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Witness for the Prosecution

1957

An ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.

Gene Lyons

Cast · Known for Ironside

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gene Lyons (February 9, 1921 – July 8, 1974) was an American television actor from Pittsburgh, best known for his role as police commissioner Dennis Randall on the NBC detective series Ironside starring Raymond Burr. A life member of The Actors Studio, Lyons was in the Broadway production of Witness for the Prosecution for two years. His other Broadway credits include Masquerade (1958), The Trip to Bountiful (1953), Harriet (1942), and This Rock (1942). In 1953, Lyons played a police detective on the CBS drama series Pentagon U.S.A.. He appeared in 1954 as Steve Rockwell on the CBS daytime drama Woman with a Past. Before joining Raymond Burr as a regular on Ironside, he appeared on Perry Mason in 1965 as murderer Ralph Balfour in "The Case of the Wrathful Wraith." He also made guest appearances on nearly two dozen other series including The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel, The Fugitive, Ben Casey, Star Trek ("A Taste of Armageddon"), The Twilight Zone ("King Nine Will Not Return"), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and The Untouchables. He also appeared in films including Kiss Her Goodbye and The Young Don't Cry. Lyons died in Los Angeles, California on July 8, 1974 and is buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

John Dean

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) was a White House Counsel to United States President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. As White House Counsel, he became deeply involved in events leading up to the Watergate burglaries and the subsequent Watergate scandal cover up. He was referred to as "master manipulator of the cover up" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He pleaded guilty to a single felony count in exchange for becoming a key witness for the prosecution. This ultimately resulted in a reduction of prison sentence, which was served at Fort Holabird outside Baltimore, MD. Dean is currently an author, columnist, and commentator on contemporary politics, strongly critical of conservatism and the Republican Party, and a registered Independent who supported the impeachment of President George W. Bush. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Dean, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Alan Gibson

Director · Known for Crown Court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Alan Gibson (April 28, 1938, London, Ontario, Canada - July 5, 1987, London, UK) was a Canadian director active in British film and television. Particularly notable for his work in horror, cinematic films directed by him include the 1968 Journey to Midnight, the 1970 Crescendo, the 1974 The Satanic Rites of Dracula, the 1977 Checkered Flag or Crash and the 1982 Witness for the Prosecution, along with the 1974 television play Churchill and the Generals. Description above from the Wikipedia article Alan Gibson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Jenny Donnison

Jenny Donnison is a British actress who appeared in films such as Made (1972), A Journey to London (1975) and Witness for the Prosecution (1982).

Henry Daniell

Cast · Known for Thriller, The Great Dictator, Witness for the Prosecution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Henry Daniell (5 March 1894 – 31 October 1963) was an English actor who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films. He is perhaps best known for his villainous roles in films like The Great Dictator, The Philadelphia Story and The Sea Hawk. Daniell was given few opportunities to play a 'good guy', including a supporting part as Franz Liszt in the biographical film Song of Love (1947). His last name is sometimes spelled "Daniel". Daniell's film debut came in 1929 in Jealousy. He appeared as Professor Moriarty in the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film The Woman in Green (1945). He appeared in other films such as Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940) (playing Garbitsch, to sound like "garbage", a parody of Joseph Goebbels), and The Body Snatcher (1945, with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) – as well as two other films in the Sherlock Holmes/Basil Rathbone series: The Voice of Terror (1942) and Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) with fellow Moriarty George Zucco. Daniell played the sleazy Baron de Varville opposite Greta Garbo in Camille (1936). Another early triumph was his portrayal of Cecil in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939). He also played the treacherous Lord Wolfingham (no relation to Francis Walsingham) in The Sea Hawk (1940), fighting Errol Flynn in what is often considered one of the most spectacular sword fighting duels ever filmed. When Michael Curtiz cast him in this film, Henry Daniell initially refused because he couldn't fence. Curtiz accomplished the climactic duel through the use of shadows and over-shoulder shots, with a double fencing Flynn with ingenious inter-cutting of their faces. Towards the end of the Second World War, he appeared in one of his most memorable film roles, as the cruel Mr. Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre (1944), opposite Joan Fontaine who played Eyre. That same year he appeared in The Suspect as Charles Laughton's blackmailing next-door neighbour. In the 1950s and 1960s, he did much television, and also appeared as the malevolent Dr. Emil Zurich in Edward L. Cahn's The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), and in an episode of Maverick, "Pappy" opposite James Garner the same year. An absolute professional, he was always on the set when needed, and impatient when delays in filming took place. Much in demand for his dry, sardonic delivery, Daniell moved easily from big-budget films, such as (uncredited) Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), to television without difficulty. In 1957, Daniell appeared as King Charles II of England in the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show in the episode "The Trial of Colonel Blood", with Michael Wilding in the title role. In the same year he played the instructing solicitor to Charles Laughton's leading counsel barrister in Witness for the Prosecution (1957). The actor claimed one of his favourite roles was as Tony Curtis' supervisor in the acclaimed Blake Edwards film Mister Cory (1957) at a time when the actor's career was clearly slowing down, but Daniell retained some of the best and most memorable lines in the movie, "A gentleman never grabs. Manners, Mister Cory. I find them a prerequisite in any circumstance."

