Sited & Connected

Fred T. Gallo was born on 8 November 1944 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an assistant director and producer, known for Annie Hall (1977), The Godfather (1972) and Rocky (1976). He was married to Joan Bradshaw. He died on 7 September 2023 in Santa Ynez Valley, California, USA.

Hailing from the small town of Charlemagne, Québec, Céline Dion has become one of the all-time greatest singers. Céline was born in 1968, the youngest of 14 children. Early in childhood, she sang with her siblings in a small club owned by her parents. From these early experiences, Céline gained the know-how to performing live. At the age of 12, Dion composed a song in her native French and sent it to a record company, where it garnered the attention of René Angélil, a respected manager. Angélil believed in Céline so much that he actually mortgaged his house in order to finance her debut album. Already very popular and successful internationally, Céline burst onto the U.S. stage when she recorded the theme song to Disney's hit Beauty and the Beast (1991). The song garnered a Grammy and an Oscar, and from this point Céline has brought forth hit after hit. Her 'Falling Into You' album, released in 1996, became the best-selling album of that year, selling more than 25 million copies worldwide. In 1999, Dion took a hiatus in order to begin a family. She returned to the spotlight in 2002, releasing yet another hit album. Starting in 2003, Céline began a three-year commitment to perform in an arena built for her in Las Vegas.

Jared Fogle was born on 23 August 1977 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He is an actor, known for Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014), Jack and Jill (2011) and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015). He was previously married to Kathleen Marie McLaughlin and Elizabeth Christie.

Eight time Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close was born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Mary H. "Bettine" (Moore) and William Taliaferro Close (William Close), a prominent doctor. Both of her parents were from upper-class families.

Glenn was a noted Broadway performer when she was cast in her award-winning role as Jenny Fields in The World According to Garp (1982) alongside Robin Williams. For this role, a breakthrough in film for Close, she later went on to receive an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The following year she was cast in the hit comedy The Big Chill (1983) for which she received a second Oscar Nomination, once again for Supporting Actress in the role of Sarah Cooper. In her third film, Close portrayed Iris Gaines a former lover of baseball player Roy Hobbs portrayed by Robert Redford, in one of the greatest sports films of all time, The Natural (1984). For a third time, Close was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Close went on to star in films like The Stone Boy (1984), Maxie (1985) and Jagged Edge (1985). In 1987 Close was cast in the box office hit Fatal Attraction (1987) for which she portrayed deranged stalker Alex Forrest alongside costars Michael Douglas and Anne Archer. For this role she was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress. The following year Close starred in the Oscar Winning Drama Dangerous Liaisons (1988) for which she portrayed one of the most classic roles of all time as Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil, starring alongside John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. For this role she was nominated once again for the Academy Award and BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress. Close was favorite to win the coveted statue but lost to Jodie Foster for The Accused (1988). Close had her claim to fame in the 1980s. Close starred on the hit Drama series Damages (2007) for which she has won a Golden Globe Award and two Emmy Awards. In her career Close has been Oscar nominated eight times, won three Tonys, an Obie, three Emmys, two Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Billy Walsh is known for Skid Row (2013), I Spill Your Guts (2012) and Cool as Hell (2013).

Bobby is a certified and active New York State firefighter, currently captain of an engine. Burke is also active with foundation work including vet-hack, Leary Firefighter Foundation, FDNY Foundation, FDNY Fire Family Transport Foundation, Lt. Joseph DiBernardo Foundation for Fire Fighter Survival. Burke holds a second degree black belt in Matsubayashi, Shorin-ryu Okinawa karate.

Robert Michael "Rob" Schneider (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live (1975), Schneider has gone on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999), The Hot Chick (2002), and Grown Ups (2010).

Adept at playing comic brat extraordinaires both on film and TV, David Spade was born on July 22, 1964, in Birmingham, Michigan, the youngest of three brothers. He is the son of Judith J. (Meek), a writer and editor, and Wayne M. Spade, a sales rep, and is of German, English, Irish, and Scottish descent. Raised in both Scottsdale (from age four) and Casa Grande, Arizona, he graduated with a degree in business from Arizona State University in 1986. A natural prankster most of his life, Spade was pushed immediately into stand-up comedy by friends and appeared in nightclubs and college campuses all over the country.

A casting agent saw his routine at "The Improv" in Los Angeles and offered him a mischievous role in the film Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987). In 1990, the diminutive, flaxen-haired comedian finally hit the big time as a regular cast member and writer on Saturday Night Live (1975). Slow at first in gaining acceptance on the show, his razor-sharp sarcasm eventually caught on by his second season, when he played a number of smart-aleck characters in a variety of sketches, including a highly disinterested airline steward who bids each passenger adieu with a very sardonic "buh-bye" and an irritating receptionist for Dick Clark Productions who greets each huge celebrity with an unknowing "And you are . . . ?" A master of the putdown, Spade's "Hollywood Minute" reporter also took cynical advantage of tabloid-worthy stars. Spade impersonated such luminaries as Michael J. Fox, Kurt Cobain and Tom Petty during his tenure.

