Birthdays: August 14

Regarded by many as the greatest player in the history of college football, Tim Tebow was born in the Philippines to Baptist missionaries. Before she became pregnant with him, his mother had contracted amoebic dysentery. During her pregnancy, the medications used to treat the dysentery caused a severe placental abruption, a condition in which the placental lining separates from the uterus. The Tebows decided to carry the baby to term as abortion is against their faith. Tim and his mother appeared in a pro-life commercial funded by evangelical group Focus on the Family during Super Bowl XLIV (2010) which stirred national controversy.

The family returned to the United States when Tim was 3 years old, moving to a farm outside of Jacksonville, FL, where he and his siblings were home-schooled by their mother. Taking advantage of a state law which allowed home-schooled students to compete in high school sports, in 2003, Tim and his mother moved to Ponte Vedra so he would be eligible to play football for Allen D. Nease High School. He was named Player of the Year as a junior (playing his last game that season with a broken fibula), and Mr. Football his senior year after he lead Nease to the Class 4A title. On December 13, 2005, three days after Nease won state, Tebow announced he would be playing for his parents' alma mater, the University of Florida.

To say he dominated at Florida is an understatement. Tebow threw for 9,285 yards and 31 touchdowns, and rushed for 2,947 yards and 57 touchdowns (breaking Emmitt Smith's school record, and Kevin Faulk's SEC record) for 12,232 total offensive yards (breaking Danny Wuerffel's school record). He lead the Gators to 2 SEC titles and 2 NCAA titles, and was the first player ever to rush for at least 20 touchdowns and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in a single season. Among the slew of accolades he received were the Sullivan Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, the Maxwell Award, the Wuerffel Trophy, the Chic Harley Award, the Wooden Cup, the Manning Award, the Campbell Trophy, Touchdown Club of Columbus Quarterback of the Year Award, the AP College Football Player of the Year, the SEC Male Athlete of the Year, and the Heisman Trophy.

However, pundits doubted he had what it took to make it in the NFL, and were shocked when he was taken 25th overall in the 2010 draft by the Denver Broncos. He became a sensation in 2011 when he took the 1-4 Broncos to an 8-8 record and the AFC West title, most of those wins coming in the last minutes. "Tebowing" - a term coined to describe his habit of kneeling on one knee in prayer as he bowed his head and either rested an arm on the opposite bent knee or his elbow on the knee with his fist at his forehead - was aped by celebrities, and inspired a web page which received over 20,000 photos of people "Tebowing". The Broncos beat the then-AFC champ Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs when Tebow connected with Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of overtime.

While Broncos fans were sold on Tebow Time, Broncos head coach John Fox and Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway were not. After Elway signed Peyton Manning, Tebow was traded to the New York Jets. A disastrous season followed as offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, and head coach Rex Ryan couldn't figure out how to best-utilize him. He was released on April 29, 2013, throwing for 39 yards and rushing for 102 yards for no touchdowns in 12 games.

He signed with the New England Patriots on June 10th. As it carries two quarterbacks, as opposed to most teams, which carry three or four, he had his work cut out for him. In 3 pre-season games, he completed 11-of-30 passes for 145 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, rushed for 91 yards, and spent most of those games, literally, running for his life. His performance intensified criticism of his football acumen. He was released on August 31st despite owner Robert Kraft claiming he was rooting for him to make the team. In December, he signed with ESPN to be an analyst on its SEC Network, which launched on his 27th birthday.

Adrian Lester CBE was born on August 14, 1968 in Birmingham, England. He is a multi award winning actor and director, known for seven seasons of the hit TV show Hustle (2004), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and Primary Colors (1998) and his extensive classical work in the theatre playing Othello, Henry V, Rosalind and Hamlet to name but a few. He is married to actress and writer Lolita Chakrabarti. They have two children.

Al Shearer was born on 14 August 1977 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He is an actor, known for Glory Road (2006), How High (2001) and Honey (2003).