Ruta Lee

Cast · Known for Witness for the Prosecution

Ruta Lee (born Ruta Mary Kilmonis, May 30, 1935) is a Canadian-American actress and dancer who appeared as one of the brides in the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She had roles in films including Billy Wilder's crime drama Witness for the Prosecution and Stanley Donen's musical comedy Funny Face and also is remembered for her guest appearance in a 1963 episode of Rod Serling's sci-fi series The Twilight Zone called "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain". Lee guest-starred on many television series, and was also featured on a number of game shows, including Hollywood Squares, What's My Line?, and as Alex Trebek's co-host on High Rollers. She is of Lithuanian descent. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrea Riseborough

Cast · Known for Ebenezer, Good Boy, Oblivion

Andrea Louise Riseborough (born 20 November 1981) is an English actress. She made her film debut with a small part in Venus (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in Brighton Rock (2010), W.E. (2011), Shadow Dancer (2012), Oblivion (2013), Birdman (2014), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Battle of the Sexes, The Death of Stalin (both 2017), Mandy, Nancy (both 2018), The Grudge, and Possessor (both 2020). For playing an alcoholic in To Leslie (2022), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Riseborough was nominated for a BAFTA TV for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the television film The Long Walk to Finchley (2008). She won critical acclaim for her performances in the Channel 4 miniseries The Devil's Whore (2008) and National Treasure (2016), as well as the BBC One miniseries The Witness for the Prosecution (2016). Her stage credits include Miss Julie, Measure for Measure (both 2006), and Anton Chekhov's Ivanov (2008). Description above from the Wikipedia article Andrea Riseborough, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Lauren O'Neil

Lauren O'Neil Is a British stage, screen and radio actor. O'Neil was born Lauren Frances Rogers in Liverpool, England, the eldest daughter of two dentists. She left Liverpool to attend the University of Glasgow, before returning to Liverpool to complete an English degree. It was there that she first took up acting. O'Neil attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 2009. In 2017, she married Ollie Clueit, bassist of Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia.... Upon graduating from Guildhall, O'Neil was awarded the 2009 Spotlight Showcase prize for Best Actress. O'Neil's professional debut was as the character Kirsty in a Series 2 episode of BBC drama Being Human. Her stage debut came at the National Theatre where she played Bianca in Marianne Elliot's revival of Women Beware Women. Her first feature film lead was as Nina in The Abominable Snowman (originally Deadly Descent). In July 2011 she became the face of the Match.com advertising campaign, in "The Girl On The Platform". O'Neil and her Match.com advert co-star, Steven Mitchell, also appear in the music video for 'She Began To Dance' sung by Matthew P. The music video shows the couple in similar but not identical outfits leaving the unidentified train station and going on a date to the beach. This suggests the advert and the music video were not filmed at the same time. Matthew P plays most of the 'characters' in the video whilst simultaneously singing his song with a ukulele. In 2012 O'Neil appeared in two premieres at the National Theatre: in Nicholas Wright's Travelling Light and James Graham's This House. In 2014 O'Neil appeared in King Lear alongside Frank Langella and in Richard III with Martin Freeman, playing Regan and Lady Anne respectively. In 2015 she appeared in a 2-part episode "Squaring the Circle" in Series 18 of BBC One's Silent Witness as young City DI Sarah Parks. She played Rowena in the Midsomer Murders season 18 finale 'Harvest of Souls'. She appeared as Steph in the UK premiere of Neil LaBute's Reasons to be Happy at The Hampstead Theatre in 2016, followed by the West End transfers of This House at the Garrick Theatre and The Twilight Zone, directed by Richard Jones, at the Ambassadors Theatre, along with television roles in No Offence, comedy pilot, Bugsplat!, Father Brown, London Kills, Casualty, Grace and Queens of Mystery. In 2022, O'Neil played Romaine Vole in Witness For The Prosecution at London County Hall.

