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Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German father, Josef, and an Irish mother, Adele (originally from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland). Michael was raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when he was two years old. His parents ran a restaurant (his father is a chef).

Fassbender is based in London, England, and became known in the U.S. after his role in the Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009). In 2011, Fassbender debuted as the Marvel antihero Magneto in the prequel X-Men: First Class (2011); he would go on to share the role with Ian McKellen in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). Also in 2011, Fassbender's performance as a sex addict in Shame (2011) received critical acclaim. He won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. In 2013, his role as slave owner Edwin Epps in slavery epic 12 Years a Slave (2013) was similarly praised, earning him his first Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. 12 Years a Slave marked Fassbender's third collaboration with Steve McQueen, who also directed Hunger and Shame. In 2013, Fassbender appeared in another Ridley Scott film, The Counselor (2013). In 2015, he portrayed Steve Jobs (2015) in the Danny Boyle-directed biopic of the same name, and played Macbeth (2015) in Justin Kurzel's adaptation of William Shakespeare's play. For the former, he has received Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actor. As well as acting, Fassbender produced the 2015 western Slow West (2015), which he also starred in.

Necar Zadegan is a versatile actress known for a career on stage and screen. She made her Broadway debut when she originated the role of the Leper in Rajiv Joseph's Pulitzer Prize nominated and multi Tony award accoladed play " The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" opposite Robin Williams. She stars as Special Agent Hannah Khoury in the CBS global franchise series, "NCIS: New Orleans" and has joined the cast of the much anticipated and newest installation of the Star Trek franchise, "Picard".

Ms. Zadegan first garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of First Lady turned president Dalia Hassan on Fox's hit series "24", and most recently for her hilarious leading role in the absurdist docu-spoof film for IFC on Netflix called "Documentary: Now" written by Seth Meyers and alongside an all-star cast. The show has been nominated for multiple Emmys and has begun streaming in the UK. For HBO in the drama "Here and Now" from Oscar winning screenwriter, creator Alan Ball, she takes the lead in the delicate portrayal of Layla Shokrani.

In the much beloved Bravo comedy streaming on Netflix, "Girlfriends Guide to Divorce", Ms. Zadegan plays the character written for her by show creator Marti Noxon, of fashionable, high powered attorney and fan favorite, Delia Banai. The show recently began streaming its fifth and final season. The year also saw Ms. Zadegan join the cast of the ABC hit "The Good Doctor". Other series regular roles include her portrayal of Dr. Gina Bandari on "Emily Owens MD" and in the lead opposite Greg Kinnear in the FOX comedy "Rake".

Some highlights from her many other credits include roles for Steven Spielberg company produced series "Extant", opposite Sean Bean in spy series "Legends" and a very memorable turn as the Queen of Iran in Showtime's critical success "Masters of Sex" opposite Michael Sheen, with whom she also starred opposite in the Columbia Tri Star film, psychological thriller "Unthinkable" alongside Samuel L. Jackson. She appeared with Adam Sandler in Judd Apatow's "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" and played the title role in "Elena Undone" which enjoyed success at independent festivals worldwide.

Ms. Zadegan has worked at some of the world's most prestigious theaters including The Mark Taper Forum, the Royal Dramatic Theater of Stockholm, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and many more, and toured internationally in the Persian language production of "Satellite with Love".

Necar Zadegan was born in Heidelberg, Germany and raised in Northern California. She studied theater and dance on a performance scholarship at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with honors and a BA degree in English Literature. She also studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris. She speaks Persian, French and German and has learned Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew while working in those languages. She works with USAID in supporting opportunities for education across the globe and is an ambassador for BuildOn.org and travels with them around the world building schools for children.

Ian Harding was born on 16 September 1986 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Long Slow Exhale (2022), Chicago Med (2015) and Ford v Ferrari (2019). He has been married to Sophie Hart since October 2019.

Cress Williams is an American actor, known for his roles in Prison Break and Close to Home. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW series Hart of Dixie and the title character on The CW's Black Lightning. Williams is also best known for his recurring role as Terrence "Scooter" Williams on Fox's Living Single and as Inspector Atwon Babcock on Nash Bridges.