Buxom blonde Alberta Nelson appeared in a string of teen beach movies, including Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini. Nelson played "Puss," one of the leather clad "Rat Pack" (aka "Rats & Mice") biker gang. On television, Nelson made a number of appearances on "The Andy Griffith Show", and guested on "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

Alberto Berco was born on 14 August 1929 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was an actor, known for The House That Screamed (1969), ¿Es usted el asesino? (1967) and Un novio para Laura (1955). He was married to Mayra Gómez Kemp. He died on 18 January 2021 in Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.

Alex van Warmerdam was born on 14 August 1952 in Haarlem, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. He is an actor and writer, known for Waiter (2006), Borgman (2013) and The Dress (1996). He is married to Annet Malherbe. They have two children.

Whether portraying a glum, withering wallflower, a drab and dowdy housewife, a klutzy maid or a cynical gossip, eccentric character comedienne Alice Ghostley had the ability to draw laughs from the skimpiest of material with a simple fret or whine. Making a name for herself on the Tony-winning Broadway stage, her eternally forlorn looks later evolved as an amusingly familiar plain-Jane presence on TV sitcoms and in an occasional film or two during the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Alice was born in a whistle-stop railroad station in the tiny town of Eve, Missouri, where her father was employed as a telegraph operator. She grew up in various towns in the Midwest (Arkansas, Oklahoma) and began performing from the age of 5 where she was called upon to recite poetry, sing and tap-dance. Spurred on by a high school teacher, she studied drama at the University of Oklahoma but eventually left in order to pursue a career in New York with her sister Gladys.

Teaming together in an act called "The Ghostley Sisters", Alice eventually went solo and developed her own cabaret show as a singer and comedienne. She also toiled as a secretary to a music teacher in exchange for singing lessons, worked as a theater usherette in order to see free stage shows, paid her dues as a waitress, worked once for a detective agency, and even had a stint as a patch tester for a detergent company. No glamourpuss by any stretch of the imagination, she built her reputation as a singing funny lady.

The short-statured, auburn-haired entertainer received her star-making break singing the satirical ditty "The Boston Beguine" in the Broadway stage revue "New Faces of 1952", which also showcased up-and-coming stars Eartha Kitt, Carol Lawrence, Hogan's Heroes co-star Robert Clary and Paul Lynde to whom she would be invariably compared to what with their similarly comic demeanors. The film version of New Faces (1954)_ featured pretty much the same cast. She and "male counterpart" Lynde would appear together in the same films and/or TV shows over the years.

With this momentum started, she continued on Broadway with the short-lived musicals "Sandhog" (1954) featuring Jack Cassidy, "Trouble in Tahiti" (1955), "Shangri-La" (1956), again starring Jack Cassidy, and the legit comedy "Maybe Tuesday" (1958). A reliable sketch artist, she fared much better on stage in the 1960s playing a number of different characterizations in both "A Thurber Carnival" (1960), and opposite Bert Lahr in "The Beauty Part" (1962), for which she received a Tony nomination. She finally nabbed the Tony trophy as "featured actress" for her wonderful work as Mavis in the comedy play "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window" (1965).

By this time Alice had established herself on TV. She and good friend Kaye Ballard stole much of the proceedings as the evil stepsisters in the classic Julie Andrews version of Cinderella (1957), and she also recreated her Broadway role in a small screen adaptation of _Shangri-La (1960) (TV)_. Although it was mighty hard to take away her comedy instincts, she did appear in a TV production of "Twelfth Night" as Maria opposite Maurice Evans' Malvolio, and graced such dramatic programs as "Perry Mason" and "Naked City", as well as the film To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). She kept herself in the TV limelight as a frequent panelist on such game shows as "The Hollywood Squares" and "The Match Game".

