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I Would Rather Die

2026

The protagonist Archie, considered the school loser, is bitten by a zombie and finds himself at the center of a mission to save the city alongside his friends Cris and Brenda.

Gina Shay

Producer · Known for Shrek Forever After, Trolls World Tour

Gina Shay is an American producer at DreamWorks Animation specializing in animated feature films. She was nominated for the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature award due to her contributions to the 2010 film Shrek Forever After. Most recently, through Gina Shay's work as producer of DreamWorks' 2016 animated film Trolls, she has expressed owning a position that advocates for generating content that affects positive body images in youth. Gina Shay verbalized this notion at the DreamWorks Animation presentation in Hall H of the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, stating: "As filmmakers we feel like it's our responsibility to give girls memorable characters that don't make them feel inadequate in body image. My daughter's eleven, she has a really powerful mind and I would rather have her using it to be imaginative instead of obsessing in front of a mirror because all girls are beautiful." Shay is divorced from Ralph Bakshi's son, Preston. She started her career as a production assistant on Bakshi's 1992 film Cool World. Her son, Miles Bakshi, provided the voice for Tim Templeton in the DreamWorks Animation's film The Boss Baby. Description above from the Wikipedia article Gina Shay, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Forrest Tucker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Forrest Meredith Tucker (February 12, 1919 – October 25, 1986) was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker described himself as a farm boy. He was born in Plainfield, Indiana, on February 12, 1919, a son of Forrest A. Tucker and his wife, Doris Heringlake. His mother has been described as an alcoholic. Tucker began his performing career at age 14 at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, pushing the big wicker tourist chairs by day and singing "Throw Money" at night. After his family moved to Washington, D.C., Tucker attracted the attention of Jimmy Lake, the owner of the Old Gaiety Burlesque Theater, by winning its Saturday night amateur contest on consecutive weeks. After his second win, Tucker was hired there at full time as Master of Ceremonies, but left when it was soon discovered that he was underage. He graduated from Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., in 1938, and, joining the United States Cavalry, was stationed at Fort Myer in Arlington County, Virginia, but discharged for, once again, being underage. He returned to work at the Old Gaiety after his 18th birthday. When Lake's theatre closed for the summer in 1939, Tucker was helped by a wealthy mentor to travel to California and try to break into film acting. He made a successful screen test, and began auditioning for movie roles. In his own estimation, Tucker was in the mold of large "ugly guys" such as Wallace Beery, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen, rather than a matinee idol. His debut was as a powerfully built farmer who clashes with the hero in The Westerner (1940), which starred Gary Cooper. Like many other movie actors at the time, Tucker enlisted in the United States Army during World War II; he earned a commission as a second lieutenant. Tucker married four times: Sandra Jolley (1919–1986) in 1940, divorced in 1950, daughter of the character actor I. Stanford Jolley (who also died of emphysema) and the sister of the Academy Award-winning art director Stan Jolley. They had a daughter, Pamela "Brooke" Tucker. Marilyn Johnson on March 28, 1950 (died on July 19, 1960). Marilyn Fisk on October 23, 1961. They had a daughter, Cindy Tucker, and son, Forrest Sean Tucker. Sheila Forbes on April 15, 1986. Tucker, who had battled lung cancer for more than a year, as well as having a series of minor illnesses, collapsed and was hospitalized, for the second time in a week, on his way to the ceremony for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 21, 1986. He died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital on October 25, 1986, a few months after the theatrical release of Thunder Run and Outtakes. He was interred in Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. CLR

Colleen Dewhurst

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3, 1924 — August 22, 1991) was a Canadian-American actress known for a while as "the Queen of Off-Broadway." In her autobiography, Dewhurst wrote: "I had moved so quickly from one Off-Broadway production to the next that I was known, at one point, as the 'Queen of Off-Broadway'. This title was not due to my brilliance but rather because most of the plays I was in closed after a run of anywhere from one night to two weeks. I would then move immediately into another." Dewhurst was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O’Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dramas on live television, and Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival. Description above from the Wikipedia article Colleen Dewhurst, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Christian Finnegan

