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1-50 of 271
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born Maurice William Elias in Los Angeles, James Stacy is the son of a Lebanese immigrant father and an American-born mother of Irish-Scottish descent. As a teen, Stacy first aspired to play professional football but settled on a career in the movies after a friend coaxed him into taking some acting classes.
Adopting the screen name James Stacy after his cousin Stacy and one of his movie idols, James Dean, he made his film debut in an uncredited role as a reporter in Sayonara (1957), starring Marlon Brando. Garnering little work or recognition in film, he turned to TV. Although he made notable appearances on The Donna Reed Show (1958) and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), it wasn't until 1968 that he gained his first big break, playing a young gunfighter on the TV series, Lancer (1968).
Although the show was canceled in 1970, Stacy continued to land smaller roles on TV. In 1973, he lost his left arm and left leg in a serious motorcycle accident that claimed the life of his girlfriend. The resultant medical bills wiped out his savings, but his ex-wives and his Hollywood friends rallied round and threw a benefit for him. Two years later, he made his professional comeback as a newspaper editor in the Western film, Posse (1975), in a role created expressly for him by the film's director, Kirk Douglas. Stacy was nominated twice for an Emmy: for Just a Little Inconvenience (1977) in 1977 and Cagney & Lacey (1981) in 1986. He retired in 1991.
Stacy's personal life was turbulent. Twice-divorced, he was briefly married to actress and singer Connie Stevens (1963-66) and, even more briefly, to actress Kim Darby (1968-69), with whom he had a daughter, Heather Elias.
Stacy is portrayed by Timothy Olyphant in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Naya Rivera was an Afro-Latina American actress, model and singer known for playing Santana Lopez from Glee and Hillary Winston from The Royal Family. She also was in The Master of Disguise, Baywatch, CSI: Miami, American Dad, Batman: The Long Halloween Parts 1 and 2, Even Stevens and The Bernie Mac Show.- Actress
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Susan Backlinie was born on 1 September 1946 in Washington, District of Columbia, USA. She was an actress, known for Jaws (1975), 1941 (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981). She was married to Harvey Swindall, William Henry Backlinie, William Seale and Monty Cox. She died on 11 May 2024 in Ventura, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
Dana Elcar was born on 10 October 1927 in Ferndale, Michigan, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Sting (1973), MacGyver (1985) and 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984). He was married to Marianne Torrance, Mary Margaret "Peggy" Romano and Kathryn Frances Mead. He died on 6 June 2005 in Ventura, California, USA.- Mort Mills was born on 11 January 1919 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Touch of Evil (1958), Psycho (1960) and Torn Curtain (1966). He was married to Elizabeth (Betty) Dell Pentland and Mary Loretta Grady. He died on 6 June 1993 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
In 'Some Day We'll Laugh: An Autobiography', she says, "In 1902 the family moved to Bar Harbor, Maine. (...) At 9 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, 1902, I was born at No. 1 Eden St. and Papa immediately dubbed me, 'Maid of Bar Harbor!'"
The child "born in a trunk" of parents who graced the carnival and vaudeville circuits, was christened Esther Worth, but at age 2 she became part of the family act (with her four brothers and her parents) with the billing now extended to "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet."
The wholesome but fun-loving teen Esther broke into silent films in several uncredited roles. Her first appearance in a motion picture was in The Deep Purple (1915), filmed at the World Studios, New Jersey. She also appeared in the serial Phantom Fortunes (1916). Afterwards, she appeared with her family in live theatre productions at the smaller venues, eventually crossing the continent and finding themselves in Los Angeles. As early as 1918 she and her brothers began finding extra work at Universal City.
At her peak, she she became one of the industry's highest-paid silent stars in scores of dramas, comedies and westerns, notably opposite Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix. Her more familiar earlier silent roles were as Mrs. Darling in the silent classic Peter Pan (1924), as the Fairy Godmother in A Kiss for Cinderella (1925), and as Mary Jane Wilks in the film version of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (1920). She was publicized as "The American Venus" by none other than showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. after appearing as a dazzling beauty queen in the film of the same name (The American Venus (1926)).
Appearing in close to 100 films over a 30-year period, she made several for Paramount and MGM come the advent of sound, including her first talkie The Sawdust Paradise (1928); the title role in The Case of Lena Smith (1929) a "lost" film directed by Josef von Sternberg; Betrayal (1929) starring Emil Jannings and Gary Cooper, and the romantic musical The Prodigal (1931) opposite Metropolitan opera star Lawrence Tibbett.