Enjoying a number of featured roles in such lightweight comedy fare as My Six Loves (1963) with Debbie Reynolds, With Six You Get Eggroll (1968) starring Doris Day, and the Joan Rivers starrer Rabbit Test (1978), she also had a small teacher role in the popular film version of Grease (1978). Alice primarily situated herself, however, on the sitcom circuit and appeared in a number of recurring 'nervous Nellie" roles, topping it off as the painfully shy, dematerializing and accident-prone witch nanny Esmeralda in Bewitched (1964) from 1969-1972 (replacing the late Marion Lorne, who had played bumbling Aunt Clara), and as the batty friend Bernice in Designing Women (1986).

In 1978 Alice replaced Dorothy Loudon as cruel Miss Hannigan in "Annie", her last Broadway stand. Alice would play the mean-spirited scene-stealer on and off for nearly a decade in various parts of the country. Other musicals during this time included "Take Me Along", "Bye, Bye Birdie" (as the overbearing mother), and the raucous revue "Nunsense".

A series of multiple strokes ended her career come the millennium and she passed away of colon cancer on September 21, 2007. Her long-time husband of fifty years, Italian comedic actor Felice Orlandi died in 2003. The couple had no children.

Alma Reville was born on 14 August 1899 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK. She was a writer and assistant director, known for Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Suspicion (1941) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). She was married to Alfred Hitchcock. She died on 6 July 1982 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Ana Matronic is an artist, musician, author, DJ, radio & television presenter and public speaker best known as the lone female member of rock group Scissor Sisters. Equally at home stalking atop a dirty, dingy bar as she is inciting record-breaking Hyde Park crowds to roar with delight, Matronic has honed her reputation as a formidable onstage presence and sharp-witted emcee since cutting her teeth at San Francisco's legendary drag night Trannyshack in the late 90s. Since her award-winning rise with Scissor Sisters in 2004, Ana has collaborated with such legendary artists as Elton John, New Order, Duran Duran and Mark Ronson, Sean Dixon of the Soup Dragons, Bright Light Bright Light, and RuPaul's Drag Race winners Sharon Needles and Alaska. She is also working on her debut solo record.

In 2010, Matronic became a member of a legendary visual "band", psychedelic pioneers The Joshua Light Show. Under the tutelage of maestro Joshua White, Matronic carries on the tradition of creating live psychedelic imagery by hand using liquid colors on a custom-built overhead projector. Matronic has developed the art further in collaborative live performances, interpreting sound to vision in improvised immersive experiences for such artists as Lou Reed, Television, Steve Reich, Silver Apples, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Manuel Gottsching.

New Year's Eve 2014 saw Matronic's debut as a broadcaster with her first show for BBC Radio 2. This has spiralled into a now 17-part series on rare groove disco and her own weekly show called Disco Devotion. Matronic is the deputy for beloved broadcaster Jo Whiley's weeknight show and has covered the semifinals of the Eurovision Song Contest both on radio and television. Matronic has made multiple guest appearances on TV as a musician with Scissor Sisters, has hosted an episode of BBC Artsnight and is a frequent guest on British television covering a wide range of topics from popular culture to artificial intelligence to politics and human rights.

An avid science fiction and comic book fan, Matronic wrote the story Rock Block for the 2010 tribute comic to legendary punk club CBGB published by BOOM! Comics. Her first full-length book Robot Takeover: 100 Iconic Robots of Myth, Popular Culture, and Real Life was published by Hachette/Octopus in 2015.

Ana Matronic is a founding member of activist organization Witches Against Fascist Totalitarianism (WAFT). Matronic lives in Brooklyn with her husband and collaborator Seth Kirby and their cat Izzy.

Andrew Kevin Walker was born on 14 August 1964 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for The Killer (2023), Se7en (1995) and Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (2023).

Ann Leary was born on 14 August 1962 in Syracuse, New York, USA. She is a writer, known for Modern Love (2019), Two If by Sea (1996) and The Good House (2021). She has been married to Denis Leary since 19 August 1989. They have two children.

Anshel Brusilow was born on 14 August 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is known for After the Rain (1988) and Getz: Ravel, Sauter, Wilder, Macero and All That Jazz (1969). He was married to Marilyn Rae Dow. He died on 16 January 2018.