Fletcher Christian Finnegan (born April 1, 1973), better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City. Finnegan was born in Albany, New York. He grew up in Acton, Massachusetts, and attended The Walnut Hill School, a boarding/day high school focused on programs in the performing, visual, and creative arts and located in Natick, Massachusetts. Christian is perhaps best known as one of the original panelists on VH1's Best Week Ever and as Chad, the only white roommate in the “Mad Real World” sketch on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show. He can currently be seen as co-host of "Black and White", a series airing on A&E which he created and executive produces. He also co-stars in the TBS series Are We There Yet?. He also co-hosted Zest TV’s web travel show “CustomNATION” and his own music-centric podcast “Audio Spackle” which debuted on Cave Comedy Radio in January 2013. Finnegan has been a fixture on Comedy Central, having starred in his own half-hour special Premium Blend, one hour stand up special “Au Contraire”, as well as Comedy Central Presents: Christian Finnegan and countless network interstitials. He served as a writer for Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on which he also appeared as a guest. Finnegan's stand up was also featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. Additional television appearances as himself or performing stand up have included “Conan”, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson”, "Would You Rather...with Graham Norton", “Good Afternoon America” and multiple times on The Today Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and on History's I Love the 1880s. He hosted TV Land's game show "Game Time". As an actor, Finnegan portrayed the supporting role of "Carl" in the film Eden Court, a ticket agent in "Knight and Day" and several guest roles including a talk show host on "The Good Wife". In October 2006, Finnegan's debut stand up comedy CD titled Two For Flinching was released by Comedy Central Records, with a follow-up national tour of college campuses from January to April 2007. “Au Contraire!” was released by Warner Bros. Records in 2009. His third special "The Fun Part" was filmed at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston on April 4, 2013 and debuted on Netflix on April 15, 2014. On December 31, 2014 Finnegan appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast. On July 27, 2016, he and comedian Sherrod Small began to co-host Black and White, a comedy/talk show on A&E that takes a humorous look at race relations in America. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jim Raschke

James Donald Raschke is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke. After a successful amateur wrestling career and a stint in the United States Army, James Raschke started in professional wrestling in 1966 in the American Wrestling Association as a referee. He was soon wrestling under his real name, playing off of his amateur wrestling notoriety in the area. He eventually changed his ring name to Baron von Raschke and claimed to be from Germany. He would do a goose-step and then put his finisher known as the "brainclaw", on his opponent. Earlier in his career, the Von Raschke had a finishing maneuver known as the "Prussian sleeper", a rather complex variation of a traditional sleeper hold. His mantra at the time was; "I am ordered to win! I must win! And I will win!" Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s he held numerous singles and tag team titles throughout several NWA and AWA territories, as well as wrestling for the WWWF, where his claw hold was "censored" by a huge red X on WWWF television because it was considered such a violent act. Managed by Fred Blassie, Von Raschke's highest-profile match of his 1970s WWWF run came in March 1977, where he wrestled WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino for the title at Madison Square Garden in New York. Von Raschke lost the match by disqualification when, after Sammartino became tied up in the ropes, he shoved the referee away as he had his clawhold applied to Sammartino's head. Sammartino defeated Von Raschke in a rematch a month later at Madison Square Garden, marking Sammartino's last successful title defense before losing the belt to Superstar Billy Graham. In 1978, Von Raschke was recognized as the first NWA Television champion (the Mid Atlantic Television title had been renamed). In May 1984, Raschke and The Crusher defeated Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera for the AWA World Tag Team Championship. They would lose the belts in August of that same year to The Road Warriors.

Catherine McLeod

Catherine McLeod (July 2, 1921 – May 11, 1997) was an American actress who made over sixty television and movie appearances between 1944 and 1976. She memorably portrayed the one woman whom James Garner's character Bret Maverick wanted to marry on the 1957 television series Maverick, in the episode "Rage for Vengeance," and appeared in literally dozens of other series including The Millionaire, Meet McGraw, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, 77 Sunset Strip, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Bronco, Perry Mason, Colt .45, Lawman, Bonanza, Hawaiian Eye, Have Gun - Will Travel, The Outer Limits, The Virginian, and the Ten Thousand Horses Singing episode of Studio One opposite James Dean and John Forsythe. Movies included Frank Borzage's I've Always Loved You (1946), Courage of Lassie (1946), The Fabulous Texan (1947), That's My Man (1947), Old Los Angeles (1948), My Wife's Best Friend (1952), A Blueprint for Murder (1953), William Witney's The Outcast (1954), Ride the Wild Surf (1964), and Lipstick (1976). McLeod's greatest impact upon American consciousness by far, however, was as purveyor of one of the most ubiquitous catchphrases of its era when she portrayed the woman in the 1963 headache remedy television commercial who plaintively but irritably said, "Mother, please! I'd rather do it myself!" The announcer's voiceover would then intone, "Sure you have a headache... tense, irritable.... but don't take it out on her." Description above from the Wikipedia article Catherine McLeod, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Juliet Prowse

