Advanced search

Busy was born Elizabeth Jean Philipps in Illinois, US. She became interested in acting when she was in fourth grade and was always starring in school productions. In the summer, she would attend theater camp.

She is more commonly known as a television actress, getting her first break on Freaks and Geeks (1999), She joined Dawson's Creek (1998) and ER (1994), but her breakthrough role has been Laurie Keller on Cougar Town (2009).

Betty White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Christine Tess (Cachikis), a homemaker, and Horace Logan White, a lighting company executive for the Crouse-Hinds Electric Company. She was of Danish, Greek, English, and Welsh descent.

Although she was best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970) and the ditzy Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985), Betty White had been in television for a long, long time before those two shows, having had her own series, Life with Elizabeth (1952) in 1952.

She was married three times, lastly for eighteen years, until widowed, to TV game-show host Allen Ludden.

She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and she was known for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.

Betty White died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 99.

Bob Newhart was an American actor and stand-up comedian. His comedic style involved deadpan delivery of dialogue, a slight stammer when talking, and comedic monologues. He cited earlier comedians George Gobel (1919-1991), Ray Goulding (1922-1990), and Bob Elliott (1923-2016) as his main influences in developing his comedy style.

In 1929, Newhart was born in a hospital in Oak Park, Illinois to Roman Catholic parents, George David Newhart (1900-1985) and his wife, Julia Pauline Burns (1900-1994). George Newhart was the son of an American father and a Canadian mother, had both German and Irish ancestry, and claimed maternal descent from the O'Conor family of Connacht; his mother was an Irish-American. George had partial ownership in a plumbing and heating-supply business, which was the Newhart family's main source of income. Bob Newhart and his sister, who became a nun (Sister M. Joan Newhart), were raised Catholic.

Newhart was raised in the vicinity of Chicago and attended a number of local Roman Catholic schools: first the St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park, then St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. He graduated the prep school (equivalent to a high school) in 1947, then enrolled at the Loyola University Chicago. He graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor's Degree in business management.

Shortly after graduating, Newhart was drafted into the the United States Army. He served as a personnel manager for the Army during the Korean War (1950-1953). He was honorably discharged in 1954, during the post-war demobilization of the American armed forces. He attempted to continue his studies, and enrolled into the Loyola University Chicago School of Law. However, he never completed his degree, quitting a required internship because his employer had allegedly demanded "unethical" behavior from him.

Newhart briefly worked as an accountant for the USG Corporation (United States Gypsum Corporation), a Chicago-based company which manufactures construction materials. He quit after regularly facing trouble in "adjusting petty cash imbalances". He then proceeded to work as a clerk for various employers, but found himself struggling financially.

In 1958, he was hired as an advertising copywriter for a Chicago-based production company. To entertain himself, he started exchanging "long telephone calls about absurd scenarios" with a friendly co-worker. The 29-year-old Newhart had the idea to try his hand as a comedian, and developed a comedy routine based on the telephone calls. He recorded his routine into audition tapes, and send them to radio stations. His routine was met favorably. In 1959, Newhart started performing as a stand-up-comedian in nightclubs, and signed a contract with a new record company which was seeking to recruit some talent. The company was Warner Bros. Records (established in 1958), a subsidiary of the film studio Warner Bros.

Newhart became famous primarily through his audio releases. His comedy album "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" (1960) became the first comedy album to make number one on the Billboard charts, and earned him the 1961 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. This success opened to him new career opportunities, in television and film. NBC offered him his own variety television show, the short-lived "The Bob Newhart Show" (October, 1961-June 1962). The show won the 1962 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, but was canceled anyway. It had won the award while facing four other candidates: "The Andy Griffith Show", "Car 54, Where Are You?", "Hazel", and "The Red Skelton Show", all of which outlasted Newhart's award-winning show.

In 1962, Newhart made his film debut in the war film "Hell Is for Heroes". Newhart played the character James Driscoll, an Army company clerk who broadcasts misleading radio messages to the enemy limes during World War II. He appeared frequently as a guest star in television over the subsequent years, but had relatively few big screen roles. He appeared in the caper story "Hot Millions" (1968), the reincarnation-themed fantasy film "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" (1970), the war film "Catch-22" (1970), and the tobacco-smoking-themed satirical film "Cold Turkey" (1971).

