Chris Farley
(Actor)
.. Mike Donnelly
Born:
February 15, 1964
Died:
December 18, 1997
Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Trivia:
Rotund, blonde, and amazingly agile comic actor Chris Farley boasted an energetic, bumbling presence that made him among the few alumni from the long-running Saturday Night Live television series to find a comfortable niche in feature films. He started out working with the Ark Improv theater group after graduating from Marquette University with a degree in theater and communications. After leaving the Ark, he worked at the Improv Olympic Theater where he studied under director Del Close. From there Farley found work at the Second City Theater where he was discovered by SNL producer Lorne Michaels. The portly actor debuted on the series in 1990, and, with such goofy characters as loud motivational speaker Matt Foley (who lived in a van down by the river), quickly became one of the show's favorite players. He remained with the show through the 1994-1995 season and then left to pursue a movie career. Farley made his feature film debut as a security guard in Wayne's World (1992); he had a much larger role in the sequel, Wayne's World 2 (1990). Farley had his first screen hit when he teamed up with fellow SNL actor David Spade and appeared in the sophomoric Tommy Boy, in which Farley played the naïve and socially incompetent son of a recently deceased auto parts manufacturer. Farley then returned to supporting roles before reteaming with Spade again for Black Sheep in 1996. In 1997, he starred in the comedy Beverly Hills Ninja. Farley's manic comedy style has frequently been compared to that of the late John Belushi, whom Farley idolized. Like Belushi, Farley's offscreen life was punctuated by frequent bouts of alcohol and drug abuse; friends and colleagues were concerned as was Farley, but he apparently was unable to stop. On December 18, 1997, Farley was found dead of an apparent heart attack in his luxurious Chicago apartment. He was only 33 years old, the same age as Belushi when he died.
David Spade
(Actor)
.. Steve Dodds
Born:
July 22, 1964
Birthplace: Birmingham, Michigan, United States
Trivia:
Born August 22nd, 1965, the diminutive blond comic David Spade has found success as a professional smart ass. Born in Birmingham, MI, but raised in Scottsdale, AZ, Spade first made a name for himself as a standup comedian. He spent most of the '80s performing in clubs, theaters, and college campuses. He joined the cast of Lorne Michael's long-running television show Saturday Night Live in 1990 as a writer and a performer. On the show, he soon gained popularity for such recurring sketches such as "The Hollywood Minute" in which Spade would sarcastically shred some of Tinseltown's biggest stars with his nasty comments. Spade also proved an able impersonator of celebrities ranging from Jeff Foxworthy to Tom Petty. Spade has appeared on many television talk shows and guest starred on several series. He began his film career in the late '80s playing a small role in Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol. In the '90s, he began playing major supporting roles in such films as Coneheads (1993) and P.C.U. (1994). He and former SNL alumni Chris Farley shared top billing in two popular comedies, Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996). Spade starred opposite Joe Pesci and Dyan Cannon in Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997). In 1997, Spade returned to series television in the sitcom Just Shoot Me. While 2001's Joe Dirt wasn't much of a box office success, it did earn a certain cult status, inspire animated television series, and bring about a surge of ironically-sported mullet hairstyles in the early 2000s. While 2001's Joe Dirt wasn't much of a box office success, it did bring about a resurgence of popularity for the mullet. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) featured Spade in the titular role of a one-time child star who tries to make a comeback as an adult. Spade continued to play comedic roles throughout the mid-2000s (The Benchwarners, Grandma's Boy), and once again found small-screen success with a role on the sitcoms 8 Simple Rules, and The Rules of Engagement, in which Spade plays the part of a single man surrounded by friends in various stages of couplehood.
Tim Matheson
(Actor)
.. Al Donnelly
Born:
December 31, 1947
Birthplace: Glendale, California, United States
Trivia:
As a child actor, Tim Matheson was billed under his fuller family name of Matthieson. His first weekly TV co-starring assignment was opposite Robert Young in the 1961 "dramedy" Window on Main Street. The young actor's voice became familiar to a generation of cartoon fans via his "role" as the title character in Hanna-Barbera's Jonny Quest. The handsome Matheson appeared on-screen during his maturation years on such western series as The Virginian, Bonanza, and The Quest. He remained busy in films during this period, scoring his biggest 1970s success as party animal Otter in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Matheson also kept his hand in the voiceover business, providing the truculent mutterings of "Blood" the dog in Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog (1975) and recording the narration for the 1985 revival of Disney's Fantasia. His adult TV appearances have included weekly stints on the TV series Tucker's Witch (1982), Just in Time, (1988) and Charlie Hoover (1991). Turning to directing in 1985, Matheson has been active in episodic television, music videos and direct-to-cassette movies. In 1989, he became CEO of the National Lampoon Company, though he still manages to find time for the occasional acting assignment, appearing in everything from the theatrical feature Drop Dead Fred to the live-action prologue for one of the "thrill rides" at Disneyworld.
