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1-50 of 74
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Lean, angular-faced and authoritatively spoken lead / supporting actor Roy Scheider obviously never heard the old actor's axiom about "never appearing with kids or animals" lest they overshadow your performance. Breaking that rule did him no harm, though, as he achieved pop cult status by finding, fighting and blowing up a 25-foot-long Great White shark (nicknamed "Bruce") in the mega-hit Jaws (1975) and then electrocuting an even bigger Great White in the vastly inferior Jaws 2 (1978).
Athletic Scheider was born in November 1932 in Orange, New Jersey, to Anna (Crosson) and Roy Bernhard Scheider, a mechanic. He was of German and Irish descent. A keen sportsman from a young age, he competed in baseball and boxing (his awkwardly mended broken nose is a result of his foray into Golden Gloves competitions). While at college, his pursuits turned from sports to theater and he studied drama at Rutgers and Franklin and Marshall. After a stint in the military, Scheider appeared with the New York Shakespeare Festival and won an "Obie Award" for his appearance in the play "Stephen D."
His film career commenced with the campy Z-grade horror cheesefest The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964), and he then showed up in Star! (1968), Paper Lion (1968), Stiletto (1969) and Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970). In 1971 he really came to the attention of film audiences with his role in the Jane Fonda thriller Klute (1971) and then as Det. Buddy Russo (scoring his first Oscar nomination) alongside fiery Gene Hackman in the crime drama The French Connection (1971). His performance as a tough street cop in that film led him into another tough cop role as NYC Det. Buddy Manucci in the underappreciated The Seven-Ups (1973), which features one of the best car chase sequences ever put on film.
In the early 1970s the Peter Benchley novel "Jaws" was a phenomenal best-seller, and young director Steven Spielberg was chosen by Universal Pictures to direct the film adaptation, Jaws (1975), in which Scheider played police chief Brody and shared lead billing with Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss in the tale of a New England seaside community terrorized by a hungry Great White shark. "Jaws" was a blockbuster, and for many years held the record as the highest-grossing film of all time. Scheider then turned up as the shady CIA agent brother of Dustin Hoffman in the unnerving Marathon Man (1976) and in the misfired William Friedkin-directed remake of The Wages of Fear (1953) titled Sorcerer (1977), before again returning to Amity to battle another giant shark in Jaws 2 (1978). Seeking a change from tough cops and hungry sharks, he took the role of womanizing, drug-popping choreographer Joe Gideon, the lead character of the semi-autobiographical portrayal of director Bob Fosse in the sparkling All That Jazz (1979). It was another big hit for Scheider (and another Oscar nomination), with the film featuring a stunning opening sequence to the tune of the funky George Benson number "On Broadway", and breathtaking dance routines including the "Airotica" performance by the glamorous Sandahl Bergman.
Returning to another law enforcement role, Scheider played a rebellious helicopter pilot in the John Badham conspiracy / action film Blue Thunder (1983), a scientist in the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) simply titled 2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984), a cheating husband who turns the tables on his blackmailers in 52 Pick-Up (1986), a cold-blooded hit man in Cohen and Tate (1988) and a CIA operative in the muddled and slow-moving The Russia House (1990). The versatile Scheider was then cast as the captain of a futuristic submarine in the relatively popular TV series SeaQuest 2032 (1993), which ran for three seasons.
Inexplicably, however, Scheider had seemingly, and slowly, dropped out of favor with mainstream film audiences, and while he continued to remain busy, predominantly in supporting roles (generally as US presidents or military officers), most of the vehicles he appeared in were B-grade political thrillers such as The Peacekeeper (1997), Executive Target (1997), Chain of Command (2000) and Red Serpent (2003).- Actress
- Producer
Lisa Blount was an actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows, most notably as Lynette Pomeroy in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Along with her husband, actor Ray McKinnon, she received an Academy Award for the 2002 short film The Accountant (2001).
Lisa Suzanne Blount was born in Fayetteville (Washington County) to Glen Roscoe Blount and Louise Martin Blount, natives of Floral (Independence County); she had one brother, Greg. The family moved to Jacksonville (Pulaski County). Blount graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1975 and attended the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville, beginning classes there when she was sixteen; she left UA before graduating in order to pursue an acting career.
Blount's movie career began in earnest at age nineteen when she was chosen to play a lead role in September 30, 1955 (1977), which was shot in Conway (Faulkner County) and released in 1977. Written and directed by James Bridges, it starred Richard Thomas, Dennis Quaid, and Tom Hulce. Though surrounded by accomplished actors, Blount's vivid portrayal of a James Dean-obsessed girl named Billie Jean stood out among her more well-known co-stars.
