Back to the Future

Michael J. Fox (Actor) .. Marty McFly

Born: June 09, 1961
Birthplace: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Trivia: Born June 9th, 1961, Michael J. Fox made his television debut in Vancouver at the age of 15. Three years later, he moved to the U.S., living in spartan conditions until he was able to get his green card. Things started breaking for Fox in 1980, when he made his simultaneous American TV and movie bow, winning a regular role on the weekly series Palmerstown, U.S.A. and a supporting part in the theatrical film Midnight Madness. Previously billed as Michael Fox, the actor was compelled by the Screen Actors Guild to add the "J" to his name to avoid confusion with an older character actor who went by the same name. At 5'4", the baby-faced Fox was able to play adolescents and teenagers well into his twenties; during the early stages of his career, however, his height lost him as many roles as he won. Fox had sold all his furniture and was subsisting on macaroni and cheese at the time he won his star-making role as junior conservative Alex P. Keaton on the long-running (1982-1989) sitcom Family Ties. Before the series ran its course, Fox had won three Emmys, one of them for an unforgettable "one-man show" in which his character soliloquized over the suicide of a close friend. Fox's movie career caught fire after he replaced Eric Stoltz in the role of time-traveling teen Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985), an enormous hit which spawned two sequels. Not all of Fox's subsequent movie projects were so successful -- although several of them, notably The Secret of My Success (1987) and Casualties of War (1989), were commendable efforts that expanded Fox's range. In later years, the actor seemed to be have difficulty finding the vehicle that would put him back on top, although he continued to keep busy. In the fall of 1996, Fox returned to television in the ABC sitcom Spin City, in which he starred as Michael Flaherty, the Deputy Mayor of New York City. That same year, he could also be seen in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks! and Peter Jackson's The Frighteners. In 1999, the diminutive actor lent his talents to another wee character, voicing the title role of Stuart Little for the film adaptation of E.B. White's beloved children's book about a walking, talking mouse. Married to actress Tracy Pollan since 1988 -- she played his long-time girl friend on Family Ties -- Fox credited her with helping him survive his battle with Parkinson's Disease, with which he was diagnosed in 1991. Fox voiced a variety of animated characters throughout the 2000s, and appeared on TV shows including CBS' The Good Wife and the FX drama Rescue Me,

Christopher Lloyd (Actor) .. Emmett Brown

Born: October 22, 1938
Birthplace: Stamford, Connecticut, United States

Trivia: A reclusive character actor with an elongated, skull-like face, manic eyes and flexible facial expressions, Christopher Lloyd is best known for portraying neurotic, psychotic, or eccentric characters. He worked in summer stock as a teenager, then moved to New York. After studying with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, he debuted on Broadway in Red, White and Maddox in 1969. Lloyd went on to much success on and off Broadway; for his work in the play Kaspar (1973) he won both the Obie Award and the Drama Desk Award. His screen debut came in the hugely successful One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), in which he played a mental patient. He went on to appear in a number of films, but first achieved national recognition for playing the eccentric, strung out, slightly crazy cab-driver "Reverend" Jim in the TV series Taxi from 1979-83; he won two Emmy Awards for his work. He extended his fame to international proportions by playing the well-meaning, wild-haired, mad scientist Doc Brown in Back to the Future (1985) and its two sequels; this very unusual character continued the trend in Lloyd's career of portraying off-the-wall nuts and misfits, a character type he took on in a number of other films in the '80s, including The Addams Family (1991), in which he played the crazed uncle Fester. His "straight" roles have been infrequent, but include Eight Men Out (1989).

Crispin Glover (Actor) .. George McFly

Born: April 20, 1964
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States

Trivia: American actor Crispin Glover, son of actor and drama coach Bruce Glover, debuted on-stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles at age 14 in The Sound of Music. He made his feature-film debut four years later in My Tutor (1982). Glover is known for his peculiar acting style that includes nearly whispered speech punctuated by small karate-like gesticulations. His breakthrough came in the role of the wimpy, nerdy father, George McFly, in Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future (1985), after which he landed increasingly important roles. Glover's reputation as an eccentric was partly borne out of his personal editing and republishing of books such as Rat Catching (a modernized version of a 100-year-old text to which he added new pictures of mutilated rats) and the equally strange Concrete Inspection. But despite his disturbing eccentricities, Glover has been considered by some to be one of the more original and intense actors of his generation.

