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- One of today's leading talents across both independent and mainstream film, Logan Lerman is an immensely talented actor who takes on challenging roles and brings dynamic characters to life on screen.
Logan was born in Beverly Hills, to a Jewish family. His parents are Lisa (Goldman), who worked as his manager, and Larry Lerman, an orthotist and businessman. He has two siblings, Lindsey and Lucas, both older. His family operate the orthotics and prosthetics company Lerman & Son, which was founded by his great-grandfather, Jacob Lerman.
When he was two and a half years old, Logan told his mother that he wanted to be an actor. At the age of four, Logan had an agent and was booked for two commercials. He made his big screen debut as William, the youngest son of Mel Gibson's character, in Roland Emmerich's war drama The Patriot (2000), and then appeared as the younger version of Gibson's character Nick Marshall in Nancy Meyers's romantic comedy What Women Want (2000). After a small role in 2001's Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), by Penny Marshall, he starred in the John Grisham adaptation A Painted House (2003), a made-for-television film that won him the first of his three Young Artist Awards.
Logan played the younger version of Ashton Kutcher's character, Evan, in The Butterfly Effect (2004). After a guest-starring role in 10-8: Officers on Duty (2003), he starred in the WB Network's series Jack & Bobby (2004), where he portrays Bobby (Robert) McCallister, a teenager who will grow up to be President of the United States. After the show's cancellation in 2005, Logan returned to film, starring in the family adventure Hoot (2006). The next year, he played the son of Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) in the dark thriller The Number 23 (2007), and co-starred with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in James Mangold's critically-acclaimed Western remake 3:10 to Yuma (2007). His next two roles were a foul-mouthed private school student in the comedy Meet Bill (2007) and actor George Hamilton in the period drama My One and Only (2009). Both were independent films that received limited releases. Also in 2009, Logan appeared with Gerard Butler in the R-rated action thriller Gamer (2009), as a foul-mouthed teenager who controls Butler's character in a real-life video game.
In 2010, Logan starred as Percy in the fantasy adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), based on the best-selling young adult book series of the same title. The film gave him notice among a wider audience. Subsequently, he starred as D'Artagnan in a remake of The Three Musketeers (2011), which was Logan's grandfather's favorite childhood book. Lerman then headlined the coming-of-age indie drama The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), alongside Emma Watson, Paul Rudd and Ezra Miller, based on the 1999 novel of the same name. Perks garnered numerous nominations and wins at the People's Choice Awards, The Independent Spirit Awards and the Teen Choice Awards, and Logan received a 2013 Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor in a Drama. Around this time, he had a supporting role in the independent film Stuck in Love. (2012), and returned to star in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013).
His first 2014 role was in Darren Aronofsky's acclaimed Biblical epic film Noah (2014), playing one of the title character's sons, Ham. The film, also starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins, Douglas Booth, and Emma Watson, grossed over $100 million at the North American box office. Logan next starred with Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, and Michael Peña in the World War II-set action drama Fury (2014); in the film, he played one of several American soldiers engaged in tank combat against the German forces, during the last weeks of the Nazi regime.
Lerman next played the lead in writer-director James Schamus's 1950s-set drama Indignation (2016). Logan received rave reviews for his performance as Marcus Messner, an idealistic Jewish atheist from Newark who travels to Ohio to study at a conservative Midwestern Lutheran college. The film is based on Philip Roth's bestselling novel of the same name, and premiered at 2016's Sundance Film Festival.
In 2018, Logan voiced real-life soldier Robert Conroy in Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero (2018), about the famous World War I war dog. He began the 2020s starring with Al Pacino and Josh Radnor in the stylish television drama Hunters (2020), playing Jonah Heidelbaum, a Brooklyn teenager who joins a group hunting down escaped Nazis. His upcoming roles include Sean Fogle in the Irish-set drama End of Sentence (2019), with John Hawkes as his character's father, and Fred Nemser in the thriller Shirley (2020).
When Logan is not working, he likes to play soccer and baseball. He is an LA Lakers fan. - Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Albert Brooks was born on 22 July 1947 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Drive (2011), Broadcast News (1987) and Defending Your Life (1991). He has been married to Kimberly Shlain since 15 March 1997. They have two children.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
David Morse, a 6' 4" tall blue-eyed blond who performed on stage for 10 years before breaking into film, has become established as a respected supporting, character actor and second lead.
