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| The Poseidon Adventure |
| Other Star Info |
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Gene Hackman |
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Born January 30, 1931, in San Bernardino,
CA, Hackman joined the Marines at the age of 16 and later served
in Korea. After studying journalism at the University of Illinois,
he pursued a career in television production but later decided
to try his hand at acting, attending a Pasadena drama school
with fellow student Dustin Hoffman; ironically, they were both
voted "least likely to succeed." After briefly appearing in
the 1961 film Mad Dog Coll, Hackman made his debut off-Broadway
in 1963's Children at Their Games, earning a Clarence Derwent
Award for his supporting performance. Poor Richard followed,
before he starred in 1964's production of Any Wednesday. Returning
to films in 1964, Hackman earned strong notices for his work
in Warren Beatty's Lilith and 1966's Hawaii, but the 1967 World
War II tale First to Flight proved disastrous for all involved.
At Beatty's request, Hackman co-starred in Bonnie and Clyde,
winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and establishing
himself as a leading character player.For 1970's I Never Sang
for My Father, he garnered another Academy Award nomination.
The following year Hackman became a star; as New York narcotics
agent Popeye Doyle, a character rejected by at least seven other
actors, he headlined William Friedkin's thriller The French
Connection, winning a Best Actor Oscar and spurring the film
to Best Picture honors. Upon successfully making the leap from
supporting player to lead, he next appeared in the disaster
epic The Poseidon Adventure, one of the biggest money-makers
of 1972. While remaining the subject of great critical acclaim,
Hackman's box-office prowess was beginning to slip: 1975's Lucky
Lady, 1977's The Domino, and March or Die were all costly flops,
and although 1978's Superman -- in which he appeared as the
villainous Lex Luthor -- was a smash, his career continued to
suffer greatly. Apart from the inevitable Superman 2, Hackman
was absent from the screen for several years, and with the exception
of a fleeting appearance in Beatty's 1981 epic Reds, most of
his early-'80s work -- specifically, the features All Night
Long and Eureka -- passed through theaters virtually unnoticed.
Finally, a thankless role as an ill-fated war correspondent
in Roger Spottiswoode's acclaimed 1983 drama Under Fire brought
Hackman's career back to life. By the middle of the decade,
Hackman was again as prolific as ever, and by the 1990s, Hackman
settled comfortably into a rhythm alternating between lead roles
(1990's Narrow Margin, 1991's Class Action) and high-profile
supporting performances.2001 also found Hackman in top form
with his role as the dysfunctional patriarch in director Wes
Anderson's follow-up to Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums. Hackman's
lively performance brought the actor his third Golden Globe,
this time for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy |
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Ernest Borgnine |
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Born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January
24, 1917 in Hamden, CT he spent five years of his early childhood
in Milan before returning to the States for his education. Following
a long stint in the Navy that ended after WWII, Borgnine enrolled
in the Randall School of Dramatic Art in Hartford. Between 1946
and 1950, he worked with a theater troupe in Virginia and afterward
appeared a few times on television before his 1951 film debut
in China Corsair. Borgnine's stout build coupled with his homely
face led him to spend the next few years playing villains. In
1953, he won considerable acclaim for his memorable portrayal
of a ruthless, cruel sergeant in From Here to Eternity. He was
also praised for his performance in the Western Bad Day at Black
Rock. Borgnine could easily have been forever typecast as the
heavy, but in 1955, he proved his versatility and showed a sensitive
side in the film version of Paddy Chayefsky's acclaimed television
play Marty. Borgnine's moving portrayal of a weak-willed, lonely,
middle-aged momma's boy attempting to find love in the face
of a crushingly dull life earned him an Oscar, a British Academy
award, a Cannes Festival award, and an award from both the New
York Film Critics and the National Board of Review.In 1962,
he was cast in the role that most baby boomers best remember
him for, the anarchic, entrepreneurial Quentin McHale in the
sitcom McHale's Navy. During the '60s and '70s, Borgnine's popularity
was at its peak and he appeared in many films, including a version
of his show in 1964, The Dirty Dozen (1966) -- and in television
sequels inspired by the film -- Ice Station Zebra (1968) and
The Wild Bunch (1969). Following the demise of McHale's Navy
in 1965, Borgnine did not regularly appear in series television
for several years. However, he did continue his busy film career
and also performed in television miniseries and movies. Notable
features include The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Law and Disorder
(1974). Some of his best television performances can be seen
in Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Ghost on Flight 401 (1978), and
a remake of Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front (1979).