Lea Thompson (Actor) .. Lorraine Baines

Born: May 31, 1961
Birthplace: Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Trivia: A small, delicate-looking, perky actress, Thompson studied dance as a child, and was dancing professionally by age 14; she won scholarships to the Pennsylvania Ballet, American Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. However, she felt she was too short to become a prima ballerina and gave up dance in favor of acting. After moving to New York she appeared in some 20 Burger King TV commercials, then debuted onscreen in Jaws 3-D (1983). Shortly thereafter she got her first important role, opposite Tom Cruise in the hit All the Right Moves (1983). She is best known for her multiple roles in the three Back to the Future movies; aside from those highly successful movies, she has not gone on to appear in any hit productions. She also appeared in the TV movies Nightbreaker (1989), Montana (1990), and the PBS playhouse co-production The Wizard of Loneliness (1988).

Claudia Wells (Actor) .. Jennifer Parker

Born: July 05, 1966

Thomas F. Wilson (Actor) .. Biff Tannen

Born: April 15, 1959
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Trivia: Thomas F. Wilson studied international politics at Arizona State University, then switched his career focus by becoming a summer stock actor. In 1979, the 20-year-old Wilson returned to his native Philadelphia to begin his career as a standup comic, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts between nightclub gigs. While on the bumpy road to fame, he shared an apartment with two other aspiring funnymen, Yakov Smirnoff and Andrew Dice Clay. He finally struck paydirt in the role of thick-eared, thick-skulled high school bully Biff ("Why don't you make like a tree...and go away?) in the first two Back to the Future films. In Back to the Future Pt. 3 (1988), he offered a fascinating variation of this character in the role of Biff's splendidly stupid great-grandfather, gunslinger Buford Tannen. What could have been a one-note characterization -- Biff/Buford wound up covered in manure in all three films -- was enlivened by Wilson's comic nuances and split-second timing. Computer game fans know Thomas F. Wilson best as Major Todd "Maniac" Marshall, star of the interactive CD-ROM Wing Commander series.

Marc McClure (Actor) .. Dave McFly

Born: March 31, 1957

Trivia: Best remembered for playing plucky cub reporter Jimmy Olson in all four of the Superman films that starred Christopher Reeve, Marc McClure made his film debut in the Disney film Freaky Friday and in the television movie James at 15 (both 1977). He went on to play supporting roles and occasional leads in both venues. In 1979, McClure starred in the short-lived TV series California Fever.

Wendie Jo Sperber (Actor) .. Linda McFly

Born: September 15, 1962
Died: November 29, 2005

Trivia: Wendie Jo Sperber was born in Hollywood in 1962 and aimed for a performing-arts career from high school onward. She attended the Summer Drama Workshop at California State University, Northridge, during the '70s, and began her screen career at age 15 when she was cast in the small role of Kuchinsky in Matthew Robbins' teen comedy Corvette Summer (1978), starring Mark Hamill. Her talent for comedy was showcased far better in Robert Zemeckis' period comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), as the irrepressible Beatles fan Rosie Petrofsky, stealing a big chunk of the movie with her performance. Sperber was a large woman (over 200 pounds), yet she was also very pretty and as physically dexterous as any gymnast -- and as funny as any comic actress this side of Lucille Ball. She played the title role in the made-for-television feature Dinky Hocker (1979) and got to show off her physical comedy in Steven Spielberg's gargantuan 1941 (1979). Zemeckis (who also worked on 1941) brought Sperber back to the big screen in 1980 with a role in his offbeat comedy Used Cars, but it was on television that year when Sperber finally began getting some serious acknowledgement. She was cast in the role of Amy Cassidy -- a character that was funny, romantic, and exuberant -- in the series Bosom Buddies, starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. It was a fair bet that she'd steal almost any scene in which she was featured. Following its cancellation in 1982, Sperber appeared in the offbeat comedy The First Time (1983) and did a year on the series Private Benjamin before resuming her feature work in the Hanks theatrical vehicle Bachelor Party, directed by Neal Israel, who used her again in Moving Violations (1985). That same year, she finally got to appear in a successful movie with her portrayal of Linda McFly in Zemeckis' Back to the Future. Sperber's roles grew larger in the wake of the goofy sci-fi adventure film, and over the next decade she starred in the series Babes (a comedy about three zoftig women) and had a major supporting part in the series Hearts Afire, as well as numerous big-screen comedies, interspersed with the occasional drama. By her own account, however, she prefers comedy if given the choice. As she told TV Guide in 1990, "I'm an actress who likes to say something funny -- everybody laughs and your job is done." In 1998, Sperber was diagnosed with breast cancer, which seemed to go into remission following treatment. She revealed in April of 2002, though, that the cancer had reappeared and spread throughout her body. She continued to work in television and movies during this period, including episodes of Unhappily Ever After, Home Improvement, Will & Grace, and the movies Desperate but Not Serious (1999) and Sorority Boys (2002).