Richard Teverson

Richard Teverson is a British actor, 6′ 0″ (183 cm) tall, whose exact birthday and birthplace are not publicly confirmed in major sources. He read History at Durham University and has been active since the late 1980s, with a career spanning film, television, and theatre. He is represented by Eamonn Bedford, and in parallel with his acting career he has worked as a role player, facilitator, and coach in business for over 13 years. His most notable television credits include Dr. Ryder in Downton Abbey (2012–2015, 3 episodes), Colin Tennant in The Crown (2019, 2 episodes, Netflix), Chief of Staff in Secret Invasion (2023, 2 episodes, Marvel), a Doctor in Taboo (2017, with Tom Hardy), David Laws in Coalition (2015), and Roddy Fitzware in Spies of Warsaw (2013). His film credits include Cousin Jasper in Brideshead Revisited (2008, with Matt Smith and Bill Nighy), Detective Watson in Red Joan (2018, with Cate Blanchett), and a BBC Interviewer in The Mercy (2018, with Colin Firth). On stage he has performed in The Libertine (West End, 2016), Witness for the Prosecution (West End, 2021), Fallen Angels (West End, 2025), Cymbeline (Shakespeare's Globe), and Lady Chatterley's Lover (Sheffield Crucible). In video games he voiced Malavai Quinn in Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011–2017) and Otto Wolfgang Ort-Meyer in Hitman 2 (2018).

Elsa Lanchester

Cast · Known for Witness for the Prosecution

Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (October 28, 1902 – December 26, 1986) was a British actress with a long career in theatre, film and television and former dancer. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the First World War began performing in theatre and cabaret, where she established her career over the following decade. She met the actor Charles Laughton in 1927, and they were married two years later. She began playing small roles in British films, including the role of Anne of Cleves with Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Laughton's success in American films resulted in the couple moving to Hollywood, where Lanchester played small film roles. Her role as the bride in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), brought her recognition, and came to be one of the roles most closely associated with her throughout her life. Lanchester played supporting roles through the 1940s and 1950s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Come to the Stable (1949) and Witness for the Prosecution (1957), the last of twelve films in which she appeared with Laughton. Following Laughton's death in 1962, Lanchester resumed her career with appearances in such Disney films as Mary Poppins (1964), That Darn Cat! (1965) and Blackbeard's Ghost (1968). The horror film, Willard, (1971) was highly successful and one of her last roles was in Murder By Death (1976). Description above from the Wikipedia article Elsa Lanchester, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Billy Wilder

Director · Known for Witness for the Prosecution

Billy Wilder, born Samuel Wilder; (22 June 1906 - 27 March 2002) was an Austrian-born director, screenwriter and producer who is regarded as one of the most successful filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Today he is best known for his comedies, although he also directed dramas and film noirs. Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (The Apartment). Wilder's career began in Germany, where he worked as a writer for comedy films from 1930. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, he emigrated to the United States, where he continued to write screenplays, including Ernst Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939) and Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire (1941). From the early 1940s, Wilder was allowed to film his own screenplays and thus made a name for himself as a director. Initially, his greatest successes included predominantly dramatic film noirs such as Double Indemnity (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Ace in the Hole (1951). It was only then that he increasingly turned to comedy, including Stalag 17 (1953), Sabrina (1954) and The Seven Year Itch (1955), although he made a small detour to courtroom drama with Witness for the Prosecution (1957). With Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960) he made his most famous and probably most successful comedy films, the latter even receiving five Oscars. In One, Two, Three (1961), Wilder dealt with the conditions of the time in his former adopted country, Germany, and made the successful romantic comedy Irma la Douce (1963). In the two decades that followed, Wilder made seven more films, which were less well received by critics and audiences, although the German-French drama Fedora (1978) is viewed somewhat more favorably today by predominantly pretentious film experts. Some time later, Wilder was under discussion as director for Schindler's List, which he had wanted as the end of his long career, but ultimately had to turn it down due to his advanced age.