He was born the first of four children of Charles, a sales manager, and Jacquelyn Morse, a schoolteacher, on October 11, 1953, in Beverly, Massachusetts. He grew up with three younger sisters. After graduating from high school, Morse studied acting at the William Esper Studio. In 1971, he began his professional acting career appearing in over 30 productions with the Boston Repertory Company from 1971 to 1977. In the late 1970s, Morse continued his stage career with the Circle Repertory Company in New York before moving into television and film. In the late 1990s, he returned to the Off-Broadway stage starring in Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize winning drama, "How I Learned to Drive" (1997), for which he won the Drama Desk Award and the Obie.
Morse made his big screen debut in 1980 co-starring as "Jerry Maxwell", a cheerful bartender turned basketball player, opposite John Savage and Diana Scarwid in Inside Moves (1980), written by Barry Levinson and directed by Richard Donner. Although Inside Moves (1980) was nominated for an Oscar, Morse had to wait a few years until his career took off. His big break came in 1982 when he was cast as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison, a young doctor who struggles as a single parent after the death of his wife, in St. Elsewhere (1982), a medical drama that ran for six seasons. He co-starred as opposite Jodie Foster and young Jena Malone in the Oscar nominated Sci-Fi drama Contact (1997). In 1999, he appeared in Stephen King's The Green Mile (1999), with Tom Hanks. A year later, he played a supporting role as a kidnapped husband of Meg Ryan in Proof of Life (2000). In 2002, Morse became the first English-speaking actor nominated for the Golden Horse Award, the Chinese equivalent of the Oscars, for his superb performance as FBI expert "Kevin Richter" in Double Vision (2002). From 2002 to 2004, Morse had a regular gig starring as "Mike Olshansky", an ex-Philadelphia policeman turned cab driver, in the TV series Hack (2002) which ran three seasons and was filmed in Philadelphia, close to his home. In 2006-2007, he has a recurring role on season 3 of an Emmy award-winning medical drama House (2004).
David Morse has been married to fellow actress Susan Wheeler Duff since 1982. They have three children, one daughter and twin sons. In 1994, after the the Northridge earthquake destroyed his home in Sherman Oaks, Morse moved from LA to Philadelphia with his family, and resides in his wife's hometown.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Richard Chamberlain became the leading heartthrob of early 1960s television. As the impeccably handsome Dr. James Kildare, the slim, butter-haired hunk with the near-perfect Ivy-League charm and smooth, intelligent demeanor, had the distaff fans fawning unwavering over him through the series' run. While this would appear to be a dream situation for any new star, to Chamberlain it brought about a major, unsettling identity crisis.
Born George Richard Chamberlain in Beverly Hills on March 31, 1934, he was the second son of Elsa Winnifred (von Benzon) (1902-1993) and Charles Axiom Chamberlain (1902-1984), a salesman. He has English and German ancestry. Richard experienced a profoundly unhappy childhood and did not enjoy school at all, making up for it somewhat by excelling in track and becoming a four-year letter man in high school and college. He also developed a strong interest and enjoyment in acting while attending Pomona College. Losing an initial chance to sign up with Paramount Pictures, the studio later renewed interest. Complications arose when he was drafted into the Unites States Army on December 7, 1956 for 16 months, serving in Korea.
Chamberlain headed for Hollywood soon after his discharge and, in just a couple of years, worked up a decent resumé with a number of visible guest spots on such popular series as Gunsmoke (1955) and Mr. Lucky (1959). But it was the stardom of the medical series Dr. Kildare (1961) that garnered overnight female worship and he became a huge sweater-vested pin-up favorite. It also sparked a brief, modest singing career for the actor.
The attention Richard received was phenomenal. True to his "Prince Charming" type, he advanced into typically bland, soap-styled leads on film befitting said image, but crossover stardom proved to be elusive. The vehicles he appeared in, Twilight of Honor (1963) with Joey Heatherton and Joy in the Morning (1965) opposite Yvette Mimieux, did not bring him the screen fame foreseen. The public obviously saw the actor as nothing more than a television commodity.