A tall, lanky and twinkle-eyed African-American actor with wonderful onscreen charisma, Antonio Fargas has been appearing on stage and screen for nearly 60 years as of 2021. His film debut was in Shirley Clarke's The Cool World (1963), a gritty, uncompromising tale about African-American youth growing up in Harlem, New York. He then made his acting presence felt in many "blaxploitation" films of the early 1970s, including the classic Shaft (1971), the Mafia flick Across 110th Street (1972), the ultra-violent Pam Grier vehicle Foxy Brown (1974) and the classic tale of Huckleberry Finn (1975).

Around this time ABC-TV executives were looking for a capable actor to play the role of golden-hearted street informant "Huggy Bear" on Starsky and Hutch (1975), and Fargas scored the role with which he is most closely identified. His career continued to flourish after "Starsky and Hutch" wrapped up after four years, and he has appeared in over 50 movies to date, many TV shows and numerous stage productions. He has played a 90-year-old witch doctor in "The Great White Hope", was in Melvin Van Peebles' "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death", and appeared in productions of "The Rainmaker", "The Emperor Jones" and "Dream on Monkey Mountain". A strong advocate of the strength and diversity of African-American culture, Fargas holds positions on the boards of Rhode Island's Langston Hughes Center for the Arts and The Martin Luther King Center of Newport.

Ben Bass was born on 14 August 1968 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He is an actor, known for Rookie Blue (2010), Burden of Truth (2018) and Would Be Kings (2008). He was previously married to Laura Carswell.

Brannon Braga was born on 14 August 1965 in Bozeman, Montana, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: First Contact (1996).

Brenda Benet, born Brenda Ann Nelson in Los Angeles, California, on August 14, 1945, was a classic example of the modern-day Hollywood tragedy. As a television actress with good dramatic scope, she managed to piece together a wide and impressive portfolio of guest shots in a career spanning just over 16 years before taking her life at the age of 36. She spent her childhood and early teenage years feeling awkward and self-conscious because her complexion was darker than those of her siblings. Because of this, she felt that she did not fit in with her family, and often fantasized about being adopted.

Brenda attended UCLA for a brief time, majoring in languages. In 1962 she entered show business; her breakthrough role came in 1964 when she was selected to play the part of Jill McComb in The Young Marrieds (1964). After that came stints on various comedy and drama series in the '60s and '70s, usually playing ethnic, exotic types. She was probably best known for her role as the kind-hearted prostitute in Walking Tall (1973). During this time she married and divorced actor Paul Petersen. She began a relationship with Bill Bixby and moved in with him in 1969, and they married in 1971. By the late '70s, however, they were divorced.

Brenda retired from the business in the mid-'70s to raise a family, and in late 1974 she gave birth to a boy, Christopher Sean Bixby. Tragically, Christopher died in 1981 during a winter ski vacation in California. It was believed that this and her divorce from Bixby were the events which caused Brenda's life to spin out of control. On April 7, 1982, Brenda went into the bathroom of her West Los Angeles home, lit and arranged some candles in a circle on the floor and lay down. She then placed a Colt .38-cal. revolver into her mouth and pulled the trigger. She died instantly.

Brianna Caitlin Hildebrand is an American actress from Texas widely known for portraying Negasonic Teenage Warhead, an X-Man with the best name ever from the Deadpool film series alongside Ryan Reynolds. She also played Aurora Decker-Morningstar in the Netflix series Lucifer, Sadie Cunningham from Tragedy Girls and Brynn from Playing with Fire.

Bruce Nash was born on 14 August 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a producer and writer, known for Modern Marvels (1993), Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories (1991) and Laugh? I Thought I'd Die! (1999).

Singer, composer songwriter, and pianist who conducted his own trio from 1944 to 1949 and thereafter performed with, and arranged for, the Benny Goodman orchestra into 1952. He sang in theatres and night clubs, and made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his popular-song compositions include "Make Up Your Mind," "El Greco," "Just Walk Away," and "Stay Warm."