Billy Howle

Cast · Known for Dunkirk

Billy Howle was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to a schoolteacher mother and a father who teaches at Kent University, the second of four sons. His older brother, Sam, is a graphic designer. Despite his parents' academic backgrounds, Billy has said that he was not interested in further education, and worked instead at the local Stephen Joseph theater, in community-based projects involving dance and acting. After a year at drama school, he enrolled at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2013. Having appeared at Bristol in 'The Little Mermaid,' his next stage appearance was in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, opposite Lesley Manville in Richard Eyre's production of Henrik Ibsen's 'Ghosts' and a year later was reunited with Bristol Old Vic, the director, and Ms. Manville in a scorching production of 'Long Day's Journey Into Night' alongside Jeremy Irons - another Bristol Old Vic alumnus - Hadley Fraser, and Jessica Regan, more than holding his own with his older, more experienced co-stars. After a couple of small roles in television drama, Billy's first substantial lead came in the youth-oriented murder mystery Glue (2014) in 2014, opening the first scene in memorable style as he rolled nude down stacks of grain in a barn. In 2016, he was in another murder mystery, The Witness for the Prosecution (2016), as the defendant accused of killing his wealthy benefactress, by which time he had filmed his first forays into cinema: On Chesil Beach (2017) and Anton Chekhov's The Seagull (2018), both with Saoirse Ronan, and The Sense of an Ending (2017).

Francis L. Sullivan

Francis Loftus Sullivan (6 January 1903, Wandsworth, London - 19 November 1956, New York City) was an English film and stage actor. He attended Stonyhurst, the Jesuit public school in Lancashire, England whose alumni include Charles Laughton and Arthur Conan Doyle. A heavily built man with a striking double-chin and a deep voice, Sullivan made his acting debut at the Old Vic aged 18 in Shakespeare's Richard III and appeared in his first film in 1932. Some of his notable film roles include Mr. Bumble in Oliver Twist (1948) and Phil Nosseross in the film noir Night and the City (1950). Sullivan also played the part of Jaggers in two versions of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations - in 1934 and 1946. He appeared in a fourth Dickens film, the 1935 Universal Pictures version of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in which he played Crisparkle. In 1938, he was featured in The Citadel, starring Robert Donat, and a decade later, he played the role of Pierre Cauchon in the technicolor version of Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman. Also in 1938 he starred in a revival of the Stokes' brothers play Oscar Wilde at London's Arts Theatre. Sullivan also acted in light comedies, notably My Favorite Spy (1951), starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr, in which he played an enemy agent, and the comedy Fiddlers Three (1944), portraying Nero. He also played the role of Pothinus in the 1945 film version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. The film was directed by Gabriel Pascal, and was the last film personally supervised by Shaw himself. Sullivan later reprised the role in a stage revival of the play. Sullivan, who eventually became a naturalized US citizen, won a Tony Award in 1955 for the Agatha Christie play Witness for the Prosecution. Earlier, he had played Hercule Poirot at the Embassy Theatre (London) in the Christie play, Black Coffee (1930). He died of a heart attack, aged 53 (some sources claim he died from an unspecified "lung ailment"). Description above from the Wikipedia article Francis L. Sullivan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Tyrone Power

Cast · Known for Witness for the Prosecution

Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr., (also called Tyrone Power III; May 5, 1914 - November 15, 1958) was born at his mother's home of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914. One of the great romantic swashbuckling stars of the mid-twentieth century, and the third Tyrone Power of four in a famed acting dynasty reaching back to the eighteenth century. His great-grandfather was the first Tyrone Power (1795-1841), a famed Irish comedian. His father, known to historians as Tyrone Power Sr., but to his contemporaries as either Tyrone Power or Tyrone Power the Younger, was a huge star in the theater (and later in films) in both classical and modern roles. His mother, Patia Riaume (Mrs. Tyrone Power), was also a Shakespearean actress as well as a respected dramatic coach. A frail, sickly child, he was taken by his parents to the warmer climate of southern California. After his parents' divorce, he and his sister Anne Power returned to Cincinnati with their mother. There he attended school while developing an obsession with acting. Although raised by his mother, he corresponded with his father, who encouraged his acting dreams. He was a supernumerary in his father's stage production of 'The Merchant of Venice' in Chicago and held him as he died suddenly of a heart attack later that year. Startlingly handsome, young Tyrone nevertheless struggled to find work in Hollywood. He appeared in a few small roles, then went east to do stage work. A screen test led to a contract at 20th Century Fox in 1936, and he quickly progressed to leading roles. Within a year or so, he was one of Fox's leading stars, playing in contemporary and period pieces with ease. Most of his roles were colorful without being deep, and his swordplay was more praised than his wordplay. He served in the Marine Corps in World War II as a transport pilot, and he saw action in the Pacific Theater of operations. After the war, he got his best reviews for an atypical part as a downward-spiraling con-man in Nightmare Alley (1947). Although he remained a huge star, much of his postwar work was unremarkable. He continued to do notable stage work and also began producing films. Following a fine performance in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Power began production on Solomon and Sheba (1959). Halfway through shooting, he collapsed during a dueling scene with George Sanders, and he died of a heart attack before reaching a hospital.

