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The Hotel New Hampshire

1984

Over the course of several years beginning in the 1950s, a man and his oddball family run hotels in New England and Vienna, as unexpected events change their lives forever.

Seth Green

Cast · Known for Family Guy, The Italian Job, It

Seth Benjamin Green (né Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. His film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), and he went on to have supporting roles in comedy films throughout the 1980s, including Radio Days (1987) and Big Business (1988). During the 1990s and 2000s, Green began starring in comedy films such as Idle Hands (1999), Rat Race (2001), Without a Paddle (2004), and Be Cool (2005). He also became known for his portrayal of Scott Evil, Dr. Evil's son, in the Austin Powers film series (1997–2002). Green has also taken serious roles in films, including The Attic Expeditions (2001) and Party Monster (2003). He has provided the voice for Howard the Duck in a number of Marvel Cinematic Universe films and series, including Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) and in the animated series What If...? (2021–present). In 2019, he wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy-drama film Changeland. Green's first lead role on television was on the ABC sitcom Good & Evil in 1991, for which he won a Young Artist Award. Green later gained attention for his supporting roles as Oz, a teenage guitarist and the boyfriend of Willow Rosenberg, on the fantasy television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2000), and as the voice of Chris Griffin on the Fox adult animated comedy series Family Guy (1999–present). He also voiced Leonardo in the Nickelodeon animated series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014–2017) and the Joker in the Mass Effect video game series (2007–2012). Green created, directed, wrote, and produced the adult animated comedy series Robot Chicken and its spinoffs (2005–present), which have earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards and five Annie Awards. Description above from the Wikipedia article Seth Green, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

John Irving

John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of The World According to Garp in 1978. Many of Irving's novels, including The Hotel New Hampshire (1981), The Cider House Rules (1985), A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989), and A Widow for One Year (1998), have been bestsellers. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in the 72nd Academy Awards (1999) for his script of The Cider House Rules. Five of his novels have been adapted into films (Garp, Hotel, Meany, Cider, Widow). Several of Irving's books (Garp, Meany, Widow) and short stories have been set in and around Phillips Exeter Academy in the town of Exeter, New Hampshire. Irving was born John Wallace Blunt Jr. in Exeter, New Hampshire, the son of Helen Frances (née Winslow) and John Wallace Blunt Sr., a writer and executive recruiter; but the couple separated during pregnancy. Irving grew up in Exeter with a stepfather, Colin Franklin Newell Irving, who was a Phillips Exeter Academy faculty member. His uncle Hammy Bissell was also part of the faculty. John Irving was in the Phillips Exeter wrestling program as a student athlete and as an assistant coach, and wrestling features prominently in his books, stories, and life. While a student at Exeter, Irving was taught by author and Christian theologian Frederick Buechner, whom he quoted in an epigraph in A Prayer for Owen Meany. Irving has dyslexia. Irving's biological father, whom he never met, had been a pilot in the Army Air Forces and, during World War II, was shot down over Burma in July 1943, but survived. (The incident was incorporated into his novel The Cider House Rules.) Irving did not find out about his father's heroism until 1981, when he was almost 40 years old. Irving's career began at the age of 26 with the publication of his first novel, Setting Free the Bears (1968). The novel was reasonably well reviewed but failed to gain a large readership. In the late 1960s, he studied with Kurt Vonnegut at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. His second and third novels, The Water-Method Man (1972) and The 158-Pound Marriage (1974), were similarly received. In 1975, Irving accepted a position as assistant professor of English at Mount Holyoke College. Frustrated at the lack of promotion his novels were receiving from his first publisher, Random House, Irving offered his fourth novel, The World According to Garp (1978), to Dutton, which promised him stronger commitment to marketing. The novel became an international bestseller and cultural phenomenon. It was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 1979 (which ultimately went to Tim O'Brien for Going After Cacciato) and its first paperback edition won the Award the next year. Garp was later made into a film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Robin Williams in the title role and Glenn Close as his mother; it garnered several Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Close and John Lithgow. Irving makes a brief cameo appearance in the film as the referee in one of Garp's high school wrestling matches. ... Source: Article "John Irving" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Anita Morris

Cast · Known for The Hotel New Hampshire

Anita Rose Morris (March 14, 1943 – March 2, 1994) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She began her career performing in Broadway musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Seesaw and Nine, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.[1] During her career, Morris had starring roles in a number of films, include The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), Absolute Beginners (1986), Ruthless People (1986), Aria (1987), 18 Again! (1988), Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) and A Sinful Life (1989). She had leading roles in two short-lived television series in 1980s: the NBC prime time soap opera Berrenger's (1985), and the Fox sitcom Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1987).