Juliet Anne Prowse was a dancer, whose four-decade career included stage, television and film. She was raised in South Africa, where her family emigrated after World War II. Known for her attractive legs, she was described after her death as having "... arguably the best legs since Betty Grable." In her early twenties, she was dancing at a club in Paris when she was spotted by a talent agent and eventually signed to play the role of Claudine in the Walter Lang film Can-Can. It was during the filming of Can-Can in 1959 that she captured the international spotlight. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the set of the film and after Prowse performed a rather saucy can-can for the Russian leader, he proclaimed her dance immoral. The publicity brought Prowse considerable attention in the United States. Prowse met Frank Sinatra on the set of Can-Can. Time magazine did not rate the movie highly, but declared Prowse the best thing in it: "In fact, the only thing really worth seeing is Juliet Prowse, a young South African hoofer who puts some twinkle in the stub-toed choreography. And the only thing really worth hearing is the crack that Frank flips back at Juliet when she whips a redoubtable hip in his direction. "Don't point", he gasps. "It's rude." She would go on to appear with Sinatra and other notable guests such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Lawford, Hermione Gingold, the Hi-Lo's, Red Norvo, Nelson Riddle and his orchestra on the 1959 Frank Sinatra Show. She at times would sing in the chorus with other guests or Sinatra would sing to her. Sinatra invited Prowse to join him in Las Vegas, even though she was living with the actor Nico Minardos at the time. Sinatra and Prowse announced their engagement in 1962. Soon afterwards they broke up, reportedly because Prowse wanted to concentrate on her career. Prowse later admitted, "I was as much flattered as I was in love. He (Sinatra) was a complex person, and after a few drinks he could be very difficult." Prowse co-starred alongside Elvis Presley in G.I. Blues. During shooting of the film, they had a short and intense fling. "Elvis and I had an affair. ... We had a sexual attraction like two healthy young people, but he was already a victim of his fans. We always met in his room and never went out." Prowse also made a brief cameo appearance in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer documentary film, Elvis: That's the Way. She starred with Denny Scott Miller on her own NBC sitcom in the 1965-1966 season: Mona McCluskey, which was produced by George Burns. The series was based on the idea that the couple, Mike and Mona McCluskey, would live on his military salary, rather than her lucrative earnings as an actress. In the late 1980s, she was mauled by an 80-pound leopard – twice. Once, while filming a scene for Circus of the Stars in 1987 and later that same year rehearsing a promotional stunt on The Tonight Show, when the same leopard attacked her. The later attack was more serious, requiring upwards of twenty stitches to reattach her ear.

Vance Gerry

Writer · Known for The Jungle Book

Regarded as one of the most creative and talented story artists in the animation industry, Gerry joined the Walt Disney Studios in 1955 after studying at the Chouinard Art Institute. He rose quickly through the ranks to become a layout artist. He contributed to the television shows "Goofy's Cavalcade of Sports" and "How to Relax"; the short features "The Truth About Mother Goose" and "Donald in Mathmagic Land"; and the features "101 Dalmatians" and "The Sword in the Stone." Gerry moved to the studio's story department on "The Jungle Book," Walt Disney's last animated feature. Looking back on that collaboration, Gerry said, "There was an aura about Walt: When he came into the room, you felt it. He focused very closely on what the characters would do and say." Gerry later made major contributions to "Dalmatians," "The Aristocats," "Robin Hood," "The Rescuers," "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and "The Fox and the Hound." In "The Rescuers," he drew the storyboards, a shot by shot blueprint, for the sequence in which kidnapper Madame Medusa primps before a mirror while cruelly dismissing Penny's wish to return to the orphanage: "Adopted? What makes you think anyone would want a homely little girl like you?" In the book "Before the Animation Begins: The Art and Lives of Disney Inspirational Sketch Artists," animation historian John Canemaker noted that Gerry needed only a few drawings to establish the type of shot, the mood of the sequence, the character's expressions, etc. Working from Gerry's sketches, animators developed their characters' actions: when Medusa would pull off her false eyelashes; how Penny would bow her head in resignation. Gerry told Canemaker how he liked to work. "I'd just as soon start with a title of a picture and start dreaming into it," he said. "A script is restricting because it tells you too much. I'd rather start earlier than that and look for possibilities for animation and entertainment, rather than story elements or structure." Gerry later received a story adaptation credit for "The Great Mouse Detective" and worked on the storyboards for "Fantasia/2000." Gerry shifted to visual development and character design in 1995, and contributed to "Pocahontas," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "Tarzan" and "Home on the Range." Gerry also operated the Weatherbird Press, which published fine books. -http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/11/local/me-gerry11