Following his SNL departure after six years, he spun off into a slapstick movie career, most noticeably as the scrawny, taciturn foil to SNL's wild and crazy big boy Chris Farley in Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996). The teaming of this unlikely but funny pair ended with Farley's death from a 1997 drug overdose. Since then, Spade has appeared in his own lukewarm vehicles, including Joe Dirt (2001) and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003). More recently he teamed with former SNL member Rob Schneider on the film The Benchwarmers (2006). Television has been more accepting over the years, with Spade earning an Emmy nomination as the droll, skirt-chasing secretary Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me! (1997) and filling in after the untimely death of John Ritter on ABC's 8 Simple Rules (2002) as Katey Sagal's unprincipled nephew.

Into the millennium, David was the star of the Comedy Central show The Showbiz Show with David Spade (2005) in 2005 wherein he more or less resurrected his obnoxious, razor-tongued gossipmonger from the old "Hollywood Minute" put-down segment on SNL, as well as co-starring in the adult-oriented ensemble sitcom Rules of Engagement (2007).

More recent comic film vehicles include The Benchwarmers (2006), The Do-Over (2016) alongside Adam Sandler; Father of the Year (2018); and The Wrong Missy (2020), along with cocky supporting roles in Entourage (2015) (as himself); the Adam Sandler vehicles Jack and Jill (2011), Grown Ups (2010), Grown Ups 2 (2013) and The Ridiculous 6 (2015); Sandy Wexler (2017); a voice in the animated feature Hotel Transylvania (2012) and its sequel Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018); Mad Families (2017) (also-co-wrote); and the rare dramatic thriller Warning Shot (2018). He also played recurring parts on the TV programs Carpet Bros (2008), Love (2016) and The Mayor (2017).

Nick Swardson was born on 9 October 1976 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Grandma's Boy (2006), The Benchwarmers (2006) and Just Go with It (2011).

Kevin James was born Kevin George Knipfing on April 26, 1965, in Mineola, Long Island, New York, to Janet (Klein), an office worker, and Joseph Valentine Knipfing, Jr., an insurance agency owner. He was raised in Stony Brook, and attended SUNY Cortland, where he played fullback on the football team while majoring in sports management. He realized after three years that this wasn't the path for him. After returning home, he decided to break up the monotony of the summer, and joined a community theater. During a play in which he had a comedic role, he so enjoyed the crowd reaction, that he joined his brother's (comedian Gary Valentine's) improv group. He began going to clubs with Gary and realized he, too, had the knack for comedy. He has performed stand-up up for about 11 years. It was on the comedy circuit that he met Ray Romano. While Ray was getting a big break with his own sitcom, Kevin was getting recognition on Star Search (1983). After appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), his big break came at the 1996 "Just for Laughs" Montreal Comedy Festival. Afterward, he landed a recurring role on Ray's sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).

He starred in his own sitcom, The King of Queens (1998), as Doug Heffernan, from 1998 to 2007, and later began a career as a leading film actor, co-starring in Hitch (2005), I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007), Grown Ups (2010), and Grown Ups 2 (2013), and headlining Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Zookeeper (2011), Here Comes the Boom (2012), and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015).

Eddie Money was born on 21 March 1949 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Over the Top (1987), The Iron Claw (2023) and Sideways (2004). He was married to Laurie Money and Margo Lee Walker. He died on 13 September 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took the stage at a Boston comedy club. He found he was a natural comic. He nurtured his talent while at New York University (graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1991) by performing regularly in clubs and at universities. During his freshman year, he snagged a recurring role as the Huxtable family's friend Smitty on The Cosby Show (1984). While working at a comedy club in L.A., he was "discovered" by Dennis Miller, who recommended him to Saturday Night Live (1975) producer Lorne Michaels and told him that Sandler had a big talent. This led to his being cast in the show in 1990, which he also wrote for in addition to performing. After Saturday Night Live (1975), Sandler went on to the movies, starring in such hit comedies as Airheads (1994), Happy Gilmore (1996), Billy Madison (1995) and Big Daddy (1999). He has also starred in Mr. Deeds (2002) alongside Winona Ryder; Eight Crazy Nights (2002), an animated movie about the Jewish festival of Chanukah; and Punch-Drunk Love (2002). He also writes and produces many of his own films and has composed songs for several of them, including The Wedding Singer (1998). Sandler has had several of his songs placed on the "Billboard" charts, including the classic "The Chanukah Song".