Beau Bridges

Cast · Known for The Hotel New Hampshire, Stargate SG-1

Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor and director. He is a three-time Emmy, two-time Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nominee. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 7, 2003, for his contributions to the television industry. He is the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and elder brother of fellow actor Jeff Bridges. In 1948, he had an uncredited role in Force of Evil, and No Minor Vices, while in 1949, he played in the film The Red Pony. In the 1962–1963 television season, he and his brother, Jeff, appeared on their father's series, The Lloyd Bridges Show. He appeared in other television series too, including National Velvet (1962), The Fugitive (1963), Bonanza (1967), Mr. Novak (1963), and The Loner (1966). He appeared in such feature films during that time as The Landlord (1970), The Other Side of the Mountain (1975), Greased Lightning (1977), Norma Rae (1979), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), and The Hotel New Hampshire (1984). In 1989, in perhaps his best-known role, he starred in The Fabulous Baker Boys. In the 1993–94 television season, he appeared with his father in the 15-episode series Harts of the West. In 1998, he starred as Judge Bob Gibbs in the one-season Maximum Bob on ABC. He had a recurring role in the Showtime series Beggars and Choosers (1999–2000). In 2001, he guest-starred as Daniel McFarland, in two episodes in Will & Grace. From 2002 to 2003, he took on the role of Senator Tom Gage in The Agency. In January 2005, he was cast as Major General Hank Landry in Stargate SG-1. He also played the character in five episodes of the spin-off series Stargate Atlantis, as well as the two direct to DVD films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, both in 2008. In 2005, he guest-starred as Carl Hickey in My Name Is Earl; later, his character became recurring. He received a 2007 Emmy Award nomination for his performance. In 2009, he guest-starred as Eli Scruggs on the 100th episode of Desperate Housewives and received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance. In 2011, he guest-starred in Brothers and Sisters, and in Franklin & Bash. In 2012, he took on the role of J.B. Biggley in the hit revival of the Broadway musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In 2013, he became a major character on the CBS television show The Millers. He has had several roles in movies since then including Underdog Kids (2015), and Lawless Range (2016). He has also had guest roles on the shows Masters of Sex (2013–2016) and Code Black (2016).

Amy Nuttall

Cast · Known for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Amy Abigail Nuttall is an English actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2000–2005), housemaid Ethel Parks in the ITV/PBS period drama Downton Abbey (2011–2012), and "Little" Jane Butterfield in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Nuttall was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. She was educated at Bury Grammar School for Girls and trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, notably playing the lead role of Princess Ismene in Aurelius at the Tyne Opera House, Newcastle and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in August 1997. Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to ever understudy and play the lead role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (at age 17) (National Tour), she has sung at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Old Trafford and won an edition of Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes as Sarah Brightman. Shortly before leaving Emmerdale, Nuttall appeared in Notes from New York at the Trafalgar Studios opposite Jon Lee and Julie Atherton. In 2005, she released her debut album as a classical vocalist, Best Days, on EMI Classics and filmed music videos for her tracks "Best Days", "No Greater Gift" and a version of "Scarborough Fair", which was heavily requested on Classic FM TV. Best Days peaked at number four in the UK classical chart and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2006 Classic BRIT Awards. In the same year, Nuttall took part in the reality TV programme Celebrity Shark Bait, which also featured Richard E. Grant and Ruby Wax and appeared in Celebrate Oliver, a musical special for BBC1. In the autumn of 2005, Nuttall toured the UK extensively as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady to critical acclaim. She shared the role with Lisa O'Hare on the National Tour due to other commitments with her first album. The tour started on 5 October 2005 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester and ended on 12 August 2006 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In January 2007, Nuttall performed on BBC Radio 2's Friday Night is Music Night with an 80-piece live orchestra and in May 2007, she joined the cast of the stage revival of Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy Theatre opposite Patricia Hodge, Mark Rylance and Roger Allam. On 2 October 2007, Nuttall replaced Kim Medcalf in the London production of Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre, transferring directly from her role in Boeing-Boeing. In April 2008, Nuttall's initial six-month contract was extended until the production's closure on 21 June. Nuttall appeared in Hotel Babylon in 2009 as Melanie Hughes, the new hotel receptionist. In June and July 2010, Nuttall played one of the lead roles in the revival of the hit musical The Hired Man at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Later that year, she returned to the Octagon Theatre, Bolton to play Stella Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire. She shared the role of the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of Spamalot, which began on 18 October 2010 at the Edinburgh Playhouse. From September 2011, Nuttall began appearing in the second series of Downton Abbey, appearing as the new maid, Ethel.

