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Joe Mantell was an American actor of Austrian-Jewish descent. His original last name was "Mantel", but he added an additional l at the end. He was once nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor .
In 1915, Mantell was born in Brooklyn, New York City. His parents were immigrants from the region of Galicia in Eastern Europe. At the time of their immigration, Galicia was part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772-1918), one of the crown-lands of the Austrian Empire.
Mantell started appearing in films as an uncredited extra c. 1949. His first credited role was that of Dexter Freeman in the adventure film "Barbary Pirate" (1949), which depicted the Barbary Wars (1801-1805, 1815).
Mantell first received critical attention for his role as Angie in the romantic drama "Marty" (1955). Angie is depicted as the best friend of protagonist Marty Piletti (played by Ernest Borgnine), but discourages Marty from pursuing marriage with his love interest Clara (played by Betsy Blair). For this role as an obstacle to love, Mantell received his only nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The award was instead won by rival actor Jack Lemmon (1925-2001).
Mantell continued playing minor and supporting roles in films. His film appearances included the film noir "Storm Center" (1956), the political drama "Beau James" (1957), the military-themed comedy "The Sad Sack" (1957), and the World War II-themed comedy-drama "Onionhead".
Mantell was cast frequently in guest star roles in television. He received the starring role of gangster Jackie Rhoades in the episode of "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" (1960) of the anthology series "The Twilight Zone", co-stared as Pole, the robot fighter Battling Maxo's co-owner in the episode "Steel" (1963) of the same series. He played the failed assassin Giuseppe Zangara (1900-1933) in the two part episode "The Unhired Assassin" (1960) of the crime drama series "The Untouchables".
Mantell had his first recurring role in television when playing Ernie Briggs in six episodes of the sitcom "Pete and Gladys" (1960-1962). He had another recurring role as private detective Albie Loos in four episodes of the detective series "Mannix" (1967-1975).
In 1974, Mantell had one of his most recognizable roles in the neo-noir "Chinatown" (1974), as the character Lawrence Walsh . Walsh is depicted as an associate of the private investigator J. J. "Jake" Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson), and plays a significant role in the film's conclusion, Years later, Mantell returned to the role of Walsh in the sequel films "The Two Jakes" (1990). This happened to be Mantell's last appearance in a film.
Mantell retired from acting in 1990, at the age of 75. He lived in retirement until his death in September 2010. He died in Tarzana, California. He was 94-years-old at the time of death, one of the oldest living actors.- Director
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Monte Hellman was born on July 12, 1929, in New York City, where his parents were visiting, but he grew up in Los Angeles. He studied drama at Stanford University--on an NBC scholarship--and film at UCLA. After a few years directing in summer theater, Hellman hooked up with legendary "B" movie producer Roger Corman in the late 1950s. Corman helped finance Hellman's production of "Waiting For Godot", the the first time that Samuel Beckett's play had been staged in Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Times said it was "directed with wisdom, devotion and perception." Hellman made his film directorial debut with Beast from Haunted Cave (1959) and directed portions of Corman's The Terror (1963).
Hellman joined forces with frequent collaborator Jack Nicholson for two pictures shot back-to-back in the Philippines: Back Door to Hell (1964) and Flight to Fury (1964), then re-teamed with Nicholson for two existential westerns filmed in Utah under similar conditions: The Shooting (1966) and Ride in the Whirlwind (1966). After editing several films for Corman, including The Wild Angels (1966), Hellman directed what many consider to be his best work, Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), which starred Warren Oates and featured singer James Taylor and The Beach Boys' drummer Dennis Wilson in dramatic roles. It was included in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2012.
Hellman's next film was Cockfighter (1974), an adaptation of Charles Willeford's novel, also starring Oates. Hellman collaborated with the actor once more on the European western China 9, Liberty 37 (1978). After completing Avalanche Express (1979) following the death of its original director, Mark Robson. Hellman made Iguana (1988) and the darkly humorous Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989).
Hellman's work was a major influence on Quentin Tarantino, and he served as executive producer on Tarantino's directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs (1992). After a lengthy absence from the screen, he returned to directing with the short Stanley's Girlfriend (2006), included in the horror anthology Trapped Ashes (2006), and the feature film Road to Nowhere (2010), which won a Special Golden Lion at Venice: the award was presented by jury president Tarantino, who introduced Hellman as "a great cinematic artist and a minimalist poet".
Hellman was one of 70 directors asked to contribute a 90-second movie to _Venice 70: Future Reloaded (2013), which opened the 70th Venice Film Festival in 2013. His latest project is "Love or Die", which is scheduled to commence shooting in Lisbon, Portugal, in March 2014.
-------------- Biography by Woodyanders. Corrected by A. Nonymous. Revised, corrected and updated by Brad Stevens, author of 'Monte Hellman: His Life and Films', in 2014. Corrected by A. Nonymous.- Dotty Harmony was born on 14 February 1933 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Hawaiian Eye (1959) and Tallahassee 7000 (1961). She was married to Robert Colbert. She died on 4 April 2023 in Los Angeles, California, USA.