Charles Manson

Charles Milles Manson (November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) led the California-based Manson Family cult based in the late 1960s. Some cult members committed a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969. In 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, including film actress Sharon Tate. The prosecution contended that while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy. Before the murders, Manson had spent more than half of his life in correctional institutions. While gathering his cult following, Manson was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who introduced Manson to record producer Terry Melcher. In 1968, the Beach Boys recorded Manson's song "Cease to Exist", renamed "Never Learn Not to Love" as a single B-side, but without a credit to Manson. Afterward, Manson attempted to secure a record contract through Melcher, but was unsuccessful. Manson would often talk about the Beatles, including their 1968 self-titled album. According to Los Angeles County District Attorney, Vincent Bugliosi, Manson felt guided by his interpretation of the Beatles' lyrics and adopted the term "Helter Skelter" to describe an impending apocalyptic race war. During his trial, Bugliosi argued that Manson had intended to start a race war, although Manson and others disputed this. Contemporary interviews and trial witness testimony insisted that the Tate–LaBianca murders were copycat crimes intended to exonerate Manson's friend Bobby Beausoleil. Manson himself denied having instructed anyone to murder anyone. Manson's notoriety as an emblem of insanity, violence, and the macabre influenced pop culture. Recordings of songs written and performed by Manson were released commercially, starting with Lie: The Love and Terror Cult (1970). Since his incarceration, various musicians have covered some of his songs. Although originally sentenced to death in 1971, his sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole after the California Supreme Court invalidated the state's death penalty statute in 1972. He served his life sentence at the California State Prison, Corcoran and died at age 83 in late 2017. Description above from the Wikipedia article Charles Manson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Jon Glaser

Cast · Known for Parks and Recreation

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Jonathan Daniel "Jon" Glaser (born June 20, 1968) is an American actor, comedian and television writer based out of New York City. He is best known for his work as a writer and sketch performer for many years on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, as well as for creating and starring in the Adult Swim series Delocated. He currently appears with the recurring role as Leslie Knope's rival, Councilman Jamm on the NBC series Parks and Recreation. Life and career Glaser was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 20, 1968, but was raised in Southfield, Michigan. Glaser is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he performed in the sketch comedy troupes Comedy Company and Just Kidding with Jon Hein, he is a five-time Emmy nominee with the writing staff of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has appeared in the movies Pootie Tang, School for Scoundrels, and Be Kind Rewind, and he has guest-starred on comedy programs such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Wonder Showzen, Bob's Burgers and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He was also a lead voice actor in several animated comedy programs such as Stroker and Hoop, Freak Show, and Lucy the Daughter of The Devil. In 2012, he began a recurring role as Leslie Knope's rival, Councilman Jeremy Jamm in the fifth and sixth seasons of the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Glaser is the creator and star of the live-action Adult Swim series Delocated, about "Jon", a man in the witness protection program with his own reality show. The show aired its final episode on March 7, 2013. Glaser's Delocated character, "Jon" was also featured as a DJ on an Adult Swim-themed radio station in the video game Saints Row: The Third.[1] In February 2012, Glaser appeared as the spokesman in a series of Subway commercials playing his Delocated character. Glaser was a member of the mainstage cast of The Second City during the mid-1990s, performing alongside future Saturday Night Live head writer Adam McKay and cast member Rachel Dratch, as well as future Mr. Show and 30 Rock cast member Scott Adsit. In Second City's award-winning revue Pinata Full of Bees, which was directed by Tom Gianas, Glaser sang about the importance of not betraying a friendship by pretending not to have legs in order to play in a wheelchair basketball league. He also provided musical accompaniment for the show's climax by drumming in a demonic pig mask, and appeared onstage throughout the show to pass judgement on audience members for laughing at jokes he considered socially irresponsible. Glaser's first published book My Dead Dad Was in ZZ Top, was released on February 8, 2011.