Guy Lombardo

Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist. Lombardo formed the Royal Canadians in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert and Victor, and other musicians from his hometown. They billed themselves as creating "the sweetest music this side of Heaven." The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million records during their lifetimes, many featuring the band's lead singer, Kenny Gardner. Lombardo was born in London, Ontario, to Italian immigrants Gaetano Alberto and Angelina Lombardo. His father was an amateur singer with a baritone voice, and had four of his five sons learn to play instruments so they could accompany him. Lombardo and his brothers formed their first orchestra while still in grammar school and rehearsed in the back of their father's tailor shop. Lombardo first performed in public with his brother Carmen at a church lawn party in London in 1914. Lombardo became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Although Lombardo's "sweet" big-band music was viewed by some in the jazz and big-band community of the day as "boring, mainstream pap," trumpeter Louis Armstrong regularly named Lombardo's band his favorite orchestra. Lombardo is remembered for almost a half-century of New Year's Eve big band remotes, first on radio, then on television. His orchestra played at the Roosevelt Grill in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City from 1929 ("radio's first nationwide New Year's Eve broadcast") to 1959, and from then until 1976 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Live broadcasts (and later telecasts) of their performances were a large part of New Year's celebrations across North America; millions of people watched the show with friends at house parties. Because of this popularity, Lombardo was called "Mr. New Year's Eve". The band's first New Year's Eve radio broadcast was in 1928; within a few years, they were heard live on the CBS Radio Network before midnight Eastern Time, then on the NBC Radio Network after midnight. On December 31, 1956, the Lombardo band did their first New Year's TV special on CBS; the program (and Lombardo's 20 subsequent New Year's Eve TV shows) included a live segment from Times Square. Although CBS carried most of the Lombardo New Year's specials, there were a few years in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the special was syndicated live to individual TV stations instead of broadcast on a network. By the middle 1970s, the Lombardo TV show was facing competition, especially for younger viewers, from Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, but Lombardo remained famous among viewers, especially older ones. Even after Lombardo's death, the band's New Year's specials continued for two more years on CBS. The Royal Canadians' recording of the traditional song "Auld Lang Syne" still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square followed by "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra, "America the Beautiful" by Ray Charles, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, and "Over the Rainbow " by IZ. Lombardo and his orchestra were part of the 1934 film Many Happy Returns, and clips of his own show appeared in the 1977 film Looking for Mr. Goodbar, starring Diane Keaton. On November 5, 1977, Lombardo died of a heart attack. He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.

Harry James

Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned yo play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.

Clinton Sundberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Clinton Charles Sundberg (December 7, 1903 – December 14, 1987) was an American character actor in film and stage. Sundberg left teaching English literature for acting, appearing in plays in stock theater in New England. He appeared in a number of Broadway plays, debuting in Nine Pine Street (1933). His most notable roles were Mr. Kraler in the original 1957 production of The Diary of Anne Frank and Mortimer Brewster (as a replacement) in the 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace. He became a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he appeared in numerous supporting roles in films of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He played Mike, the bartender who listens to Judy Garland's character's troubles in Easter Parade. One of Sundberg's most memorable roles was in the 1949 film In the Good Old Summertime (which also starred Garland and Van Johnson) as Rudy Hansen, a friendly co-worker and confidante of Johnson's character. He also played the hotel owner who hired Annie Oakley to enter the shooting contest against Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun. He later made several television appearances, including two episodes of Perry Mason: "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito" in 1963 and "The Case of the Scarlet Scandal" in 1966. He also appeared in several television commercials. In 1962, Sundberg was cast in the lead guest-starring role of Luther Boardman, a naive but troublesome newspaper publisher who comes to Laramie, Wyoming, to capture the story of "real West" gunfighters in "The Man Behind the News", one of the last episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Lawman, which starred John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop. Hal Baylor appears in the episode as gunfighter Mort Peters, whom Boardman (Sundberg) goads into a shootout with Troop. Sundberg died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California, aged 84.

Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (/ˈsiːɡəl/; February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was a Jewish-American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish Mob, along with his childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, the Italian-American Mafia, and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate. Described as "handsome" and "charismatic," Siegel became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters. Siegel was one of the founders and leaders of Murder, Inc. and became a bootlegger during American Prohibition. After the Twenty-first Amendment was passed in 1933 repealing Prohibition, he turned to illegal gambling. In 1936, Siegel left New York and moved to California. His time as a mobster during this period was mainly as a hitman and muscle, as he was noted for his prowess with guns and violence. In 1941, Siegel was tried for the murder of friend and fellow mobster Harry Greenberg, who had turned informant; he was acquitted in 1942. Siegel traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he handled and financed some of the city's original casinos. He assisted developer William R. Wilkerson's Flamingo Hotel after Wilkerson ran out of funds. Siegel assumed control of the project and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, in a three-day event that was well received. Without a hotel to accompany the casino, the Flamingo struggled and closed from February 6 until the hotel reopened March 1, 1947. Siegel’s mob partners were convinced that an estimated US$1 million of the construction budget overrun had been skimmed by Siegel, his girlfriend Virginia Hill or by both of them. On June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the age of 41 by a sniper through the window of Hill's Linden Drive mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bugsy Siegel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Bonita Granville

Daughter of Bernard 'Bunny' Granville and Rosina Timponi, Bonita Granville was born into an acting family on 2 Febuary 1923, in New York, New York. It's not surprising that she herself became a child actor, first on the stage and, at the age of 9, debuting in movies in Westward Passage (1932). She was regularly cast as a naughty little girl, as in These Three (1936) where she played Mary, an obnoxious girl spreading lies about her teachers. Her performance left an impression on the audience, and she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award. In 1938-39 came the movies she is now best remembered for -- playing the bright and feisty detective/reporter Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew series. She also appeared with Mickey Rooney in a few Andy Hardy movies. She never really had a movie breakthrough, and after marrying oil millionaire and later producer Jack Wrather, she retired from acting in the middle of the 1950s, although she went on to produce the Lassie (1954) TV series. After her marriage to oil millionaire Jack Wrather in 1947, she appeared in only three more movies. She became an executive in the Wrather Corp., and first associate producer, then executive producer of the Lassie (1954) TV series. After Wrather's death in 1984, she took over as chairman of the board. She was also involved in many civic and cultural groups, and she was chair of American Film Institute, trustee of John F. Kennedy Center, as well as other well known organizations and charities. Walt Disney personally convinced the Wrathers to build the Disneyland Hotel when Disney could not raise the money to do so -- his credit was all tied up in building the theme park itself. After the phenomenal success of Disneyland, Disney attempted to buy the hotel; but the Wrathers steadfastly refused to sell. Long after Jack and Bonita Wrather's and Walt Disney's deaths, the Disney Company bought the Wrather Corporation. The Disney Company thus acquired the Disneyland Hotel, the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose attractions in Long Beach, California, the rights to The Lone Ranger (1949) TV series, as well as other properties. Bonita Granville Rather died of cancer on 11 October 1988, in Santa Monica, California. She and Wrather had four children (two from Wrather's first marriage).