George Ralph DiCenzo (Actor) .. Sam Baines

Frances Lee McCain (Actor) .. Stella Baines

Born: July 28, 1944

Trivia: Actress Frances Lee McCain began her career on Broadway, appearing in stage shows throughout the late '60s before transitioning to the screen with a number of TV guest-appearances, as well as roles in movies like Gremlins and Footloose. The '90s would bring supporting roles in many more movies, including Scream and Patch Adams. McCain remained active in theater, especially in the San Francisco area.

Billy Zane (Actor) .. Match

Born: February 24, 1966
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Trivia: Actor Billy Zane kicked off his stage career in his hometown of Chicago. Able to harness his spoiled-brat countenance and quirky gestures to invoke either sympathy or repulsion, Zane has been seen principally in secondary roles in such films as Back to the Future (1985), Memphis Belle (1990), Orlando (1992), and Posse (1993). His most flamboyant role was as the young drifter who -- obvious to everyone but the hero and heroine -- is not what he seems in the Australian thriller Dead Calm (1989). Zane had a rare starring role in the filmization of the once popular comic strip The Phantom (1996), in which he showed off his lithe, muscular physique in a form-fitting purple body suit and performed many of the stylish film's daring stunts himself. The following year he had a lead role in the most successful film of his career, playing Kate Winslet's vile fiancé in Titanic. Zane is the younger brother of film and TV actress Lisa Zane.

Jeffrey Jay Cohen (Actor) .. Skinhead

Casey Siemaszko (Actor) .. 3-D

Born: March 17, 1961
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Trivia: Though not among Hollywood's best known supporting actors, Casey Siemaszko (pronounced Sheh-MA-zshko) has worked with some of Tinseltown's most important directors. Born Kazimierz Siemaszko in Chicago to a Polish survivor of a Nazi concentration camp and an English dancer, Siemaszko started performing at age five with his father's dance troupe, the Kosciuszko Dancers. As a young man, Siemaszko studied fine arts at Chicago's Goodman School of Drama and launched his professional career on the Chicago stage before moving to L.A. where it took him four years before landing a role in Class (1983). In 1985, he played 3-D in Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future (1985); he later reprised the role in the 1989 sequel. Since then Siemaszko has worked with Steven Spielberg on an episode of Amazing Stories, with Rob Reiner in Stand By Me(1986) where he played a member of Keifer Sutherland's gang, and had a major supporting role in Mike Nichol's Biloxi Blues (1989). Siemasko's film career slowed considerably in the 1990s with notable roles in Gary Sinise's Of Mice and Men (1992) and in Lance Young's sexually charged Bliss (1997).

James Tolkan (Actor) .. Mr. Strickland

Born: June 20, 1931
Birthplace: Calumet, Michigan

Trivia: Upon leaving the Midwest where he was born, raised, and educated (University of Iowa), James Tolkan headed for New York, where he studied acting with Stella Adler. In movies since 1969, Tolkan has been seen in gritty urban character roles in such films as The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), Author! Author! (1981), Off Beat (1985), and Made in Heaven (1987). In the first two Back to the Future films, Tolkan appeared as acerbic high school teacher Strickland; in Top Gun (1986), he was seen as Stinger; and in Dick Tracy (1990), he showed up as minor criminal Numbers. On television, James Tolkan appeared on the short-lived 1985 Mary Tyler Moore sitcom Mary as mobster Lester Mintz, and on both installments of the two-episode Sunset Beat (1990), in which he played Captain Parker.