From 1972 to 1978, he starred in the hit sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show". He played the character Robert "Bob" Hartley, Ph.D. (Newhart), a Chicago psychologist who is surrounded by eccentric patients, work colleagues, friends, and family members. Hartley was effectively the "straight man" to the wacky characters surrounding him.

In 1977, Newhart voiced Bernard, the male lead in the animated film "The Rescuers" (1977). The film features the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization, with its headquarters located in New York City. Bernard is not initially one of its members, but works as their janitor. When Miss Bianca, Hungary's representative in the organization, must choose a partner for her first field mission, she impulsively chooses Bernard over the the other available agents. Part of the success of the film is based on the contrast between the two partners, the adventurous, brave, but rather impulsive Bianca, and the overly cautious, shy, and reluctant hero Bernard. "The Rescuers" earned worldwide gross rentals of $48 million dollars at the box office during its initial release, and had a total lifetime worldwide gross of $169 million through subsequent re-releases.

In 1980, Newhart appeared in two live-action films, the comedy-drama "Little Miss Marker", and the political comedy "First Family". The first features Newhart as a member of a gangster-run gambling operation. The gangsters are surprised when a client uses his 6-year-old daughter as collateral for a bet. The other film featured Newheart as an inept President of the United States. The main plot deals with the President tolerating the kidnapping of American citizens by a fictional African country, because the country offers some valuable resources in exchange for their new American slaves.

From 1982 to 1990, Newhart starred in a second hit sitcom, called simply "Newhart". He played the character Dick Loudon, a Vermon-based innkeeper who finds himself surrounded by strange employees, neighbors, and competitors. The show had a famous ending where the entire series is "revealed" to be a dream of Robert Hartley, Newhart's character from his hit CBS sitcom, "The Bob Newhart Show".

In 1990, Newhart returned to the role of Bernard, in the sequel film "The Rescuers Down Under". Early in the film, Bernard is preparing a marriage proposal for Miss Bianca, but his plans are derailed when they are both send to Australia for an urgent mission. The duo are partnered with Australian agent Jake, and Bernard is frustrated with when Jake competes with him for Bianca's affections. At the end of the mission, Berbard finally makes his marriage proposal, unwilling to let orders for further missions to interfere with his plans to marry the woman he loves. The film only earned 47.4 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and became Walt Disney Animation Studio's least successful theatrical animated film of the 1990s.

From 1992 to 1993, Newhart starred in his third sitcom, called simply "Bob". He played the character Bob McKay, a veteran comic book writer and artist from the 1950s. Having long retired into obscurity, McKay is hired by a corporation to produce a revival of his classic character, the superhero "Mad-Dog". The first season introduced a large cast of eccentric co-workers. The second season dismissed most of these characters, and had McKay serving as the President of a company producing greeting cards. The series suffered from low ratings, and was canceled at the end of its second season. Only 33 episodes were produced.

From 1997 to 1998, Newhart starred in his fourth sitcom "George & Leo". He played George Stoody, a bookstore owner who finds himself offering hospitality to a professional magician and part-time criminal (Judd Hirsch). The humor was based on the strong contrast between the two men, but the series failed to find an audience.

Newhart returned to theatrical films with the romantic comedy "In & Out" (1997). He had roles in the animated film "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie" (1998), the comedy "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" (2003), and the Christmas film "Elf" (2003) . From 2004 to 2008, Newhart played the major character Judson in three television films of "The Librarian" fantasy franchise. The franchise features a mystical library, which hides numerous magical and technological artifacts from various historical eras. A series of librarians have to guard the library and its contents from criminal organizations with sinister designs. Judson is the mentor who trains the current librarian, after the previous one was killed in action. The series hinted that Judson was older than he looked, and he was eventually revealed to be the original librarian. He was nearly immortal, and had trained succeeding librarians for centuries. In "Horrible Bosses" (2011), he made a surprise cameo at the end as Jason Bateman's new boss, Lou Sherman, who has a notorious reputation of his own.