Selena Gomez

Cast · Known for Hotel Transylvania, Hotel Transylvania 2, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992, Texas, United States) is a Mexican-American singer, actress and producer. Regarded as a "triple threat" and one of the leading figures in pop culture, her accolades include a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award, a Screen Actors Guild award, an honorary Latin Grammy award, 3 Grammy nominations, 10 Emmy nominations, 7 Golden Globe nominations and a BAFTA nomination. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004). In her teenage years, she rose to stardom for her lead role as Alex Russo in the Emmy winning Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). She then returned to television in 2021 on the Hulu/Disney+ comedy series Only Murders in the Building (2021–), alongside fellow stars and executive producers Steve Martin and Martin Short, for which she became the most nominated Latina producer in Emmys history. Alongside her television career, Gomez appeared in the films Another Cinderella Story (2008), Princess Protection Program (2009), Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), Getaway (2013), The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), The Dead Don't Die (2019), A Rainy Day in New York (2019) and Emilia Pérez (2024). She voices the character Mavis in the Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012–). Gomez executive produced the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020), which received an honorary Emmy award for it’s social impact. She has released three albums with her former band, Selena Gomez & the Scene, all of which reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200: Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011). Additionally, Gomez's three solo studio albums—Stars Dance (2013), Revival (2015), and Rare (2020)—each debuted atop the Billboard 200. She also released the Spanish-language EP Revelación (2021), for which she received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album. A number of Gomez's singles have charted inside the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, including "Come & Get It", "The Heart Wants What It Wants", "Good for You", "Same Old Love", "Hands to Myself", "We Don't Talk Anymore", "It Ain't Me", her first number-one song "Lose You to Love Me" and "Calm Down". The Guardian credited her with popularizing "whisper pop", a style of pop music characterized by soft, hushed and breathy vocals. Gomez has worked with many charitable organizations and serves as a UNICEF ambassador since age 17. She advocates for mental health, gender, racial, and LGBT equality. She founded the cosmetic company Rare Beauty in 2020, valued at $2 billion in 2024, and the non-profit organization Rare Impact Fund. She has appeared in lists such as the Time 100 (2020, 2024), Forbes 30 Under 30 (2016, 2020), was named Billboard's Woman of the Year (2017), Latin Woman of the Year (2025), and was made a member of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Government of France (2024). She is the most-followed woman on Instagram, and among the wealthiest musicians. Description above from the Wikipedia article Selena Gomez, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Xavier Cugat

Xavier Cugat was a catalan musician and bandleader, born in Spain (Girona, 1 January 1900 – Barcelona, 27 October 1990) who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a leading figure in the spread of Latin music. In New York City, he was the leader of the resident orchestra at the Waldorf–Astoria before and after World War II. He was also a cartoonist and a restaurateur. The personal papers of Xavier Cugat are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Barcelona). His family emigrated to Cuba when he was three years old. He studied classical violin and worked as a violinist at the age of nine in a silent movie theater to help pay for his education. He was first chair violinist for the Teatro Nacional Symphonic Orchestra. When he was not performing, he started drawing caricatures. On 6 July 1915 he and his family arrived in New York City on the SS Havana. Cugat appeared in recitals with Enrico Caruso, playing violin solos. In the 1920s, he led a band that played often at the Coconut Grove, a club in Los Angeles. Cugat's friend, Charlie Chaplin, visited the club to dance the tango, so Cugat added tangos to the band's performances.[5] Seeing how popular the dance was becoming, Cugat convinced the owner to hire South American dancers to give tango lessons. This, too, became popular, and Cugat made the dancers part of his orchestra. In 1928 he turned his act into the film Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos. He worked for the Los Angeles Times as a cartoonist. His caricatures were nationally syndicated. They appeared in Photoplay magazine beginning with the November 1927 issue, under the byline "de Bru." His older brother, Francis, was an artist of some note, having painted cover art for F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. In 1931, Cugat took his band to New York for the 1931 opening of the Waldorf–Astoria hotel. He replaced Jack Denny as leader of the hotel's resident band. For sixteen years, he led the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra (1933-1949), shuttling between New York and Los Angeles for most of the next 30 years.[8][9] One of his trademark gestures was to hold a Chihuahua while he waved his baton with the other arm. His music career led to appearing in the films In Gay Madrid (1930), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Bathing Beauty (1944), Week-End at the Waldorf (1945), Holiday in Mexico (1946), A Date with Judy (1948), On an Island with You (1948), and Chicago Syndicate (1955). Cugat owned and operated the Mexican restaurant Casa Cugat in West Hollywood. The restaurant was frequented by Hollywood celebrities and featured two singing guitarists who would visit each table and play diners' favorite songs upon request. The restaurant began operations in the 1940s and closed in 1986. The restaurant's exterior and a fanciful depiction of its interior can be found in scenes in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter in which Cugat has a substantial role playing himself. A brief scene revolving around the restaurant can also be seen in the earlier 1943 film The Heat's On, also starring Cugat as himself. Cugat spent his last years in Barcelona, living in a suite at Hotel Ritz. He died of heart failure at age 90 in Barcelona and was buried in his native Girona. He was posthumously inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