An artist of international range and reputation, Richard Sammel is fluent, and has acted in, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. He has starred in some forty films and sixty television films, shot on locations ranging from Sweden to Italy, Portugal to Slovakia, England to the Balkans, but also Canada, South Africa, and the United States, for such directors as Quentin Tarantino, Luc Besson, Martin Campbell, Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Lelouche, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Roberto Begnini, Dario Argento, McG and Michel Hazanavicius. He has acted, danced and directed for the stage in theaters all over Europe, Russia and Canada.

The prolific actor has recently completed "A Day Like a Week", a supernatural thriller in which Sammel stars opposite Armand Assante for director Kader Ayd. Sammel returns for the seventh season of "The French Village", an enormously popular French TV series in which he has had a leading role since its beginning. Sammel also stars as 'Thomas Eichhorst' in the hit FX series "The Strain", for director Guillermo Del Toro and Carlton Cuse.

Sammel made his professional acting debut in 1981 on stage in Hildesheim, Germany. From 1983, he worked in France, as a musician, dancer and actor where his breakthrough came in 1987, with an acclaimed performance in Catch, by the Company Nelson Dumont. Beginning in 1989, he worked in Rome with theater director Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, and met Susan Strasberg, who assisted him in securing his film debut, the lead role in Il Piacere Delle Carni, for director Barbara Barni. In 1993, Sammel moved to Paris and landed the lead role in the musical film version of the Brecht-Eisler opera The Lindberghs Flight. An indelible performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in 2009 brought Sammel international recognition. In 2012, he won "Best Actor" at the Syracuse International Film Festival for his performance in Ruggero Dipaola's Apartment in Athens.

His other film credits include Les Miserable du XX Siècle for director Claude Lelouche; Life is Beautiful for director Roberto Begnini; the original Taxi written by Luc Besson; Casino Royale for director Martin Campbell; Beauty and the Beast opposite Vincent Cassel and Léa Seydoux for director Christophe Gans; and most recently McG's Three Days to Kill opposite Kevin Costner.

Richard Sammel was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He studied music, especially the violin, and then went on to follow his true passion, which was acting. He studied both music and acting in Hildesheim, Germany; acting and directing in Aix en Provence; and acting with both Susan Strasberg and Francesca de Sapio in Rome. He is drawn to roles that require physical play, rhythm and timing, a reflection of his dance training; and those that require a deep emotional inner life, a reflection of his intense training in method acting. He lives in Paris and Berlin.

Julika Jenkins was born on 20 October 1971 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Vitus (2006), Dark (2017) and Berlin Station (2016).

Ken Duken was born on the 17th of April 1979 as a son of an actress and a doctor in Heidelberg / Germany. He started to learn acting from his stage actress mother Christina Loeb. Later he took courses by James Reynolds and Bruce McDonald but he never attended drama school.

Before starting his career on television in 1997 Ken acted throughout different stage plays, for example "Visit from an old Lady". In the year 1998 he got a hold of his first leading role in the film "Land of Milk and Honey" (direction: Friedemann Fromm), and played side by side with Franka Potente and Heiner Lauterbach. BILD, largest daily paper in Germany, called him a "Shootingstar" with great talent and charisma.

In 2000 Ken convinced in the role of Mark, a young guy confined to a wheelchair, in the motion picture "Gran Paradiso" from Miguel Alexandre. This film was nominated for the German Film Award. After some German productions, for example "Nightshift" (ZDF, direction: Lars Becker), Ken took part in the comedy "100 per cent" from Simon Verhoeven.

Throughout the last years Ken Duken above all was shooting abroad together with great actors like Peter O'Toole, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow and Dominique Pinon. With the Italian production "Hidden Children" (2003, direction: Leone Pompucci) he gained great success and won amongst others the French Movie-Award at the 18th "Reincontres de Television de Reims".

In 2003 Ken and some friends founded the film production company "Grand Hotel Pictures". The successful debut's name was "From another Point of View" (direction and production), which premiered on the 15th of April 2004 in Munich, starring his wife Marisa Leonie Bach and Dominique Pinon, famous French actor (Alien4, Amélie...). At the same time he put on Music-Videos (e.g. Curse - "Gangster-Rap", Oomph - "Das letzte Streichholz") and began to write the script for his first own film "Waiting for Eve".