Christine Ebersole
(Actor)
.. Governor Tracy
Born:
February 21, 1953
Birthplace: Winnetka, Illinois, United States
Trivia:
A trained Broadway singer and dancer, Christine Ebersole started acting in the 1970s on the ABC soap opera Ryan's Hope. On Broadway, she shared the stage with many greats in shows like Camelot. In 1981, she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live before returning to soaps to play Maxi McDermott on One Life to Live and earning a Daytime Emmy nomination. In 1985, Ebersole moved on to the sitcoms The Cavanaughs and Valerie. She sang the theme song as well as starred in the short-lived Fox sitcom Rachel Gunn, R.N. After making her film debut with a bit part in Tootsie, she had a few film roles, including opera diva Katerina Cavalieri in Milos Forman's Amadeus. She also starred in the family sci-fi feature Mac and Me, the Bill Cosby vehicle Ghost Dad, and several made-for-TV movies. Some of her credits include My Girl 2, Folks!, Pie in the Sky, and the Bette Midler TV version of Gypsy. In 2001, Ebersole received a Tony award for her work on the Broadway revival of 42nd Street. She worked more often on stage than on TV or movies, but in 2009 she had a small role in Confessions of a Shopaholic and landed a recurring role on the cable series Royal Pains.
Gary Busey
(Actor)
.. Drake Sabitch
Born:
June 29, 1944
Birthplace: Goose Creek, Texas, United States
Trivia:
Although American leading man Gary Busey has made distinguished appearances in many films, he has yet to attain the consistent popularity that would make him a major star. Born in Texas, Busey first few years were spent on an Oklahoma ranch where he learned to be a bull rider. He attended three different colleges before finally graduating in 1963, the year he became a professional drummer with the rock group The Rubber Band. Later, he billed himself as Teddy Jack Eddy and played percussion for Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson. In 1970, Busey made his acting debut in an episode of the TV western High Chaparel. This led to his feature film debut as a biker in Angels Hard as They Come the following year. After that Busey went on to play supporting roles (typically cast as renegades, daredevils, or good ol' boys with dubious morals) until 1978 when he made a major splash playing the lanky lead in The Buddy Holly Story, for which he did all the guitar and vocal work. His impersonation of Holly was remarkable and won him considerable acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Busey then went on to play leads in many films of varying quality during the early to mid-1980s. In the late '80s he returned to supporting roles and co-leads. In 1988, Busey almost died in a motorcycle accident and his near death resulted in enactment of tougher helmet laws in California.
Grant Heslov
(Actor)
.. Robbie Mieghem
Born:
May 15, 1963
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Trivia:
Loaned George Clooney $100 to pay for headshots when Clooney was still a struggling actor. Transitioned from being a character actor to behind-the-camera work in the early 2000s, receiving his first coproducer credit on the 2003 film Intolerable Cruelty. In 2005, he and his wife used their airline miles to purchase 16 plane tickets to evacuate survivors of Hurricane Katrina; they also opened their home to a family who had lost everything in the storm for five months while they put their lives back together. Cofounded the production company Smokehouse Pictures in 2006 with his longtime friend George Clooney.
Bruce McGill
(Actor)
.. Neuschwander
Born:
July 11, 1950
Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Trivia:
Husky American actor Bruce McGill made his film debut in Citizen's Band (1978), but it was his next film role, frat-brat "D Day" in National Lampoon's Animal House, that gained him a following. McGill repeated his D-Day characterization in the spin-off TV series Delta House (1979), then co-starred with David Hasselhoff in the 1980 weekly-TV version of the 1977 theatrical football comedy Semi-Tough. He went on to play a string of brusque authority types in films (Cliffhangers) and television (MacGiver, Live Shot). Fans of the fantasy series Quantum Leap (1989-93) may recall McGill's occasional guest shots, which ranged from mildly eccentric to truly weird. In 1987, Bruce McGill enjoyed one of his few feature-film leading roles in Waiting for the Moon. But it wasn't until the 1990s that casting directors really began to utilize McGill's unique range, and though he never won any awards, he shifted between film (A Perfect World, Timecop, The Insider) and television (Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager) with the skill of a seasoned pro. Any genre was fair game, and all were tackled with equal aplomb. At the dawn of the 2000s McGill seemed to shift his focus toward feature films, with roles in Ali, The Sum of All Fears, and Collateral helping to make him both a Michael Mann regular, and one of those welcomed faces that seems to turn up everywhere. Still TV just seemed to be in McGill's blood and after lending his voice to both Family Guy and The Cleveland Show he could be seen as a regular on the TNT detective series Rizzoli and Isles.