John Hart

John Lewis Hart, also credited as John Hilton was an American film and television actor. In his early career, Hart appeared mostly in Westerns. Although Hart played mostly minor roles in some fairly well known films, he was probably best known for having replaced Clayton Moore in 1952 in the television series, The Lone Ranger for one season from 1952 until 1953. Hart began his screen career in 1937 with a bit part in Daughter of Shanghai. He continued in a variety of B pictures such as Prison Farm and King of Alcatraz before appearing in two of Cecil B. DeMille's films The Buccaneer and North West Mounted Police. In 1941, Hart's acting career was interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army. He rose to the rank of first sergeant in the Coast Artillery and eventually served in the Philippines. Following his military service, Hart worked frequently for Sam Katzman; he was given the lead role in the Jack Armstrong film serial. Hart did stunt work and acted in numerous Westerns Hart was eventually offered the opportunity to replace Clayton Moore on The Lone Ranger television series. Based on the assumption that the masked character, rather than the actor, was the true star of The Lone Ranger, the program's producers fired Moore (presumably over salary differences) and replaced him with Hart, who was of a similar build and had a comparable background in Westerns. However, the public never truly accepted Hart as the Lone Ranger, and by 1954 the producers returned Moore to the role. According to Clayton Moore's autobiography I Was That Masked Man, Moore never knew why he was replaced by Hart, and also stated that he had not sought a pay increase. Hart acted in minor roles in two episodes of The Lone Ranger before being asked to replace Clayton Moore for the entire third season. The episodes were "Rifles and Renegades" (#34) and "Sheriff at Gunstock" (#46). Hart continued to act in films for more than two decades, appearing in films of several genres, almost always in supporting roles. Hart appeared twice in on the TV series I Love Lucy as Lucy's old boyfriend and again in the Hollywood episodes as a lifeguard at the hotel pool. In 1955, Hart starred in The Adventures of Captain Africa, which was originally intended to be a new movie about famous comic book hero The Phantom. However, licensing issues forced Columbia Pictures re-film the entire serial and re-christen the hero "Captain Africa." Hart also had numerous supporting roles in the Highway Patrol TV series. In 1965 Hart made two brief appearances on the TV series Perry Mason, including the role of title character and murder victim Jamison Selff in "The Case of the Wrathful Wraith." In the 1970 film The Phynx, Hart played the Lone Ranger alongside Jay Silverheels as Tonto, spoofing their characters. Hart's last theatrical film appearance was in 1981's The Legend of the Lone Ranger in which he appeared as a newspaper editor. He appeared in the television series Happy Days as the Lone Ranger in the episode "Hi Yo, Fonzie Away". In this episode Fonzie, played by Henry Winkler, meets his childhood hero, the Lone Ranger, for his birthday. Hart's other major late appearance was in an episode of The Greatest American Hero, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, where Hart gives the title character an inspiring speech about heroism.

Spider Island

2026

A group of social media influencers go to the launch of a new hotel on a tropical island, where they find deadly spiders.

Spider Island

spider-island-1462861

A group of social media influencers go to the launch of a new hotel on a tropical island, where they find deadly spiders.

Erika Edman

Executive Producer · Known for Maria Wern

In 1994 Erika Edma began her career at age 14 making her first fashion show in the boutique hotel in Acapulco Mayan Palace. In 2005 Erika attended modeling classes at John Casablancas School and began to work for different brand and designers from Mexico. Erika continued her modeling career and traveled quite often working on different ads for stores, beauty salons and was featured in music videos for different artists. In 1997 was part of the designing team bringing new ideas for Edma Designs and Marilu Boutique located in Monterrey Mx. In 1998, Erika participated in the pageant Nuestra Belleza MX. and was a finalist. Soon after began her career in media communications in the school SET Mty. In 2000 Erika moved to Mexico City worked for various brands as a spokes-model and TV presenter. In 2001 she relocated to New York City where she attended John Robert Powers School in which she learned and updated her modeling techniques. In 2002 Erika moved to the city of San Antonio TX worked with different television and radio companies as Tv Presenter and Promomodel. In 2008 Erika started her new company EDMA Events and had her own radio show called Edma fashion. In addition to working as Coordinator of events for different companies in USA And MX, she began working for Multimedios Tv Channel in Telediario Houston and Via Tempus as a weather presenter. In 2013 move to Dallas TX and was a Regional manager for Bomuca international corp. and for Vivioptal Vitamins and continued as a Spokesmodel for Latin channels in Univision, Telemundo, LATV. In 2015 Erika is back in San Antonio, where she's an actress in featured films for Conexion Films, Strong Foundation Films, She was the TV presenter on the movie The Margarita Man by Danny Ramos, with Danny Trejo (Machete) and she is Filming a new Movie called EVA Génesis by RMX Studios Also taking Acting Workshops in Los Ángeles at LA Studios. and working in her own TV and Radio show Damas Latinas TV.