In 2005 Ken played the leading role in the movie "Another league" (produced by Wüste Film, winner of the Berlinale 2004 with "Against the wall") for which he was assigned as best actor at the Comedy-Festival in Monte Carlo. Furthermore he took part at the big Italian production "Karol" (film version of the life of the deceased Pope John Paul II (Karol Woytila)) for Channel 5 (Italy) which achieved an audience rating of 47%. In Poland this film beat all records and was more successful than "Star Wars 3" or "War of the worlds".

In March 2005 Ken Duken was awarded with the Grimme Award for his role in "Kiss and Run" before he started filming "Störtebeker" (a movie about the life of the most famous German pirate) in May 2005. Afterwards he played the character Teddy Schrader in Lars Becker's "Nightshift". In summer 2006 Ken played the role of Anatol Kuragin in the international production "War & Peace", based on the novel of Tolstoj, directed by Robert Dornhelm, where he had to shoot in Vilnius/Lithuania and St. Petersburg and afterward he was shooting another international production in Morocco - "Ali Baba", directed by Pierre Aknine. After leading roles in the movies "Distanz" and "Gellert", which were produced by Grand Hotel Pictures, he took part in the Italian production "Il Commissario de Luca", directed by Antonio Frazzi and played Ben Winter, a war returnee from Afganistan in the tv movie "Willkommen zuhause". In 2008 Ken won his second Grimme Award for "Eine andere Liga" and the Franz Hofer Award. In the same year he played the name part in the fairy tale "Koenig Drosselbart", co-starred with Gary Dourdan in the international production "Fire", played the leading role in "Das Unglueck von Ueberlingen" (directed by Till Endemann), a tv movie about the air plane crash in Ueberlingen in 2002, and took part in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds". In 2009 he won the "Bayerischen Fernsehpreis" for "Willkommen zuhause" in the category "best actor TV-movie". At the moment he co-stars with Till Schweiger in his new movie "Zweiohrkueken.

Sydney Winbush is an American actress known for her roles in Starz's Power Book 2: Ghost (2024), Hulu's Shrill (2020), Disney's Timmy Failure (2020) and the Netflix original series, Trinkets (2020). Born in Heidelberg, Germany as a military kid, Sydney's love for acting was apparent at a young age. She began her career in Portland, Oregon and quickly became a member of SAG. In October 2020, Sydney relocated to Los Angeles, California where she can be seen acting, writing and content creating.

Sandro Kopp was born 1978 in Heidelberg, Germany, of New Zealand and German descent. He is an fine artist, primarily known for portraits painted via Skype. He graduated from Abitur 1998, majoring in Fine Art and English. In 2000, he moved to New Zealand, his mother's home country. Here he painted and exhibited, as well as teaching at an art school in Wellington.

He has appeared on screen in a few roles and shot the still photographs for several movies as well as contributing to other departments on films. Since 2005 he has lived in the North of Scotland, with his partner, Tilda Swinton.

Jackson Browne was born in Germany. His father, Clyde Jack Browne, worked for the US Army. His mother's name is Beatrice Amanda Dahl. Jackson's musical career began in the late 1960s. He played with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band before they released their first album, played with Tim Buckley, who introduced him to Nico. On Nico's first album "Chelsea Girls" are three songs (co-)written by JB. His first own record was released in 1972. From the very beginning, he played with some of the best and famous musicians, among those are David Crosby, Joni Mitchell, Eagles, David Lindley, Warren Zevon, Bonnie Raitt. Jackson was part of "Artists United against Apartheid" and "Musicians United for Save Energy (MUSE)" (No Nukes).

Damla Aslanalp was born on 11 July 1990 in Heidelberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Enes Batur: Gerçek Kahraman (2019), Filinta (2014) and Dünya Mali - Eksi Bir (2024).

As the producer of the three Star Wars prequels - The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith - Rick McCallum has helped bring to the screen some of the most successful independent films of all time.

The global blockbusters are highlights in a career that has seen McCallum produce remarkably eclectic, and always groundbreaking, film and television projects, beginning with the 1981 Depression-era musical Pennies from Heaven for director Herbert Ross and writer Dennis Potter.

McCallum has produced movies with such renowned filmmakers as David Hare (Strapless); Neil Simon (I Ought to Be in Pictures); and Harvey Fierstein, whose HBO film On Tidy Endings received four CableAce Awards. McCallum was also producer of the music video "Undercover" for The Rolling Stones, which MTV named the Best Video of the Decade. Establishing a close working relationship with director Nicolas Roeg, McCallum acted as producer on such films as Castaway and Track 29.