Timothy Carhart
(Actor)
.. Roger Kovary
Born:
December 24, 1953
Birthplace: Washington, DC.
Michael Patrick Carter
(Actor)
.. Scott Colleary
Boyd Banks
(Actor)
.. Clyde Spinoza
David St. James
(Actor)
.. Motorcycle Cop
Skip O'brien
(Actor)
.. State Trooper
Branden R. Morgan
(Actor)
.. Fan
'Gypsy' Spheeris
(Actor)
.. Pocket Pool Lady
John Ashker
(Actor)
.. Jim Blaine
William Howell
(Actor)
.. Rastafarian
Austin Kottke
(Actor)
.. Tough Kid
Toby Scott Ganger
(Actor)
.. Tough Kid
Dylan Lucas
(Actor)
.. Ricky
James Noah
(Actor)
.. Mayor
Chris Owen
(Actor)
.. Hal
Jonathan Everett Lewis
(Actor)
.. Carl
LaRita Shelby
(Actor)
.. Reporter
Karen Kahn
(Actor)
.. Anchor Woman
Laura Weekes
(Actor)
.. TV Reporter
Tucker Smallwood
(Actor)
.. Election Analyst
Mark Thomas McLaughlin
(Actor)
.. Member of Mudhoney
Steven Neil Turner
(Actor)
.. Member of Mudhoney
Matt David Lukin
(Actor)
.. Member of Mudhoney
Daniel Joe Peters
(Actor)
.. Member of Mudhoney
Kevin P. Farley
(Actor)
.. Bouncer
Born:
June 08, 1965
Birthplace: Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Trivia:
Best known as the younger (by one year) brother of talented but ill-fated Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Farley, Kevin Farley followed in the footsteps of his older sibling and established himself as a comedic screen presence in his own right. He grew up in Madison, WI, as the third of five children and the son of an asphalt company owner, and -- like Chris -- soon fell into a niche as the class clown. Both young men grew up as members of the Saturday Night Live generation and idolized performers such as John Belushi and Bill Murray beyond belief; Kevin attended Marquette University as a business major (graduating in 1986) and went to work for his dad. He grew to hate the business life and eventually moved to Chicago and enrolled in comedy classes, then relocated to Los Angeles and began signing for bit parts in Chris' features, such as Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, as well as guest spots in series programs such as That '70s Show and 3rd Rock from the Sun.Following Chris' death from an overdose in December 1997, Kevin landed a starring role on the briefly run MTV sitcom 2Gether, then moved into features, with an unsurprising emphasis almost exclusively on comedy, much of it in the destructive and anarchic vein of his late brother. Projects in which Kevin appeared included the Adam Sandler animated comedy Eight Crazy Nights (2002), the Cedric the Entertainer laugh-fest Johnson Family Vacation, and -- in a starring capacity -- a turn as a Michael Moore-like anti-patriotic director who gets the Ebenezer Scrooge treatment in the David Zucker gag-fest An American Carol (2008).
John Farley
(Actor)
.. Bouncer
Patrick Pankhurst
(Actor)
.. Donald Tracy
Luke Dickinson
(Actor)
.. Andrew Tracy
Fred Wolf
(Actor)
.. Ronald Forte
Patricia Place
(Actor)
.. Woman at Party
Annie O'Donnell
(Actor)
.. Election Worker
Kathleen O'malley
(Actor)
.. Mrs. Oneacre
Jean Speegle Howard
(Actor)
.. Elderly Woman
Born:
January 01, 1927
Died:
September 02, 2000
Trivia:
Actress Jean Speegle Howard is the mother of actor/director Ron Howard. Although she largely retired from acting in the 1950s, she occasionally appears in films directed by her son.
Drew Wilson
(Actor)
.. Elderly Man
Michele Burkette
(Actor)
.. Police Woman
Andrew Breymann
(Actor)
.. Hillbilly Kid
Mark Arm
(Actor)
.. Mudhoney