Tag Archives: movie star

Mike Myers: The Bomb or Just Bombing?

What’s up with Mike Myers? Have you seen the papers recently? The media has unleashed a litany of negative articles on the actor with headlines ranging from “Mike Myers: Cooked or Just Simmering?” to “Mike Myers all Washed Up.” And in the current issue of Rolling Stone, a reporter asks: “Is the failure of The Love Guru merely a slip or a sign of dire things to come?” Which leads to my question: Is the failure of “The Love Guru” really to blame for this media massacre? Sure, critics called Myers latest movie “reprehensible,” while others considered it a “critical … Continue reading →

Curing Patrick Swayze

“We can cure Patrick Swayze.” Or so claims three doctors who want to give the actor a new lease on life with revolutionary new cancer treatments. The “Ghost” star was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year and since then he has been keeping a low profile. But, the 55-year-old’s name returned to the headlines yet again this week after three self-proclaimed cancer “experts” offered to treat the actor with experimental techniques they consider “miraculous.” Dr. Howard May, Robert Krupa and Dr. Jim Howenstine insist they have the tools to help Swayze beat cancer and they went straight to the … Continue reading →

Linda Blair: Child Star and Activist

Linda Denise Blair was born on January 22, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her father, James, was an executive headhunter, her mother, Elinore, a real-estate agent. Linda has a brother, Jimmy and a sister, Debbie. When she was two years of age, her family moved to Westport, Connecticut, and by the time she was six, she was working both as a model and in motion pictures. . She appeared in seventy-five commercials and hundreds of magazine catalogues by the time she was twelve, and was used to being in the spotlight when out of six hundred applicants, she was chosen … Continue reading →

Lindsay Wagner: Television’s Movie Queen

Born on June 22, 1949, in Los Angeles, California, Lindsay Jean Ball’s parents divorced when she was seven years of age. As a teenager, she lived in Portland, Oregon, and attended David Douglas High School. She began to study dance (ballet and jazz) at the age of thirteen, and when her mentor suggested that she study acting, she promptly followed through on the advice. She became a model first however, and although successful, grew to hate it. Her acting career began in the 1970s with guest appearances on television shows such as “Night Gallery” (1970) and “Marcus Welby, MD” (1969). … Continue reading →

Robert De Niro: One Great Actor

Born on August 17, 1943, in Greenwich Village, New York, Robert de Niro is the child of two artists; Robert De Niro, Sr, an abstract expressionist, and Virginia Admiral, a painter. His Irish mother, despite her strict Catholic upbringing, was a practicing Jew for most of Robert’s childhood. His father came out of the closet as a homosexual after Robert was born, and eventually divorced his mother. As a child, Robert was an avid reader of playwrights, and he discovered his love of acting at the age of ten when he portrayed the Cowardly Lion in a local production of … Continue reading →

Kurt Russell: Rugged Child Star

Kurt Vogel Russell was born on March 17, 1951, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Bing Russell, is a former baseball player, who played the deputy sheriff on the television series, “Bonanza” for six years. Kurt was a child star, landing a ten-year contract with Walt Disney in 1960 and in 1963, a part in an Elvis Presley movie, “It Happened at the World’s Fair.” He graduated from Thousand Oaks High School along with Michael Richards of “Seinfeld” fame. Richards was said to have voted Kurt the “best looking in the class.” Although he was well on his way to establishing … Continue reading →

Goldie Hawn: Blonde Understatement

Born the daughter of a musician on November 21, 1945, in Washington, DC, Hawn grew up in suburban Maryland. She began dance lessons at the tender age of three, and by the age of seventeen, was managing a dance studio while studying drama at American University. She danced professionally at the New York World’s Fair (Texas pavilion) in 1964 and went on to appear in the chorus lines of Broadway musical productions such as “Kiss Me Kate”, “Guys and Dolls” and “The Boyfriend.” Goldie moved to California and her big break came when an agent spotted her dancing on the … Continue reading →

Terri Garr: An Actress of Note

Born into show business on December 11, 1949, in Lakewood, Ohio, Terri Garr is the daughter of Eddie Garr, a Broadway stage and film actor who died when she was eleven years of age and Phyllis Garr, a dancer. As an infant, the family lived in Hollywood, but moved to New Jersey. After the death of her father, the family returned to Hollywood where her mother got a job as a wardrobe mistress for movies and television. Terri began her career as a dancer when she was only thirteen, and can be viewed as such in nine Elvis Presley movies. … Continue reading →

Diane Keaton: Reluctant Star

Diane Hall was born on January 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, California. She is the eldest of four children of Jack Hall, a civil engineer and Dorothy Keaton, homemaker and amateur photographer. Her father’s family was Irish American Catholic and her mother’s background was Methodist. Her earliest desire to become an actor occurred when she was a young girl and her she saw her mother participate in a “Mrs. Los Angeles” pageant for homemakers. Katherine Hepburn and her portrayal of strong and independent women was also an early inspiration. Diane graduated Santa Ana High School in 1964, and while there … Continue reading →

Mel Gibson: International Star

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born on January 3, 1956, in Peekskill, New York. He was the sixth of eleven children born to Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman and Ann Gibson who died in 1990. The father moved the family to New South Wales, Australia, in 1968 after winning as a contestant on the television show, “Jeopardy.” His ancestors really came from Ireland and Scotland and he was named after the Church of St. Mel in Tipperary, Ireland, where his mother’s family was from. After graduation from high school, Mel studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, … Continue reading →