In 1986, McCallum re-teamed with Potter, serving as executive producer on the landmark BBC-TV series "The Singing Detective." They worked together again in1989 for BBC's four-part "Blackeyes." Their successful collaboration also brought to life Potter's acclaimed Dreamchild, an unusual exploration of the creation of Alice in Wonderland, which won three BAFTA awards.

It was on the set of Dreamchild that McCallum met Star Wars creator George Lucas. Several years after their first meeting, Lucas was preparing his first weekly live-action television program, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and he turned to McCallum to produce the ambitious series, which was shot in 35 countries. With a unique perspective on the eventful early life of Indiana Jones - including its cinematic qualities, an emphasis on storytelling and characters, and an enticing promise of new adventures each week - McCallum attracted a stellar list of writers and actors to the creative ranks of the series. Among the renowned directors with whom McCallum worked on the series: Bille August, Nicolas Roeg, David Hare, Mike Newell, Deepa Mehta, Terry Jones, Simon Wincer and Carl Shultz. During its run, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored Young Indiana Jones with 11 Emmys and 25 nominations. The series debuted on DVD in 2007, and McCallum served as executive producer on a series of 94 acclaimed documentaries that accompany the episodes and illuminate the real-life history behind their stories.

When Young Indiana Jones wrapped, McCallum produced Radioland Murders (1994), for which Lucas served as executive producer. During its production, Lucas confided to McCallum the plans for three new Star Wars movies. To test the digital waters, McCallum produced revised versions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - each of which proved remarkably successful at the box office and proved that the once-impossible visual feats needed for Lucas's next movies were indeed possible. Assembling an extraordinary group in front of and behind the cameras, McCallum produced the next three films that Lucas wrote and directed: Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005). Two of them are among the 10 most-successful movies in history. Together, the Star Wars films McCallum has produced have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide. Recognizing his contributions to the movies, in 1999 CinemaExpo named McCallum its Producer of the Year.

The Star Wars prequels also ushered in a new era of digital filmmaking, and McCallum played the leading role in its development. He oversaw a team of creative and technical professionals that developed and created the industry's first all-digital production pipeline, allowing every aspect of movie production - from production, to post-production, to distribution - to take place digitally. In 2000, Attack of the Clones became the first movie with all-digital principal photography, editing, visual and sound effects, exhibition and distribution.

The McCallum-Lucas collaboration continued, with McCallum producing Red Tails, an action-adventure film that pays tribute to the spirit of World War II's Tuskegee Airmen, and on which Lucas acted as executive producer. McCallum also served as Head of Production for Lucasfilm for 17 years.

Since moving to Prague in 2012 after retiring from Lucasfilm, McCallum co-founded the Czech film company Film United to act as a service provider and producer of films and television.

Film United has become one of the leading producers and service providers in Central and Eastern Europe.

Jen Kuhn enjoys a career as a writer, actress, and cellist based in Los Angeles.

She grew up in Chatham, NJ; graduated high school at Interlochen Arts Academy; and went on to conservatory at Cleveland Institute of Music.

As a cellist, she has since recorded on over 200 movies and TV shows. As an actor, she has appeared on TV, films, and commercials such as "Parenthood," "Castle," "The Mentalist," and "Boston Legal."

A couple of her screenplays have advanced to Second Rounds for both the Austin Film Festival and Sundance Screenwriters Labs. She has most recently worked as Script Coordinator for Amazon's "Modern Love" and "Mozart in the Jungle."

Tim Kalkhof was born on 12 December 1987 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor, known for The Cakemaker (2017), Wir sind die Flut (2016) and Die Heiland: Wir sind Anwalt (2018).

Lisa Cangelosi had been known most recently as a singer in the pop group, "Sirens", but her roots in other performing arts run just as deep. Cangelosi grew up dancing, singing and acting on the small stages of Brenham, Texas. While still in high school, she wanted to make a difference in the world so she auditioned and was accepted to tour with "Up With People". As a lead singer and dancer during this 80 city/one year tour, her life was dramatically changed by her international performing experiences and deeper understanding of other cultures. Back in Texas, she established herself as a successful commercial actor which quickly led to theatrical roles.