In 2013, Newhart started playing the recurring character Arthur Jeffries (stage name "Professor Proton") in "The Big Bang Theory". He was a scientist who decades ago served as the host of a science show aimed at children, inspiring series co-protagonists Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper to start science careers of their own. Leonard and Sheldon, now professional physicists with academic careers, eventually get to meet their childhood idol. Jeffries's scientific career ended in disgrace, his television days are long over, and he has been reduced to earning a meager living as a party entertainer. This role won Newhart his first Primetime Emmy Award. The character dynamic between the two was popular, as Sheldon continued to idolize Jeffries who found his "student" to be insufferable. Following Jeffries' death, Newhart continued to appear in the series as Jeffries' ghost, appearing at various points to offer Sheldon advice and serving as a reluctant mentor. Sheldon viewed Jeffries as his version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Bob Newhart died in 2024, aged 94.

This most consummate, vibrant and versatile actress established a distinguished reputation on the stage, in films and on TV. The former Miss Chicago of 1948 beauty pageant winner and Miss America semifinalist was born in Oak Park, Illinois. Her family was impoverished and her parents divorced early on. Young Lois used make-believe to escape her reality by creating small plays in her backyard, which led to an affinity with the idea of acting. Having set her sights on the stage she joined a community theatre at the tender age of eleven and appeared on local radio and television. She later continued her training at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and then studied 'the method' at the Actors' Studio in New York City, eventually making her Broadway debut in Dalton Trumbo's "The Biggest Thief in Town" (1948) using the stage moniker "Lydia Scott" (her given name, she felt, was too plain and sounded "schoolmarmy").

Lois was understudy to Barbara Bel Geddes for the role of "Maggie the Cat" in the original 1955 Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer-Prize winning "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", staged by Elia Kazan. Occasionally, she got to play "Maggie", herself. Of her (own personal favourite) role as Blanche DuBois in the 1973 stage production of "A Streetcar Named Desire", New York Times critic Clive Barnes wrote: ""Miss Nettleton plays Blanche as a woman of nearly unshatterable courage." Williams himself called her one of the greatest actresses with whom he had ever worked. Not surprisingly then, that the self-confessed method actress went on to win the prestigious Clarence Derwent Award for her performance in "God and Kate Murphy".

Lois was married for seven years to Jean Shepherd, a radio host and television humorist. She and Shepherd clicked after she called his nightly radio show at WOR in the 1950s and the beguiled Shepherd broadcast their telephone conversations on the air. They later appeared together in Shepherd's off-Broadway play "Look Charlie" in 1959.

While her official film debut came in the 1962 adaptation of Tennessee Williams's "Period of Adjustment", Lois had previously played a bit part in Elia Kazan's classic A Face in the Crowd (1957), scripted by Budd Schulberg. She subsequently acted in many movies, but most of her best work was on stage and in television where she appeared in everything from sitcoms to soap operas. In a 1985 interview she referred to herself as 'a gypsy actress', saying "I always wanted to be as different in everything as possible". Consistently selective, on the lookout for 'interesting' characters and mature roles to play, she tackled pretty much every genre -- even playing one of Londo Mollari's bitchy wives in Babylon 5 (1993). She gave a particularly fine performances in the classic 1961 "Midnight Sun" episode of The Twilight Zone (1959). She declared her own personal favourite screen role to have been that of the Israeli prosecutor (opposite Maximilian Schell) in the American Film Theater production of The Man in the Glass Booth (1975). Roger Ebert for the New York Times wrote "She has a steadiness and intelligence and doesn't back down. She's the closest thing the film has to a moral center."

A charming and gracious actress, Lois was nominated six-times for Emmy Awards. She won twice for her TV work: for the daytime special The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (1976) and for "A Gun for Mandy" (1983), an episode of the syndicated religious anthology Insight (1960).

Amy Morton was born on 3 April 1959 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for Up in the Air (2009), 8MM (1999) and Rookie of the Year (1993). She is married to Rob Millburn.

Keith Szarabajka is an American actor from Illinois known for acting in The Equalizer, Angel, Argo and The Dark Knight. He also voice acted in several animated series and video games including Halo 4, Batman: Arkham Knight, Mass Effect, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Teen Titans, Dead Space, Ultimate Spider-Man, L.A. Noire and Fallout: New Vegas.

Langston Kerman was born on 23 April 1987 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Pause with Sam Jay (2021), Bust Down (2022) and The Oscars (2016).