Blount married cinematographer actor Christopher Tufty on March 19, 1982; they later divorced. She married Ray McKinnon in 1998. She had no children.
Blount is best remembered for her 1982 role in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982). The movie won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four others. Her screen character-the ambitious, cynical, and insecure Lynette Pomeroy-is the best friend of Paula Pokrifki (Debra Winger). As a result of her performance in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Blount was voted "Favourite Female Newcomer" in 1983 by a US magazine readers' poll.
Blount added television roles to her repertoire. She received critical plaudits for her appearance in the second season of Moonlighting (1985) in the episode Sleep Talkin' Guy (1986). She played a high-class call girl named Toby, whose client talked in his sleep, revealing details of planned murders. Another memorable role was that of Jim Profit's outrageous stepmother Bobbi Stakowski in the short-lived but critically acclaimed Fox series Profit (1996). She appeared in eight episodes in 1996 and 1997.
Blount was given a key role in director John Carpenter's horror film Prince of Darkness (1987), in which she appeared as the love interest to Jameson Parker. As a result of her appearance in this and a few other horror movies, she was sometimes referred to by the press as a "scream queen" star.
Blount and McKinnon received an Academy Award in 2002 for a live-action short film she produced and he directed titled The Accountant, which concerned the plight of American family farms. Many critics believe that Blount's most poignant role was in the 2004 movie Chrystal (2004), which was written, directed, and co-produced by McKinnon, who also played the character Snake in the film. The movie co-starred fellow Arkansan Billy Bob Thornton and was shot in the Eureka Springs (Carroll County) area.
Following the making of Chrystal (2004), Blount and McKinnon moved back to her home state of Arkansas after several years of living in Los Angeles, California. This was in part due to Blount's failing health. She continued to be active and was working on several projects. She shot a pilot for the FX television network series Outlaw Country (2012) with fellow Arkansan Mary Steenburgen, recorded demos for a music project on which she had been working, performed on stage with Eddie Vedder at a rally for the West Memphis Three, and continued the work of designing and remodelling her historic home in Little Rock (Pulaski County). Her last big-screen appearance was as Charlotte Pearson in Randy and the Mob (2007), her husband's crime comedy shot in Atlanta, Georgia.
Blount died at her home in Little Rock after spending seventeen years fighting a chronic illness called idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). She is buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Floral. She had been inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame on September 9, 2010, shortly before her death.- Writer
- Producer
- Actor
Born in Georgia but raised in Houston since the age of 7, this self-described "Prince of Darkness" was compelled to use the comedy stage as his philosophic soapbox. At 13, he would sneak out of his suburban house to hustle his way onto open-mike night rosters. In two brief decades, Hicks worked his way up the sweat-stained comedy ladder to national exposure on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman and an HBO cable special. Rolling Stone named him the "hot stand-up" of 1993. He was the hit of the 1990 and 1991 Just for Laughs comedy festivals in Montreal. Dead at 32, the enigmatic Hicks was admired, reviled and misunderstood. - The Montreal Gazette, March 28, 1994- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dick Hogan was born on 27 November 1917 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Rope (1948), Annapolis Salute (1937) and Submarine Patrol (1938). He died on 18 August 1995 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.- Mark Whitman Johnson was born on 24 January 1949 in Holly Grove, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Firm (1993), October Sky (1999) and The Peacemaker (1997). He died on 4 August 2024 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Charles Portis was born on 28 December 1933 in El Dorado, Arkansas, USA. He was a writer, known for True Grit (2010), True Grit (1969) and Gringos. He died on 17 February 2020 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Joe Mays was born on 25 February 1948 in Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Fatal Vision (1984), The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987) and The Magical World of Disney (1954). He died on 27 January 1994 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Perhaps the best major league catcher of the 1930s, Bill Dickey caught for the New York Yankees during the transition from the Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig era to the Joe DiMaggio era. He was strong and composed at bat and behind the plate. In the 1934 All-Star game, when Carl Hubbell struck out Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin, it was Dickey who ended Hubbard's streak with a single. Mild mannered off the field, he was a fiery competitor on. On 4 July 1932 he objected to the way Carl Reynolds of the Washington Senators slid into him at home plate. He broke Reynolds's jaw with one punch. The league suspended him for 30 days and fined him $1000. In 1943, Dickey enlisted in the US Navy at age 36. He served until 1945. He returned to the Yankees for the 1946 season, but was slumping. When Joe McCarthy was fired in mid-season, Dickey took over as manager. He resigned after the end of the season and became a coach. His first duty was to refine the talents of Yogi Berra, who was assigned Dickey's #8 jersey. He scouted for the Yankees during 1958 and 1959, then retired for good. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954, the Yankees retired #8 to honor Dickey and Berra in 1972.