Robert Smigel is an American actor, humorist, comedian, writer and director known for his Saturday Night Live "TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.

Smigel's most famous creation, however, would be the foul-mouthed puppet Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, who mercilessly mocks celebrities and others in the style of a Borscht Belt comedian. This character debuted on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in February 1997.

He also co-wrote the Hotel Transylvania films and You Don't Mess with the Zohan, both starring Adam Sandler.

His film debut as a director was The Week Of (2018).

Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.

Rock has been in stand-up comedy for several decades. He made his big screen debut in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) and spent three years on the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975). He does commercials for 1-800 Collect and Nike and covered the presidential campaign for the show Politically Incorrect (1993). He lives in Alpine, New Jersey.

Rachel Dratch grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. After graduating from Dartmouth College with a degree in Drama and Psychology, she moved to Chicago, where she studied with Del Close at Improvolympic. She was on the house team, "Victim's Family", with Adam McKay. Rachel went on to tour with the Second City Touring Company and eventually advanced to the Second City Mainstage, where she appeared in four revues: "Pinata Full of Bees", "Citizen Gates", "Paradigm Lost", and "Promisekeepers Losers Weepers". For the latter two, she received the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Revue. After leaving the mainstage, she wrote and performed in the two-person sketch show, "Dratch and Fey", with Tina Fey. The show was seen at Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NYC, and the Aspen Comedy Festival. In the fall of 1999, Rachel joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), where she performed for seven years. Her memorable characters include Boston teen Denise, the Lovers professors with Will Ferrell, junior high school student Sheldon, and Debbie Downer.

Garry Pastore is a seasoned actor whose impressive career spans over four decades in film and television. Most recently, Garry guest starred as Arnold White in the highly anticipated Peacock original series Long Bright River (2025), starring Amanda Seyfried and Nicholas Pinnock. Currently, he captivates audiences in the trending Paramount+ series First Shift (2024), where he plays Valente, a maniacal mob boss. Filming for First Shift will continue in New Jersey through September 2025. Throughout his extensive career, Garry has been a prominent presence in numerous blockbuster TV series, including The Blacklist, The Deuce, The Sopranos, Blue Bloods, Billions, Boardwalk Empire, Power, Law & Order, Hit & Run, Seven Seconds, Gotham, and many more. On the big screen, Garry's filmography is equally remarkable, with standout roles in iconic movies such as The Irishman, Wolf of Wall Street, Rob the Mob, The Week Of, Last Call, The Yards, Who's Jenna, as well as fan favorites like Goodfellas, Carlito's Way, Donnie Brasco, A Bronx Tale, Cop Land, The Siege, Do the Right Thing, Cocktail, Prizzi's Honor, and many others. His film and television credits now exceed over one hundred, and his prolific career shows no signs of slowing down. Recently, Garry has ventured into new territory, moving away from his signature mobster and law enforcement roles. He has been cast as Father McCarthy, a beleaguered Irish priest, in the upcoming gothic horror film Hellbound Covenant (2025), where he faces a demonic force threatening his clergy. Beyond acting, Garry is also pursuing a passion for writing, directing, and producing. Having already found success with his personal projects Waiting for Budd and Destressed, he continues to create compelling screenplays for the big screen, with plans to bring some of his projects into production before the end of the year.

Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Dorothy (Wilson), a restaurant hostess, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker. He is of Italian (father) and English, Dutch, and Irish (mother) descent. He became interested in acting during his last year of high school. After graduating, he moved to Manhattan to study acting with John Strasberg. He began writing and performing original theatre pieces with fellow actor/writer Mark Boone Junior. This led to his being cast in his first lead role in Parting Glances (1986). Since then, he has worked with many of the top filmmakers in Hollywood, including Quentin Tarantino, Jerry Bruckheimer, and The Coen Brothers. He is a highly respected actor.

Jake Lippmann is known for The Week Of (2018).

Allen Stephen Covert is an American comedian, actor, writer and producer who is well-known for the cult classic 2006 film Grandma's Boy. He is also known for his many collaborations alongside Adam Sandler and Happy Madison Productions in films such as Happy Gilmore, 50 First Dates, Little Nicky, Hotel Transylvania 2, Mr. Deeds and Eight Crazy Nights.

James D. Dever was born in 1955 and grew up in East Meadow, New York, where he chopped bicycles and worked at his uncle's pool installation business to help his single mother make ends meet. After seeing The Sands of Iwo Jima on Channel 9's "Million Dollar Movie" at age 10, he decided to join the Marine Corps-- enlisting at Levittown, Long Island in 1973. His 25-year career in the Corps took him from the South China Sea-- where he participated in the evacuation of Saigon/Phnom Penh-- to the deserts of Kuwait as a senior staff non-commissioned officer with the 1st Marine Division during Operation Desert Storm.