Kathy Griffin was raised in the near-west Chicago suburbs, in an Irish-American family. She has three older brothers and an older sister. When her parents retired to California, Kathy moved west with them after graduating from Oak Park River Forest High School, and began trying to break into show business. She performed with the Groundlings, then paid her dues doing stand-up at various clubs until she was discovered. According to her brothers, as a kid Kathy would circulate among the guests at parties and tell jokes. Kathy holds a Guinness World Record for the most televised standup comedy specials of any comedian. She starred in the Emmy-winning reality series Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (2005).

Beverly Archer was born on 19 July 1948 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Mama's Family (1983), ALF (1986) and Project: ALF (1996). She has been married to Robert Bernard since 10 April 1976.

John Sturges was an American film director, mostly remembered for his outstanding Western films. In 1992, Sturges was awarded a Golden Boot Award for his lifelong contribution to the Western genre.

Sturges was born in the village of Oak Park, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. By 1930, the village had a population of 64,000 people.

Sturges started his film career in 1932, as a film editor. During World War II, he started directing documentaries and training films for the United States Army Air Forces.

Sturges made his directing debut in 1946, in the drama film "The Man Who Dared" (1946) by the studio Columbia Pictures. The film's protagonist frames himself for murder, in order to prove that innocent people may be convicted by circumstantial evidence. His next film project was the film noir "Shadowed" (1946), about a corpse being found in a golf club, and how an innocent man finds his life threatened by a gang leader. Sturges' last film of the year was the crime drama "Alias Mr. Twilight" (1946), about an elderly con-artist who uses his earnings to provide for his beloved granddaughter.

Sturges was entrusted with directing the third film in the then -popular Rusty film series, about the adventures of a German shepherd. The film was called "For the Love of Rusty" (1947), and introduced the new dog actor Flame. Flame portrayed Rusty in four of the eight Rusty films.

Sturges' next film project was "Keeper of the Bees" (1947), the third film adaptation of the 1925 novel by Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924). The film involved aging beekeeper Michael Worthington (played by Harry Davenport ) who recruits a nomadic painter and an orphan girl as his new employees. Despite a high-profile cast, the film is considered a lost film.

Sturges' last film of the year was the war documentary "Thunderbolt" (1947), concerning Operation Strangle (March 19-May 11, 1944). The aerial operation had American aircraft attacking German supply routes in Central Italy, in order to force the Germans to withdraw. The documentary included actual combat footage from the operation, and part of its profits was used to finance the Army Air Force Relief Society.

Sturges returned to the film noir genre with the film "The Sign of the Ram" (1948). The film's villain protagonist Leah St. Aubyn (played by Susan Peters) was depicted as an invalid woman with an obsessive desire to control and dominate the life of her family and friends, and going to extremes in order to achieve her goal.

Sturges next directed the historical drama "Best Man Wins", an adaptation of the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865) by Mark Twain (1835-1910). The film depicts professional gambler Jim Smiley (played by Edgar Buchanan) trying to use his jumping frog Daniel Webster to win bets. He hopes to use his earnings to win back the love of his ex-wife, and to buy the love of his estranged son.

Sturges' first Western was "The Walking Hills" (1949), which used film noir tropes in a new setting. The film involves treasure hunters searching for a lost wagon train carrying gold bars. But many of the characters are hiding secrets, and a there is a manhunt for a wanted fugitive in the area.

Sturges had a critically successful film with the biographical film "The Magnificent Yankee", which dramatized the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, but won neither.

Sturges next projects included the film noir "The Capture" (1950), the film noir "Mystery Street" (1950), and the sports drama "Right Cross" (1950). His crime drama "Kind Lady" (1951) was a remake of a 1935 film with the same title, directed by George B. Seitz. In the film, wealthy art collector Mary Herries (played by Ethel Barrymore) allows painter Henry Springer Elcott (played by Maurice Evans) to move into her London house. But her new house-guest is planning to rob her.

Sturges' film noir "The People Against O'Hara" (1951) was a film noir with elements from courtroom drama. It was a box office hit, and had Sturges working with lead actor Spencer Tracy. Sturges was one of seven film directors who co-directed the anthology film "It's a Big Country", concerning life in the United States.