Harry Waters Jr. (Actor) .. Marvin Berry

Donald Fullilove (Actor) .. Goldie Wilson

Born: May 16, 1958

Cristen Kauffman (Actor) .. Betty

Lisa Freeman (Actor) .. Babs

Born: February 24, 1988

Elsa Raven (Actor) .. Clocktower Lady

Born: September 21, 1929

Will Hare (Actor) .. Pa Peabody

Born: March 30, 1919
Died: August 30, 1997

Trivia: Character actor Will Hare played supporting roles on stage, television and the screen from age 17 up until his death at the age of 81. He made his feature film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1957); he made his final film appearance in Me and Veronica (1993). His television appearances include guest-starring roles on series ranging from sudsy dramas to sitcoms. Hare was among the charter members of the Actors Studio and it was there that he died of a heart attack during a rehearsal on August 28, 1997.

Ivy Bethune (Actor) .. Ma Peabody

Born: June 01, 1918

Jason Marin (Actor) .. Sherman Peabody

Born: July 25, 1974

Katherine Britton (Actor) .. Peabody Daughter

Born: September 15, 1949

Jason Hervey (Actor) .. Milton Baines

Born: April 06, 1972
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

Trivia: Best known to television viewers for his role as the bullying older brother of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) on The Wonder Years, actor Jason Hervey has worn many hats in the world of show business since the cancellation of that Emmy Award-winning series. While a recurring role on Diff'rent Strokes and bit parts in such films as Meatballs Part II, Back to the Future, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Back to School, and The Monster Squad helped to increase Hervey's profile early in his acting career, it was undoubtedly his participation in The Wonder Years that left the biggest impression on viewers. Hervey's portrayal of older Arnold sibling Wayne as a bratty and terminally obnoxious teen offered the perfect contrast to co-star Savage's wide-eyed innocence, and for the large part that was precisely the kind of role for which he was known for much of his career. While post-Wonder Years acting credits were few and far between for Hervey, he did maintain his ties to the entertainment industry as the producer of various sports-themed videos and specials (a substantial number of which where related to the World Championship Wrestling organization), a handful of made-for-television movies, and a few television series. As the wave of '80s nostalgia washed over the media in the early 2000s, Hervey became a noted contributor to VH1's I Love the 80s and I Love the 80s Strikes Back and appeared as himself on such popular reality shows as Hogan Knows Best and Scott Baio Is 45... and Single.

Maia Brewton (Actor) .. Sally Baines

Born: September 30, 1977

Courtney Gains (Actor) .. Dixon

Born: August 22, 1965

Richard L. Duran (Actor) .. Terrorist

Jeff O'haco (Actor) .. Terrorist Van Driver

Born: August 16, 1954

Jamie Abbott (Actor) .. Scooter Kid #2

Johnny Green (Actor) .. Scooter Kid #1

Norman Alden (Actor) .. Lou

Born: September 13, 1924
Died: July 27, 2012
Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas

Trivia: General purpose actor Norman Alden was first seen by filmgoers in 1960's Operation Bottleneck. Most often seen in take-charge roles, Alden was critically acclaimed for his portrayal of a middle-aged retarded man in the NYC-filmed Andy (1965). The actor's series-TV credits include the thankless role of "Frank" on the "Electra Woman/Dynagirl" segments of Saturday morning's The Krofft Supershow. More artistically satisfying was Norman Alden's brief tenure as lawyer Al Cassidy on the Lee Grant TV sitcom Fay (1975).

Read Morgan (Actor) .. Cop

Born: January 01, 1930

Trivia: American actor Read Morgan chose his profession after two years at the University of Kentucky, where he starred on the basketball court. In 1950, Morgan went on a regular dietary and exercise regimen that earned him quite a few photo spreads in major American magazines like TV Guide. Thanks to his physique, Morgan was cast as an athletic mountaineer in the Broadway play Li'l Abner, which led to TV work in a similar vein: he played a wrestler on US Steel Hour, a ballplayer on Twilight Zone, a skindiver on Adventures in Paradise and a boxer on Steve Canyon. Thus it was that Morgan was more than prepared for the strenuous requirements of his role as cavalry sergeant Tasker on the Henry Fonda TV-western vehicle The Deputy (1960). Following the cancellation of this series, Read Morgan found himself on call for innumerable rugged character roles, usually as sheriffs, detectives or highway patrolmen. Among his many film credits were Fort Utah (1967), Easy Come, Easy Go (1968), Marlowe (1969), Dillinger (1971), The New Centurions (1972), Shanks (1967), and the made-for-TV movies Return of the Gunfighter (1967), Helter Skelter (1976), The Billion Dollar Threat (1979), Power (1980) and A Year in the Life (1986).

