Tag Archives: movie star

Judy Davis: Star of Distinction

Born in Perth, Western Australia, on April 23, 1955, Judy Davis was forbidden to see films as a child. She attended a Catholic convent school in her hometown, and her family can trace its ancestry back to the original 1831 British settlement in Perth. She began acting as a young girl in the neighborhood church. She trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts and played opposite Mel Gibson in a production of Romeo and Juliet. She also performed with Collin Friels who would become her husband in 1984. The couple has two children, a boy named Jack and a … Continue reading →

Jeremy Irons: Elegant English Thespian

JJeremy John Irons was born on September19, 1948, in Cowes, on The Isle of Wight, which is a small island off the coast of England. The son of a tax consultant, he was not very fond of figures. His parents split up when he was 15 and before becoming an actor, he considered a career as a veterinary surgeon. A lover of horses, he became an accomplished rider as a teenager. He trained at the British Old Vic School for two years before joining the repertory company where he gained much experience working in everything from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas. … Continue reading →

Ving Rhames: Big Heart, Big Talent

Irving Rhames was born in New York City on May 12, 1959. He grew up in Harlem, New York, and was a very good student. This fact gained him entry into the New York High School of Performing Arts where the acting bug bit him and wouldn’t let go. He also studied at Juilliard and, after graduation, he went on to perform in Shakespeare in the Park productions. He appeared in front of the camera for the first time in the 1984 television movie “Go Tell it on The Mountain.” That same year he made his Broadway debut in the … Continue reading →

Liza Minelli: A Rise Above

Liza Minelli once said: “reality is something you must rise above.” For the daughter of the late Judy Garland and Vincent Minelli who was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 12, 1946, this phrase could not reflect more truth. Named after Ira Gershwin’s song, “Liza (All The Clouds’ll Roll Away)”, she was practically raised at the MGM studio where her parents worked, and she made her debut at the tender age of 14 months in the musical “In the Good Old Summertime” (1949). In 1951, her world came crashing down when her parents divorced and her mother quickly remarried … Continue reading →

Patty Duke: Star Still Shining Bright

Anna Maria Duke was born on December 14, 1946 in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. Her father, John P. Duke, was Irish-American and her mother, Frances Mac Mahon, was Irish and German. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother who suffered from mental illness, was prone to violence. At the age of eight, Anna Maria was turned over to John and Ethel Ross who recognized her talent and promoted her as a child actress. But they were unscrupulous people who padded her resume with false credits and billed her as two years younger than she was. They were ultimately not … Continue reading →

Heather Locklear: Quiet Talent and Beauty

Heather Deen Locklear was born on September 25, 1961, in Westwood, California, the youngest of four children of Bill and Diane Locklear. She has two sisters, Laurie and Colleen, and a brother, Mark. Her ancestry is mostly Scottish, but she has Lumbee Native American roots on her father’s side. (The surname Locklear is quite common among the Lumbee.) Her father was the dean of the School of Engineering at UCLA and after graduation from Newbury Park High School (where, believe it or not, she was rejected by the cheerleading squad) she herself attended UCLA. It was while she was attending … Continue reading →