In 1984, Borgnine returned to series television starring opposite
Jan Michael Vincent in the action-adventure series Airwolf.
The series ended in 1986; his career has continued to steam
along though he generally plays much smaller roles. Between
1995 and 1997, he was a regular on the television sitcom The
Single Guy. |
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Red Buttons |
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The son of a milliner from New York City's
Lower East Side, Aaron Chwatt became a performer after winning
an amateur contest at age 12. Six years later he was a singing
bellboy in a Bronx tavern. It is from the uniform that he took
his famous moniker, Red Buttons. A talented and versatile performer
of stage, screen, and television, Buttons is equally at home
in dramatic or comedic roles, but it was as a burlesque comedian
working in the Catskills Mountains that he first made a name
for himself. Buttons first appeared on Broadway playing a supporting
role in Vickie (1942). Buttons appeared in the play Winged Victory
a short while later, and he reprised his role in the 1944 screen
version. In 1952, the red-haired comedian starred in the CBS
television series The Red Buttons Show. Extremely popular during
its first season -- Button's distinctive theme song in which
he'd clap his hands together as if in prayer and sing, "Ho Ho!
He He! Ha Ha! Strange things are happening!" was a sort of hit
amongst American kids -- it was a blend of variety acts and
a weekly sitcom. The show declined in popularity its second
season and was canceled, then picked up by NBC the following
year where it ran in different formats until 1955. Button's
career went into decline, but the feisty little performer made
an auspicious comeback playing a love-struck American soldier
who defies the racist policies of the U.S. military and marries
a Japanese woman in the tragic Sayonara (1957). His role landed
him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. After that Buttons became
a character actor and has since appeared in many films. |
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Carol Lynley |
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Born in February of 1942 in New York
City Lynley would go on to become a busy teenaged model, and
rose to fame by virtue of a series of popular hair-conditioner
commercials. Her first important acting assignment was as a
high-school-age murderess on a 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock
Presents. The blonde ingenue played a more sedate role in
her first film, Disney's The Light in the Forest.
Lynley woul then go on to appear in numeroes films such as Return
to Peyton Place, The Pleasure Seekers,
The Stripper, Harlow, The
Poseidon Adventure, and The Cat and the Canary.
Her television appearances would be on such hits as The Love
Boat, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Charlie's
Angels, Kojak, Police Woman and Mannix.
She wanted to use the stage name of "Carolyn Lee" for films
but it was taken, so she modified the name to "Carol Lynley".
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Roddy McDowall |
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Born September 17, 1928 in London,
England, Roddy McDowall's quickly choose a life's calling as
an actor because of his would-be acctress mother's influence.
After winning an acting prize in a school play, he was able
to secure film work in Britain, beginning at age ten with Scruffy.
He appeared in 16 roles of varying sizes and importance before
he and his family were evacuated to the U.S. during the 1940
Battle of Britain. McDowall arrival in Hollywood coincided with
the wishes of 20th Century-Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck to
create a "new Freddie Bartholomew." He tested for the juvenile
lead in Fox's How Green Was My Valley, winning
both the role and a long contract. McDowall's first adult acting
assignment was in the film version of Macbeth.
McDowall left films for the most part in the 1950s, preferring
TV and stage work; among his Broadway credits were No
Time for Sergeants, Compulsion, and Camelot.