Sturges' biographical film "The Girl in White" (1952) dramatized the life of female surgeon Emily Dunning Barringer (1876-1961). The real-life Barringer was "the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency". Sturges returned to the film noir genre with "Jeopardy" (1953), an adaptation of a radio play by Maurice Zimm.

Sturges directed the sports comedy "Fast Company" (1953), about an exceptional race horse, and a struggle over its ownership. He returned to the Western genre with the American Civil War-themed film "Escape from Fort Bravo" (1953). In the film the prisoners confined in a Union prison camp attempt to escape. This color film used the Anscocolor process.

Sturges had a career highlight with the thriller film "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955), which combined elements from both film noir and the Western. It involves a town hiding a secret, and mysterious stranger John J. Macreedy (played by Spencer Tracy) trying to uncover the elusive truth. Sturges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, but the award was won instead by rival director Delbert Mann (1920-2007).

Sturges' next film project was the treasure-hunting themed adventure "Underwater!" (1955). His historical drama "The Scarlet Coat" (1955) dramatized the plot of military officer Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) to surrender West Point to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. The film also dramatized the life of British spy John André (1750-1780).The film's American counterspy John Bolton was loosely based on historical spymaster Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835).

Sturges returned to the Western genre with popular films such as "Backlash" (1956), "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), "The Law and Jake Wade" (1958), "Last Train from Gun Hill" (1959). He also directed the adventure drama "The Old Man and the Sea" (1958), an adaptation of the 1952 novella by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). For this film, Sturges once again worked with leading actor Spencer Tracy.

Sturges' World War II-themed war film "Never So Few" (1959), featured a cast of rising actors, such as Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, and Steve McQueen,. Sturges had another career highlight with a film remake, the Western "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). It was a loose adaptation of the Japanese film "Seven Samurai" (1954) by Akira Kurosawa. The film under-performed in the United States, but was a smash hit in Europe, and very profitable for the film studio United Artists. It sold 89,118,696 tickets sold in overseas territories, and broke box office records in the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Kurosawa himself liked this adaptation, and the film received three sequels, two remakes of its own, and a television series adaptation.

Sturges' next film project included the law-firm drama "By Love Possessed" (1961), which included controversial themes such as rape, suicide, and embezzlement. Sturges next Western film was "Sergeants 3", loosely based on the poem "Gunga Din" (1890) by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). This film is mostly remembered as the " last film to feature all five members of the Rat Pack".

Sturges' next film was more sexually explicit: "A Girl Named Tamiko" (1962). Lead character Ivan Balin (played by Laurence Harvey) is a man who desperately wants to emigrate to the United States, and uses his sex-appeal to seduce women who may help him achieve his goal. His next war film was "The Great Escape" (1963) about prisoners of war trying to escape from Stalag Luft III. It was one of the highest-grossing films of its year of release.

Sturges directed his first science fiction film at age 55, and that film was "The Satan Bug" (1965). The film depicted the manufacture of bio-weapons, and their potential release against American major cities. Sturges also directed the Western comedy "The Hallelujah Trail" (1965), about a predicted harsh winter threatening the whiskey supply of a frontier town. He next directed a more serious Western, "Hour of the Gun" (1967). It was his second film about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1881), but attempted to be more historically accurate than previous film depictions of the events.

Sturges' next film project was the Cold War thriller "Ice Station Zebra" (1968), loosely based on the missing experimental Corona satellite capsule (Discoverer II) which fell to Norway in 1959, and the efforts to recover it before it fell on Soviet hands. The film was mildly controversial, since it dramatized events that were still classified secret at the time of production. Sturges used former American agents as technical advisers.

Sturges' second science fiction film was Marooned (1969), depicting a potentially deadly accident affecting the Apollo program. Released at a time of high public interest on the Apollo program, it attracted an audience but was a box office flop. The film's visual effects expert won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

Sturges partially directed the auto racing film "Le Mans" (1971), but quit before the film was completed. He was replaced by fellow director Lee H. Katzin (1935-2002). Sturges returned to the Western genre with the peasant-revolt themed "Joe Kidd" (1972). It featured bounty hunter Joe Kidd (played by Clint Eastwood) hunting down a Mexican revolutionary who is campaigning for land reform. The film is considered an example of the Revisionist Western, a more cynical take on the genre.