More interested in a reputation as a serious actor, Chamberlain took a huge risk and turned his back on Hollywood, devoting himself to the stage. In 1966 alone, he appeared in such legit productions as "The Philadelphia Story" and "Private Lives", and also showed off his vocal talents playing Tony in "West Side Story". In December of that year, a musical version of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" starring Richard and Mary Tyler Moore in the sparkling George Peppard/Audrey Hepburn roles was headed for Broadway. However, it flopped badly in previews and closed after only four performances. Even today, it is still deemed one of Broadway's biggest musical disasters.
An important dramatic role in director Richard Lester's Petulia (1968) led Richard to England, where he stayed and dared to test his acting prowess on the classical stage. With it, his personal satisfaction over image and career improved. Bravura performances as "Hamlet" (1969) and "Richard II" (1971), as well as his triumph in "The Lady's Not for Burning" (1972), won over the not-so-easy-to-impress British audiences. And on the classier film front, he ably portrayed Octavius Caesar opposite Charlton Heston's Mark Antony and Jason Robards' Brutus in Julius Caesar (1970), composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Ken Russell's grandiose The Music Lovers (1971) opposite Glenda Jackson, and Lord Byron alongside Sarah Miles in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972). While none of these three films were critical favorites, they were instrumental in helping to reshape Chamberlain's career as a serious, sturdy and reliable actor.
With his new image in place, Richard felt ready to face American audiences again. While he made a triumphant Broadway debut as Reverend Shannon in "The Night of the Iguana" (1975), he also enjoyed modest box-office popularity with the action-driven adventure films The Three Musketeers (1973) as Aramis and a villainous role in The Towering Inferno (1974), and earned cult status for the Australian film The Last Wave (1977). On the television front, he became a television idol all over again (on his own terms this time) as the "King of 80s Mini-Movies". The epic storytelling of The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975), The Thorn Birds (1983) and Shogun (1980), all of which earned him Emmy nominations, placed Richard solidly on the quality star list. He won Golden Globe Awards for his starring roles in the last two miniseries mentioned.
In later years, the actor devoted a great deal of his time to musical stage tours as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady", Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music" and Ebenezer Scrooge in "Scrooge: The Musical". Enormously private and having moved to Hawaii to avoid the Hollywood glare, at age 69 finally "came out" with a tell-all biography entitled "Shattered Love", in which he quite candidly discussed the anguish of hiding his homosexuality to protect his enduring matinée idol image.
Married now to his longtime partner of over 40 years, writer/producer Martin Rabbett, he has since accepted himself and shown to be quite a good sport in the process, appearing as gay characters in the film I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), and in television episodes of Will & Grace (1998), Desperate Housewives (2004) and Brothers & Sisters (2006). More recently, he has enjoyed featured roles in the films Strength and Honour (2007), The Perfect Family (2011), We Are the Hartmans (2011), Nightmare Cinema (2018) and Finding Julia (2019).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Beau can next be seen as a lead role in the upcoming Netflix series Firefly Lane opposite Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke. She was recently seen in the Discovery Channel MOW "1982" as the female lead opposite Josh Duhamel. She also recently starred as "Jessica Preston" in Season 1 of the ABC series The Good Doctor. She can also currently be seen as "Phoebe" on Bravo's critically acclaimed series Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce now streaming on Netflix. Beau has also appeared in the Netflix series Longmire as well as a co-lead opposite Forest Whitaker on the CBS drama Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.
In the feature film space, Beau is known for her roles in Walt Disney's Tron: Legacy, Sony Pictures' Made Of Honor, and 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. She has also appeared in Turistas, Knight Of Cups and Freelancers opposite Robert DeNiro.
Beau has been the face of multiple campaigns including: Revlon and Gap.- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
Booboo Stewart was thrust into the spotlight with his winning the coveted role of Seth Clearwater in the The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010) and reprising the role in both The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011) and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012). At age 10 Booboo began his career as a model, participating in numerous campaigns. He received a record deal at the age of 12 with Walt Disney records-touring with acts such as The Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and The Cheetah Girls. Booboo first worked on camera as a stunt person in films like Beowulf (2007) and then was captured by the acting bug after watching Heath Ledger's performance as the 'Joker' . Booboo strives to play interesting roles and he can soon be seen in White Frog (2012), The Last Survivors (2014), Space Warriors (2013) and An Evergreen Christmas (2014). Booboo is an accomplished martial artist - winning two World Championships and being inducted into the Jr Blackbelt Hall of Fame. He is sponsored by Gibson Guitars and resides in Los Angeles with his family.- Actress
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Fivel Stewart was born on 4 November 1996 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Atypical (2017), Roar (2022) and Umma (2022).- Sabrina Jàvor was born on 29 December 1983 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Beerfest (2006), Shadow and Bone (2021) and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (2018).