Don't be fooled by the formidable and highly memorable one-armed push-ups actress Candace Carey so effortlessly executed in the 2002 sleeper hit Drumline -- there's much more to this budding actress than a strong arm and a pretty face. A Florida native whose screen debut found the quick-footed eight-year-old jumping rope in the 1986 action feature Band of the Hand, the talented youngster subsequently appeared in numerous commercials before moving on to appear in such features as Winner Takes All and Big Trouble. As the aspiring actress moved into her teens, education became a priority, though time spent away from the spotlight only fed Carey's hunger for success. By the time she finished school, Carey was prepared to fully explore her onscreen potential, and just a few years after appearing in advertisements for Mastercard and Pepsi, she returned to the big screen to impress movie lovers with a winning performance in Drumline. In April of 2003, the philanthropic actress was awarded the Proclamation of Honor in her home state of Florida for her efforts and contributions to various charities and volunteer organizations. Determined to hang on to her success and good fortune the second time around, Carey was soon back on the screen facing off against the malevolent spirit of H.H. Holmes -- America's first serial killer -- in the 2005 horror film The Evil One. Moving forward into her present ventures, Ms. Carey is a legal studies major and can be found with her head buried into law books or you might run into her at a local smoothie shop. Candace grew up living an Island life style, which involved, fishing, swimming in the ocean, gathering the seasonal fruit and berries harvest around town or from her back yard. Her first written project was the classic playwright and screenplay, "The West Side Story" , an urban version for her middle school drama class and many more screenplays' to date. Candace would like to work on film projects that are unique and challenging.

Candace Hilligoss was involved in acting from the early days of elementary school plays. After three years at the University of Iowa, she came to New York to study acting at the American Theatre Wing, and made her professional debut doing summer stock in Pennsylvania. She acted at the Cape Cod Playhouse, toured with Nina Foch in "Idiot's Delight", turned up in New York TV shows and, as one of the world-famous Copa Girls, danced at the Copacabana night spot. In 1961, she was spirited off to Lawrence, Kansas, to star in Carnival of Souls (1962), the spooky cult classic; she later reinforced her horror rep playing the ingenue in the Connecticut-made The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964).

Carl Benton Reid was a drama graduate from Carnegie Tech who had several years of stage experience performing at the Cleveland Playhouse in the 1920s, where he met his future wife, stage actress Hazel Harrison. After moving to New York, he became a noted actor on the Broadway stage with some impressive credits to his name. Between 1929 and 1949, he appeared in such illustrious plays as "Life with Father" (in the title role), Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" (with Eva Le Gallienne) and Eugene O'Neill's Theatre Guild Production of "The Iceman Cometh". As to Reid's Harry Slade in "Iceman", the noted critic Brooks Atkinson commented for the New York Times (10/10/1946): "as the barroom's (sic) master of cosmic thinking, Carl Benton Reid is vigorously incisive and lends substance to the entire performance". Reid's stern demeanor lent itself to playing all sorts of tough characters, particularly heavy fathers, which he did ably (and often) as in "Strange Bedfellows" (1947). Way back in 1942, Atkinson had remarked on his energetic performance in the title role of the comedy "Papa is All": "Reid plays Papa with a snarl and ferocity that make the wreck at the railroad crossing an occasion of civic betterment" (NY Times, March 21, 1973).

In 1941, Reid left for Hollywood to recreate his stage role of Oscar Hubbard in the outstanding film adaptation of Lillian Hellman's play "The Little Foxes". Shot at RKO Studios, it was brilliantly directed by William Wyler. With his customary scowl and icy delivery, Reid was perfect as one of two avaricious brothers (the other was played by Charles Dingle) of equally venomous turn-of-the century Southern aristocrat Regina Giddens (whose part was played on stage by Tallulah Bankhead and in the film by Bette Davis). Reid's powerful performance ensured many more years of regular employment in films, though none of his subsequent roles ever came close to repeating his earlier success. However, Reid found a new lease of life on the small screen, invariably as senior military brass (Yancy Derringer (1958), 12 O'Clock High (1964)) or elder statesmen (Target: The Corruptors (1961)), even occasionally as murder victims (Perry Mason (1957)) or spy masters (Burke's Law (1963)).