Steve Schirripa

Cast · Known for The Sopranos, Blue Bloods, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Steve Schirripa (born September 3, 1957, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor, author and television host. Before acting he worked as entertainment director at the Riviera hotel in Las Vegas. He is best known as Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos and also played Leo Boykewich on The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Detective Anthony Abetemarco on Blue Bloods. He appeared in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and voiced Roberto in the Open Season films.

Nigel Finch

Executive Producer · Known for Arena

Nigel Lucius Graeme Finch was an English film director and filmmaker whose career influenced the growth of British gay cinema. Finch began working as co-editor for the BBC television documentary series Arena in the early 1970s. He produced and directed many notable programs including My Way (1978), and The Private Life of the Ford Cortina (1982). He rose to prominence with the documentary Chelsea Hotel (1981), which profiled the famed New York hotel, and its legacy of famous gay guests, including Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, William S. Burroughs, Quentin Crisp and Andy Warhol. His documentary subjects include artist Robert Mapplethorpe (1988), filmmaker Kenneth Anger (1991), and artist Louise Bourgeois (1994). Finch went on to direct films such as the BAFTA-nominated drama The Lost Language of Cranes, and the musical soap opera The Vampyr. Finch died from AIDS-related illness in London in 1995 during post-production of his first full-length feature film Stonewall, a docudrama loosely based on events leading up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.

Ruth Hussey

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ruth Carol Hussey (October 30, 1911 – April 19, 2005) was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story. After working as an actress in summer stock, she returned to Providence and worked as a radio fashion commentator on a local station. She wrote the ad copy for a Providence clothing store and read it on the radio each afternoon. She was encouraged by a friend to try out for acting roles at the Providence Playhouse. The theater director there turned her down, saying the roles were cast only out of New York City. Later that week, she journeyed to New York City and on her first day there, she signed with a talent agent who booked her for a role in a play starting the next day back at the Providence Playhouse. In New York City, she also worked for a time as a model. She then landed a number of stage roles with touring companies. Dead End toured the country in 1937 and the last theater on the road trip was at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was spotted on opening night by MGM talent scout Billy Grady. MGM signed her to a players contract and she made her film debut in 1937. She quickly became a leading lady in MGM's "B" unit, usually playing sophisticated, worldly roles. For a 1940 "A" picture role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her turn as Elizabeth Imbrie, the cynical magazine photographer and almost-girlfriend of James Stewart's character Macaulay Connor in The Philadelphia Story. In 1941, exhibitors voted her the third-most popular new star in Hollywood. Hussey also worked with Robert Taylor in Flight Command (1940), Robert Young in Northwest Passage (1940) and H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942), Ray Milland in The Uninvited (1944), and Alan Ladd in The Great Gatsby (1949). In 1946, she starred on Broadway in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play State of the Union. Her 1949 role in Goodbye, My Fancy on Broadway caused a Billboard reviewer to write: "Miss Hussey brings a splendid aliveness and warmth to the lovely congresswoman...." She filled in for Jean Arthur in the 1955 Lux Radio Theater presentation of Shane, playing Miriam Start, alongside original film stars Alan Ladd and Van Heflin. In 1960, she co-starred in The Facts of Life with Bob Hope. Hussey was also active in early television drama.

Ryan Dillon

Cast · Known for Sesame Street

Ryan Dillon (born May 25, 1988) is an American puppeteer who has played Elmo since 2013, replacing Kevin Clash. Dillon had previously worked as an ensemble muppeteer for the Jim Henson Company since 2005. He also played Cooper and Paul Ball, for the interactive series Sesame Street TV for Xbox Kinect, and appeared on all four seasons of the new CBeebies and co-production of Sesame Street, The Furchester Hotel, as Elmo.