Cindy Drummond

Cindy Drummond spent the first 35 years of her life avoiding becoming an entertainer. After dropping in and out of college, waiting tables, tending bar, managing restaurants and working retail, all on her feet, Cindy found herself with a bad case of plantar fasciitis and an equally bad case of wanderlust. So, she finally packed up her custom orthotics and her hopes and dreams, and moved to Los Angeles, where she quickly got a job...waiting tables. But luckily for Cindy, the difference between waiting tables in Alexandria, Virginia, and waiting tables in Los Angeles, is that in L.A., all the other servers are actors, writers and comics. She had finally found her tribe. Cindy first tried her hand at stand-up comedy. She performed at the big clubs like The Improv, The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory as well as alternative clubs like the late great Luna Park. She even got fired from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a badge of honor for alternative comics like Cindy, who utilize storytelling and improvisation rather than the classic set-up punch. The stand up soon led to acting. You might recognize her as the GEICO "Spy Mom," a recurring role since 2015. Cindy's years as a stand-up sharpened the improvisational skills she used to help mold the character of "Spy Mom" in collaboration with the director Wayne McClammy and the copy writers and ad execs from The Martin Agency. One of Cindy's favorite parts of her career is the act of collaboration. A senior copy writer said of her, "She's a better writer than I am. She kept giving us so much fun material. It would have been a shame to leave that all behind on a hard drive somewhere." The "Spy Mom" character went on to be voted one of the top 5 GEICO commercials of all time in a Best of GEICO nationwide contest. And much to the delight of Cindy's parents, "Cindy Drummond" has twice been the answer to the question on JEOPARDY. Cindy also enjoys working in film and television. She can be seen as a recurring guest star on the CBS prime time comedy "The Unicorn." And in one of her proudest and most satisfying roles to date, she appeared as Lottie Beth Hobbs alongside Cate Blanchette in the multi-Emmy nominated historical limited series, "Mrs. America," on FX on Hulu. When Cindy is not working, she gives her time to a small non-profit all-volunteer-run animal rescue in Los Angeles called LA Animal Rescue, she is a Board Member and volunteer. She says the animals keep her grateful, grounded and sane.

Kate Harbour

Cast · Known for Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

Born in 1971, I grew up in a lovely village called Nether Heyford. I started dancing at the age of 4 and was often involved in performances at the school or local fete. One of my favourite memories is singing ‘Halfway up the Stairs’ in front of my class, with my Kermit the Frog hand puppet. From that little performance came my ever increasing fascination with ‘The Muppet Show’. At 8, I started at the Arts Educational School in Tring, where my main focus was ballet. My love of Theatre was born, when at 12 I was cast as “first mouse” for the Royal Festival Ballets “Nutcracker” at the Royal Festival Hall to approximately 2000 people per show ! I then attended The Central School of Ballet which was founded and run by the late Christopher Gable. In the 3rd year I toured with the school’s company in their “World on Fire” production. Touring was a great experience, but I will never forget locking myself out of my digs in Warminster! I was too busy chatting to the local Ghurkhas’ over a pint or 3. Having shinned up the back gate and jumped down through the open window, I realised I had entered the bedroom of the rather shocked Headmasters wife. She was remarkably calm though, as I made my sincere apologies and attempted to exit through her wardrobe! My first professional stage job was the back end of Maggie the Cow at Watford Palace. Always good to start at the bottom and work your way up! Then I joined the NYMT for a season at the Edinburgh Festival. This was when I discovered my granny voice!! I played opposite Jonny Lee Miller in Bertolt Brechts Caucasian Chalk Circle, playing Granny Grusinia and other parts. The NYMT also produced “Joseph and his amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” that year, featuring Jude Law! I have had the privilege of working with some amazing and talented people in theatre .Not least when I was cast in Cameron Macintosh’s “Oliver” directed by Sam Mendes. Working with the different “Fagins” and all those “Nancy’s”! I then swapped my corset for another Cameron show, “Martin Guerre”. My lasting memory of this though was the look on Craig-Revel Horwood’s face as I tried to perfect his choreography in hob nail boots!

David Healy

A rotund, jovial New Yorker, David Healy obligingly played every manner of stereotypical American in British films and on television for more than thirty years. The son of an Australian father and an American mother, he spent much of his youth in Texas. Studying at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he majored in drama and befriended another young acting hopeful, named Larry Hagman. David first arrived in England as a member of the U.S. Air Force and soon wound up, along with Hagman, in the cast of a touring show written by John Briley. This later grew into The Airbase (1965), a 25-minute BBC sitcom (with David as Staff Sergeant Tillman Miller), which took a humorous look at British-American cultural differences at an RAF base. Considering his job prospects to be rather more lucrative in Britain -- in keeping with the 'bigger fish, smaller pond' theory - David soon found himself in almost continuous demand for any part which required an affable or imperious American. His long gallery of characters included diplomats, businessmen, bureaucrats, spooks, military brass, and so on. There were rare occasions, when he acted against type and played 'Britishers' -- a notable point in case being a likeable Dr. Watson, opposite charismatic Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes, in The Sign of Four (1983). His comedic side was showcased in guest appearances with Dick Emery and Kenny Everett and a with couple of turns in Jeeves and Wooster (1990). Though married and settled in Surrey, David took job offers on both sides of the Atlantic. He was glimpsed as a cleric in Patton (1970) and in Robert Aldrich's doomsday thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977); well-cast as Teddy Roosevelt in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977); and he had recurring roles in TV's favourite soapie of the day, Dallas (1978). British TV audiences saw him guesting in just about every major crime series, from The Saint (1962) and Department S (1969), to The Persuaders! (1971). Simultaneously, from 1967, David pursued a successful career as a stage actor in classical plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 1975, he re-visited his roots, playing Falstaff at a Shakespeare festival in Dallas. Ever versatile, David found another calling in musicals, appearing in "Kismet", "Call Me Madam" and "The Music Man". He received much praise for his interpretation of Runyonesque gambler Nicely-Nicely Johnson (played definitively on screen by Stubby Kaye) in "Guys and Dolls", performing show-stopping encores of "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat". - IMDb Mini Biography By: I.S.Mowis