Tom Sizemore

Cast · Known for Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Heat

Tom Sizemore (Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr., November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor born in Detroit, Michigan, to a lawyer and philosophy professor father and a mother who worked for the city's ombudsman department. He attended Wayne State University and earned a Master's degree in theater from Temple University in 1986 before moving to New York City to pursue acting. His first break came when Oliver Stone cast him in Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and he quickly became known as a tough-guy character actor sought out by major directors including Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and Steven Spielberg. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Witness Protection (1999) and voiced mobster Sonny Forelli in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002). His career was derailed by long-standing substance abuse, multiple arrests, and a 2003 domestic violence conviction against Heidi Fleiss. He died on March 3, 2023, at age 61, after suffering a brain aneurysm on February 18; he is survived by his twin sons Jayden and Jagger. His notable film credits include Born on the Fourth of July (1989) (Tom Cruise, Cary Elwes), Lock Up (1989) (John Cusack, James Woods), Blue Steel (1990) (Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Fahey), True Romance (1993) (Val Kilmer, Patricia Arquette), Natural Born Killers (1994) (Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis), Wyatt Earp (1994) (Kevin Costner, William Petersen), Heat (1995) (Al Pacino, Robert De Niro), The Relic (1997) (Penelope Ann Miller, Matthew Modine), Saving Private Ryan (1998) (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon), Enemy of the State (1998) (Will Smith, Gene Hackman), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) (Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette), Black Hawk Down (2001) (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor), Pearl Harbor (2001) (Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett), Red Planet (2000) (Val Kilmer, Carice van Houten), Dreamcatcher (2003) (Jennifer Connelly, Tim Robbins), and The Marine (2006) (John Cena, Jean-Claude Van Damme). On television he starred in Robbery Homicide Division (2002–2003) and appeared in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) (Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern).

Jackie Coogan

Cast · Known for The Wild Wild West

John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984), known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. In the interim, he sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers. Coogan enlisted in the U.S. Army in March 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor that December, he requested a transfer to Army Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. Graduating the Advanced Glider School with the Glider Pilot aeronautical rating and the rank of Flight Officer, he volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In December 1943, the unit was sent to India. He flew British troops, the Chindits, under General Orde Wingate on March 5, 1944, landing them at night in a small jungle clearing 100 miles (160 km) behind Japanese lines in the Burma Campaign. After the war, Coogan returned to acting, taking mostly character roles and appearing on television. From 1952 to 1953, he played Stoney Crockett on the syndicated series Cowboy G-Men. He guest-starred on NBC's The Martha Raye Show. He appeared, too, as Corbett in two episodes of NBC's The Outlaws with Barton MacLane, which aired from 1960–1962. In the 1960–1961 season, he guest-starred in the episode "The Damaged Dolls" of the syndicated crime drama The Brothers Brannagan. In 1961, he guest-starred in an episode of The Americans, an NBC series about family divisions stemming from the Civil War. He also appeared in episode 37, titled "Barney on the Rebound", of The Andy Griffith Show, which aired October 31, 1961. He had a regular role in a 1962–63 NBC series, McKeever and the Colonel. He finally found his most famous television role as Uncle Fester in ABC's The Addams Family (1964–1966). He appeared as a police officer in the Elvis Presley comedy Girl Happy in 1965. He appeared four times on the Perry Mason series, including the role of political activist Gus Sawyer in the 1963 episode "The Case of the Witless Witness", and TV prop man Pete Desmond in the final episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout", in 1966. He was a guest several times on The Red Skelton Show, appeared twice on The Brady Bunch ("The Fender Benders" and "Double Parked"), I Dream of Jeannie (as Jeannie's uncle, Suleiman – Maharaja of Basenji), Family Affair, Here's Lucy, and The Brian Keith Show, and continued to guest-star on television (including multiple appearances on The Partridge Family, The Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, and McMillan and Wife) until his retirement in the mid 1970s. Description above from the Wikipedia article Jackie Coogan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Clarke Peters

Cast · Known for The Wire, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Person of Interest

Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American actor, writer, and director, who has spent much of his adult life in the United Kingdom. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series The Wire (2002–2008) and Albert Lambreaux in the television series Treme (2010–2013). He also wrote the book for the musical revue Five Guys Named Moe (1990). Peters is also known for his roles in the films Silver Dream Racer (1980), Endgame (2009), John Wick (2014), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), Harriet (2019), and Da 5 Bloods (2020), the lattermost of which earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Peters was born Peter Clarke, the second of four sons, in New York City, and grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. At the age of 12, he had his first theater experience, in a school production of My Fair Lady. He began to have serious ambitions to work in the theater at the age of 14. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1970. In 1971, Peters' older brother enabled him to work as a costume designer for a production of the musical Hair in Paris, in which Peters later starred. In 1973, Peters moved to London and changed his name to Clarke Peters, because Equity already had a few namesake members. While in London, he formed a soul band, The Majestics, and worked as a backup singer on such hits as "Love and Affection" by Joan Armatrading, "Boogie Nights" by Heatwave, and some David Essex songs. However, music was not Peters' main ambition, and he preferred to work in the theater. His first West End theatre musical roles, which he received with assistance from his friend Ned Sherrin, were I Gotta Shoe (1976) and Bubbling Brown Sugar (1977). Other West End credits include Blues in the Night, Porgy and Bess, The Witches of Eastwick, Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and Chess. Peters starred in the Sean Connery space Western Outland (1981) as the treacherous Sgt. Ballard, and he played an almost wordless role as Anderson, a vicious pimp in Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa (1986). Peters is familiar to television viewers as Detective Lester Freamon in the HBO series The Wire. Peters also starred in the HBO mini-series The Corner, portraying a drug addict named Fat Curt, as well as the FX series Damages, as Dave Pell. Both The Wire and The Corner were created by writer and former The Baltimore Sun journalist David Simon. Peters also stars in Simon's HBO series Treme, in the role of Mardi Gras Indian chief Albert Lambreaux. Peters appeared in two episodes of the American time-travel/detective TV series Life on Mars (2008) as NYPD Captain Fletcher Bellow. He also appeared in the British show Holby City, as Derek Newman, the father of nurse Donna Jackson. He voiced a part in the Doctor Who animated episode Dreamland, and in the In Plain Sight episode "Duplicate Bridge" as a man in Witness Protection named Norman Baker/Norman Danzer. In 2010, Peters read Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption for BBC 7. In that year, he also had a guest appearance as Professor Mark Ramsay in the pilot episode of the USA Network TV series Covert Affairs. From 2012 to 2013, Peters had a recurring role as Alonzo D. Quinn in the CBS TV series Person of Interest.

Romeo

Percy Romeo Miller (born August 19, 1989), known by his stage name Romeo  (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, actor, and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with No Limit Records, then owned by his father, Master P. He soon released his debut single "My Baby" in 2001 which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later the same year, Miller released his debut album Lil' Romeo, which charted the US Billboard 200 at number six selling 99,000 copies in its first week and went on to be certified Gold. In 2001, Miller began his acting career with a cameo appearance in the Walt Disney Pictures' film Max Keeble's Big Move. In 2002, Nickelodeon offered him his own show, Romeo!, which ran for three seasons.  In 2003, he co-starred with Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer and Zachary Isaiah Williams in the dance film Honey. Also in 2003, he voiced himself on an episode of the animated series, Static Shock, to which he had performed the theme song. He starred in another film with Zachary Isaiah Williams, God's Gift, which was released in 2006. He went on to co-star with his father in a film called Uncle P in 2007. His next project in 2007, was a film called ASL in which he starred as himself, alongside Forrest Lipton and Zachary Isaiah Williams who played the young Romeo; Williams had previously co-starred with Romeo in two films and Nickelodeon's Romeo!. He also made a cameo appearance in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as a rapping coach. In 2007, Miller was offered and accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the USC Trojans at the University of Southern California. He played for the team until he was let go before his junior season in 2010. On July 24, 2010, Romeo launched his own clothing line titled "College Boyys". He guest-starred as a rapper accused of murder in the 2010 CBS series The Defenders. In 2011, he also starred in TV commercials for McDonald's and ICDC College. He starred in the feature films Jumping the Broom (2011) and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection (2012). Also in 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice. On November 13, 2013, he revealed that he was working on a brand new clothing line titled ROME Everything. He was cast in the 2017 feature film Never Heard, also starring his father, Master P. In 2020, he and his father appeared on the reality series Celebrity Watch Party. In February 2022, it was announced he had landed a role in the Lifetime movie, Wrath: A Seven Deadly Sins Story, which aired on April 16. He founded the record labels Guttar Music, Take a Stand, The Next Generation and his current label No Limit Forever Records.