- Karen Lynn Gorney is the romantic star of Saturday Night Fever (1977): the dance partner and fantasy girlfriend who said "no" to John Travolta, and won his heart in this mega-hit film, released to raves. Miss Gorney is also the legendary "Tara Martin" ( Erica's mortal enemy) on ABC's award-winning All My Children (1970). A classically trained Actress, and winner of the People's Choice and European Bravo Awards, Karen holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon and MFA from Brandeis University in Acting and Speech. She has received raves in New York City and throughout the United States performing everything from William Shakespeare to Neil Simon. Karen's many independent films include A Crime (2006), with Harvey Keitel, and Searching for Bobby D (2005) [DeNiro], with Sandra Bernhard.
Karen was born in Beverly Hills, California, to Sondra Gorney, a writer-dancer-actress, and Jay Gorney, a producer-composer whose hits include the songs "Brother Can you Spare a Dime,"and "You're My Thrill". Karen's CD of her dad's hits, called "Hot Moonlight!" is available on Amazon, and karenlynngorney. It has received international acclaim. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Olivia Catherine Hack was born in Beverly Hills, California. At a young age, she first got her start as an actress with her role as Captain Picard's daughter in Star Trek: Generations (1994), and followed this up by starring as Cindy Brady in the two films based on the 1960s sitcom The Brady Bunch (1969), those being The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and A Very Brady Sequel (1996). The same year that A Very Brady Sequel was released, Hack would also begin her voice acting career with her role as Rhonda Wellington Lloyd in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! (1996), and would subsequently reprise the role in the films Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002) and Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie (2017). Her other roles include Ty Lee in Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005) and Mao in the English dub of Blood+ (2005), alongside various guest appearances in shows like Family Guy (1999), Freaks and Geeks (1999), and Gilmore Girls (2000), among others.- Actor
- Soundtrack
As they say, like father, like son. Cowboy hero Tim Holt avidly followed in the boots of his famous character-actor dad, the granite-jawed Jack Holt (b. Charles John Holt), who appeared in hundreds of silents and talkies (many of them westerns) over the years. The two actually appeared together as father and son in the western The Arizona Ranger (1948), and Jack was glimpsed (as a hobo in the Mexican flophouse that Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim were staying in) in the classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Also a part of the acting Holt clan was the beautiful "prairie flower" Jennifer Holt (nee Elizabeth Marshall Holt), Tim's younger sister, who appeared in scores of 1940s oaters. The three, however, never performed together in a single film.
Tim was born Charles John Holt, Jr. in Beverly Hills on February 5, 1918, to Jack and his wife, Margaret Woods, at a time when Jack was just making a dent in silent films. Nicknamed "Tim", he was raised on his father's ranch in Fresno, where he performed outside chores and learned to ride a horse. Tim, in fact, made his debut at age 10 in one of his father's westerns, The Vanishing Pioneer (1928), based on a Zane Grey story. He played Jack's character as a young boy.
The boyishly rugged, athletically inclined Tim attended military school in his teens, excelling in polo. While studying at college, he married his college sweetheart, Virginia Ashcroft, in 1938. At this point he decided to try to put together an acting career. Virginia herself made a very brief foray into acting.
Tim apprenticed at various stock companies before he eased his way back into films with an unbilled part in History Is Made at Night (1937). He then earned strong notices in the classic Barbara Stanwyck tearjerker Stella Dallas (1937) and as Olivia de Havilland's brother in Gold Is Where You Find It (1938). His horseback riding capabilities and fast-drawing technique quickly kicked in with The Law West of Tombstone (1938), and he joined a superb cast in John Ford's classic western Stagecoach (1939) as a by-the-book cavalry lieutenant.
Hardly confined to westerns at this early stage, Tim showed impressive acting abilities in comedy (Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)), adventures (Swiss Family Robinson (1940)), and high drama (Back Street (1941)), all for RKO Pictures. He reached an early peak when Orson Welles cast him against type as the cruel, malicious son George in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), a role Welles initially contemplated playing himself. By the mid '40s, however, Tim had settled into the western genre. He starred in a series of dusty RKO features partnered with comic Cliff Edwards by his side and also appeared solo elsewhere.