Peter Dreimanis

Cast · Known for Sinners

The basic structural facts of rock band July Talk are this: two front people, Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, surrounded by whiplashing guitarists Ian Docherty and Josh Warburton, and double drummers Danny Miles and Dani Nash. For this compulsively DIY, rigorously self-realizing group, the essence of July Talk has always been the tension between precision and chaos. To understand this tension, we can reduce it to sets of twos, or we can magnify it and look deeper as to why we feel the need to frame it one way or the other. What we see says more about what we’re looking for. With July Talk, as with most things, what have we missed? We need not ask what July Talk’s two writhing frontpeople’s relationship is to each other, but rather what their relationship is to us, their audience, and to the world, this tender, villainous, confounding world. These bodies welcome our gaze, they revel and recoil in it while they furiously push back, asking of us what they ask of each other: please see me for who I am. If we see July Talk as a woman and a man, in opposition to one another, what we are seeing is our own projections upon these bodies. What goes on between these bodies, all of them, that kinetic, staticky, sticky space, is where the truth of July Talk takes shape. On stage, July Talk unfurls and explodes. The action pings from slo-motion commotion to back-bendy communion, fluid (as in bodily) and liquid (as in the dark goo phase of metamorphosis). Things get weird, occasionally grotesque, always enthralling. Each show offers moments of grace that reveal for a moment the inner workings of this unknowable universe. Hold onto those until the next time.

Trisha Yearwood

Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964)[1] is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the Billboard country singles chart. Its corresponding self-titled debut album would sell over two million copies. Yearwood continued with a series of major country hits during the early to mid-1990s, including "Walkaway Joe" (1992), "The Song Remembers When" (1993), "XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)" (1994), and "Believe Me Baby (I Lied)" (1996). Yearwood's 1997 single "How Do I Live" reached number two on the U.S. country singles chart and was internationally successful. It appeared on her first compilation (Songbook) A Collection of Hits (1997). The album certified quadruple-platinum in the United States and featured the hits "In Another's Eyes" and "Perfect Love". Yearwood had a string of commercial successes over the next several years including the hit singles "There Goes My Baby" and "I Would've Loved You Anyway". She released her tenth studio record Jasper County in 2005, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the top ten of the Billboard 200. It would become her fastest-selling album in the United States. Yearwood signed with Big Machine Records in 2007 and released the critically acclaimed Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love the same year. Yearwood spent several years on hiatus from her own musical career to focus on other projects. She published three successful cookbooks, which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2012, she began a culinary television series on the Food Network called Trisha's Southern Kitchen, which later won a Daytime Emmy Award. Yearwood has sold over 15 million records worldwide.[2] Her work has earned her several awards and nominations, including three Grammy Awards, three awards from the Academy of Country Music, and three awards from the Country Music Association. Yearwood has also been a cast member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1999. Since 2005 she has been married to country singer Garth Brooks, with whom she has collaborated on a number of occasions.