For example, her first leading role in a feature film was playing Robert Vaughn's daughter in the Western, Dust to Dust (1994) and she made her network television debut in a supporting role in the NBC movie of the week, She Fought Alone (1995) with Tiffani Thiessen. Cangelosi was encouraged by the producers and directors with whom she worked to move to Los Angeles but her new dream was to live in New York and train more extensively. There, she studied the Meisner Technique with William Esper then moved on to Wynn Handman character development classes at Carnegie Hall. She also found time to continue auditioning and was cast as the Cigarette Girl in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You (1996). Cangelosi also trained vocally while singing in many cabaret shows along New York's historic Restaurant Row.

After only two years, she decided it was time to make the move to Hollywood but as she began to develop her film and television career, she became known for something quite different. Cangelosi signed a music deal with Jake Hooker of 'Hookmo Records' and started recording with the girl group trio, 'Sirens'. Their first single, "I'm in Love (with your best friend)" was released on an Arcade Records' hit compilation CD in Europe while their second,"Wanna Have Fun!", can be heard in the Oscar nominated film, Ghost World (2001) as well as Todd Solondz's critically acclaimed film, Storytelling (2001).

Back in Hollywood, Cangelosi still deliberated about whether to continue to pursue her music career or follow her passion for acting. It was then that Fox Searchlab director Michael Mohan cast her in his dark comedy, "Wanna Be Your Bitch" (2002), after hearing one of her songs in Ghost World (2001). Mohan's parody was about a "misunderstood" pop star-turned-actress and Cangelosi found it the perfect quirky segue to make her way back onto the screen. In 2003, Cangelosi was cast in a supporting role in Jim Carrey's latest picture, Bruce Almighty (2003) while living in Hollywood with her husband, British actor, Ian Paul Cassidy.

In 2005, Cangelosi and Cassidy divorced. Cangelosi returned to Dallas where, represented by the Kim Dawson Agency, she worked regularly in commercials and live appearances. After acquiring her Real Estate license and briefly working in new home sales, Cangelosi then pursued an advertising career in College Station, TX, working for the local NBC affiliate and subsequently for CBS. It was at CBS that she met and later married the love of her life - News Anchor Joe Brown.

Occasionally, Cangelosi still enjoys work in commercials, voice-overs and training videos when requested. She can also be heard regularly as a vocalist at her church, Brazos Fellowship www.brazosfellowship.com where she is on staff. She is filled with gratitude at finding her soul mate and is amazed at how God has worked in her life and used her past experiences to help further His kingdom!

Felix Klare was born on 12 October 1978 in Heidelberg, Germany. He is an actor, known for Unschuldig (2018), Tatort (1970) and Weil du mir gehörst (2019). He is married to Zora Thiessen. They have four children.

German-born Gertrude Hoffman began her film career in Germany in 1918, but she didn't start her Hollywood career until she was past 60 years of age, making her American film debut in 1933. She worked steadily and made quite a few films over the next 20 years, though many of her parts were unbilled. She is probably best remembered as Mrs. Odets, the sassy next-door neighbor to Gale Storm in My Little Margie (1952), who was always up for a "caper" in one of Margie's many crazy schemes. She died in Hollywood of a heart attack in 1968.

Anne Weinknecht was born on 18 November 1977 in Heidelberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Gisela (2005) and Glückliche Fügung (2010).

Luli Deste was born on 7 November 1902 in Heidelberg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Thunder in the City (1937), The Case of the Black Parrot (1941) and Verdacht auf Ursula (1939). She died on 7 July 1951 in New York City, New York, USA.

Sanna Englund was born on 18 April 1975 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. She is an actress, known for Notruf Hafenkante (2007), The Country Doctor (1987) and Vampir (2021).

Ellen Pollock was born on 29 June 1902 in Heidelberg, Germany. She was an actress, known for A Farewell to Arms (1966), The Forsyte Saga (1967) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). She was married to James Proudfoot and Captain Leslie Hancock. She died on 29 March 1997 in London, England, UK.

Julius van de Laar was born in 1983 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Camill Jammal was born on 21 September 1985 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor and composer, known for Ruby (2022), Der Menschenfeind (2020) and Police Call 110 (1971).

Christoph Busche was born in 1980 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is a writer and director, known for Adam Meets Eve (2005), Die Diplomatin (2016) and Linie X (2003).

Anna Luise Kiss was born on 27 November 1981 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Berlin Station (2016), Kommissar Rex (1994) and In aller Freundschaft (1998).