August 1974 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Priscilla "Pat" Pierre Perkins was an actress with day jobs that ranged from cab driving to nursing to bartending. She died on January 24th at her home in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was 76 years old. From 1977 on, Ms. Perkins had small parts in many big budget films such as Pretty Baby (1978) and JFK (1991). She got her start in the movie business when a counselor at the U.S. Employment Service said the production company filming the New Orleans based "Pretty Baby" was looking for someone of her age and stature. She earned enough money from her multiple roles in that film to start her own taxicab business, and continued to land small roles in major motion pictures. She was a lifelong resident of New Orleans.
- Actor
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Actor - studied and performed in New York City with the Actors' Ensemble 1986-1993. Studied at the Michael Checkhov Studio under: Beatrice Straight, Hurd Hadfield, Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan. Studied Michael Checkhov technique in Russia under: Vladimyr Ilyan Founding Member of Actors' Voice Theatre Group in New York. Founding Member of Actors' Box Theatre Group in New Orleans. Founding Member of "Circle in the Sky" Film Production Co. in New Orleans. Acting instructor at NOCCA . . . New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Al Ritz was born on 27 August 1901 in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for Behind the Eight Ball (1942), The Gorilla (1939) and Straight Place and Show (1938). He was married to Antoinette "Annette" Calamari. He died on 22 December 1965 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Pete Fountain was born on 3 July 1930 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Dolly (1987), The Danny Kaye Show (1963) and The Lively Ones (1962). He was married to Beverly Lang. He died on 6 August 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Warren Kenner was born on 23 November 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), The Night of the Strangler (1972) and Mirrors (1978). He died on 21 March 1989 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Coco Robicheaux was born on 25 October 1947 in Merced, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Big Easy (1996), Treme (2010) and Chasing the Groove: A New Orleans Funkumentary (2006). He died on 25 November 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Angie Jakusz was born on 27 March 1980 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA. She was an actress, known for Lucinda's Spell (1998), Survivor (2000) and TV Guide Specials: Survivor - Palau Preview (2005). She was married to Steven Calandra. She died on 8 January 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
King Floyd was born on 13 February 1945 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a composer, known for Beautiful Girls (1996), Swingers (1996) and We Are Marshall (2006). He was married to Patricia Ann Hubbard. He died on 6 March 2006 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.- Jonshel Alexander was born on 26 February 1999 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She was an actress, known for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) and Sundance Directors Lab (2009). She died on 27 November 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Minna Phillips was born on 1 June 1885 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was an actress, known for The Male Animal (1942), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) and Daredevil Kate (1916). She died on 29 January 1963 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
- Bruce Podewell was born on 6 April 1943 in Evanston, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Mr. B Natural (1957) and Mr. Wizard (1951). He died on 29 March 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.