James Darren

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   James William Ercolani (June 8, 1936 - September 2, 2024), known by his stage name James Darren, was an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. He wanted to be an actor and studied in New York City with Stella Adler for a number of years. He would also occasionally sing although he later said "I wasn't really a singer. I was a kid in Philly whose dad would take him to bars and nightclubs and I would get up and sing two songs." Darren was discovered by talent agent and casting director Joyce Selznick after he got some photographs taken by Maurice Seymour to show potential agents: His secretary, a woman by the name of Yvonne Bouvier, "asked me if I was interested in getting into film. I said yeah, I was. She said I know someone you should meet. She set up a meeting between me and Joyce Selznick, who worked for Screen Gems. Joyce brought me over to Columbia Pictures about a week later and got me a contract there." Columbia signed Darren to a long term contract in July 1956. A few weeks later, he was filming his first film, Rumble on the Docks. His appearance was well received and he got a lot of fan mail - second at the studio only to Kim Novak. Darren guest starred on an episode of TV's The Web ("Kill and Run") then Columbia gave him a support role in an "A" picture, the comedy Operation Mad Ball, starring Jack Lemmon. He had support roles in two films directed by Phil Karlson: The Brothers Rico and Gunman's Walk. In between he was in The Tijuana Story, although his role was relatively small. Darren was third billed in the surf film, Gidget. He also sang the title track. The film was a hit with teen audiences and so was the song. Darren wound up recording a string of pop hits for Colpix Records, the biggest of which was "Goodbye Cruel World". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Another sizeable hit was "Her Royal Majesty". He is also featured in one of the Scopitone series of pop music video jukebox films ("Because You're Mine"). Darren was third billed in a series of films for Columbia: The Gene Krupa Story, All the Young Men, and Let No Man Write My Epitaph. He had a cameo as himself in a teen film, Because They're Young, singing the title track. Darren had a supporting role in the World War II film The Guns of Navarone. Also popular was Gidget Goes Hawaiian, where Darren reprised his role as Moondoggie; he was given top billing. Darren also acted in Diamond Head as well as a third time in Gidget Goes to Rome, which he sang the title track for, Under the Yum Yum Tree. In 1963, Darren signed a seven picture deal with Universal, starting with The Lively Set. He was the singing voice of Yogi Bear in the animated film, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, on the song "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a". He was the singing voice of his own character "Jimmy Darrock" on an episode of The Flintstones. However the character's dialogue was provided by voice actor Lennie Weinrib. He subsequently launched a career as a director, notably of action-based series , including Hunter, The A-Team, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, and Nowhere Man, as well as dramas such as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Darren, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Luis Vega

Luis Vega is an Actor, Writer, and Educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Over a 20-year career as an actor he has worked in theater, film, tv, commercials, and voiceovers. New York Theater: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (Atlantic Theater Company); TARTUFFE (Moliere in the Park); THE GETT (Rattlestick Theater); HINDSIGHT (Fault Line Theater Company); THE UNDERLYING CHRIS (Second Stage); TELL HECTOR I MISS HIM (Atlantic Theater Company); i thought i would die but i didn’t (New Georges/The Tank). Regional Theater: LAUGHS IN SPANISH (Denver Center); CHANGE AGENT (Arena Stage); THE HUMANS (Broadway National Tour); WHERE STORMS ARE BORN (Williamstown); THE UNDERPANTS (Old Globe); SEIZE THE KING (La Jolla Playhouse); AS YOU LIKE IT (Guthrie). Film/TV: “BLUE BLOODS” (CBS), “THE GOOD FIGHT” (Paramount +), “MADAM SECRETARY” (CBS), ANOTHER EARTH (Fox Searchlight). Luis has taught Acting Technique and Scene Study at both UCSD and the New York Film Academy. His first original play THE LAST BARNSTORM won Teatro Vivo’s Austin Latino New Play Festival in 2017. Luis is an Associate Artist with Fault Line Theatre and holds a BA in English from Columbia University as well as an MFA in Acting from UCSD. Other teachers Luis has studied under include William Esper (Meisner Technique), Kristin Linklater (Shakespeare), Austin Pendleton (Scene Study), and Bob Krakower (On Camera Technique). “

Chris Miller

Cast · Known for Penguins of Madagascar, Madagascar, Shrek

Christopher Matthew Miller (born January 20, 1968) is an American animator, director, and voice actor employed by Paramount Animation and formerly DreamWorks Animation. He is best known for directing Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination) and for voicing The Magic Mirror from the Shrek film series and Kowalski the Penguin in the Madagascar film series. Miller was born on January 20, 1968, in Washington, D.C. He studied animation at the California Institute of Arts. In an interview with Robert K. Elder for The Film That Changed My Life, Miller attributes his success in film to Sleeper. "I would be penniless and drunk on the corner, begging for cash, if I had not seen the film Sleeper. I guarantee you." In 2011, Miller directed Puss in Boots, a spin-off and sequel to the Shrek franchise. His wife, Laura Gorenstein Miller, worked as a dance choreographer. Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Miller (animator), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Jann Arden

Jann Arden is a Canadian singer songwriter, broadcaster and author. She played supporting and guest roles in many television series', while starring as a fictionalized version of herself on a quest for renewed fame in CTV's comedy series Jann. Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Jann catapulted onto the Canadian music scene in 1993, with the release of her debut album Time For Mercy, which featured the hit single, “I Would Die For You”. This was followed by Living Under June, which contained her break-out hit “Insensitive”. With a career that spans 12 albums and 19 top ten singles, Arden’s contributions to the Canadian music industry has been recognized with 8 Juno Awards, 10 SOCAN Awards, 4 Western Canadian Music Awards, a Much Music Video Award, 3 Prairie Music Awards and an Alberta Recording Industry Association Award. She has been inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, has been given the Vantage Women of Originality Award, awarded the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal, was inducted into the Western Canadian Music Alliance Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Sting