Sturges last Western was the Italian-produced "Chino" (1973). He returned to the film noir genre with the neo-noir "McQ" (1974), with lead character Lon "McQ" McHugh (played by John Wayne) being an aging police detective who is trying find out who was behind a failed attempt on his life. Sturges' last film was the war film "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976), depicting a German plot by Abwehr leader Wilhelm Canaris (1887-1945) to kidnap Winston Churchill. His last film was a box office hit in its own right.

Sturges retired from film directing at the age of 66. He continued living in retirement until his death in 1992. He was 82-years-old, and several of his film were finding retrospective critical acclaim.

John G. Avildsen was born on 21 December 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. He was a director and editor, known for Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and Rocky V (1990). He was married to Tracy Brooks Swope and Marie Olga Maturevich. He died on 16 June 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Tavi Gevinson was born on 21 April 1996 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and director, known for Enough Said (2013), Person to Person (2017) and Scream Queens (2015).

Kelly Schumann was born in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is an actress, known for Outsourced (2010), Hot in Cleveland (2010) and American Horror Story (2011).

Timothy A. Good is an editor, producer, and director, known for The Last of Us (2023), The Umbrella Academy (2019) and Fringe (2008). He won the 2023 Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing For A Drama Series for his work on The Last of Us episode "Endure And Survive", and the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for Best Edited Drama Series for The Last of Us episode "Long, Long Time" in 2024.

Ernest Hemingway was an American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize (1953) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) for his novel The Old Man and the Sea, which was made into a 1958 film The Old Man and the Sea (1958).

He was born into the hands of his physician father. He was the second of six children of Dr. Clarence Hemingway and Grace Hemingway (the daughter of English immigrants). His father's interests in history and literature, as well as his outdoorsy hobbies (fishing and hunting), became a lifestyle for Ernest. His mother was a domineering type who wanted a daughter, not a son, and dressed Ernest as a girl and called him Ernestine. She also had a habit of abusing his quiet father, who suffered from diabetes, and Dr. Hemingway eventually committed suicide. Ernest later described the community in his hometown as one having "wide lawns and narrow minds".

In 1916 Hemingway graduated from high school and began his writing career as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. There he adopted his minimalist style by following the Star's style guide: "Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative." Six months later he joined the Ambulance Corps in WWI and worked as an ambulance driver on the Italian front, picking up human remains. In July 1918 he was seriously wounded by a mortar shell, which left shrapnel in both of his legs causing him much pain and requiring several surgeries. He was awarded the Silver Medal. Back in America, he continued his writing career working for Toronto Star . At that time he met Hadley Richardson and the two married in 1921.

In 1921, he became a Toronto Star reporter in Paris. There he published his first books, called "Three Stories and Ten Poems" (1923), and "In Our Time" (1924). In Paris he met Gertrude Stein, who introduced him to the circle that she called the "Lost Generation". F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thornton Wilder, Sherwood Anderson and Ezra Pound were stimulating Hemingway's talent. At that time he wrote "The Sun Also Rises" (1926), "A Farewell to Arms" (1929), and a dazzling collection of Forty-Nine stories. Hemingway also regarded the Russian writers Lev Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ivan Turgenev and Anton Chekhov as important influences, and met Pablo Picasso and other artists through Gertrude Stein. "A Moveable Feast" (1964) is his classic memoir of Paris after WWI.

Hemingway participated in the Spanish Civil War and took part in the D-Day landings during the invasion of France during World War II, in which he not only reported the action but took part in it. In one instance he threw three hand grenades into a bunker, killing several SS officers. He was decorated with the Bronze Star for his action. His military experiences were emulated in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1940) and in several other stories. He settled near Havana, Cuba, where he wrote his best known work, "The Old Man and the Sea" (1953), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. This was adapted as the film The Old Man and the Sea (1958), for which Spencer Tracy was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor, and Dimitri Tiomkin received an Oscar for Best Musical Score.