The majority of Sergeant Major Dever's career, however, was spent in the Marine Corps reconnaissance community. During this time he had the opportunity to graduate USMC Amphibious Reconnaissance School; U.S. Navy Field Medical School; U.S. Army Ranger School; U.S. Navy SCUBA School; USMC Combatant Diver (Drager LAR-V re-breather); U.S. Army Airborne School; USMC Scout Sniper School; FBI Quick Reaction Crisis Mission Course; CIA Demolition Course; U.S. Army Jumpmaster Course; U.S. Army Survival Evasion Resistance & Escape Instructor School; U.S. Navy Dive Supervisor Course; USMC Mountain Warfare Leaders Course; Institute of Advanced Weapons craft; Bill Scott Raceway Security and Anti-terror Driving Instructor Course; Mid-South Institute Advanced Pistol, Sub machine gun, & Shotgun Course; FBI Hostage Rescue Tactics Course; U.S. Army Special Forces Advanced Reconnaissance Target Analysis & Exploitation Course; Bill Scott Raceway Shooting Instructor Course; and the U.S. Army Military Freefall School... among others.

Sergeant Major Dever's career took a notable turn in 1986 when the Marine Corps handpicked him to advise director Clint Eastwood on the film "Heartbreak Ridge". During production Dever gained a deep appreciation for the filmmakers and the creative process, and soon began to develop a business plan that would bring his own unique approach and experience to the entertainment industry.

In 1998 Sergeant Major Dever retired from the Marine Corps and started 1 Force, Inc., a full-spectrum technical consulting firm proving cradle-to-screen advisory and training services for the entertainment and gaming industry. To-date, Dever and his team of military and law-enforcement professionals have contributed to more than 115 projects worldwide and continue to set the standard for technical consulting in Hollywood.

Pamela Thur is known for Mean Girls (2024), Hustlers (2019) and Marry Me (2022).

Ronnie Mund was born on 28 October 1949 in the USA. He is an actor, known for Private Parts (1997), Limitless (2015) and The Week Of (2018).

Born and raised in New York City, Danny Hoch (rhymes with rock) attended the High School of Performing Arts where he began his studies in theatre. After studying in London and then working with a high-octane theatre troupe (Creative Arts Team) in NYC's jails and high schools, Mr. Hoch began to develop his unique brand of solo performance or monologues, where he portrays a dozen or so characters of all ages and backgrounds in one piece, usually 90 minutes long. These solo shows eventually became cult classics which were taped for HBO (Some People, 1995) and as a feature film (Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop 1998). Five of these tour-de forces have been performed all over the U.S. and the world, as well as other plays written by Mr. Hoch. Mr. Hoch's theatre work has garnered him several awards for both writing as well as performance, including the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, 2 OBIE's, a USA Ford Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, the CalArts Alpert Award in Theatre, and several Sundance Institute Fellowships, where he developed his classic film Whiteboyz (1999), which was developed from a character in Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop (1998)_.

In 2000 He founded the Hip-Hop Theater Festival to promote and support Hip-Hop Generation arts and artists, which is still in existence today. Having worked with such lauded theatre artists as Nilaja Sun, Eisa Davis, Will Power, Liza Colon-Zayas and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, he has also worked in film and television alongside such talents as Keanu Reeves, James Caan, Edie Falco, Boaz Yakin, Joaquin Phoenix, Margaret Cho, Paul Giamatti, Liev Schreiber, Jason Statham and Eric Bana, and has had the opportunity to work for directors such as Curtis Hanson, Steven Spielberg, John Turturro, Spike Lee, Darnell Martin, James Gray, Marc Levin and Terrence Malick.

His writing has been published in the New York Times, Village Voice, The Nation, Harpers, American Theatre Magazine and several books, including an anthology of his work which is to be released in late 2013 by TCG.

In addition to mastering scores of accents both regional and international, he also speaks fluent Spanish, and has performed his solo shows in 5 Latin American countries- in different accents (Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, Argentinian, Chilean and Castilian). It is reported that very few people know what his regular speaking voice actually sounds like.

A bit of trivia: At the High School of Performing Arts, Danny Hoch went to High School with Jennifer Aniston, Eagle Eye Cherry, Marlon Wayans, Adrien Brody, Reno Wilson, Seth Gilliam, Curtis McClaren, Dondre Whitfield, Alex Desert, Carl Payne, Kirk Acevedo and Rory Cochrane.

Last year he was seen on Broadway in a play by Woody Allen and Ethan Coen, alongside Steve Guttenberg, Marlo Thomas and Marc Linn-Baker.

Joseph Sikorski is known for Invisible Threads - From Wireless to War (2021), Tower of Babble (2001) and Tower to the People: Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues (2015).