In 1960 he won a Tony Award for his appearance in The
Fighting Cock. The actor spent the better part of the
early 1960s playing Octavius in the mammoth production Cleopatra,
co-starring with longtime friend Elizabeth Taylor. McDowall's
most frequent assignments between 1968 and 1975 was that of
Cornelius in the Planet of the Apes theatrical
films and TV series. Still accepting the occasional guest-star
film role and theatrical assignment into the 1990s, McDowall
announced that he was suffering from terminal cancer. Shortly
before he was diagnosed with cancer, McDowall had provided the
voiceover for Disney/Pixar's animated feature A Bug's
Life. A few days prior to McDowall's passing, the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named its photo archive
after him he died on October 3, 1998 in Studio City, CA at the
age of 70. |
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Stella Stevens |
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Born in October of 1936 Mississippi-born
Stella Stevens was a wife, mother, and divorcée before she was
17. While studying medicine at Memphis State College, Stevens
became interested in acting and modeling. The notoriety of her
nude spread in Playboy magazine was quickly offset by
the public's realization that she had genuine talent, particularly
in the comedy field. Stevens' many delightful comic characterizations
included appearances in Li'l Abner, The
Courtship of Eddie's Father, and The Silencers.
She also showed up in several 1960s cult favorites like Girls!
Girls! Girls! and The Nutty Professor.
Despite consistently good work, Stevens never achieved the full
stardom that she deserved: When she posed again for Playboy
in 1968, she admitted that it was purely to get people to attend
her films. Stevens worked steadily on television since the late
'50s, in shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General
Electric Theater, Hotel, The Love Boat, Murder,
She Wrote, Police Story and appeared as a regular
on the soap Flamingo Road. Shw would continue making
theatrical films as well, having roles in such films as Where
Angels Go, Trouble Follows and The Poseidon Adventure.
She switched to the other side of cameras in the 1980s, producing
the documentary The American Heroine and directing
the inexpensive Canadian feature The Ranch. Stevens
is the mother of actor Andrew Stevens, and was very briefly
the mother-in-law of actress Kate Jackson. |
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Shelley Winters |
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Born August 18, 1922 in East St. Louis,
Illinois Winters took acting lessons at the New School for Social
Research and the Actors Studio in the late 30s. Short stints
as a model and a chorus girl led to her Broadway debut in The
Night Before Christmas in 1940. Winters signed a Columbia
Pictures contract in 1943, mostly playing bits except when loaned
to United Artists for an important role in Knickerbocker
Holiday. Realizing she was getting nowhere, she took
additional acting lessons, and the breakthrough came with her
role in A Double Life. Her roles became increasingly
more prominent during her years at Universal-International,
as did her offstage abrasive attitude. She would appear in several
prominate films such as Winchester '73, and A
Place in the Sun which won her an Oscar nomination.
Unfortunately, a string of bad films would follow and Winters
returned to Broadway in A Hatful of Rain, in which
she received excellent reviews. Always battling a weight problem,
Winters was plump enough to be convincing as middle-aged Mrs.
Van Daan in film of The Diary of Anne Frank in
1959, for which Winters finally got her Oscar. In the 1960s,
Winters portrayed a brothel madam in two films, The Balcony
and A House Is Not a Home, roles that would have
killed her career ten years earlier but which now established
her in the press as an actress willing to take any professional
risk for the sake of her art. Unfortunately, many of her performances
in subsequent films like Wild in the Streets and
Bloody Mama became more shrill than compelling,
somewhat lessening her standing as a performer of stature. Appearances
in popular films like The Poseidon Adventure and
well-received theater appearances, like her 1974 tour in Effect
of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, helped counteract
such disappointments as the musical comedy Minnie's Boys
and Flap. In the 80s she appeared in several worth
while films such as SOB, and made several guest
starring appearances as Roseanne's grandmother, Nana Mary, on
the hit sitcome Roseanne. |
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Jack Albertson |
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Born in June of 1907 in Malden, Massachusetts,
Albertson spent his teen years on stage as part of the "Dancing
Verselle Sisters" troupe. Over the next few years he would peear
in various forms of live entertainment from vaudeville to burlesque,
the legitimate stage to even opera. For two years he was straight
man to comedian Phil Silvers on the Minsky's Burlesque Circuit,
and then appeared in hit Broadway musicals High Button
Shoes and Top Banana. Albertson began
taking bit roles in films in 1938; among his many fleeting film
parts was the postal worker who redirected all of Santa Claus'
mail to the New York Courthouse in Miracle on 34th Street.