World War II interrupted his thriving career. He was a decorated hero (Distinguished Flying Cross, Victory Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation among his awards) while serving in the Air Corps and was discharged with the rank of second lieutenant. Wounded over Tokyo on the last day of the war, he was also given the Purple Heart. He made an auspicious return to films in the role of Virgil Earp in Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) and then continued in a somewhat lesser vein with "B"-level oaters. He came to the forefront one more time, co-starring with gold prospecting rivals Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston in John Huston's masterpiece The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), arguably the high point of Tim's entire film career, which rightfully earned him the best notices he ever received.
Richard Martin became his second sidekick in another popular string of RKO westerns, with Tim repeatedly making the "top ten" ranks of money-making cowboy stars. Appearing almost exclusively for RKO from 1939 on, Tim eventually became disillusioned with the quality of his pictures and decided to abandon films after appearing in RKO's Desert Passage (1952) while still a popular draw. Divorced from his second wife, Alice Harrison, he retired for the most part to his Oklahoma ranch with his third wife, Berdee Stephens, and their three children. He later became a manager for a radio station in Oklahoma City. In 1957 he came out of retirement to head up the cast in the subpar sci-fi horror film The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) and then quickly returned to obscurity.
Little was heard from Tim over the years save a co-starring role in a low-budget hillbilly moonshine extravaganza for exploitation king Herschell Gordon Lewis called This Stuff'll Kill Ya! (1971). He was diagnosed with bone cancer in August of 1972 and passed away rather quickly on February 15, 1973, shortly after his 54th birthday. Buried in Oklahoma, he was posthumously inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a recipient of the "Golden Boot" award in 1992.- Warm, charming leading lady of 1940s films, Jacqueline White was under contract to both MGM (which wasted her in mostly unbilled bits) and then RKO, where she appeared in two classics--Crossfire (1947) and The Narrow Margin (1952). RKO used her as a second lead in A pictures and leading roles in Bs.
She retired in 1950 upon her marriage to Bruce Anderson and they relocated to Wyoming, where her husband started an oil business. When she returned to Los Angeles for the birth of her first child, she was spotted in the RKO commissary visiting friends by director Richard Fleischer and producer Stanley Rubin, who offered her a co-starring role in "The Narrow Margin". The film, widely acknowledged to be one of the classics of "film noir", sat on the RKO shelf for two years while studio boss Howard Hughes considered whether to extensively edit it or re-shoot it as an "A" with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Eventually, selected scenes were reshot and added in December 1951, nearly a year after the film had originally wrapped--she was flown out from her home in Casper, Wyoming, for these added scenes--and the film was, thankfully, spared any more of Hughes' "improvements". It was released mostly intact due to director Fleischer's striking a deal with Hughes to release the picture without further changes in return for Fleischer's reshooting the end of His Kind of Woman (1951).
Long retired from the film industry, Jacqueline has recently begun appearing at film festivals and conventions. - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Jacqueline Lovell was born and raised in Southern California. From a very young age, she had the immense innate talent and enthusiasm for performance. She expressed this through school musicals and church plays from grade school through high school. In much of her free time, she was writing skits and performing them for her family. She attended many schools during her formative years, which instilled drive and independence in her. At eighteen, she went to Santa Monica College to pursue accounting and later landed a full time job as an accountant.
However, she quickly realized her hunger was not being fulfilled. So she set sail and journeyed into the world of modeling. She quickly became the number one nude model in 1995 and was in over 150 magazines by '96. She completed more than 80 videos for Playboy, Penthouse and numerous independents. Not only beautiful but also intelligent, she became the publisher for "Babe" Magazine. She also wrote for "Femme Fatales" Magazine and for major internet corporations such as Danni Ash's Harddrive. After being in the industry for one year, Jacqueline's desire to grow as a person led her to acting classes. As she studied her craft, her vocation became clear. She started as an extra in Forest Gump, The Truth about Cats and Dogs, Murder She Wrote, Baywatch Nights and before long her talent was recognized. She was cast in lead roles for Full Moon Entertainment, Zalman King Productions, Mystique Films, and many more.