War wounds, two plane crashes, four marriages and several affairs took their toll on Hemingway's hereditary predispositions and contributed to his declining health. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and insomnia in his later years. His mental condition was exacerbated by chronic alcoholism, diabetes and liver failure. After an unsuccessful treatment with electro-convulsive therapy, he suffered severe amnesia and his physical condition worsened. The memory loss obstructed his writing and everyday life. He committed suicide in 1961. Posthumous publications revealed a considerable body of his hidden writings, that was edited by his fourth wife, Mary, and also by his son Patrick Hemingway.

Deanna Lund is best known for her role as "Valerie Scott" in the two-season cult series of the 1960s: Land of the Giants (1968), produced by Irwin Allen.

Irwin Allen cast Lund in the series, when he saw her in a recently made motion picture. Lund started out as the bad girl of the series, getting herself (and others) into trouble when she searched for food in the "giant land"; and another time trying to cause a mutiny in the castaway group, in the episode, The Bounty Hunter (1969).

As the 51 episode series moved forward, Valerie became more of a team player in the castaway group. Perhaps her best line in the series came in the episode, Wild Journey (1970), when she turns to the series star and says, "Captain, nobody tells me what I can and can't do".

In 1995, Lund was interviewed about her work on "Land of the Giants" and this interview can be found on the "Land of the Giants" DVD set. In the interview, Lund explains how she "felt so silly" acting in "Giants", as she was often talking to people (aka giants) who were not actually on the set. So she was often talking to nobody at all.

Much to the delight of young male viewers of the time, Valerie was often seen wearing sexy outfits in "Giants", and in one episode, Graveyard of Fools (1970), one outfit crossed the line as too sexy, in the eyes of the network.

Kate Norby was born on 1 August 1976 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for The Devil's Rejects (2005), Big Love (2006) and Mad Men (2007). She has been married to Thomas Nelson Martin III since 7 June 2009.

John Edward Gerschefske was introduced to the planet in 1933. He came from a railroad family in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The son of a railroad switchman and Motorola assembly line worker/nightclub singer. Also the grandson of the President of the Florist Drivers Union in the 1930s and 1940s. He was carted off to Roosevelt Military Academy soon after his parents separated in the early 1940s. He excelled in sports, music and academics. In the 8th grade he was #2 in the state of Illinois on the alto saxophone. He lettered in football, track and field and basketball. After graduating in the top 5% of his class, he worked for Motorola for a short time before enlisting in the United States Navy (1951). He became an Aviation Structural Mechanic and a member of the Glenview Naval Air stations' Crash Crew. After his stint in the service, he studied broadcasting and became a jazz disc jockey with WNIB in Chicago, and WNIB in Muskegon, Michigan. When he wasn't on the air,he was stage managing for local theatre groups in Chicago. He had his own weekly Radio Jazz show that attracted many artisans throughout the Great Lakes region.He met VIPs from all walks of life. For example, famous Painters such as Gertrude Abercrombie and Pablo Picasso. Jazz greats, like Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Actors, actresses, politicians and many more! In 1956 he decided to head west to follow his dreams of becoming an actor. Hollywood was where he landed. He parked cars, tended bar and rustled up other odd jobs for cash, until he finally got his big chance! A screen test with MGM went very well and he was signed on under contract with MGM in 1958. His big debut was in Some Came Running (1958) with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He went on to do a few films with MGM, only to be black balled from the industry a few years later, because he stood up for The First Lady of The Folksong, Odetta. During a scene in a shoot, a certain director/producer was making her cry, by yelling at her and using racial slurs. John had words with him and the director told him to keep his mouth shut or he would never work in acting again! John walked off the set and never worked as an actor again.