Cast · Known for Bee Movie

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, activist, and actor. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than 100 million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police. He has received three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002; a Golden Globe; an Emmy; and four Academy Award nominations. As a solo musician and as a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. Sting has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors; a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to music; Kennedy Center Honors; and the Polar Music Prize. In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born at Sir G B Hunter Memorial Hospital in Wallsend, Northumberland, England, on 2 October 1951, the eldest of four children of Audrey (née Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and former fitter at an engineering works. He grew up near Wallsend's shipyards, which made an impression on him. As a child, he was inspired by the Queen Mother waving at him from a Rolls-Royce to divert from the shipyard prospect towards a more glamorous life. He helped his father deliver milk and by ten was "obsessed" with an old Spanish guitar left by an emigrating friend of his father. Sting attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He visited nightclubs such as Club A'Gogo to see Cream and Manfred Mann, who influenced his music. He learned to sing and play simultaneously by listening to records at 78 rpm. After leaving school in 1969, he enrolled at the University of Warwick in Coventry, but left after a term. After working as a bus conductor, building labourer, and tax officer, he attended the Northern Counties College of Education (now Northumbria University) from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher.[20] He taught at St Paul's First School in Cramlington for two years. Sting performed jazz in the evenings, at weekends, and during breaks from college and teaching, playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after his habit of wearing a black and yellow jumper with hooped stripes with the Phoenix Jazzmen. Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee (or according to Sting himself, "they thought I looked like a wasp"), which prompted the name "Sting". In the 1985 documentary Bring On the Night a journalist called him Gordon, to which he replied, "My children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, who is this Gordon character?" In 2011, he told Time "I was never called Gordon. You could shout 'Gordon' in the street and I would just move out of your way". Despite this, he chose not to legally change his name to "Sting". ... Source: Article "Sting (musician)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Suraj Venjaramoodu

Cast · Known for Jailer 2

Suraj Venjaramood is a National Award winning Indian film actor and impressionist (mimic) who has starred in over 200 Malayalam films. He mainly plays comedy roles, though he has played some character roles as well. He is a three-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Comedy Artist. In 2014, Suraj received the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the Malayalam film Perariyathavar Suraj started his career as a stand-up comedian. His mimicry shows were a success with the audience. He first acted in a film named Jagapoga which was a spoof of Malayalam movies. He played the role of Pachan as well as Dadasahib in this film. He is generally regarded for his artificial mockery of the Thiruvananthapuram accent for which he is largely criticised. So far Suraj has acted in more than 100 films and have played the lead character in the films Duplicate and Thaskara Lahala. He is known for acting in the films Arabikatha, Ivar Vivahitharayal, Annan Thambi, Veruthe Oru Bharya, LollyPop, Gulumal: The Escape, Sakudumbam Shyamala, Adaminte Makan Abu and Perariyathavar. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor at the 61st National Film Awards for the film Perariyathavar, directed by Dr. Biju. The story of the film revolved around a father and son working as Municipality workers and the harsh life they face. Noted filmmaker and jury chairman Saeed Mirza, while announcing Suraj's award in a press meet, said: "Suraj has played a municipal sweeper [in the film] but it is an incredibly dignified performance. He excels in comedy but in this film Suraj has brilliantly played a reticent character. I would not have been able to sleep had his name not been in the list of awardees."

Wylie Dufresne

Wylie Dufresne is an American chef. He was previously the owner of Du's Donuts and the former chef and owner of the wd~50 and Alder restaurants in Manhattan. He now owns Stretch Pizza on 24th Street and Park in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation and presentation of food. Born in 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island, Dufresne is a graduate of Friends Seminary and The French Culinary Institute (now known as The International Culinary Center) in New York. In 1992, he completed a B.A. in philosophy at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. From 1994 through 1999, he worked for Jean-Georges Vongerichten, where he was eventually named sous chef at Vongerichten's eponymous Jean Georges. In 1998 he was chef de cuisine at Vongerichten's Prime in The Bellagio, Las Vegas. In 1999, he left to become the first chef at 71 Clinton Fresh Food. In April 2003, he opened his 70-seat restaurant, wd~50 (named for the chef's initials and the street address, as well as a pun on WD-40) on Clinton Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In March 2013, he opened a second restaurant Alder in the East Village. wd-50 closed 30 November 2014 and Alder closed in August 2015. Dufresne was a James Beard Foundation nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2000 and chosen the same year by New York Magazine for their New York Awards. Food & Wine magazine named him one of 2001 America's Ten Best Chefs award and, in 2006, New York Magazine's Adam Platt placed wd-50 fourth in his list of New York's 101 best restaurants. He was awarded a star in Michelin's New York City Guide, 2006, 2007, and 2008, the first Red Guide for North America, and was nominated for Best Chef New York by the James Beard Foundation. His signature preparations include Pickled Beef Tongue with Fried Mayonnaise and Carrot-Coconut Sunnyside-Up. In 2006, Dufresne lost to Mario Batali on Iron Chef America. In 2007, he began making appearances as a judge on Bravo's Top Chef, which includes season 2, season 4, season 5, season 7 and season 12. He was invited to participate in Top Chef Masters in 2009, where he placed third out of four in the preliminary rounds. Dufresne also appeared in the final of the United Kingdom version of Masterchef, teaching the eventual winner. He appeared as himself in the 5th Episode of HBO's Treme alongside Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert and David Chang. He is mentioned in the opening episode of HBO's Silicon Valley (TV series) for creating Liquid Shrimp. When asked how it tastes, Gilfoyle responds, "Like how I would imagine cum tastes" In 2013, Dufresne won the James Beard Foundation's Best NYC Chef. It was his 10th nomination and first win. Dufresne’s wd50 restaurant in New York City closed in 2014. Du's Donuts counter In April 2017, Dufresne, along with head baker Colin Kull and general manager Sharilyn Chavez, took over a pop-up space at the William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg as Du's Donuts & Coffee. The pop-up grew into a small chain that now has locations in Soho and Brooklyn. Dufresne's cookbook wd~50, co-written with Peter Meehan, was published in October 2017.