Jacqueline has acted in films around the world planting her seed in film history. She has easily become one of the top erotic actresses in Hollywood. Others with as much success in erotic films might be content to focus only on that genre. But not someone with Jacqueline's talent. She has closed this chapter in her life to focus on mainstream roles.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Parisse Boothe was born in Beverly Hills to Pamela and Powers Boothe. Graduating high school after only three years, she attended college at the University of Oregon, majoring in Theatre Arts. She was nationally awarded in the American College Theatre Festival. Upon moving back to Los Angeles, she began work on the Emmy-winning HBO series, Deadwood (2004), as the Bella Union prostitute,"Tess". After work on the hit series, Parisse began working in film, starring amidst Sean Astin and James Gammon in the baseball classic, The Final Season (2007); and others. She consistently shows her diversity from motion capture, television, film, producing and directing.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Marc Silverstein was born on 1 July 1971 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for I Feel Pretty (2018), How to Be Single (2016) and Never Been Kissed (1999). He has been married to Busy Philipps since 16 June 2007. They have two children.- Actress
- Producer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Christina Scherer was born on 28 May 1993 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Intern (2015), CSI: NY (2004) and Two and a Half Men (2003).- Actor
- Casting Department
- Soundtrack
In choosing a professional acting career for himself, bon vivant Sydney Chaplin had to deal with the powerful and pervasive shadow of his famous father, the legendary Charles Chaplin, hovering over him every step of the way. While his older brother, actor Charles Chaplin Jr., buckled under the pressure and died of an alcohol-related illness at age 43, the dashing and debonair Sydney achieved respectable success on his own terms by avoiding films and focusing on the theater.
Sydney was the oldest surviving Chaplin child at the time of his death following a stroke on March 3, 2009. While in no way could he match his father's ambitious nature and incredible genius, Sydney managed to do things his way. Fortunately, he was not weighed down by his father's all-encompassing obsession for recognition. Easygoing to a fault, Sydney was both charming and charismatic -- a winning combination on the stage. A wonderful mimic, he also possessed a fun and witty idle-rich mentality that tended to reflect his stage and film persona.
Sydney Earle Chaplin, who bore a similar, slightly forlorn facial resemblance to his famous father, was born in Beverly Hills, California, on March 31, 1926, and was the second son born to Charlie and his second wife, Lita Grey. Lita was an aspiring actress who married the 35-year-old legend when she was 16. Sydney was named after his half-uncle, actor Syd Chaplin. His parents' marriage was doomed from the start and indeed was over before Sydney was even a year old. Charlie created just as many headlines off camera as he did on, and this breakup was no exception. The acrimonious divorce proceedings was a feast for the tabloids in 1927. Sydney was thereafter raised by his maternal grandmother and saw almost nothing of his father during his most irregular upbringing.
Growing up, the boy suffered from extreme restlessness and a lack of discipline, and his education was erratic as a result. He was expelled from three boarding schools by the time he was 16. However, things changed for him with his country's participation in World War II. Drafted into the infantry at age 18, a new sense of purpose took over him when he was sent to Europe to serve as a bazooka man in the Third Army commanded by General George S. Patton.
Sydney had avoided his father's profession up until this point. However, after his discharge from the United States Army, he was asked by a friend to try acting and he found out that he liked it. In 1946, he became the co-founder (with George Englund) of the Circle Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Father Charlie actually directed Sydney in a couple of the company's endeavors, including a production of "Rain". Impressed by Sydney's newfound seriousness, Charlie gave him his first movie role as the composer in the classic Limelight (1952). Despite a fine introduction into films, Sydney's later output would be largely overlooked.
Despite his inbred elegance, he was not the leading man type on film and was often cast in ethnic support roles (Indian, Egyptian). His credits included such foreign films as Act of Love (1953) starring Kirk Douglas; Columbus entdeckt Krähwinkel (1954), which co-starred brother Charlie Jr., the British entry Land of the Pharaohs (1955), which starred one-time paramour Joan Collins, the English/Egyptian co-production Abdullah's Harem (1955) starring Kay Kendall, and another British programmer, Follow That Man (1961) with Dawn Addams. He did not have any better luck with the American films he made -- Pillars of the Sky (1956) -- an actionful Western in which he played an Indian scout working for the army -- Four Girls in Town (1957) and Quantez (1957). Sydney did star in one above-average picture, the British thriller The Deadliest Sin (1955) co-starring Audrey Dalton, but the second-string film came and went without much fanfare.