Sachi Parker (Actor) .. Bystander #1

Born: September 01, 1956

Robert Krantz (Actor) .. Bystander #2

Karen Petrasek (Actor) .. Girl #1

Born: May 04, 1963

George "Buck" Flower (Actor) .. Red the Bum

Born: October 28, 1937
Died: June 18, 2004

Trivia: Carolina-based actor/writer/producer George "Buck" Flower started out in "regionals"--non-Hollywood productions aimed at Southern neighborhood moviehouses and drive-ins. Flower also showed up in "four-wallers" for the family-matinee trade: he was seen as Boomer in all three Wilderness Family flicks of the late 1970s-early 1980s. Additional appearances include the Cook in John Carpenter's Starman (1984), the title character's father in Alan Parker's Birdy (1984), and "Nuke" LaLoosh's dad in Ron Shelton's Bull Durham (1988). The bulk of George "Buck" Flowers' work can be found in such low-budget esoterica as Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama (1987).

Gary Riley (Actor) .. Guy #1

Born: November 19, 1963

Tommy Thomas (Actor) .. Starlighter

Born: March 31, 1957

Granville "Danny" Young (Actor) .. Starlighter

David Harold Brown (Actor) .. Starlighter

Lloyd L. Tolbert (Actor) .. Starlighter

Lee Brownfield (Actor) .. Pinhead

Robert DeLapp (Actor) .. Pinhead

Paul Hanson (Actor) .. Pinhead

Born: January 01, 1893
Died: January 01, 1940

Tony Pope (Actor) .. 1985 Radio Announcer

Born: March 22, 1947

Charles L. Campbell (Actor) .. 1955 Radio Announcer

Born: August 17, 1930

Huey Lewis (Actor) .. High School Band Audition Judge

Born: July 05, 1950
Birthplace: New York City, New York

Hal Gausman (Actor) .. Mayor Red Thomas

Deborah Harmon (Actor) .. TV Newscaster

Born: May 08, 1951

Arthur Tovey (Actor) .. Wilbur

Died: October 20, 2000

Trivia: From a scene with Charlie Chaplin to a bit part with Elvis Presley to a familiar role as a butler in Madonna's Who's That Girl, Arthur Roland Tovey's career spanned much of the 20th century, during which he worked with some of its biggest stars. Tovey made his film debut in the 1922 Marion Davies feature Yolanda. A longtime Hollywood extra and bit actor, Tovey also doubled for Leslie Howard in the classic Gone With the Wind. In addition to his career as an actor, Tovey was a longtime member of the Musicians Local 47 and the Screen Actors Guild, and also served in the U.S. Army during WWII. In recent years, he made the most of his appearances on television, appearing on programs such as ER and Married With Children until well into his nineties. Arthur Roland Tovey died of natural causes at his home in Van Nuys, CA, on October 20, 2000. He was 95.

Tom Tangen (Actor) .. Student

Born: September 08, 1961

Tom Willett (Actor) .. Pedestrian in Town Square

Boyd "Red" Morgan (Actor) .. Cop

Born: January 01, 1916
Died: November 08, 1988

Trivia: Expert horseman Boyd "Red" Morgan entered films as a stunt man in 1937. Morgan was justifiably proud of his specialty: falling from a horse in the most convincingly bone-crushing manner possible. He doubled for several top western stars, including John Wayne and Wayne's protégé James Arness. He could also be seen in speaking roles in such films as The Amazing Transparent Man (1959), The Alamo (1960), True Grit (1968), The Wild Rovers (1969) and Rio Lobo (1970). According to one report, Boyd "Red" Morgan served as the model for the TV-commercial icon Mister Clean.

Paul Hansen (Actor) .. Pinhead

Elizabeth Chambers (Actor)

Born: August 18, 1982

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