An introduction to an MGM secretary by the name of Mary Kathleen Kenoyer, who caught his eye, certainly changed his life! He and Mary were married August 22, 1959 in Winterhaven, California and had a son, John Jr. the following year. Although his career ended in 1963/64 he was determined to land a gig doing something with the film industry. From 1964-1965 he was doing freelance photography. Early on in 1965 he became a news film apprentice editor with KABC-TV in Los Angeles. He worked his way up to Senior news film editor as well as Documentary film editor and sound editor, receiving an Emmy and Golden Globe award for his Charles Manson documentary series, Teenie Dopers and James Stacy Dry Martini Mini-Doc series. He retired from KABC-TV in 1981 and went into the Majors. The same year with Disney Studios he worked with Disneys' Epcot Centers' Circlevision in Florida with another brilliant Senior editor Dave Strohmaier. They also put together Anastasia: The Mystery Of Anna (1986) (TV), with Amy Irving, Olivia De Havilland and Omar Sharif. He went on to work at 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios doing various projects towards the end of his career. At the end of 1986 he and his wife Mary retired. His wife retired from Metro Goldwyn Mayer and The California Highway Patrol. In 1987, John and Mary plus One opened a Mexican restaurant in Lancaster, California. In 1990 they moved their restaurant to Coeur D' Alene, Idaho. Two years later, they both retired form all work completely. In late 1993 after being diagnosed with emphysema, they moved to Kingman, Arizona. In 2000, his wife Mary was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and had to have double stent surgery. In 2001, they moved to Reno, Nevada and then Las Vegas. In 2005 Mary had another stent put in. Two weeks later, John was involved in a terrible T-Bone auto accident, where the driver ran a stop sign at 70 miles an hour. He had several months of rehabilitation then they moved back to Kingman to be near their son, daughter-in-law and grandsons. The accident created too much stress on Mary. She steadily went downhill. In June of 2005, 5 months after the accident, she passed away due to a misdiagnosis of a bad gallbladder (Sepsis). John spent the next 21 months broken-hearted after 46 years of marriage, never to recover from his nightmares and the way Hollywood treated his dreams. Unfortunately, he passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Saturday, March 31st, 2007.

Michelle McNamara was born on 14 April 1970 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She was a writer and producer, known for I'll Be Gone in the Dark (2020), 51 Paintings (2012) and What is Real? The Story of Jivamukti Yoga (2016). She was married to Patton Oswalt. She died on 21 April 2016 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Judith Belushi-Pisano was born on 1 January 1951 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and Blues Brothers. She was married to Victor Pisano and John Belushi. She died on 5 July 2024 in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA.

William attended grammar and high schools in New York and New Jersey. Upon graduation, he enrolled at West Virginia University where he planned to study law and played football and tennis. One summer, his uncle got him a job at the Suffern County (in New York) Theatre. He worked with actors Broderick Crawford, George Tobias, José Ferrer and Kent Smith. After that experience, he decided to continue with theatre and left college and toured with "Tobacco Road". He had a brief stint with the Mercury theatre in New York and then left for Hollywood and was signed to an MGM contract. He was supposed to have made a movie with Esther Williams which never came about. Then it was off to the Army. Discharged in 1946, he spent three years with Columbia before freelancing. He starred for the entire run of the TV series It's a Great Life (1954).

Judy Tenuta was an actress and writer, known for Garlic & Gunpowder, Celluloid Soul (2017), (2017), Material Girls (2006) and Going Down in LA-LA Land (2011). She was previously married to Emo Philips. She also starred in over 50 "World Accordion to Judy" shorts produced by Pirromount Pictures from 2014 through 2019. She died on October 6, 2022 in Los Angeles, USA.

Sally Mansfield was the daughter of Samuel Mahder (October 5, 1901 - April 14, 1970) and Marie (Strorigl) Mahder (October 24, 1900 - February 10, 1963) both born in Hungary. Sally studied at Chicago's Children's Summer Theater and the Sherwood Music School, and trod the boards under her birth name at Chicago's Gage Park High School (5630 Rockwell Street) in the school's stage presentation of "The Tailormade Man" on June 19th and 20th, 1941. At NBC Radio in New York, she was heard on daytime dramas and commercials, then joined the Don Arden Dancers there and in Las Vegas. She became a contract player for Paramount Pictures in 1951 and traveled to Korea to participate in troop shows. By 1954, she represented the television-industry award ceremonies as Miss Emmy. Her major role, however, is as Vena Ray, the navigator and assistant aboard the United Worlds rocket ships Orbit Jet and Silver Moon in the syndicated television series "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger" (1954).

Jessica Bendinger was born on 10 November 1966 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She is a writer and producer, known for Bring It On (2000), Stick It (2006) and Aquamarine (2006).

Marion Dugan was born on 16 February 1918 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Cable Guy (1996), Matilda (1996) and Quantum Leap (1989). She was married to Charles Dugan. She died on 31 March 2015 in Sherman Oaks, California, USA.