Stardom finally occurred for the actor on the New York stage -- not in a chic comedy, for which he was known, but in a musical. He opened on Broadway in November 1956 in the hit Betty Comden and Adolph Green effort "Bells Are Ringing" after femme star Judy Holliday encouraged him to audition. Having never sung before, it took 15 rounds before the director gave him the role of Jeff Moss, the gent who falls for Holliday's switchboard operator. Both Sydney and Judy wound up winning Tony Awards in 1957 for their performances (Sydney in the "featured" category) and he also earned a 1957 Theatre World Award as a new "promising personality". He and Holliday became involved at one point, which did not work out, and the uncomfortable situation led to his agreed replacement (by Hal Linden). Sydney would not return to perform with Holliday when the show made its London debut. Nevertheless, he continued on Broadway in both musicals and comedies, including "Goodbye, Charlie" (1959), "Subways Are for Sleeping" (1961) and "In the Counting House" (1962). His modest baritone was utilized on television as well in the musical version of Wonderful Town (1958) starring Rosalind Russell.
Sydney's second greatest triumph came again in a Broadway musical -- "Funny Girl" (1964) co-starring meteoric newcomer Barbra Streisand. Playing the inveterate gambler and ladies' man Nick Arnstein opposite Streisand's love-torn comedienne Fanny Brice, both actors received Tony nominations for their performances, but neither won. His problems working with the young and eccentric Streisand resulted in a feud that led to his eventually leaving the cast. Because of the problems with his leading ladies, both of his original roles in "Bells Are Ringing" and "Funny Girl" went to other more famous stars (Dean Martin and Omar Sharif, respectively) when they transferred to film.
In the late 1960s, Sydney appeared in another of his father's pictures, supporting Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren in the poorly-received A Countess from Hong Kong (1967). Sadly, this was Charlie's last hurrah as a director. Sydney later worked in foreign-made film fare, most of them unworthy of his talents. He ended his career in the late 1970s on an uneventful note with some standard television guest appearances and roles in a couple of abysmal horror films: So Evil, My Sister (1974) and Satan's Cheerleaders (1977), the latter movie featuring other veteran actors on the wane, including John Ireland, John Carradine and Yvonne De Carlo.
In later years, Sydney opened a celebrity-friendly bistro and dinner club called "Chaplin's" in Palm Springs, California. It ran for about a decade. He also enjoyed trophy-winning celebrity status out on the desert's golf courses. Sydney Chaplin died at age 82 of a stroke in Rancho Mirage, California on March 30, 2009. He was survived by his third wife, Margaret Beebe, and his only child Stephan from his first marriage.- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Jonathan Prince was born on 16 August 1958 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for American Dreams (2002), Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019) and American Soul (2019).- Howard Petrie was born on 22 November 1906 in Beverly, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), Bend of the River (1952) and Walk Softly, Stranger (1950). He was married to Alice Laurie Wood. He died on 24 March 1968 in Keene, New Hampshire, USA.
- E.J. Johnson was born on 4 June 1992 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. He is an actor, known for With Love (2021), The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022) and Rich Kids of Beverly Hills (2014).
- Casey Reinhardt was born on 1 July 1986 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Drawn Into the Night (2022), Lure (2010) and Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (2004). She has been married to Sean Brown since 20 February 2016. They have two children.
- Director
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Guy Ferland was born on 18 February 1966 in Beverly, Massachusetts, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Bang Bang You're Dead (2002), The Walking Dead (2010) and Falling Down (1993).- Shannon Nicole Dawson is an actress and model known for her celebrity father, the late Richard Dawson, the legendary host of Family Feud (1976). Shannon Dawson was born in Beverly Hills, CA. Dawson attended private school in Los Angeles and went on to graduate from Vanderbilt University and UCLA. Dawson made her television debut on ABC in 1994, holding her father's hand while declaring, "let's play the feud!"
- Charles Chaplin Jr. was born on 5 May 1925 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Beat Generation (1959), Fangs of the Wild (1954) and Matinee Theatre (1955). He was married to Martha Brown (nurse) and Susan Magness. He died on 20 March 1968 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Lois Laurel was born on 10 December 1927 in Beverly Hills, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Archive, Last of the Summer Wine (1973) and One Moment Please (1956). She was married to Tony Hawes and Rand Brooks. She died on 28 July 2017 in Granada Hills, California, USA.