- Robert Ginnaven was born on 1 January 1937 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for Steel Magnolias (1989), White Lightning (1973) and End of the Line (1987). He was married to Illa Ginnaven and Jeanne Tyler Ginnaven. He died on 17 February 2008 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Sam Walton was born on 29 March 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, USA. He was married to Helen Robson. He died on 5 April 1992 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Dee Brown became known to the larger public as a novelist and historian. His great novel "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is still perhaps the best historical portrayal of the violent relationship between Native Americans and the expansionist Americans with their roots in the Old World.
Brown grew up in Ouachita County, Arkansas, and Little Rock, Arkansas, where he got to know Native Americans. He realised that the Hollywood movies with cowboys and Indians wasn't the real thing. He started his career as a reporter and went on to become a teacher and librarian. He retired as a professor of library science in 1973 and started writing actively. Many of his stories were tales of the Old West. He also wrote children's books. - Composer
- Soundtrack
Dale Hawkins was born on 22 August 1936 in Goldmine, Louisiana, USA. He was a composer, known for Frequency (2000), Apocalypse Now (1979) and To Die For (1995). He died on 13 February 2010 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.- John L. McClellan was born on 25 February 1896 in Sheridan, Arkansas, USA. He died on 28 November 1977 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Connie Hamzy was born on 9 January 1955 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. She died on 21 August 2021 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Buck Robley was an actor, known for Stampede Wrestling (1957) and Mid South Wrestling (1981). He died on 28 May 2013 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Marjorie Lawrence was a soprano, famed for her interpretation of Richard Wgner's operatic heroines, and equally comfortable performing within the mezzo range. During her teens she won a number of vocal competitions, eventually studying in Paris and making her onstage debut in Monte Carlo in 1932 as Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhauser. In the following year she won critical praise in Paris for her performance in the demanding role of Ortrud in Lohengrin. Her appearance in New York's Metropolitan Opera production of Gotterdammerung in 1936, became legendary in operatic history as it marked the first time the heroine had exited offstage into the flames astride a horse - as Wagner had originally intended. Lawrence was extremely versatile, assuming the roles of Tosca, Alceste, Carmen and Salome in various productions. In the latter, she sang in a new German translation and astonished everyone by dramatically discarding all seven veils on cue.
In 1941, while performing in Mexico City she was struck with poliomyelitis, surviving the disease by becoming confined to a wheelchair for several years. Fortunately, although hampered by her lack of mobility, her voice was not affected by the disease. and in 1942 was able to perform a concert at Lauritz Melchior's invitation. A year later she appeared at the Met as Venus in Tannhauser, a role chosen especially as it is perhaps the only operatic role that can be sung by a performer who need neither stand nor walk.
Lawrence became famous during World War II for trips abroad to entertain allied troops in both European and Asian combat zones. In 1946 she was awarded the French Legion d'Honneur for these activities, and thirty years later was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to the performing arts.
Following a 1946 Paris performance as Amneris in Verdi's Aida, she retired from the stage and taught international operatic students in Hot Springs, Arkansas until her death. - Keith Vincent was born on 15 August 1932 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956), Playhouse 90 (1956) and The Man and the Challenge (1959). He died on 11 October 2004 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Soundtrack
Maxine Brown was born on 27 April 1931 in Louisiana, USA. She was married to Tommy H. Russell. She died on 21 January 2019 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.- Sherry Sanford was born on 15 January 1945 in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for The Rainmaker (1997) and Serendipity Lane (1995). She died on 6 October 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Jim Hicks was born on 22 May 1923 in Leakesville, Greene County, Mississippi, USA. He was married to Mary Hicks. He died on 3 August 2006 in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas, USA.
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Sonny Burgess was born on 28 May 1929 in Newport, Arkansas, USA. He is known for A Dirty Shame (2004), Todd Barrow (2019) and Rockabilly Weekends: 21 Years of Viva Las Vegas. He was married to Joann Adams. He died on 18 August 2017 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.- Barbara Sears was born on 6 September 1916 in Noblestown, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for That Night with You (1945), Code of the Lawless (1945) and Bad Men of the Border (1945). She was married to Winthrop Rockefeller and Richard Sears Jr.. She died on 19 May 2008 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Lyle Armstrong was born on 24 December 1918 in Antelope County, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The Day It Came to Earth (1977), Encounter with the Unknown (1972) and Pass the Ammo (1987). He was married to Elizabeth Fawn Jones Armstrong. He died on 18 March 1998 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
- Sanford Faulkner was born on 3 March 1806 in Scott County, Kentucky, USA. Sanford was married to Evelene M. Peak. Sanford died on 4 August 1874 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.