In England, she appeared opposite Basil Rathbone in After the Ball (1932) and Conrad Veidt in Rome Express (1932). Esther wanted Paramount Studios to up her contract to $100,000 when talkies came in; the company did not agree, and let her go. She went free lance in small productions. After supporting roles in Tin Pan Alley (1940) and San Francisco Docks (1940), and 7th billing in a B film in 1940 (San Francisco Docks (1940)), she retired from the screen at 38.
She earned a fortune from investments but eventually lost it due to the stock market crash of 1929. Forced to find work outside of the world of entertainment in the 1950s and 1960s she appeared on radio shows and TV commercials. In the ensuing years she was employed as a department store salesperson and talent executive.
Esther Ralston was married and divorced three times, and had three children - one from the first marriage, and two from the third.
She was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her film work.- Christopher Collins was born on 30 August 1949 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. He was an actor, known for The Transformers: The Movie (1986), The Transformers (1984) and G.I. Joe (1985). He was married to Judith Ryan. He died on 12 June 1994 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
Martin Horsey was born on 12 December 1945 in London, England, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for Centurion AD: Demons Within (2017), Alias (2001) and The President's Analyst (1967). He was married to Minadora Demyashkin. He died on 9 October 2016 in Ventura, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Victor Daniels was given the title of "Chief" in an honorary capacity and identified himself as Cherokee although his background is vague. His application for a social security number lists his birth date as April 12, 1899, and his birth-place as Arizona. Thundercloud was the eldest of nine children born to Jesus Daniels and Tomaca Daniels (as indicated on his social security application). But on his marriage record to Mildred Turner in 1925, he said his name was "Victor Vazquez."
Raised on a ranch in Arizona, he claimed he was educated at the University of Arizona at Tucson but the Office of the Registrar checked their databases and found no attendance record for a Victor Daniels. He worked in cattle ranches and rodeos in addition as a mining foreman, boxer and guide before entering movies as a stuntman in 1929.
By 1935, Hollywood had given him the professional name of "Chief Thundercloud" and he was appearing in acting roles, many of them uncredited. For the next two decades he played strong, grim roles in such "B" westerns as Cyclone of the Saddle (1935), Ramona (1936), The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938), Young Buffalo Bill (1940), North West Mounted Police (1940), The Law Rides Again (1943), Romance of the West (1946), Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) and Santa Fe (1951). He eventually earned screen credit for his tribe members and chiefs, typecast more as evil than good.
Chief Thundercloud is probably best known for creating the role of faithful sidekick "Tonto" in the serial The Lone Ranger (1938) and its sequel The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939). He also played the title role of Paramount Pictures' Geronimo (1939). On TV, he appeared in such programs as "Death Valley Days," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "My Little Margie" and "Buffalo Bill, Jr."
Following an uncredited part as a chief in the classic western The Searchers (1956), he died at age 56 following surgery for stomach cancer in Ventura County, California on November 30, 1955. Twice married, he was survived by second wife Frances, a former singer, and their two children. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Los Angeles area.
Not to be confused with noted Chief Thunder Cloud (1856-1916), a Blackfoot tribe member and Army scout who went on to perform with P.T. Barnum and his Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.- Vivian Liberto was born on 23 April 1934 in San Antonio, Texas, USA. She was married to Richard Laurence Distin and Johnny Cash. She died on 24 May 2005 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Barry Cahill was born on 28 May 1921 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was an actor, known for Hang 'Em High (1968), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) and Tick, Tick, Tick (1970). He was married to Rachel Ames. He died on 9 April 2012 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Jim Bannon was a star athlete at Rockhurst College. After graduation, he became a sportscaster in Kansas City, and after 1938, in California. He began working as a radio actor and got small parts in movies. He was a movie stuntman in the early 1940s before starring in a detective movie series for Columbia, based on a radio show "I Love a Mystery." In 1949, he was given the title role of Red Ryder in the western series produced by Eagle Lion Productions. In the 1950s, he appeared in smaller character parts in westerns and on television.
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
Michael Stone was born on 4 April 1949 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a cinematographer, known for National Treasure (2004), In the Line of Fire (1993) and Dressed to Kill (1980). He died on 29 July 2005 in Ventura County, California, USA.- Val Bettin was born on 8 July 1923 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Shrek (2001) and Somewhere in Time (1980). He died on 7 January 2021 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Born in 1931, Narda became friends with Robert I. McCarthy when she was an eleven-year-old laundress for McCarthy's anti-aircraft battalion in Bonn.
In 1944, she was a child actress in Estonia. To escape the Russians, she, her grandparents, her mother and 2-year-old brother took to the sea bound for Sweden. Picked up as Germans, they were taken to Danzig. Amidst much confusion, because they spoke fluent German they were able to meld into the daily life there. The Onyx family later made their way to the American occupied forces at Bonn and sought refuge with the Swedish Red Cross. Later the family moved to Sweden; Narda resumed her acting career. Traveling to England where she worked for the Old Vic Company.