Carl Lumbly is an actor respected for his steadfast talent, versatility and class. His prolific career includes over 150 credits in theatre, film, television and voiceover, with extensive critical acclaim for his work.

A familiar face on television, Lumbly made a memorable appearance in Marvel's "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," for Disney+. The veteran actor played Marvel's forgotten super-solider, 'Isaiah Bradley,' arguably, the original Captain America. Lumbly reprises his role of 'Isaiah Bradley' in the highly anticipated feature film, "Captain America: Brave New World."

For the big screen, Lumbly played a pivotal role in Warner Bros.' supernatural thriller, Stephen King's "Doctor Sleep," the imaginative continuation of "The Shining" storyline. He starred as 'Dick Hallorann,' the role originally played by Scatman Crothers. The gripping film was directed by Mike Flanagan from his own screenplay based upon King's best-selling novel.

Lumbly reunited with Mike Flanagan in his engrossing horror miniseries, "The Fall of the House of Usher," based on various works from Edgar Allan Poe. In his initial casting announcement for "Usher," Flanagan tweeted: Rounding out our first wave, as Poe's legendary investigator C. Auguste Dupin, we are so honored to welcome back one of my favorite past collaborators, the extraordinary...Carl Lumbly."

Now in his third collaboration with Flanagan, Lumbly has been cast in Intrepid Pictures' horror feature, "The Life of Chuck," based on the Stephen King novella of the same name which was included in his 2020 anthology, "If It Bleeds." The independent film is written and directed by Flanagan and will be released theatrically by Neon.

Lumbly portrayed CIA agent 'Marcus Dixon,' the gentle, mild-mannered field partner to agent 'Sydney Bristow' (Jennifer Garner) for five seasons on ABC's hit drama series, "Alias." He also previously starred in FOX's drama series "M.A.N.T.I.S," playing an independently wealthy paraplegic scientist/crime fighter, marking the first black superhero on series television.

He had a recurring role as classic DC character M'yrnn J'onzz, the father of J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter on The CW television series "Supergirl." He previously voiced action hero J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter in the Cartoon Network's animated series "Justice League." The busy actor also recently had recurring roles on NBC's "This Is Us," CBS' "S.W.A.T.," Showtime's "The Chi" and CBS' "NCIS: Los Angeles," along with guest-starring roles on CBS' "God Friended Me," Netflix's "Altered Carbon" and HISTORY's military action drama, "Six."

Lumbly appeared in award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson's "Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool," which received a Grammy Award nomination in the category of "Best Music Film." He voiced the iconic jazz musician in this feature-length documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and screened theatrically to wide acclaim. Produced by American Masters, "Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool" made its television debut nationwide on February 2020 on PBS, in honor of Black History Month.

His impressive feature credits include a role opposite Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Men of Honor," portraying the father of the first black diver in U.S. Navy history. In "Everybody's All-American" with Jessica Lange and Dennis Quaid, he starred as a former football player affected by the segregated South. Other film credits include "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "South Central," "Pacific Heights," "To Sleep With Anger," "The Bedroom Window," "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai," "Caveman," "Namibia: The Struggle for Liberation," and director Gore Verbinski's supernatural horror feature, "A Cure for Wellness."