Kyle Mitchell

It all started with a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial. Kyle's love of chicken and acting (in no particular order) has grown ever since. The son of a musician and a very patient mother, Kyle was raised on chicken and spankings from the time he was old enough to remember. Growing up in Edmonton, Canada proved to be excellent training for a bright future in showbiz. Often being pulled from school to play hooky and help his dad load musical gear into sleazy saloons on frosty afternoons, Kyle found adventure and used gum under each and every high-top bar table. The smell of showbiz, cigarettes and stale beer were truly in the air in dark taverns such as, The Transit Hotel, The Park Hotel, The Rex Hotel, Beverly Crest, The Drake, The New West and The Klondiker to name but a few of Kyle'e childhood haunts. The bee-hive haired waitresses all took a shine to Kyle's natural sobriety and would keep Kyle's glass of coke, full and cold; and to this day, he's a "glass fully full", kind of guy. Years later, chicken would once again become an important part of Kyle's life during a two-season, 21-episode run as a continuity performer on the TV show, Jake and the Kid. You see, Kyle ate a lot of chicken during those "fat" years from making the big "Jake" bucks. Many years later, during an intense therapy session, it was discovered that Kyle's penchant for poulet had nothing to do with his appearance as a 6-year old in that KFC commercial, it was simply that he "enjoyed the texture". Much to the relief of his therapist, they could finally move on to why he still enjoyed being spanked so much. Kyle's ancestry is reminiscent of a Jackson Pollack painting and he spent most of his youth worrying about the fleeting nature of youth. He was also very active in sports and seriously considered playing professional basketball (his nickname was "The White Larry Bird") until he realized he couldn't dribble, pass or shoot.

Roslyn Kind

Roslyn Kind (born January 9, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the younger sister of Barbra Streisand. She has been performing on Broadway and other venues since her teenage years. Kind's inspiration from being a singer came from her grandfather, who was a cantor, and her mother. Kind recorded her debut album two months after graduating from high school in June 1968. The album, titled "Give Me You," was released in January 1969, at the same time as her first professional performance, at the Hungry I in San Francisco. Kind's New York debut was at the Plaza Hotel’s legendary Persian Room in 1969, where she played to a packed house that included her sister, Barbra Streisand. She performed on the April 16, 1977, episode of Saturday Night Live. Kind has spent the past several decades touring internationally as a cabaret singer and entertainer. She was featured in Barbra Streisand's 2012 national tour, Back to Brooklyn, and 2013 European tour, Barbra Streisand LIVE, during which she sang a duet with her sister. A few of Kind's shows are directed by her sister Barbra's concert director, Richard Jay Alexander.

Preston Paine

Preston Paine first fell in love with cooking thanks to a close family friend named Chela, who showed him the foundations that have carried him to where he is now in his professional cooking career. From how to properly hold and use a knife, grill, sauté, braise and more, Chela inspired his love for exquisite CUISINE through her dark mole, fresh tortillas, stuffed cabbage soup and more. When Paine left Dallas to study Business Development with a focus in restaurant design and play football at Tulane University in New Orleans, he started picking up different jobs in restaurants and gaining inspiration from the famous local styles and flavors there. After graduating, he began his career helping write menus and design concepts for a restaurant management & development company based out of Dallas. After two years, he still had the urge to continue expanding his palate and knowledge of different cuisines around the world. Therefore, he decided to spend a year working as an onboard chef and traveling extensively. Once back stateside, he had the opportunity to work for the number one restaurant in the world, Eleven Madison Park. It retained ITS 3 Michelin-Star status during his time there. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic shut down operations and sent him back to Dallas. Eager to take a turn at entrepreneurship and restaurant design, Paine connected with his now business partner and opened up an award-winning New York-Style bagel shop called Shug’s Bagels. Once the shop was up and running smoothly, he helped open A COUPLE OF restaurants located in the Thompson Hotel in downtown Dallas, including Catbird and Nine at The National. As the corporate executive chef FOR Exxir Hospitality, He ran 5 beautiful concepts throughout the Bishop Arts District that are some of the most recognized and awarded properties in all of DFW. today, paine is the Executive Chef of Restaurants at the crescent hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.