She then went to Canada to perform on stage and television. After appearing in some 70 television shows over the past six years, on October 20, 1961, she became an American citizen. While in Canada she met and married George Virand, also an Estonian refuge, where they moved to Hollywood. - Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Lerner was born on 2 February 1935 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Die Hard (1988), Escape from New York (1981) and The Jerk (1979). He was married to Evelyn Marie Herran. He died on 15 July 2009 in Ventura, California, USA.- George McDaniel was born on 30 June 1942 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last Starfighter (1984), Lionheart (1990) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984). He died on 24 March 2023 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Canadian-born Cecilia Parker, daughter of a British army officer, moved with her family to Hollywood when she was a child. After graduation from high school she got a job as an extra. She did extra work for about a year before she was noticed by Fox executives, who signed her to a contract in 1931. Her career went along steadily if not spectacularly until 1937, when she was signed by MGM to play the older sister of Mickey Rooney in the "Andy Hardy" series. Although she had worked in everything from westerns to jungle serials, it's this part that people remember her for. She must have given MGM some trouble at one point, because in 1941 she was "loaned" (exiled is probably a better word) to ultra-low-rent studio PRC for one picture, a fate that usually befell actors who displeased the higher-ups at the studios. All was apparently forgiven, though, as she made five more pictures at MGM before she retired in 1942. She returned in 1958 for one final Andy Hardy film, but then went back to the real estate business she and her husband operated in Ventura, California, where she died in 1993.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Writer
A natural athlete, Burbank, California-bred Louie Nicholas Elias Jr. excelled in sports, especially football (US) and rugby. At UCLA, he played for the Bruins football team at the Rose Bowl under esteemed coach Red Sanders (UCLA's football coach from 1949-57). He played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He briefly joined the ROTC to avoid the draft, did reserve camp, and hated it. After college, he played professional football until knee injuries caused him to be cut from the team.
He returned to Hollywood, beginning as a film extra, working his way into a bit part movie actor. His first movie stunt job on Universal Studios' Spartacus (1960) earned him his first stunt injury when actor Kirk Douglas drowned him a soup cauldron and gave him a cut to his chin and a scar for life.
By 2000, he had more than 150 film and film TV series credits to his name. Among so many other action scenes, "Action Louie" had jumped from the tower of "F-Troop", had fought his way out of 'The Wild Bunch", had raced into "Vanishing Point," and taken the brunt on behalf of so many chiseled-featured actors. He also wrote screenplays, and later became a commercial actor.
Louie Elias died at age 84 on December 13, 2017.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Arthur Abelson was born on 16 May 1942 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for That Girl (1966), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and Winners Take All (1987). He was married to Rosemarie Abelson. He died on 1 October 1997 in Ventura, California, USA.- Mark Voland was born on 25 June 1952 in North Hollywood, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Hill Street Blues (1981), The Rousters (1983) and E/R (1984). He died on 13 January 2010 in Ventura, California, USA.
- Art Department
- Animation Department
- Music Department
Christopher Joseph Reccardi was an American animator, writer, director and storyboard artist who is known for The Ren & Stimpy Show, SpongeBob SquarePants and the failed pilot The Modifyers. He also worked on Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Tiny Toon Adventures, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, My Life as a Teenage Robot and Wander Over Yonder.- Sound Department
- Director
- Editor
Mark Kamps was born on 1 November 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He was a director and editor, known for Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Waterworld (1995) and Last Sunday Morning (1995). He died on 24 August 2007 in Ventura, California, USA.- Joe Keaton and wife Myra were grade-Z vaudeville performers in the early 1900s. Their son Buster joined the act when he was only a few months old. The act was a rough-and-tumble one, with Buster being thrown around on stage most of the time. As the years went by, Joe Keaton became an alcoholic, which forced Buster to quit the act by the time he was a teenager. However, after he hit it big in silent film, Buster provided Joe with small parts in several movies. Myra and Joe split up long after Buster had become an adult. She'd had it with the constant verbal and physical abuse Joe put her through. He lived alone in a Hollywood hotel for many years and was said to have stopped drinking after becoming a Christian Scientist. Buster said Joe died as a result of being run over by a passing car.
- Royce Wallace was born on 9 May 1925 in Pleasanton, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for ABC Afterschool Specials (1972), Immediate Family (1989) and Crossroads (1986). She was married to Bill Riley and Alexander Stuart Outerbridge. She died on 24 November 1992 in Ventura, California, USA.