Tom Christian

Tom Christian is a Liverpool-born, London-raised actor with a wide range of TV credits to his name. 2025 sees him with a major role playing DI Tommy Jardine, in the ITV thriller series 'Protection' about the murder of a family in witness protection, starring Siobhan Finneran and Katherine Kelly. In 2023 he guest starred in Silent Witness as Philip, the son of a landowner, whose family gets caught up a train crash on their land. And he played Dunstan in the 2023 feature length Netflix film 'Seven Kings Must Die', the finale to The Last Kingdom Netflix series. In 2022 he played Ash in ITV's prime time drama 'The Walk-In' which starred Stephen Graham. Also in 2022 he appeared in the BBC’s true crime drama series ‘Four Lives’ as well as ITV’s detective drama ‘Grace’. In 2021 he appeared as Sir Henry Stafford in Sky History’s 3 part docu-drama ‘Royal B**tards: Rise of the Tudors’. In 2020 he had a recurring role in ITV’s award-winning crime series ‘White House Farm’ which was based on the true story of a series of brutal murders in Essex and starred Stephen Graham and Freddie Fox. The show won Best New Drama at the TV Choice Awards and was also nominated for an RTS Award. He has had roles in many notable TV shows including Belgravia: The Next Chapter, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, Harlots, Mr Selfridge, Call the Midwife and Grantchester. He also appeared in ITV’s ‘Hatton Garden’ which starred Timothy Spall, as well as Channel 4’s ‘Chimerica’. He played regular character Brandon Boone in a number of episodes of E!’s soap opera ‘The Royals’, based on a modern, fictional Royal Family and which starred Elizabeth Hurley. He also appeared as Agent Nash in the limited series ‘24: Live Another Day’ on Sky/Fox. Born in Liverpool, he has both a native Liverpudlian accent, as well as a native East London accent picked up from his later years in London. He can do an excellent neutral British accent plus a native standard generic American accent (used in Chimerica, American Odyssey and 24), as well as Southern/East Coast American accents.

Larry the Cable Guy

Cast · Known for Cars 2, Cars, Cars 3

Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), better known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor and former radio personality. He is one of the co-stars of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, a comedy troupe which also includes Bill Engvall, Ron White, and Jeff Foxworthy, with whom he has starred on Blue Collar TV. Larry the Cable Guy has released seven comedy albums, of which three have been certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of 500,000 copies. In addition, he has starred in three Blue Collar Comedy Tour-related movies, as well as in the films Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, Delta Farce, and Witless Protection. He has also provided the voice of Mater in the Disney/Pixar films Cars and Cars 2. His catchphrase, Git-R-Done!, is the title of his book. On January 26, 2010, the History Channel announced it was ordering a series starring Larry the Cable Guy, titled Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, in which the comedian explores the country, immersing himself in different lifestyles, jobs and hobbies. The first episode of the series aired on February 8, 2011. Description above from the Wikipedia article Larry the Cable Guy, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Sheila Head

Sheila Head is an Actress, Writer and Set Designer. Sheila’s playwriting credits include The Egg Game (The Present Company), Over My Head (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Enter Smoking, and Hollywood Nurses. Sheila was a staff writer for the ABC/Disney convergence project, where she created shorts, narrative interactive gaming projects, and interstitial programming for the Disney Channel. For Oxygen Sheila created The Ruth Truth, an interactive detective comedy based on her experience as a private eye in New York’s Chinatown. Sheila was also a staff writer for The Emmy-Award winning PBS animated series, Cyberchase. As an improviser, Sheila created the improvised sitcom Character Witness for Freestyle Repertory Theater. The live sitcom ran for two years and led to the development of over 50 original characters and a cable TV spin-off, The Uncle Charlie Show. As a comedy writer and performer, Sheila has appeared at The HBO Workspace, PS NBC, Luna Lounge, Stella, Solo Arts, Moonwork, HERE, the West Bank Café, Ars Nova, and in comedy festivals throughout the US and Canada. She has also written for ABC/Disney, Garrison Keillor, and has contributed to The Next Big Thing on WNYC/NPR. Sheila regularly appears in New York and Los Angeles as Sandra O’Day, an ex-con/motivational speaker with anger management issues.