On television, Albertson was a frequent guest star on Burns
and Allen,The Thin Man, Ensign O'Toole and
Dr. Simon Locke. Albertson became an "overnight success"
with his portrayal of Martin Sheen's taciturn father in the
1964 Broadway play The Subject Was Roses, which
earned him a Tony Award; he repeated the role in the 1968 film
version, winning an Oscar in the process. Albertson would also
appear in such big scrren "classics" as Willy
Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and The Poseidon
Adventure. Albertson would earn an Emmy for his role
on the TV sitcom Chico and the Man, and would earn another
for his guest appearance on a 1975 episode of the variety series
Cher. Alberston died from cancer in November of 1981
at the age of 74. |
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Eric Shea |
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Born in California on 14 February 1960,
Eric Shea started his acting career a mere six years later,
appearing for the first time on television as Mike Bradley in
an episode of Felony Squad. Shea, would continue on television
appearing in Batman, Gunsmoke and Family Affair,
before landing a big screen role as one of the newly integrated
family members of Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda in Yours,
Mine and Ours. After returning to television to play
a role in the short-lived series Anna and the King, he
returned to the big screen in The Poseidon Adventure.
During the 70s, Shea would flip flop between television and
big screen, appearing in such films as Ace Eli and Rodger
of the Skies, The Castaway Cowboy, and
Smile. His television guest spots include McMillan
and Wife, Little House on the Prairie, Nanny and
the Professor, and The Brady Bunch. Shea is also
the brother of actor Christopher Shea who is best know as the
voice Linus van Pelt in the Charlie Brown animated holiday specials
of the late 1960s. |
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Leslie Nielsen |
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The son of a Canadian Mountie and the
brother of Canada's future Deputy Prime Minister, Nielsen was
born in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 11, 1926. Nielsen
studied at Toronto's Academy of Radio Arts, and after several
years in radio, he won a scholarship to New York's Neighborhood
Playhouse, where he studied acting under Sanford Meisner and
dance under Martha Graham. He then spent five years appearing
on such live television programs as Tales From Tomorrow
before making his film bow in Ransom!. With the
exception of his starring roles in the sci-fi classic Forbidden
Planet and the popular Debbie Reynolds-vehicle Tammy
and the Bachelor, much of Nielsen's early work was undistinguished.
Nielson would then focus his attention to television and appear
in such series as The Swamp Fox, The New Breed,
Bracken's World, and Hawaii Five-O. Known as a
notorious offscreen practical joker and cut-up, Nielsen was
not given an onscreen conduit for this trait until he was cast
in the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker spoof Airplane.
This led to his deadpan characterization of monumentally inept
police lieutenant Frank Drebin on Z.A.Z.'s cult TV series Police
Squad, which in turn spawned the 1988 hit The Naked
Gun and two sequels. Nielsen also found success in a
number of other film spoofs, so much, in fact, that those familiar
only with his loopy comedy roles are invariably surprised that,
once upon a time, he took himself deadly seriously in films
like Harlow and The Poseidon Adventure.
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Sheila Allen (billed
as Sheila Mathews) |
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Born in February of 1929 Sheila
Matthews would go on to marry Irwin Allen and appear in several
of her husband's TV series and movies. Her first appearance
was in a 1964 epsiode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
She would also appear in Allen's Land of the Giants
and Lost in Space. She had bit parts in her husband's
big screen version of The Poseidon Adventure,
The Towering Inferno, and When Time Ran
Out. She also played Alice's mother in the 1985 Allen
produced mini-series of Alice in Wonderland.
Note: I must confess that although the
nurse character isn't that large, my best friend and I have
a "special place in our hearts" for Mrs. Allen.
See, one of his all time favourite movie is The Towering Inferno
where she plays the mayor's wife Paula Ramsay, and one of
my all time favourite movies is The Poseidon Adventure, so
I felt it necessary to make a point of highlighing Sheila.
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