Khalid

In 2016, Khalid Robinson was voted Most Likely to Go Platinum by his high school class. About a year later, he proved them right. A military kid, Robinson split his childhood between Georgia, Kentucky, upstate New York and Heidelberg, Germany, eventually settling in El Paso, Texas—a pattern of dislocation that often made him feel like an outsider. Self-described as “an awkward teen,” he picked up songwriting primarily to stave off loneliness, sharing music through SoundCloud and quickly catching the ears of both his peers and the industry. (His breakout single, 2016’s “Location”, was recorded during spring break of his senior year; a few weeks after it came out, he won Prom King; within a couple of years, the song had sold more than five million copies in the U.S. alone.) In 2017, he released American Teen, a celebratory but bittersweet mix of synth-pop and neon-lit R&B that garnered five Grammy nominations—proof that you’re rarely an outsider alone. In between, Robinson featured on high-profile collaborations with Logic (“1-800-273-8255”), Calvin Harris (“Rollin”) and Normani (“Love Lies”), among others. An EP, Suncity, arrived in late 2018, opening with audio of Khalid being given keys to the city of El Paso—not bad for a kid who’d moved there only a few years before. Reflecting on his evolution from spectator to artist for Apple Music’s Up Next series, Robinson said, “I would sit in this apartment, I would look at the mountain behind me, I would watch all the lightning and I would listen to music. I was like, ‘You know what? I need something to help me a little bit more.’” So he took it on himself and started to write.

Rosie Jones

Rosie Jones is a British comedian from Bridlington. She has written for panel shows Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule, Would I Lie to You?, The Last Leg and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and has appeared as a guest on The Last Leg, 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Hypothetical.

Lisa Eichhorn

Lisa Eichhorn (born February 4, 1952) is an American actress, writer and producer. Eichhorn was first seen by American audiences opposite Richard Gere in the World War II romance, "Yanks" (1979), for which she received two Golden Globe nominations. But her presence in her native land has been lessened by her decision to base in England. Nevertheless, Eichhorn has offered several critically-acclaimed feature film portrayals, even if she did not become a "box-office" commodity. She appeared alongside Lee Remick in the Merchant-Ivory production "The Europeans" (1979), opposite Treat Williams in "Why Would I Lie?" (1980) and was "Mo" Cutter in "Cutter's Way" (1981), opposite Jeff Bridges and John Heard. In the 90s, Eichhorn has begun to play mother roles, notably Jesse Bradford's mother, sent to a sanitarium, in Steven Soderbergh's "King of the Hill" (1993) and the First Lady in the pallid comedy "First Kid" (1996). Her work on American TV has been sporadic. Eichhorn made her TV-movie debut in the celebrated 1982 CBS production of "The Wall" as a Jewish woman in the Warsaw ghetto who participates in the uprising and survives to reach freedom. She was a CIA operative in the USA Network movie, "Pride and Extreme Prejudice" (1990), and although she had never been on a primetime series as a regular, Eichhorn did appear on the ABC daytime drama "All My Children" as Elizabeth Carlyle in 1987. Eichhorn has made memorable guest appearances on "Miami Vice," "The Equalizer" and two separate episodes of "Law & Order." Additionally, she has worked on stage: as Ophelia in "Hamlet," Rosalind in "As You Like It" and Nora in "A Doll's House" in England; and in "The Hasty Heart," "The Common Pursuit" and "The Speed of Darkness" in the US.