Lumbly, the son of Jamaican immigrants Carrol and Ida, was raised with three sisters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Like many immigrants, his parents stressed education and reading, as the gateway to respect, success and achievement. A self-described 'library geek to this day,' Lumbly worked in libraries to earn money and have ready access to the larger worlds of literature, world history and art, which inspired his early appreciation for literature. An English major in college, Lumbly's first love was writing. He worked as a journalist in Minneapolis, early on. Through a series of 'happy accidents,' he took a short break from writing and worked in a political -satire comedy theatre. After a couple of years, Lumbly moved to San Francisco intending to continue his work as a journalist for the Associated Press. Just two days after arriving, he came across a newspaper ad seeking "two black actors for South African political plays." He went to the audition and met the other actor already cast -- an unknown Danny Glover. He landed the part and toured with Glover in productions of Athol Fugard's "Sizwe Bansi is Dead" and "The Island."

The plays brought Lumbly to Los Angeles, where he signed with an agent, followed by a move to New York. He landed his first significant on-screen role in a movie-of-the-week, "Cagney and Lacey," which turned into the hit series. More importantly, CBS cast the beautiful and talented actress, Vonetta McGee, as his wife on the show. They fell in love, married and had a beautiful son, Brandon and a beautiful life together. Lumbly starred as 'Detective Marcus Petrie' for the show's seven-year run.

Lumbly's versatility spans a range of characters, from his NAACP Image Award-nominated work in TNT's "Buffalo Soldiers," produced by Danny Glover, to a wealthy, black entrepreneur in "Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding," starring opposite Halle Berry. He starred in the Showtime telefilm "Just a Dream," directed by Glover. He also starred in the telefilms "Color of Friendship," "Little Richard," "On Promised Land," "The Ditchdigger's Daughters," "Nightjohn" and "Sounder," ABC's telefilm remake of the 1972 classic. Of his critically acclaimed performance in "Sounder," the Houston Chronicle stated, "Carl Lumbly plays 'Father', and his performance is a stunner: Dignity and anguish come together to touch your heart."

His additional television credits include a recurring role on the TNT cop drama, "Southland," where he played old-school, no-nonsense LAPD Captain 'Joel Rucker.' He appeared in the ensemble cast of A&E's suspense series "The Returned" and has made numerous guest-starring appearances on such popular television series as "NCIS," "Criminal Minds," "Chuck," "Grey's Anatomy," "Cold Case," "Battlestar Galactica," "The West Wing," "ER" and "The X-Files."

For the stage, Lumbly received glowing reviews for his 2015 performance of 'Pops Washington' in "Between Riverside and Crazy" at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. States the Huffington Post, "Pops is portrayed with torrents of fury and flashes of gentleness by the marvelous Carl Lumbly. He is one of seven characters in Stephen Adly Guirgis's play, which won this year's Pulitzer Prize for drama, but he provides the fuel that energizes all."

In 2013, Lumbly starred Off-Broadway at Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre in New York's Pershing Square Signature Center in "stop. reset," directed by Regina Taylor. "stop.reset." tells the story of 'Alex Ames' (Lumbly), the owner of Chicago's oldest African-American book publishing company.

He starred in the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre's (LHT) 2012 production of British playwright Joe Penhall's comedy drama "Blue/Orange" in San Francisco. He was featured in the San Francisco Playhouse's 2010 production of Cormac McCarthy's "Sunset Limited." In 2007, he starred in the SF Playhouse's production of "Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train," directed by Bill English. For his remarkable performance, he was honored with a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Performance by an Actor.

In 2024, The Caribbean Heritage Organization honored Lumbly with the Legend Award, which celebrated the dignity, humanity and talent of Carl Lumbly and his enormous contributions to the entertainment industry as a Jamaican-American actor and son of Jamaican immigrant parents.

Lumbly works out regularly to keep in shape for his demanding roles. In his free time, he enjoys writing, long walks and playing basketball. Carl is a Leo. That's about all...

Cassi Thomson is an Australian-born American actress and singer, known for her recurring role as Cara Lynn Walker in the television series Big Love and for her role as Nikki Papagus on the series Switched at Birth. Thomson was born in Queensland, Australia. She lived on a ranch in Vanuatu until she was 5 years old after which her family moved to New Haven, Missouri, in the United States. She is now living in Los Angeles, California. Thomson works in the music industry, where she is a singer-songwriter.